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https://youth.europa.eu/solidarity_en

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Are you between 18 and 30 and looking for an opportunity to help the wider community, in Europe and beyond?

You could do this with funding and support from the European Solidarity Corps, which helps young people take part in projects that benefit communities, either abroad or in their own country.

These projects offer an inspiring and empowering experience, as well as the chance to bring change while developing your skills and competences.

So what can you do?

Broadly, you can get involved in:

volunteering

traineeships (whereas traineeships can still run this year funded by the budget from the previous programme, please be aware that in the new programme 2021-2027 they are discontinued)

jobs (whereas jobs can still run this year funded by the budget from the previous programme, please be aware that in the new programme 2021-2027 they are discontinued)

local Solidarity Projects

These can be in a wide range of fields - education and training, citizenship and democratic participation, environment and natural protection, migration, culture, and many others.

How does it work?

The European Solidarity Corps funding is provided in the form of grants to organisations through call for proposals.

Young people wishing to engage in such activities need to register in the European Solidarity Corps portal. The European Solidarity Corps portal offers a place for those young people and organisations, holding a grant, to implement activities and to find each other.

Who runs the Corps?

The European Solidarity Corps is managed by the European Commission.

It is implemented on the ground by a variety of bodies:

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Are you between 18 and 30 and looking for an opportunity to help the wider community, in Europe and beyond? You could do this with funding and support from the European Solidarity Corps, which helps young people take part in projects that benefit communities, either abroad or in their own country.

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https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/storytelling

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Storytelling is an art. Like art, it requires creativity, vision, skill, and practice.

It's a crucial part of the most successful marketing campaigns, and it sets vibrant brands apart from simple businesses and loyal consumers from one-time stop-in shoppers. It's a valuable tool for all marketers to have in their tool belts, and it's the heart of inbound marketing.

This post is a guide to help you discover and understand storytelling and weave gorgeous, compelling tales for your audience. Pick up your pen, and let's dive in.

Since storytelling can take so many forms, creating a good story can be challenging. Here are some quick do's and don'ts to get you started:

The Art of Storytelling

Since the dawn of human language, storytelling has been how cultures pass on shared beliefs and values. Some of the stories told today come from stories our ancestors were shared over 6,000 years ago.

Every person has a story, but the art of storytelling can make a story transformative. There are a few qualities that can push a basic story into the art of storytelling.

Narrative

All great stories have a narrative, which is a spoken or written account of events that are influenced by a setting.

For example, stand-up comics tell stories during a set, and while the structure, setting, and details of the narrative may not feel the same as they do in a Shakespeare play, both share a narrative.

Attention-Grabbing

Just telling a story isn't enough - you want one that resonates and grabs attention.

One great way to do so is to create suspense which attracts audiences with unanswered questions and an interest to learn more and answer those questions. Surprising your audience is also a great way to pull readers in.

Another way is to "Show, don't tell," where you captivate with details that bring your story to life.

For example, say your company is launching a new product. You can share details about when your team came up with the idea, which is more exciting than telling customers you're about to release the best new product. Talk about the roadblocks and small wins; make your audience feel part of your process.

Interactive

Storytelling isn't just the story you tell - it's how your audience responds and engages. Some kinds of storytelling require people to participate in the story, like the Netflix interactive show Kaleidoscope, where viewers customize the order they watch episodes.

But with most stories, the interaction comes from the relationship the audience builds with the storyteller. Your audience might be a fan group for the latest Harry Potter movie. And your favorite storyteller could be a TikTok influencer.

That feeling of connection and interaction is essential to storytelling.

Imaginative

Many movies come from popular books, and it's not unusual for viewers to rate the quality of a book-based movie on its ability to match what they imagined as they read the book.

When someone listens to storytelling, they might develop a visual for the story in their mind, and it can be incredibly detailed and include the characters, setting, and events. Stories can pull up memories, and people might see themselves represented in story characters.

Telling a story is essentially painting a picture. While everyone can tell a story, you can fine-tune your storytelling skills and become a storyteller for your organization, brand, or business. These people are typically marketers, content writers, or PR professionals.

Every member of an organization can tell a story. But before we get into the how, let's talk about why we tell stories - as a society, culture, and economy.

Why Do We Tell Stories?

Some of the main reasons to tell stories are to sell, entertain, and educate. But why choose storytelling over a data-driven PowerPoint or a bulleted list? Why are stories are a go-to way of sharing, explaining, and selling information?

Here's why.

Stories solidify abstract concepts and simplify complex messages.

Understanding new ideas can be confusing; stories can offer a way around that.

Think about times when stories have helped you better understand a concept. Maybe a teacher used a real-life example to explain a math problem, or a speaker used a case study to convey complex data.

Stories help solidify abstract concepts and simplify complex messages.

Taking a lofty, non-tangible concept and making it relatable using concrete ideas is one of the biggest strengths of business storytelling.

Take Apple, for example. Computers and smartphones can be complicated topics to describe to everyday consumers. The business uses real-life stories to explain exactly how its products work and benefit users. It uses storytelling instead of relying on technical jargon to convince consumers to buy its products over a competitor.

Stories promote and shape ideas.

Peoplehave used stories to promote cooperation and influence social behaviors throughout history. Listening to stories also engages different parts of the brain than data does.

And there is scientific evidence that stories can change our behavior because they engage our emotions. If you're good at storytelling, you might influence the future behavior of your audience by asking someone to see a series of events from your perspective.

For example, even if you're still stressed out and overwhelmed, you can still connect with a story, and a connection might lead you to be less critical about facts, less defensive, and more open to changing your ideas.

Cultures often honor skilled storytellers because they also appreciate brands that tell stories to promote societal values, like this example of Ben & Jerry's supporting the People's Response Act.

Stories bring people together.
Image Source
Stories are a universal language; they can bring people together and create a sense of community. Despite any barriers and differences, stories connect us through feelings and how we respond to them.

