From 16th to 23th of March 2022, in Presenzano (Caserta region), Italy, representatives of CET platforma Skopje participated in a training course called “Together stronger for inclusive Europe” which was the second mobility activity of the mobility of youth workers project with the same name. It was attended by 19 youth workers and youth leaders from Italy, Croatia, Cyprus, Lithuania, Macedonia, Romania, Spain and Sweden.
The training course was focused on providing practical competencies for youth work practitioners (trainers, youth leaders and non-formal educators) to work with disadvantaged groups, especially young people with fewer opportunities, as well as to encourage active youth participation. All the activities were organized in order to respond to the needs of youth workers from the involved organizations to increase the quality of their activities. Starting with name games we got to know each other and after that we had a team-building exercise “Mission Impossible” (to do 16 tasks as a group without any explanation), we managed to do it all and produce a song also. After that, we had to brainstorm for the three keywords in this training- Diversity, Inclusion and participation. We also discussed in groups what these terms mean to us and gave definitions and personal examples. We have created a profile of the “perfect trainer” with all of his knowledge, skills and attitudes.
We were really focused on developing our competencies and defining all the necessary aspects of one competence. In groups we were making a theatrical example of different competence – working successfully in teams, networking and advocating etc. Then we were introduced to two very important online platforms: SALTO and Council of Europe Youth Work Portfolio, each one of us created a profile and made a self-assessment of our facilitator/trainer/educator experience and our competencies. In the evening we worked on a personal development plan to set one of our goals. We have made a strategy on how exactly we can accomplish that goal.
The most interesting and useful part for me was when we planned our own workshop. Our trainers Bojan and Andrea provided us with a lot of materials, books and a template and we had to brainstorm, plan and implement a non-formal learning activity. After that, they gave us feedback and advice on how we can improve and all of the workshops were ready for future use. The topics of all workshops were very entertaining and trending. There were topics like S.T.E.M, Gender stereotypes, Hate speech and Inclusion of the Roma community.
I can say with confidence that this was the most interesting Erasmus+ project I have ever taken part, I really liked how it gave us a chance to focus and think about ourselves and our goals. It also gave us an opportunity to fully invest ourselves in delivering our unique workshop. The project strengthened my communication with people from other countries and cultures and improved my teamwork skills. All of the international nights were filled with laughter, joy, music and tasty food and drinks from each country. I will never forget this experience and I have a lot of pictures and videos to remind me of it (thanks to the social media team)!
– Summary written by Evgenija Doneva
