Training course: “Cherry on the cake” - Youth Exchange in the context of long term work with groups of young people

Would you like to discover what makes a Youth Exchange the “Cherry on the cake”?

If you have already led a Youth Exchange -at least once- you probably know that it can be a life-changing experience for the participating young people. Not only that, organising a Youth Exchange with partners from other countries has the potential to upgrade your local youth work practice, and take it to the “next level”. 

This 2,5-days training course for youth workers and youth leaders opens a creative space for exploring different quality aspects of Youth Exchanges, such as how to connect them meaningfully with the local youth work, the learning dimension and active engagement of young people in the entire process of organising a Youth Exchange, and the value and challenges of international youth work.

The training concept has been developed to provide systematic support for organisations working with young people from Erasmus+ EU Member State and third country associated to the Programme, who already have the basic understanding and experience in Youth Exchanges and want to learn more. 

The activity will consist of the residential training course.

AIM AND OBJECTIVES

The aim of the training course is to deepen the understanding of the potential and possibilities of a Youth Exchange as a tool for non-formal learning in long-term work with young people.

The objectives of the training course are to:

• Explore the potential of Youth Exchanges for motivation, learning and empowerment in long term work with young people;
• Highlighting the importance of involving young people in all phases of a Youth Exchange and tailoring it according to their needs;
• Increase the participants’ understanding of the role of the youth leader in all phases of a Youth Exchange;
• Develop participants’ competences to recognise the potential for learning in all phases of a Youth Exchange and support the learning processes of those involved;
• Network between participants, identify the challenges brought by the international setting of a Youth Exchange and reflect on how to approach them;

TARGET GROUP

The training course aims to bring together 30 participants from the Erasmus+ EU Member State and third country associated to the Programme who:

• Work with young people on a regular basis (youth workers, youth leaders…)
• Have implemented at least one Youth Exchange within the Erasmus+ EU Member State as a youth leader;
• Are interested in leading Youth Exchanges in the future;
• Are capable of working in English;
• Are at least 18 years old

TEAM OF TRAINERS

The training course will be run by two trainers with extensive experience in the field:

• Laimonas Ragauskas, who has been training and facilitating for more than 18 years in Europe and beyond. Recently his main interests and passions have been related to recognition of non-formal learning with Open Badges, quality of mobility projects, strategic partnerships. digital youth work, digital facilitation of online courses and events. More information - https://www.salto-youth.net/tools/toy/laimonas-ragauskas.322/  
• Vojislava Tomić Radivojša, working as a trainer for 20 years in the Western Balkans and at European level being involved with very different groups, approaches and topics. Her fields of work were often related to conflict transformation, intercultural learning and to recognition of non-formal learning and youth work. More info - https://www.salto-youth.net/tools/toy/vojislava-tomic-radivojsa.643  

PROGRAMME OF THE TRAINING COURSE

The programme will start in the evening on October 3rd and will end at lunchtime on October 6th.