We all understand the story of the hero, the underdog, or heartbreak. We all process emotions and can share feelings of elation, hope, despair, and anger. Sharing a story gives even the most diverse people a sense of commonality and community.

TOMS is a great example of this. It shares stories of customers and the people it serves and has effectively created a movement that has driven sales and built a community eager to support TOMS and view its impact on the causes it supports.

Stories inspire and motivate.

When brands get transparent and authentic, it brings them down-to-earth and helps consumers connect with them and the people behind them.

Tapping into people's emotions and bearing both the good and bad is how stories inspire, motivate, and drive action. Stories also foster brand loyalty by creating a narrative around your brand or product that humanizes it while marketing your business.

Few brands use inspiration as a selling tactic, but ModCloth does it well. Sharing the real story of its business makes the brand relatable and worth purchasing and inspires other founders and business owners.

What makes a good story?

Words like good are bad are relative to opinion, but there are a few non-negotiable components that make up all great stories.
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Good stories are:

Entertaining: Good stories keep the reader engaged and interested in what's coming next.

Believable: Good stories convince the reader of their version of reality and make it easy to trust and engage.

Educational: Good stories spark curiosity and add to the reader's knowledge bank.

Relatable: Stories remind readers of the people and places they know and help audiences recognize patterns in the world around them.

Organized: Good stories follow a succinct organization that helps convey the core message and helps readers absorb it.

Memorable: Whether through inspiration, scandal, or humor, good stories stick in the reader's mind. (As a reference, consumers say that funny content is the most memorable.)

Trendy: These stories relate to current events and buzzy topics that people are engaged with, building your brand's presence as an informed and active participant in current events. This could look like using trending memes in Tweets.

How to Tell Great Stories

According to HubSpot Academy's free Power of Storytelling course, a good story has three main components - regardless of the story you're trying to tell.

1. Characters

Every story features at least one character, and this character is key to relating your audience back to the story. The main character is the protagonist.

Your characters form the bridge between you, the storyteller, and the audience. If your audience can put themselves in your character's shoes, they'll be more likely to follow through with your call-to-action.

2. Conflict

The conflict is the lesson of how the character overcomes a challenge. Conflict in your story elicits emotions and connects the audience through relatable experiences. When telling stories, the power is in what you convey and teach. If there's no conflict in your story, it's likely not a story.

3. Resolution

Every good story has a closing. Your resolution should wrap up the story, give context to the characters and conflict(s), and leave your audience with a call to action.

If you're new to storytelling, there are a couple of other elements you'll want to think about as you build your first story.

4. Structure

Your plot is the structure of your storytelling.

A blog can have great writing and relatable characters. But if you don't create a natural flow of events, your blog will confuse your reader.

A blog can have excellent writing and relatable characters, but lacking a natural flow can confuse your reader.

For example, your "About" page on your website can run through your business' story, but if you don't break it into useful segments, your visitors might bounce before they get to the good part.

Plots don't need to be in chronological order, and there are many ways to experiment with the structure of your story. But all stories should have a beginning, middle, and end.

5. Setting

Your story's setting is more than where a story takes a place. It's how you can:

Share the values and goals of your characters

Shift the tone of conversations and action

Make it easier to show instead of tell

For example, say you're creating an ad campaign that features two main characters. One runs a small startup and the other works for a large enterprise. Where would it make sense for these two to meet up? How could their location impact the conversation?

These factors affect how audience absorb, understand, and relate to the story.

The Storytelling Process

We've explained that storytelling is an art that requires creativity, vision, and skill. It also requires practice. Enter: the storytelling process.

Painters, sculptors, dancers, and designers all follow their own creative processes when producing their art. It helps them know where to start, how to develop their vision, and how to perfect their practice over time. The same goes for storytelling - especially for businesses writing stories.

But, why is this process important? Because, as an organization or brand, you likely have a ton of facts, figures, and messages to get across in one succinct story. How do you know where to begin? Well, start with the first step. You'll know where to go (and how to get there) after that.

1. Know your audience.

Who wants to hear your story? Who will benefit and respond the strongest? To create a compelling story, you need to understand your readers and who will respond and take action.

Before you put pen to paper (or cursor to word processor), do some research on your target market and define your buyer persona(s). This process will get you acquainted with who might be reading, viewing, or listening to your story. Understanding who your story is for will also offer crucial direction as you build out the foundation of your story.

It's not that you can't get by with a more basic understanding of your target audience; it just won't help you go above and beyond in sharing stories your audience is interested in, wants to hear, and stories that inspire them. Our 2023 Marketing Trends Report found that, more than ever, data-driven marketers will win.

Leveraging data can help you better reach your target audience, understand the most compelling stories, drive high ROI with your stories, and generally create better and more engaging and desired content.

2. Define your core message.

Like the foundation of a home, you need to set up your core message before moving forward.

Is your story selling a product or raising funds? Explaining a service or advocating for an issue? What is the point of your story? To help define this, try to summarize your story in six to ten words. If you can't do that, you don't have a core message.

3. Decide what kind of story you're telling.

Not all stories are created equal. To decide what kind of story you're telling, figure out how you want your audience to feel or react as they read.

This will help you figure out how you're going to weave your story and what goal you're pursuing. If your goal is to:

Incite Action

Your story should describe how you completed a successful action in the past and explain how readers might be able to create the same kind of change. Avoid excessive, exaggerated detail or changes in the subject so your audience can focus on the action or change that your story encourages.

Tell Your Story

Talk about your genuine, humanizing struggles, failures, and wins. Today's consumer appreciates and connects to brands that market with authenticity. Your storytelling should reflect your authentic self.

Convey Values

Tell stories that tap into familiar emotions, characters, and situations so readers can understand how it applies to their lives.

Also, tell stories that convey your brand values, like causes you support and care for, whether directly or indirectly related to your brand. For example, you can share a case study about the impact of a fundraiser you created or explain the environmentally-conscious production process for your products.

It's an essential type of story to tell, as consumers care more than ever about what the brands they buy from stand for and whether their values align. They want to know about the causes you support and your commitments to bettering the world.

