Sharing Good practices by Domagoj Morić

Cooperation with NGO focused on refugee and humanitarian work

simonpresser — 2022-09-20 08:49:45 UTC

We did a series of workshops with well established NGOs (Doctors without borders, People in need, Organisation for Aid to Refugees...) to share their experience with our beneficiaries, smaller NGOs and general public. Each seminar was prepared by the respective NGO and was planned for 6 hours. Each also included a part about Erasmus+ and ESC possibilities. We aslo used TCA/NET funds to cover the costs.

Czech Republic

TCA/NET co-financing in the form of National contribution to TCA/NET officer

simonpresser — 2022-09-20 08:56:49 UTC

Guide for NAs state the possibility that "Co-financing may take form of ... national contribution to the staff costs of TCA/NET officer(s)" (part 10.1.3.1 Co-financing). If the costs for the Officer are paid by national funds and are sufficient in ratio 5:95% to other costs, no further cofinancing of TCA/NET should be needed.

Targeting webinars to specific groups of beneficiaries

simonpresser — 2022-09-20 09:30:28 UTC

Besides rgeneral webinars we tailor-made seminars and webinars to individual target groups (e.g. Childrens homes, Youth centres etc.). Thanks to this approach we can prepare the seminars to reflect their exact specifics, answer questions that are relevant for all participants and also support networking between them. These aspects are more difficult in "general" webinars for anyone.

Czech Republic

Connecting with project incubators and Universities

simonpresser — 2022-09-20 15:26:13 UTC

Project incubators and specific university programmes teaching young people to start a project are often purely theoretical. We want to incorporate Erasmus and ESC opportuinities to their curriculums so that the project ideas that are created can be later submitted for funding

Czech Republic

Joining E+ YOUTH & E&T with ESC

margretzeiner — 2022-09-21 09:31:39 UTC

We aim events (workshops, TCA etc.) at participants from Erasmus+ Youth and E&T as well as the European Solidarity Corps in order to create more interesting links and synergies.

Agency of Youth Affairs nowadays is planning to implement such ideas: I. Organize a scholarship funding competition for volunteers or employees in order to promote employment of Ukrainian youth; II. Allocate a part of the funds to support initiatives, which include psychological help for teenagers and young people, English and Lithuanian language courses. (Lithuania)

2022-09-22 10:28:04 UTC

“Travelling Year of Youth” (Lithuania, LT02)

2022-09-22 10:29:25 UTC

Travelling Year of Youth is a cycle of 9 events, during which one-day fair-type events are implemented in cooperation with municipalities. During these regional events local youth and youth representatives engage in discussions with decision makers and specialists on topics such as youth participation and engagement, gap year opportunities, how to choose a career path, emotional health and etc. In addition to these activities on the main stage, participants are invited to, “Live library” an interactive experience sharing activity. Also, Erasmus+, ESC, Youth voluntary service, Eurodesk, European Commission representative office in Lithuania, Lithuanian Youth Organizations Council, regional youth organizations and organizations who are working with youth in the region presents opportunities for Youth on the regional, national and EU levels. During these events participants also have an opportunity to hear young aspiring artists form the region and popular music bands and performers.

Research project

2022-09-22 13:51:10 UTC

As complement to RAY-MON, which does not reach certain target groups, especially young people with fewer opportunities, the BIJ cooperated with researchers to carry out a survey of 50 young people of different social and educational backgrounds. More than half of them young people were young people with fewer opportunities.

The objective was to assess the medium and long-term impact of their participation in mobility projects (youth exchanges, volunteering…) + barriers and obstacles to access to these programmes + possible improvements to increase the involvement of young people with fewer opportunities.

This survey resulted in a detailed report and al illustrated brochure containing the main conclusions, recommendations and many inspiring testimonies.

The survey highlighted the NA’s capacity to reach a significant number of young people with fewer opportunities through its supportive approach and close collaboration with youth organizations
Belgium FR

Big increase in number of Monitorings

simonpresser — 2022-09-23 07:13:34 UTC

Moonitoring visits are proving to be very good tool to both finding the suspicious activities and at the same time motivate the good applicants by providing constructive feedback. It is time consuming, but worth it.

