TOY - Trainers Online for Youth
This is a reference for Fabio Meazza
"Practice Makes Perfect" was an Erasmus+ training course focused on graphic facilitation, graphic recording and visual thinking. The training aimed to enhance youth workers’ competences in using simple visual tools to make learning processes clearer, more engaging and more accessible for the young people they work with.
The project addressed the need for more innovative and inclusive approaches in youth work, especially when working with young people with diverse learning styles, learning difficulties or fewer opportunities. Many youth workers and organisations recognise the potential of visual methods but lack the skills, confidence and practical experience to use them effectively.
Key objectives included:
- Strengthening youth workers’ visual facilitation skills and their ability to use graphic methods in daily youth work.
- Encouraging creativity and innovation through simple, accessible visual tools.
- Exploring how graphic facilitation, graphic recording and visual thinking can support learning, participation and inclusion.
- Promoting both digital and non-digital graphic tools in youth work.
- Boosting participants’ confidence in using visuals to communicate, facilitate and document learning processes.
The training fitted the goals of the participating organisations by helping them improve the quality, accessibility and attractiveness of their youth work. By equipping their youth workers with practical visual methods, the project supported their aim to create more inclusive, creative and participatory learning environments.
The training involved 24 participants from eight different countries: Spain, Poland, Italy, Croatia, Armenia, Portugal, Bulgaria and Lithuania. The participants were youth workers, educators, volunteers and members of youth organisations actively engaged in working with young people in their local communities.
The participants were at least 18 years old, able to communicate in English and work in a multicultural context, and had limited experience in graphic facilitation but strong motivation to learn. They were selected because of their connection with youth work and their willingness to use the acquired competences after the activity in dissemination and follow-up activities.
The group had a diverse intercultural composition, with participants coming from different social, cultural and organisational backgrounds. The project also aimed to include participants with fewer opportunities, especially those facing geographical, social, economic or educational barriers.
Partner organisations:
- SPAIN, Associació Cultura Creativa
- POLAND, YoWo Poland
- ITALY, Associazione Culturale Mastronauta
- CROATIA, Udruga OUI
- ARMENIA, International Centre for Youth Empowerment and Cooperation
- PORTUGAL, Bonae Spei
- BULGARIA, Association MOGA
- LITHUANIA, Loud & Clear
The training course employed a variety of non-formal education methods, with a strong focus on learning by doing. Participants were gradually introduced to graphic facilitation, graphic recording and visual thinking through practical exercises, creative challenges, simulations, group work and peer learning.
The programme was highly practical and based on experimentation. Participants explored the principles of graphic facilitation, visual simplification, lettering, icons, colours, arrows, boxes, emotions, templates, visual dictionaries and digital tools. The aim was not to turn participants into artists, but to help them use simple visuals to support communication, learning and participation in youth work.
Workshops were designed to be accessible and progressive. Participants started with simple drawing and creativity exercises, then moved towards more complex tasks such as designing templates, creating visual summaries, preparing visual explanations and applying graphic facilitation to real youth work situations.
Group work played a central role in the training. Participants worked individually, in pairs, in small teams and in national groups, allowing them to exchange experiences, test different approaches and learn from each other. Peer-to-peer learning was encouraged throughout the course, especially through feedback moments and collaborative activities.
The course also included reflection sessions based on non-formal education principles. These moments helped participants identify their learning points, share challenges, reflect on group dynamics and connect the acquired competences with their daily work with young people.
Throughout the training, participants were encouraged to take an active role in their own learning process. The trainers facilitated a safe and supportive environment where mistakes were seen as part of the learning process, creativity was encouraged, and participants could build confidence step by step.
"Practice Makes Perfect" successfully strengthened participants’ competences in graphic facilitation, graphic recording and visual thinking. By the end of the training, participants had gained practical tools and methods to make their youth work more visual, accessible and engaging.
Participants developed new skills in visual communication, creativity, simplification, use of symbols, template design, visual note-taking and facilitation through graphics. They also increased their confidence in using drawing as a tool for communication, even if most of them started the course with limited experience in graphic facilitation.
A key outcome of the activity was the creation of visual materials, templates, visual dictionaries, graphic summaries and practical tools that participants can adapt and use in their organisations. Participants also practised how to integrate graphic facilitation into workshops, presentations and youth activities.
The success of the training was visible through the quality of the visual outputs created during the course, the active participation of the group, the peer learning process and the positive feedback collected during the activity. Participants showed clear progress in their ability to use visuals to support communication and learning.
As part of the follow-up, participants are expected to organise local activities, workshops or presentations related to graphic facilitation, sharing the acquired methods with other youth workers, volunteers and young people in their communities.
I worked as a full-time trainer in a team of three, delivering sessions on topics such as graphic facilitation principles, visual communication, templates, target groups, digital tools, Erasmus+ and Youthpass. I was responsible for leading several sessions and supporting participants in connecting graphic facilitation methods with real youth work contexts.
Key responsibilities included:
- Designing the training programme and developing structured learning sessions.
- Delivering interactive sessions on graphic facilitation, visual thinking and communication.
- Facilitating activities on templates, target groups and the use of visuals in youth work.
- Leading sessions on digital tools applicable to graphic facilitation and visual communication.
- Supporting participants in creating visual materials and adapting them to their organisational needs.
- Facilitating group work, peer learning and feedback moments.
- Contributing to sessions on Erasmus+, Youthpass and follow-up opportunities.
- Supervising participants’ reflection process and supporting them in identifying their learning outcomes.
- Coordinating with the trainers’ team and adapting the programme according to participants’ needs and feedback.