If it seems like more of a niche type of story to share, it's actually on the rise. In fact, 44% of marketers are already sharing this type of content, and it has the 5th highest ROI of any trend.

Foster Community or Collaboration

Tell stories that move readers to discuss and share stories with others, stories where people might say, "Hey, me too." Stories that foster this kind of community building inspire audiences to continue to come back to your business and develop connections with you and other people that are also impacted.

Conversations that people have will help you learn more about your audiences and what they care for so you can create content more relevant to their needs. Community building is trending in marketing, and 90% of marketers say that building an active online community is crucial to success in 2023. Consumers also want to join communities ( 20% have joined one in the past three months).

Impart Knowledge or Educate

Educational content is anything that informs your audiences who are trying to solve problems, get an answer, or meet a need. They want help figuring out what to do, and your educational content will help them get there.

Popular types of content you can use to tell educational stories are blog posts and YouTube videos. For example, You can tell a story with a trial-and-error experience for readers to learn about a problem and how you applied a solution. This can help people facing a similar problem discover how to tackle it and expose you to new audiences who might be searching for resources to solve their issue but have yet to hear of you.

Fun fact: Website/seo/blogs have the highest ROI of any marketing channel.

4. Establish your call-to-action.

Your objective and call-to-action (CTA) are similar, but your CTA will establish the action you'd like your audience to take after reading.

What exactly do you want your readers to do after reading? Do you want them to donate money, subscribe to a newsletter, take a course, or buy a product? Outline this alongside your objective to make sure they line up.

For example, if your objective is to foster community or collaboration, your CTA might be to "Tap the share button below."

5. Choose your story medium.

Stories can take many shapes and forms. Sometimes people read stories. Other times they watch or listen., Your chosen story medium depends on your type of story as well as resources, like time and money.

Here are four different ways you can tell your story:

Writing

Written stories can be articles, blog posts, books - anything that's mostly and primarily text. Written stories are by far the most affordable, attainable method of storytelling as it can simply require a free word processor like Google Docs or a pen and paper.

Speaking

You tell spoken stories in person, like in a presentation, pitch, or panel. TED talks are an example of spoken stories. Because of their "live", unedited nature, spoken stories typically require more practice and skill to convey messages and elicit emotions in others.

Audio

Audio stories are spoken aloud but recorded - that's what sets them apart from the spoken story. Audio stories are usually in podcast form, and with today's technology, creating an audio story is more affordable than ever. (For great story-driven podcasts, check out The HubSpot Podcast Network.)

Digital

Digital storytelling comes in a variety of media formats like:

Digital storytelling is a highly effective format for emotionally resonant and active visual stories. Given this, they can sometimes be expensive to produce and require higher budgets. The great thing is that consumers often don't mind lower video quality and production value as much as conveying a strong message.

6. Plan and structure your story.

You have an idea of what you want to include in your story, how you want to organize it, and what medium is best. If you were doing some creative writing, your next step might be to jump right into writing and work on the structure of your story later.

But while storytelling in marketing is creative, it also has a goal in mind. This means it may need a more structured process because every step from the intro to CTA needs to meet a specific goal.

Your storytelling should ignite imagination and emotion no matter where you share it. But marketing storytellers are also tracking metrics once their story goes out into the world.

With this in mind, you may want to create a detailed outline of your story. You might develop storyboards, wireframes, or a PowerPoint presentation. These can help you stay focused as you craft your story. They can also help you keep your original vision of your story as you move through the approvals, meetings, and pitches that often come with business storytelling.

7. Write!

Now it's time to put pen to paper and start crafting your story. For many storytellers, this is the fun part.

As of this writing, there are over 218,000,000 links on Google for the search "writer's block." If you feel stuck, you're not alone. But help is on the way.

These excellent tips for writer's block can help you if you feel stuck, and these quotes about storytelling can inspire you.

Remember, you've got this. Every person is a storyteller, and audiences aren't just waiting for any old story. They want to hear from you.

7. Share your story.

Don't forget to share and promote your story. Like with any piece of content marketing, creating it is only half the battle - sharing is how your audience can complete your story. According to HubSpot Blog Research, here are some of the best ways and places to share your stories:

1. Email

According to our Media & Content Planning Report, email marketing is one of the most leveraged channels used by media planners, and it has the 3rd highest ROI of any channel.

2. Social Media

Social media is the top marketing channel with the highest ROI, so sharing your stories on the platform is bound to bring engagement and interaction for your business. The top platforms for sharing stories on social media are Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

Many businesses also use a mix of organic and paid media to maximize the potential reach for their stories.

3. Blogs

Promote written stories on your blog, Medium, or by guest posting on other publications.

4. Video

According to marketers, video has the highest ROI of any media format, especially short-form video. While spoken stories are best conveyed in person, consider recording a live performance to share later.

The more places you share your story, the more engagement you can expect from your audience.

Storytelling Resources

Storytelling is a trial-and-error process, and no one tells a story perfectly on the first try. That's why we've collected these resources to help you fine-tune your storytelling skills and learn more about the different ways you can tell a story.

For Writing

For Speaking

For Audio Stories

For Digital Storytelling

Start Telling Your Story

Storytelling is an art. It's also a process worth learning for both your business and your customers. Stories bring people together and inspire action and response. Also, today's consumer doesn't decide to buy based on what you're selling, but rather why you're selling it.

Storytelling helps you communicate that "why" in a creative, engaging way. You are a storyteller. So, pull together your ideas, find the right channel and tools, and share your story.
This post was originally published in November 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

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Storytelling is a powerful tool. Learn about the art of storytelling and how to develop your storytelling skills and connect to your audience.

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https://www.practicalecommerce.com/7-storytelling-techniques-and-how-to-apply-them

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Editor's Note: This article was originally published by Web Marketing Today. Practical Ecommerce acquired Web Marketing Today in 2012. In 2016, we merged the two sites, leaving Practical Ecommerce as the successor.
Storytelling is one of the marketing world's new darlings. It's a marketing strategy that has made it's way into everywhere from board rooms to mom and pop stores. Storytelling is even being hailed as the single most powerful business skill for the next decade.

