TOY - Trainers Online for Youth
This is a reference for Veronika Skorokhod
The training activity aimed to increase participants’ knowledge, skills, and awareness regarding sustainability, environmental challenges, and energy solutions, while also fostering intercultural understanding and teamwork. Through creative workshops, hands-on challenges, and outdoor learning, participants explored practical approaches to sustainability and developed problem-solving, collaboration, and communication skills. The training also encouraged self-reflection and personal responsibility, helping participants connect environmental awareness with daily actions and community engagement.
The target group of the training consisted of young people and youth workers aged approximately 18–30 who are interested in sustainability, environmental issues, and energy solutions. Participants were selected based on their motivation to learn practical solutions for environmental challenges, engage in creative problem-solving, and share experiences with peers from other countries. The programme was designed to accommodate a diverse group, including participants with varying levels of experience in sustainability, outdoor learning, and international collaboration, fostering inclusion and peer learning.
The training was an international activity bringing together participants from Romania, Lithuania, and Poland.
The sustainability training in the Beskydy Mountains was based entirely on non-formal learning methods, with a focus on active participation, experiential learning, and reflection. Participants engaged in hands-on workshops, creative challenges, and outdoor learning activities, allowing them to explore environmental and energy solutions in a practical, interactive way. Group work and cooperative learning were central, encouraging participants to collaborate, share ideas, and solve problems together while learning from different cultural perspectives.
Experiential activities included team-building exercises, sustainability challenges, and creative workshops, which developed participants’ communication, problem-solving, and leadership skills. Outdoor learning sessions connected participants with nature, deepening their understanding of environmental issues and sustainable practices. Reflection and discussion were integrated throughout, helping participants link their experiences to practical applications in their communities.
The sustainability training in the Beskydy Mountains achieved significant results in participants’ knowledge, skills, and awareness regarding sustainability, environmental challenges, and energy solutions. Participants developed practical competences through hands-on workshops, creative challenges, and outdoor learning activities, gaining experience in problem-solving, teamwork, communication, and leadership. They also strengthened their intercultural understanding and collaboration skills by working closely with peers from Romania, Lithuania, and Poland.
The success of the training is evident in several ways. Participants were highly engaged in all activities, actively contributing to workshops, creative challenges, and group reflections. Feedback collected during and after the training confirmed that participants felt more confident, motivated, and equipped to apply sustainable practices and knowledge in their communities and professional contexts. The achievement of learning objectives was also visible in tangible outputs, such as group projects, sustainability plans, and creative solutions developed during the workshops.
In the sustainability training in the Beskydy Mountains, I worked as a full-time trainer, responsible for the planning, delivery, and facilitation of all training activities. I led hands-on workshops, creative challenges, outdoor learning sessions, and group reflections, ensuring that participants were actively engaged and learning through experience. My role included guiding participants through team-building exercises, problem-solving tasks, and intercultural dialogue, while supporting reflection and personal growth throughout the programme.
I also coordinated the practical implementation of non-formal learning methods, adapted activities to the diverse backgrounds of participants from Romania, Lithuania, and Poland, and monitored learning outcomes to ensure that the objectives of the training were achieved. By fostering a participatory, inclusive, and experiential learning environment, I helped participants develop skills in sustainability, communication, teamwork, and leadership, while encouraging them to apply their learning in their own communities.