TOY - Trainers Online for Youth
This is a reference for Panayiotis Theodorou
Aims: Encourage and offer young people practical social skills on how to use the knowledge and skills acquired from Youth in Action Program with new program Erasmus+ in order to stay active on the local and European level.
Topics: Empowerment, Non-formal education and its Recognition - Youthpass, European context, Ideas for the future based on previous experience gathered through Youth in Action Programme such as building partnerships and networks, continuing projects within guidelines of Erasmus +.
Target group & international/intercultural composition of the group & team
24 youth workers and project managers coming from Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Albania, FYRO Macedonia, Italy, Cyprus, Romania, Lithuania, Poland, Azerbeijan, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, Ukraine.
Team of Trainers
Panayiotis Theodorou - Cyprus
Salvi Greco - Italy
Milena Lazic - Serbia
The methodological approach of the seminar was based on non-formal education/learning methodology with aim to fully involve participants, to generate ideas coming from participants and to strongly focus the topics of the seminar. A big space for discussing and learning was created using “open space” methods. A relevant time was dedicated also to personal reflection for the sake of keeping the track of the personal (learning) process and raising awareness about it.
The seminar produced a good base for fruitful future cooperation between the partner organizations and among participants involved. The seminar helped to raise awareness about the treasures collected at the “ending” of the Youth in Action Program in order to use it as the strength and resources in the new Erasmus+ Program. The participants improved a positive attitude towards the challenges that every change brings. Feedback and evaluations of the participants showed a stronger personal empowerment, since during the seminar a relevant space was dedicated to the personal-reflection and self-awareness.
I had a role of a facilitator, meaning that I was responsible for design, implementation and evaluation of the seminar’s program. The program was reviewed and evaluated every day and adjusted according to the learning needs of participants.