Unfortunately, storytelling as applied to business can seem a bit lofty - more like a concept than a tactic. That's especially true if you're not a Fortune 500 company with a multi-million dollar budget for television commercials.

So does storytelling apply to smaller businesses? Can storytelling be practical? In a word: Yes.

Storytelling is actually the oldest way to deliver a message - or to explain the world. Ancient peoples used storytelling. The Bible uses storytelling. Your uncle uses storytelling. You're using storytelling for yourself and your business, even if you don't call it exactly that.

You're already a storyteller, but it's always good to improve your skills. So here are seven techniques to help you explain yourself and your business better. Even a few tweaks to your story can deliver major results.

But just knowing how to be a better storyteller isn't enough. So I've listed five areas of your business that you can apply your new storytelling skills to. These address very specific goals, like getting more readers to your blog, explaining what your company does, and attracting ideal employees.

Storytelling can seem like a lofty, magical topic, but it's actually one of the simplest, oldest ways to promote anything. You may find you even like it.

Here are seven storytelling techniques:

1. Have an Enemy and a Hero

Stories need a good guy and a bad guy - also called a hero and an enemy. The enemy can be a thing, like a desert or "the system" or even a fear within the hero. The arc of the story is how the hero beats the enemy.

Questions to ask yourself about this might include: What's the core enemy of my customers or clients? Is it danger? Wasted money? Unfulfilled dreams? Bad hair?

2. Use Conflict

Conflict is how the friction between the enemy and hero manifests. Maybe it shows up as the hero deciding to cross the desert, or when you, the business owner, decided to figure out how to defeat a problem. Conflict also describes the obstacles you encountered on your way to success, whether they were problems with your bank or with a tornado. If the hero has no struggle, then it's a lame story.

3. Omit any Irrelevant Detail

Omit any detail that doesn't move the story forward or develop the characters. This is about keeping the readers' attention. If they don't need to know about your red bicycle to understand the arc of your story, don't tell them about the bicycle. If they don't need to know what kind of awesome, high-tech sneakers you used to cross the desert, don't tell them about the sneakers.

4. Tell the Story Like You Talk

This one's pretty simple. Corporate-speak ruins stories. Talk like you would normally talk. If you sound a little too corporate to pass as an average person, hire a storyteller.

5. Make It Visual

There's a reason children's storybooks are mostly pictures, and that so many of the greatest stories ever told have been made into movies. Images bring a story to life. You can tell a story just by standing up and talking, but it had better be one heart-clutcher of a story. And even then, added images will make it more powerful.

6. Make It Personal & Easy to Relate To

To immediately borrow from the last point: Use images of what actually happened, or where it happened. Use images of the real people in the story, not stock photo models.

And again, talk like you talk. Show your personality. Reveal a bit of your weaknesses and your fears. Everybody else has those weaknesses and fears, too. This leverages a subtle power of storytelling: When we tell our own story, often we are telling other people's story too. Those people are your ideal audience, and your ideal customers or clients.

7. Add Surprise

A story with no surprises is boring. You knew this already (because you're already a storyteller, remember?), but it bears repeating. Whether it's a good surprise or a bad surprise, every good story has at least one surprise. This is an essential to a story as conflict.

Where Can I Apply Storytelling?

Now that you've got the thumbnail version of how to tell a good story, here's where to apply that story in your business:

1. Your Blog

You can use your blog as a segmented way to tell the long version of your story, or you can use each blog post is a mini-story. For example, you could write a post about your father, who was in the same business as you are now, and write the post as a story about something he did. That's telling a segment of your extended story. Or you could write a blog post about a client who struggled with something and how they overcame it as the mini-story you open a blog post with.

2. Videos

Any story you can think of about you or your business or your industry or your customers can be made better by creating a video of it. There's even a new tool called PowToon that will let you add some animations to your videos. You could create entire videos with just PowToon, and skip all audio or any images of you or anything else, but adding specifics will help.

3. About Page

This was already a page for your company's story, though no one called it that until storytelling was cool. Look at your About Page as the ideal place to tell your story. That's a great lens to view it through when you rewrite it.

4. Advertising Hooks

To remind you how powerful storytelling can be as an advertising hook, I've got one question: "Can you hear me now?"

5. Attracting Employees

Whether you're attracting new employees or inspiring existing ones, stories are a fantastic tool. Remember how I said stories are a way to explain the world? How would you explain your company's worldview in a story?

Are any you using any other storytelling techniques in your business? Have they made a difference in your marketing? Let us know in the comments.

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7 Storytelling Techniques and How To Apply Them | Practical Ecommerce

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Storytelling is one of the marketing world's new darlings. It's a marketing strategy that has made it's way into everywhere from board rooms to mom and pop stores. Storytelling is even being hailed as the single most powerful business skill for the next decade.

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Tech giants Google, Microsoft and Facebook are all applying the lessons of machine learning to translation, but a small company called DeepL has outdone them all and raised the bar for the field.
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https://youtu.be/TG2Hy-cbA1k

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NAR - GOAL Movement, Erasmus+ Youth Exchange “Go out and learn”

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https://youtu.be/hnSxpsJpW2g

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Сat's vlog in Kabak Valley - GOAL Movement, Erasmus+ Youth Exchange “Go out and learn”

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Sahmeran the Queen of snakes - GOAL Movement, Erasmus+ Youth Exchange “Go out and learn”

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Do you have a charger? - GOAL Movement, Erasmus+ Youth Exchange “Go out and learn”

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YOLO - GOAL Movement, Erasmus+ Youth Exchange “Go out and learn”

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Way to the beach - GOAL Movement, Erasmus+ Youth Exchange “Go out and learn”

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https://www.tiktok.com/@goout.learn?_t=8Xu7kuay0JC&_r=1

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https://doodle.com/en/

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https://esmaja.lv/lv/telpas

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Saistībā ar COVID-19 izplatību pasaulē un Latvijā, aicinām būt atbildīgiem un ievērot piesardzības pasākumus.
Pasākuma organizators ir tieši atbildīgs par epidemioloģisko pasākumu īstenošanu un ES mājas pasākumiem izvirzīto prasību izpildi. Apmeklētāju skaitu kontrolē pasākuma organizators

Aicinām rīkot pasākumus ES mājā, ievērojot rekomendācijas medicīnisko masku/ FFP2 respiratoru lietošanai, distances ievērošanai un telpu vēdināšanai.