Czech Republic

Training "Methods for managing tensions and preventing enmity” organised in Estonia.

reet_kost — 2022-09-23 08:02:36 UTC

The need for training arose because of the Ukrainian war. Situation in Ida-Virumaa between local Russian youth and arrived Ukrainian war refugees was tense, and local people working with youth needed support on how to resolve the situation peacefully. The training was conducted in cooperation with the youth work organization in Ida-Virumaa MTÜ Vitatiim. The aim of the training was to support people working with local youth so that they understand their role and emotional state in conflict prevention and resolution. Participants also learned active peace-building methods.

„A Training for Beginner Trainers“ (Estonia)

reet_kost — 2022-09-23 08:03:41 UTC

was a 5 day international training course focused on developing competences linked with the design of trainings and on how to develop workshop models on the concept(s) of Solidarity. The training was targeted for the beginner trainers from the youth field. 12 trainers from Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Poland and Turkey participated in the training.

Cross-sectoral seminar "How to talk about disabilities? How to ask about special needs? How to delicately offer help? How to create a safe environment for a disabled person?'

reet_kost — 2022-09-23 08:05:20 UTC

The aim of the seminar was to give people working in the youth filed practical knowledge and confidence on how to include people with disabilities in their activities and how Eramus+ program is supporting involving people with disabilities (and participants with fewer opportunities) in international activities in the field of education and youth work. Seminar was organized together with the Estonian Chamber of People with Disabilities. Organised by the EE NA

Transnational training “ProjectLab: how rural youth workers can use international youth work to work with refugees and migrants” will take place in Estonia on October 2022.

reet_kost — 2022-09-23 08:06:51 UTC

The aim of the training is to introduce Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps funding as a possibilities in behalf of refugees. The participation is open for participants from EU countries and Eastern Europe and Caucasus states.

KA2 cross-sectoral TCA focused on green topics

2022-09-23 08:33:45 UTC

The Na started national TCA training for all KA2 sectors focused on rising numbers of "green projects" in KA2 (Croatia)

Working groups

2022-09-23 08:41:20 UTC

The NA developed 4 working groups dealing with different topics need for the quality NA work (internal procedures, forms, communication and information and horizontal priorities of the programme). Those groups are owners of four mentioned topics and do developments and mitigating actions connected. (Croatia)

New methodology and increase of checks

mathieu_roumegous — 2022-09-23 09:49:24 UTC

- Determination of criteria for the operational capacity check

- Better targeting for desk checks and system checks
- Cooperation with other NAs (in particular French E&T NA)

France (FR02)

Overseas strategy

mathieu_roumegous — 2022-09-23 09:50:47 UTC

- Organisation of specific trainings for overseas organisations

- Creation of regional (Caribbean, Indian Ocean) and international (5 countries with overseas) networks, in order to foster Erasmus+ and ESC projects

- Advocacy note sent to European Commission to take into account some specificities of the overseas (travel and subsistence costs…)

France (FR02)

Strategic Co-operation with other sectors (eg Education of Youth workers) Ireland

2022-09-23 10:11:50 UTC

We have been working for a few years on reaching and collaborating with other sectors within the agency and across beneficiaries. This is strongly reflected in our participation in SNACs and in the continued development of the Certificate in European projects for Youth which we design and deliver in partnership with higher education institutions. As a result we have a steering group of organisations working with us to support integration of EU Youth policy and programmes into the curriculum for education of youth workers in Ireland.

EYY Microgrants Ukraine Priority

emmagrainger — 2022-09-23 11:34:27 UTC

Within the Irish NA we planned 6 deadlines for small grants related to EYY across 2022 (funded mainly directly by our Ministry of Youth). After these grants were established the war broke out and as part of our response we added a specific priority for these activities. This priority is specifically aimed at activity development that supports young people from Ukraine, those working with them as well as values that underpin the European Union.
- Supporting young people from Ukraine. - Projects that look at aiding integration. - Projects or events that examine topics with young people such as democracy, solidarity or preventing disinformation.

