Ukraine – European Union: Solidarity prevails

This training course aims to improve the quality of European Solidarity Corps (ESC) Programme projects and support participants and organizations in the development of the main competences related with inclusion and diversity in Solidarity projects.

Focusing on the values ​​of the European Union (EU) and the sense of belonging to the EU project, this activity aims to explore Solidarity Projects as a powerful tool to promote Solidarity, Social Inclusion, Active Participation, Democracy, Tolerance, Peace and Human Rights.

“More Ukrainians will need our protection and solidarity. We are and we will be there for them.” Speech by President von der Leyen at the European Parliament Plenary on the Russian aggression against Ukraine, 1st March 2022.

Inspired by the speech of the President von der Leyen at the European Parliament Plenary on 2 March 2022, this activity born as a concrete and practical action to address to the current situation in Ukraine and in Europe.

A cruel, unprovoked, unjustified, and premeditated invasion of Ukraine is causing suffering and death. At stake is the independence of a country and the freedom of its people but also our values, our beliefs, and our common future. This outrage aggression, that we thought was no longer possible to see again in Europe, is forcing the escape of thousands of innocent citizens who are literally seeking protection for their lives in the EU. Solidarity waves, volunteering movements, personal/individual initiatives and local activities are spontaneously popping up to help and give them the needed support, to express an undivided solidarity with the people of Ukraine, to stand up for our shared ideals, to defend a world of peace and dignity. Youth Programmes inevitably also play an important role in this process, not just as a tool for humanitarian assistance, but also as an instrument for a different show of force: the force of democracy, solidarity, respect for human rights that guides the strength of our unity of purpose.

Taking all this in account and the fact that as described in the Programme Guide, Solidarity Project from ESC Programme gives “young persons the chance to express solidarity by taking responsibility and committing themselves to bring positive change in their local community”, and that “together with addressing the local challenges, a solidarity project should also demonstrate European added value by addressing priorities identified at European level. A solidarity project should reflect a common concern for topics within the European society (…).”, this activity aims to promote this type of projects as an opportunity to answer this common concern about the actual situation and support local communities in dealing with it and empower the hosted Ukrainian young people as actors of Solidarity projects.

Objectives:

The idea is to increase knowledge about the ESC Solidarity Projects and to encourage participants to use of youth programmes as a tool to develop, promote and implement projects within their contexts, with strong focus on solidarity, social inclusion of young migrants, refugees and of young people arriving from difficult backgrounds / contexts to new countries and to new local communities.

• to reinforce the awareness about European Values;
• to understand the Solidarity meaning and context and explore how to go from Inclusion and Diversity priority into practice;
• to ensure a thorough understanding of the European Solidarity Corps (ESC) in general and Solidarity Projects in particular;
• to introduce and explore Solidarity Projects as a powerful tool to promote Solidarity, and Social Inclusion, Active Participation, Democracy, Tolerance, Peace Human Rights and to answer to answer to common concerns;
• to explore and understand the different roles within a Solidarity project and different phases and dimensions on it planning and implementation;
• to support the development of competence in social inclusion of young migrants, refugees and of young people arriving from difficult backgrounds / contexts;
• to provide space for sharing realities, to exchange practices, experiences, points of view and ideas for the future;
• to inspire and create spaces for the planning of further Solidarity Projects and the action plans for the adaptation of current projects;

Summarising, the TC will give the opportunity for participants, to exchange ideas and to create new projects to be submitted in the next deadlines or adapt current ones.

Target group:

The activity is especially addressed to:

- Young people (+18), with Ukraine as country of residence or Young people (+18) from Ukraine with residence in Programme countries, who participated in activities under the Erasmus Program or European Solidarity Corps, in Programme Countries.

- Young people (+18), ), from Programme Countries, who participated in activities under the Erasmus Program or European Solidarity Corps, that took place in Ukraine or involving partners from Ukraine.

Other target groups: Youth workers, Trainers, Youth leaders, Youth project managers

Working Language: English