ES mājā nedrīkst atrasties personas, kam ir noteikts pienākums ievērot stingru izolāciju, pašizolāciju vai mājas karantīnu, kā arī personas ar elpceļu infekcijas slimības pazīmēm.

Šo noteikumu neievērošana var būt par pamatu, lai pārtrauktu pasākumu un lūgtu tā dalībniekiem un organizatoriem atstāt ES mājas telpas.

Eiropas Komisijas pārstāvniecība un Eiropas Parlamenta birojam ir tiesības jebkurā laikā atteikt ES mājas telpu izmantošanu un slēgt ES mājas telpas.

ES māja iestājas par racionālu, ilgtspējīgu un videi draudzīgu pasākumu organizēšanu un zaļo praksi ikdienā. Lai mudinātu samazināt resursu patēriņu, ja iespējams, lietot tos vēlreiz, kā arī šķirot atkritumus, esam sagatavojuši ieteikumus pasākumu rīkotājiem.

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6 galdi (virsma 160x80 cm)

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Tāfele

Svarīgi! Saistībā ar COVID-19 izplatību pasaulē un Latvijā, aicinām būt atbildīgiem un ievērot piesardzības pasākumus.

Pasākuma organizators ir tieši atbildīgs par epidemioloģisko pasākumu īstenošanu un ES mājas pasākumiem izvirzīto prasību izpildi. Apmeklētāju skaitu kontrolē pasākuma organizators.

ES mājas 1. stāva telpās vienlaicīgi var atrasties maksimums 35 pasākuma dalībnieki.

Telpa atvērta pasākumu norisei katru darba dienu no plkst. 10.30 līdz 17.00 (pasākuma sagatavošanai - no plkst. 10.00, telpu sakārtošanai pēc pasākuma - līdz 17.30).

ES mājā nedrīkst atrasties personas, kam ir noteikts pienākums ievērot stingru izolāciju, pašizolāciju vai mājas karantīnu, kā arī personas ar elpceļu infekcijas slimības pazīmēm.

Šo noteikumu neievērošana var būt par pamatu, lai pārtrauktu pasākumu un lūgtu tā dalībniekiem un organizatoriem atstāt ES mājas telpas.

Eiropas Komisijas pārstāvniecība un Eiropas Parlamenta birojam ir tiesības jebkurā laikā atteikt ES mājas telpu izmantošanu un slēgt ES mājas telpas.

ES māja iestājas par racionālu, ilgtspējīgu un videi draudzīgu pasākumu organizēšanu un zaļo praksi ikdienā. Lai mudinātu samazināt resursu patēriņu, ja iespējams, lietot tos vēlreiz, kā arī šķirot atkritumus, esam sagatavojuši ieteikumus pasākumu rīkotājiem.

Lai veiktu rezervāciju, aicinām sazināties pa tālr. 67085415 vai e-pastu telpas@esmaja.lv.

Izstādes izvietošanas ilgums - līdz vienam kalendārajam mēnesim.

Telpa atvērta apmeklētājiem katru darba dienu no plkst. 09.00 līdz 18.00.

Izstādes rīkotājs atbild par izstādes iekārtošanu un noņemšanu.

Telpa izstādes apmeklētājiem var nebūt pieejama Sarunu istabā notiekošo pasākumu laikā.

ES māja iestājas par racionālu, ilgtspējīgu un videi draudzīgu pasākumu organizēšanu un zaļo praksi ikdienā. Lai mudinātu samazināt resursu patēriņu, ja iespējams, lietot tos vēlreiz, kā arī šķirot atkritumus, esam sagatavojuši ieteikumus pasākumu rīkotājiem.

Krēsli (max 40)

Dators ar interneta pieslēgumu

Projektors

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5 žurnālu galdiņi

Akustiskā iekārta (audio atskaņošanai no datora)

Mikrofoni (3 rokas, 3 "head-set" tipa, 8 galda)

Tāfele

Svarīgi! Saistībā ar COVID-19 izplatību pasaulē un Latvijā, aicinām būt atbildīgiem un ievērot piesardzības pasākumus.

Pasākuma organizators ir tieši atbildīgs par epidemioloģisko pasākumu īstenošanu un ES mājas pasākumiem izvirzīto prasību izpildi. Apmeklētāju skaitu kontrolē pasākuma organizators.

ES mājas 2. stāva kamīnzāles telpā vienlaicīgi var atrasties maksimums 40 pasākuma dalībnieki.

Telpa atvērta pasākumu norisei katru darba dienu no plkst. 10.00 līdz 17.00 (pasākuma sagatavošanai - no plkst. 09.30, telpu sakārtošanai pēc pasākuma - līdz 17.30).

ES mājā nedrīkst atrasties personas, kam ir noteikts pienākums ievērot stingru izolāciju, pašizolāciju vai mājas karantīnu, kā arī personas ar elpceļu infekcijas slimības pazīmēm.

Šo noteikumu neievērošana var būt par pamatu, lai pārtrauktu pasākumu un lūgtu tā dalībniekiem un organizatoriem atstāt ES mājas telpas.

Eiropas Komisijas pārstāvniecība un Eiropas Parlamenta birojam ir tiesības jebkurā laikā atteikt ES mājas telpu izmantošanu un slēgt ES mājas telpas.