Green travel policy for the NA staff

2022-09-23 12:51:51 UTC

A new travelpolicy was introduced in September for NA staff. Aim: 1 in 4 travels for NA business should be 'green'.
NA staff will have to travel for work by train/bus/ferry when traveltime is less than 8 hours from Brussels. If travel time is longer, staff can choose and specific rules apply (compensation, when and when not, etc.).
Recommendations for TCA/NET activities as well as for funded projects will be discussed later.

Belgium-Flanders

Supportive approach

2022-09-23 13:25:17 UTC

We guarantee that if an applicant send our their draft application 14 days before deadline, they will receive a comprehensive feed-back on it.

NA Norway Youth

Building a National Working Group on Youth Work

2022-09-23 13:36:59 UTC

Following the reccomendation of last Youth Work Convention in Bonn, a National working group on youth work has been put in place in Italy. The group is composed by the main stakeholders in touch with the NA and it has the aim to support the youth work field and the youth work recognition.
Italy

Keep It Real TC (Lithuania)

2022-09-23 13:49:29 UTC

Keep It Real TC is aimed at those who have no or just a little experience of applying for international Youth Exchange – either they have just recently applied for the grant and were rejected or they have freshly „joined the club“ of applicants by planning to apply for a grant for the first time. This year, TC’s concept was renewed by introducing an online info-session on Erasmus+, formal requirements and quality aspects of youth exchange projects, objectives of the TC, etc., before the open call for participation in the TC. We found this very useful addition – better understanding of the context, better targeted participation, more realistic expectations of the participants.

Strong in Diversity TC (Lithuania, LT02)

2022-09-23 14:31:43 UTC

In the summer of 2022, a summer training course for young people, "Strong in Diversity", was organised for 150 young people, half of them from national minorities. Young people aged 14 to 18 from South-Eastern and Eastern Lithuania interacted with each other and carried out tasks together. The training focused on two themes: tolerance towards people of other nationalities and media literacy. In addition, opportunities for young people to participate in national and European programmes were widely discussed.
The training was organised in cooperation with the Lithuanian NGO "Socialinis sufleris", the Education Exchange Support Foundation (Lithuanian NA of Education and Training), the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of National Defence, the Strategic Communication Department of the Lithuanian Armed Forces and the British Council Lithuania.

Eurodesk Young Ambassadors

eurodesk — 2022-09-23 14:42:21 UTC

Eurodesk Ireland, which is part of the Irish NA, established a group/panel of young Ambassadors - young people (18-25) who either had taken part in EU programmes or are young activists interested in EU topics. Their role is to promote EU programmes - i.e. ESC, DiscoverEU, E+ - and opportunities to their peers via social media and at events. They are also involved in the EYY pool of young journalists and have supported diverse Eurodesk and NA events.

Ireland

Partnership with experts and youth networks (SNAC's)

CSTeam — 2022-09-23 15:52:59 UTC

As part of the SNAC Digital Youthwork we partner with the National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI). This partnership strongly support the youth work digital transformation, the capacity of youth workers managers and organisations, action research and youth participation. As a result the national activities that are part of the Snac work packages are rolled out among NYCI networks of hard to reach young people, the frontline youth work partners lead on project delivery, gaining experience in developing, managing and evaluating in-depth, youth-led digital projects, while NYCI provides capacity/professional development support.

Stories of young people between solidarity, volunteering and civic engagement

2022-09-23 19:50:05 UTC

The IT NA organized a seminar with ESC volunteers, volunteers from other voluntary and civic engagement paths, organizations involved in volunteering at national and international level and with local associations. The activity was aimed at comparing the common characteristics and values of the different volunteering experiences, to share and reflect on current challenges and to maximize the impact of the activities of young people at the local community level.
Italy

Support to Ukraine – actions undertaken by the Polish National Agency of the Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps programme and SALTO Eastern Europe and Caucasus Resource Center in 2022

2022-09-24 19:04:23 UTC

POLAND
(PL01, SALTO EECA)

1. Information and support to Beneficiary organizations

[PL NA & SALTO EECA]From the beginning of Russian invasion on Ukraine both Polish NA and SALTO EECA informed that Beneficiary organizations who undertake mobility in Ukraine or Russia as part of the co-financed projects can cancel, postpone or change the place of activities planned in both countries in the most flexible way possible. Detailed guidelines were distributed among Beneficiary organizations and made available at the National Agency’s website.

