Youth Work Lab: Youth Exchange Edition

Based on our 30 years experience, especially in beginners, there is a lack of knowledge of the youth policy framework in programmes like Erasmus+ and how organizations contribute to reach the EU youth policies: 

Organizations do not fully understand the importance of connecting their project with EU youth policies.

Therefore, young people are not aware of the EU youth policies, cannot express their opinions about them and cannot contribute, reducing their active participation in the political framework. 

They face challenges like: 

1. How to connect your EU project with EU youth policies in the application form. 

2. How to put into practice EU youth policies and priorities in your project. 

3. How to raise awareness of young people.

Other challenges when creating a youth project financed by the EU:

4. How to put into practice the 4 priorities in Erasmus+.

5. What innovation is & how to be innovative to get funds. 

6. How to face visibility and dissemination requirements, which are connected with the EU and youth policies.

7. How to face other key aspects like preparation of participants or how to engage young people with fewer opportunities.  

We will focus on Erasmus+ youth exchanges being the most common youth project financed by the EU in order to give a practical perspective, although the acquired competences will be helpful for any youth project funded by the EU.

We will provide a theoretical framework and a practical experience in the creation of youth projects and workshops, learning by doing and cooperating in groups.

General objective: To enhance the skills of youth workers and youth leaders in creating EU-funded youth projects, particularly high-quality Erasmus+ youth exchanges.

Specific objectives:

1. To explore European youth policies and how to apply them practically in a youth exchange (EU Youth Strategy, EU Youth Goals, Erasmus+ priorities).

2. To design and implement activities that promote participation, inclusion, diversity, and sustainability.

3. To contribute to innovation in working with young people by exploring the concept of innovation and providing examples of best practices and lessons learned from youth exchanges.

4. To equip youth workers with methods, tools, strategies, and ideas from non-formal education (NFE) to develop high-quality youth exchanges at every stage of the process: preparation, implementation, evaluation, visibility, monitoring, and dissemination.