ES māja iestājas par racionālu, ilgtspējīgu un videi draudzīgu pasākumu organizēšanu un zaļo praksi ikdienā. Lai mudinātu samazināt resursu patēriņu, ja iespējams, lietot tos vēlreiz, kā arī šķirot atkritumus, esam sagatavojuši ieteikumus pasākumu rīkotājiem.

Stikla zālē

Apaļais galds, krēsli (max 20)

3 galdi priekštelpā (virsma 160x80 cm)

Dators ar interneta pieslēgumu

Projektors

Akustiskā iekārta (audio atskaņošanai no datora)

Vēršam uzmanību!

Svarīgi! Saistībā ar COVID-19 izplatību pasaulē un Latvijā, aicinām būt atbildīgiem un ievērot piesardzības pasākumus.

Pasākuma organizators ir tieši atbildīgs par epidemioloģisko pasākumu īstenošanu un ES mājas pasākumiem izvirzīto prasību izpildi. Apmeklētāju skaitu kontrolē pasākuma organizators.

ES mājas 2. stāva stikla zālē vienlaicīgi var atrasties maksimums 20 pasākuma dalībnieki.

2. stāva telpas atvērtas pasākumu norisei katru darba dienu no plkst. 10.00 līdz 17.00 (telpu sakārtošanai pirms un pēc pasākuma - no plkst. 09.30 līdz 17.30).

ES mājā nedrīkst atrasties personas, kam ir noteikts pienākums ievērot stingru izolāciju, pašizolāciju vai mājas karantīnu, kā arī personas ar elpceļu infekcijas slimības pazīmēm.

Šo noteikumu neievērošana var būt par pamatu, lai pārtrauktu pasākumu un lūgtu tā dalībniekiem un organizatoriem atstāt ES mājas telpas.

Eiropas Komisijas pārstāvniecība un Eiropas Parlamenta birojam ir tiesības jebkurā laikā atteikt ES mājas telpu izmantošanu un slēgt ES mājas telpas.

ES māja iestājas par racionālu, ilgtspējīgu un videi draudzīgu pasākumu organizēšanu un zaļo praksi ikdienā. Lai mudinātu samazināt resursu patēriņu, ja iespējams, lietot tos vēlreiz, kā arī šķirot atkritumus, esam sagatavojuši ieteikumus pasākumu rīkotājiem.

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Saistībā ar COVID-19 izplatību pasaulē un Latvijā, aicinām būt atbildīgiem un ievērot piesardzības pasākumus. Pasākuma organizators ir tieši atbildīgs par epidemioloģisko pasākumu īstenošanu un ES mājas pasākumiem izvirzīto prasību izpildi. Apmeklētāju skaitu kontrolē pasākuma organizators Aicinām rīkot pasākumus ES mājā, ievērojot rekomendācijas medicīnisko masku/ FFP2 respiratoru lietošanai, distances ievērošanai un telpu vēdināšanai.

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https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/erasmus-esc/index/

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Apply and manage your applications and projects for decentralised actions of Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps programmes.

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https://opentextbc.ca/projectmanagement/chapter/chapter-12-budget-planning-project-management/

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Every project boils down to money. If you had a bigger budget, you could probably get more people to do your project more quickly and deliver more. That's why no project plan is complete until you come up with a budget. But no matter whether your project is big or small, and no matter how many resources and activities are in it, the process for figuring out the bottom line is always the same.

It is important to come up with detailed estimates for all the project costs. Once this is compiled, you add up the cost estimates into a budget plan. It is now possible to track the project according to that budget while the work is ongoing.

Often, when you come into a project, there is already an expectation of how much it will cost or how much time it will take. When you make an estimate early in the project without knowing much about it, that estimate is called a rough order-of-magnitude estimate (or a ballpark estimate). This estimate will become more refined as time goes on and you learn more about the project. Here are some tools and techniques for estimating cost:

Determination of resource cost rates: People who will be working on the project all work at a specific rate. Any materials you use to build the project (e.g., wood or wiring) will be charged at a rate too. Determining resource costs means figuring out what the rate for labour and materials will be.

Vendor bid analysis: Sometimes you will need to work with an external contractor to get your project done. You might even have more than one contractor bid on the job. This tool is about evaluating those bids and choosing the one you will accept.

Reserve analysis: You need to set aside some money for cost overruns. If you know that your project has a risk of something expensive happening, it is better to have some cash available to deal with it. Reserve analysis means putting some cash away in case of overruns.

Cost of quality: You will need to figure the cost of all your quality-related activities into the overall budget. Since it's cheaper to find bugs earlier in the project than later, there are always quality costs associated with everything your project produces. Cost of quality is just a way of tracking the cost of those activities. It is the amount of money it takes to do the project right.

Once you apply all the tools in this process, you will arrive at an estimate for how much your project will cost. It's important to keep all of your supporting estimate information. That way, you know the assumptions made when you were coming up with the numbers. Now you are ready to build your budget plan.

During the conceptual phase when project selection occurs, economic factors are an important consideration in choosing between competing projects. To compare the simple paybacks or internal rates of return between projects, an estimate of the cost of each project is made. The estimates must be accurate enough so that the comparisons are meaningful, but the amount of time and resources used to make the estimates should be appropriate to the size and complexity of the project. The methods used to estimate the cost of the project during the selection phase are generally faster and consume fewer resources than those used to create detailed estimates in later phases. They rely more on the expert judgment of experienced managers who can make accurate estimates with less detailed information. Estimates in the earliest stages of project selection are usually based on information from previous projects that can be adjusted- scaled -to match the size and complexity of the current project or developed using standardized formulas.

Analogous Estimate

An estimate that is based on other project estimates is an analogous estimate. If a similar project cost a certain amount, then it is reasonable to assume that the current project will cost about the same. Few projects are exactly the same size and complexity, so the estimate must be adjusted upward or downward to account for the differences. The selection of projects that are similar and the amount of adjustment needed is up to the judgment of the person who makes the estimate. Normally, this judgment is based on many years of experience estimating projects, including incorrect estimates that were learning experiences for the expert.

Less-experienced managers who are required to make analogous estimates can look through the documentation that is available from previous projects. If projects were evaluated using the Darnall-Preston Complexity Index (DPCI), the manager can quickly identify projects that have profiles similar to the project under consideration, even if those projects were managed by other people.

The DPCI assesses project attributes, enabling better-informed decisions in creating the project profile. This index assesses the complexity level of key components of a project and produces a unique project profile. The profile indicates the project complexity level, which provides a benchmark for comparing projects and information about the characteristics of a project that can then be addressed in the project execution plan. It achieves this objective by grouping 11 attributes into four broad categories: internal, external, technological complexity, and environmental.

Comparing the original estimates with the final project costs on several previous projects with the same DPCI ratings gives a less-experienced manager the perspective that it would take many years to acquire by trial and error. It also provides references the manager can use to justify the estimate.

Parametric Estimate

If the project consists of activities that are common to many other projects, average costs are available per unit. For example, if you ask a construction company how much it would cost to build a standard office building, the estimator will ask for the size of the building in square feet and the city in which the building will be built. From these two factors-size and location-the company's estimator can predict the cost of the building. Factors like size and location are parameters-measurable factors that can be used in an equation to calculate a result. The estimator knows the average cost per square foot of a typical office building and adjustments for local labour costs. Other parameters such as quality of finishes are used to further refine the estimate. Estimates that are calculated by multiplying measured parameters by cost-per-unit values are parametric estimates.

Bottom-Up Estimating

The most accurate and time-consuming estimating method is to identify the cost of each item in each activity of the schedule, including labour and materials. If you view the project schedule as a hierarchy where the general descriptions of tasks are at the top and the lower levels become more detailed, finding the price of each item at the lowest level and then summing them to determine the cost of higher levels is called bottom-up estimating.

Activity-Based Estimates

An activity can have costs from multiple vendors in addition to internal costs for labour and materials. Detailed estimates from all sources can be reorganized so those costs associated with a particular activity can be grouped by adding the activity code to the detailed estimate (Table 12.2).

The detailed cost estimates can be sorted and then subtotaled by activity to determine the cost for each activity.

Projects seldom go according to plan in every detail. It is necessary for the project manager to be able to identify when costs are varying from the budget and manage those variations.

Managing Cash Flow

If the total amount spent on a project is equal to or less than the amount budgeted, the project can still be in trouble if the funding for the project is not available when it is needed. There is a natural tension between the financial people in an organization, who do not want to pay for the use of money that is just sitting in a checking account, and the project manager, who wants to be sure that there is enough money available to pay for project expenses. The financial people prefer to keep the company's money working in other investments until the last moment before transferring it to the project account. The contractors and vendors have similar concerns, and they want to get paid as soon as possible so they can put the money to work in their own organizations. The project manager would like to have as much cash available as possible to use if activities exceed budget expectations.

Contingency Reserves

Most projects have something unexpected occur that increases costs above the original estimates. If estimates are rarely exceeded, the estimating method should be reviewed because the estimates are too high. It is impossible to predict which activities will cost more than expected, but it is reasonable to assume that some of them will. Estimating the likelihood of such events is part of risk analysis, which is discussed in more detail in a later chapter.

Instead of overestimating each cost, money is budgeted for dealing with unplanned but statistically predictable cost increases. Funds allocated for this purpose are called contingency reserves. Because it is likely that this money will be spent, it is part of the total budget for the project. If this fund is adequate to meet the unplanned expenses, then the project will complete within the budget.

Management Reserves

If something occurs during the project that requires a change in the project scope, money may be needed to deal with the situation before a change in scope can be negotiated with the project sponsor or client. It could be an opportunity as well as a challenge. For example, if a new technology were invented that would greatly enhance your completed project, there would be additional cost and a change to the scope, but it would be worth it. Money can be made available at the manager's discretion to meet needs that would change the scope of the project. These funds are called management reserves. Unlike contingency reserves, they are not likely to be spent and are not part of the project's budget baseline, but they can be included in the total project budget.

Evaluating the Budget During the Project

A project manager must regularly compare the amount of money spent with the budgeted amount and report this information to managers and stakeholders. It is necessary to establish an understanding of how this progress will be measured and reported.

Earned Value Analysis

A method that is widely used for medium- and high-complexity projects is the earned value management (EVM) method. EVM is a method of periodically comparing the budgeted costs with the actual costs during the project. It combines the scheduled activities with detailed cost estimates of each activity. It allows for partial completion of an activity if some of the detailed costs associated with the activity have been paid but others have not.

The budgeted cost of work scheduled (BCWS) comprises the detailed cost estimates for each activity in the project. The amount of work that should have been done by a particular date is the planned value (PV). These terms are used interchangeably by some sources, but the planned value term is used in formulas to refer to the sum of the budgeted cost of work up to a particular point in the project, so we will make that distinction in the definitions in this text for clarity.

The budgeted cost of work performed (BCWP) is the budgeted cost of work scheduled that has been done. If you sum the BCWP values up to that point in the project schedule, you have the earned value (EV). The amount spent on an item is often more or less than the estimated amount that was budgeted for that item. The actual cost (AC) is the sum of the amounts actually spent on the items.

Schedule Variance

The project manager must know if the project is on schedule and within the budget. The difference between planned and actual progress is the variance. The schedule variance (SV) is the difference between the earned value (EV) and the planned value (PV). Expressed as a formula, SV = EV − PV. If less value has been earned than was planned, the schedule variance is negative, which means the project is behind schedule.

The difference between the earned value (EV) and the actual cost (AC) is the cost variance (CV). Expressed as a formula, CV = EV −AC. A positive CV indicates the project is under budget.

Variance Indexes for Schedule and Cost

The schedule variance and the cost variance provide the amount by which the spending is behind (or ahead of) schedule and the amount by which a project is exceeding (or not fully using) its budget. They do not give an idea of how these amounts compare with the total budget.

The ratio of earned value to planned value gives an indication of how much of the project is completed. This ratio is the schedule performance index (SPI). The formula is SPI = EV ÷ PV. In the John's move example, the SPI equals 0.62 (SPI = $162.10 ÷ $261.65 = 0.62) An SPI value less than 1 indicates the project is behind schedule.

The ratio of the earned value to the actual cost is the cost performance index (CPI). The formula is CPI = EV ÷ AC.

During the project, the manager can evaluate the schedule using the schedule variance (SV) and the schedule performance index (SPI), and the budget using the cost variance (CV) and the cost performance index (CPI).

Estimated Cost to Complete the Project

Part way through the project, the manager evaluates the accuracy of the cost estimates for the activities that have taken place and uses that experience to predict how much money it will take to complete the unfinished activities- the estimate to complete (ETC).

To calculate the ETC, the manager must decide if the cost variance observed in the estimates to that point are representative of the future. For example, if unusually bad weather causes increased cost during the first part of the project, it is not likely to have the same effect on the rest of the project. If the manager decides that the cost variance up to this point in the project is atypical-not typical-then the estimate to complete is the difference between the original budget for the entire project-the budget at completion (BAC) -and the earned value (EV) up to that point. Expressed as a formula, ETC = BAC − EV.

If the manager decides that the cost variance is caused by factors that will affect the remaining activities, such as higher labour and material costs, then the estimate to complete (ETC) needs to be adjusted by dividing it by the cost performance index (CPI). For example, if labour costs on the first part of a project are estimated at $80,000 (EV) and they actually cost $85,000 (AC), the cost performance (CPI) will be 0.94. (Recall that the CPI = EV ÷ AC.)

To calculate the estimate to complete (ETC), assuming the cost variance on known activities is typical of future cost, the formula is ETC = (BAC − EV) ÷ CPI. If the budget at completion (BAC) of the project is $800,000, the estimate to complete is ($800,000 − $80,000) ÷ 0.94 = $766,000.

Estimate Final Project Cost

If the costs of the activities up to the present vary from the original estimates, this will affect the total estimate of the project cost. The new estimate of the project cost is the estimate at completion (EAC). To calculate the EAC, the estimate to complete (ETC) is added to the actual cost (AC) of the activities already performed. Expressed as a formula, EAC = AC + ETC.

To summarize (Table 12.5):

Extra money is allocated in a contingency fund to deal with activities where costs exceed estimates. Funds are allocated in a management reserve in case a significant opportunity or challenge occurs that requires change of scope but funds are needed immediately before a scope change can typically be negotiated.

Schedule variance is the difference between the part of the budget that has been spent so far (EV) versus the part that was planned to be spent by now (PV). Similarly, the cost variance is the difference between the EV and the actual cost (AC).

The schedule performance index (SPI) is the ratio of the earned value and the planned value. The cost performance index (CPI) is the ratio of the earned value (EV) to the actual cost (AC).

The formula used to calculate the amount of money needed to complete the project (ETC) depends on whether or not the cost variance to this point is expected to continue (typical) or not (atypical). If the cost variance is atypical, the ETC is simply the original total budget (BAC) minus the earned value (EV). If they are typical of future cost variances, the ETC is adjusted by dividing the difference between BAC and EV by the CPI.

The final budget is the actual cost (AC) to this point plus the estimate to complete (ETC).

Once you have broken your project down into activities, you will be able to calculate your overall project costs by estimating and totaling the individual activity costs.

This process of subtotaling costs by category or activity is called cost aggregation.

Budget Timeline

Costs are associated with activities, and since each activity has a start date and a duration period, it is possible to calculate how much money will be spent by any particular date during the project. The money needed to pay for a project is usually transferred to the project account shortly before it is needed. These transfers must be timed so that the money is there to pay for each activity without causing a delay in the start of the activity. If the money is transferred too far in advance, the organization will lose the opportunity to use the money somewhere else, or they will have to pay unnecessary interest charges if the money is borrowed. A schedule of money transfers is created that should match the need to pay for the activities. The process of matching the schedule of transfers with the schedule of activity payments is called reconciliation. Refer to Figure 12.4, which shows the costs of 10 major activities in a project. Funds are transferred into the project account four times. Notice that during most of the project, there were more funds available than were spent except at activity 6 when all the available funds were spent.

In the project budget profile shown in Figure 12.4, there is no margin for error if the total of the first six activities exceeds the amount of funding at that point in the project.

Contractual agreements with vendors often require partial payment of their costs during the project. Those contracts can be managed more conveniently if the unit of measure for partial completion is the same as that used for cost budgeting. For example, if a graphic designer is putting together several pieces of artwork for a textbook, their contract may call for partial payment after 25% of their total number of drawings is complete.

Text Attributions

This chapter of Project Management is a derivative of the following texts:

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Every project boils down to money. If you had a bigger budget, you could probably get more people to do your project more quickly and deliver more. That's why no project plan is complete until you come up with a budget.

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Norādi, kāda veida darbu un kādā nozarē vēlies, un, vadoties pēc tā, mēs nosūtīsim piemērotās vakances uz Tavu e-pastu ik pēc 2 nedēļām. Tā vietā, lai meklētu sev atbilstošākās vakances, Tu tās saņemsi savā epastā bez lielas piepūles. Tu vari mainīt savas intereses jebkurā brīdī.

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Recognition tool for non-formal & informal learning in youth projects

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Youthpass at first glance

Youthpass is a tool that gives the word to the learners in describing their learning outcomes.

Youthpass is the recognition instrument developed for the projects realised in the European youth programmes. Through the Youthpass certificate, participation in such projects can be recognised as an educational experience and a period of non-formal and informal learning. Youthpass foresees a process applied throughout the project life-cycle to support the learning of participants. It also serves as a strategy that improves the recognition of non-formal learning in Europe.

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Recognition tool for non-formal & informal learning in youth projects 2019-06-20 counter for smart phone with YP person Youthpass is a tool that gives the word to the learners in describing their learning outcomes. Youthpass is the recognition instrument developed for the projects realised in the European youth programmes.