2. Additional application deadlines in Erasmus+ Youth and European Solidarity Corps programmes

a) [PL NA]deadline 4^th May – with support to Ukrainian youth and refugees from Ukraine as one of top priorities. Almost 80 projects additionally supported.

o Erasmus+ Youth (KA154): participation projects - 28 projects awarded (out of 56 submitted), total grants’ support of over 1 200 000 EUR;

o European Solidarity Corps (ESC30): solidarity projects – 50 projects awarded (out of 78 submitted) with total grants’ support of over 297 000 EUR

3. Events organized by Polish National Agency

The topic of Russian invasion onto Ukraine was a tackled during many events organized by Polish National Agency
of the Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps programmes, among others:

a) [PL NA & SALTO EECA] European Forum of Young Leaders & European Economic Congress, 26-27 April 2022, Katowice. The topic of the war in Ukraine was included in the discussion panels and workshops organized by Polish NA and SALTO EECA during the event. Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Youth and Sport Ms. Maryna Popatenko attended the event. 200 participants of the Forum came from the European Union, the Western Balkans, and the Eastern Partnership countries, 25 participants came from Ukraine.

b) [PL NA & SALTO EECA] International seminar “How to talk about war? Working with young people in times of war crisis” took place in Toruń on 11-16 July 2022. The seminar created a space for reflection to reflect on how to talk with young people and youth workers about the war situation, its consequences and how to be impactful.

c) [PL NA & SALTO EECA] Networking job-shadowing with study visit elements for stakeholders in the European Solidarity Corps takes place in a Circus for Refugees close to Humanitarian Aid Center in Przemyśl. Participants learn how circus pedagogy can be used in the youth work field, especially for international volunteering and solidarity projects.

d) [SALTO EECA]Moreover SALTO EECA was involved as a co-organizer of the international conference “War Aftermath: reconsidering the future of civil society” which took place in Warsaw on 27-29 April 2022.

4. Other – publications, info centre, on-line courses etc.

a) [PL NA] How to talk about war – Facilitating learning in the face of crisis, March 2022. Publication
on various ways to transfer the topic of war to non-formal education. Elaborated by experienced trainers of the Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps programmes - Dagna Gmitrowicz, Marta Brzezińska-Hubert, Michael Kimmig. The text is based on the authors' own experiences (especially from recent training courses for volunteers, international conferences) and reflections. Publication available at https://eks.org.pl/brepo/panel_repo_files/2022/03/24/3wcfsc/how-to-talk-about-war-article-2022.pdf

b) [SALTO EECA]Erasmus+ Youth and ESC Info-Center in Ukraine continues to work in a hybrid format (previously it was in Sumy – the city was temporally occupied by Russian military troops in February-March 2022).

c) [SALTO EECA]On-line course at e-learning platform HOP “Discover Ukraine”https://hop.salto-youth.net/courses/Ukraine

DiscoverEU implementation

2022-09-24 19:05:52 UTC

The IT NA has established a cooperation with Eurodesk Italy for the implementation of DiscoverEU in Italy.
The successful elements of the cooperation made it possible to obtain significant results in the implementation of the learning cycle: more than 50 participants in the MeetUps, management of over 9,000 Italian pass winners, 6 pre-departure seminars between July and September, continuous information to more than 28,000 non-winners , upcoming meeting with Italian multipliers, development of an app and a tutorial.
Italy

"Guide Group" in PL NA

2022-09-24 19:09:19 UTC

POLAND (PL01)
For years (10+) there has been working the Guide Group for internal procedures in PL NA. We meet once in 1-2 weeks and review/correct our internal procedures. All Erasmus+ sectors are represented, as well as ESC.

Warsaw (capital of POLAND) – 2021: EUROPEAN YOUTH WEEK: common mural of E+ and ESC programmes, cooperation with Europeers

2022-09-24 19:17:26 UTC

POLAND (PL01)
In the heart of the city, at the Central Railway Station - one of the largest communication junctions in Poland, a mural was created which is a joint initiative of the Erasmus + Youth and European Solidarity Corps programmes, and Europeers Network Poland.

On eight pillars, we present those values and ideas that play the most important role in our programmes and activities. The project was created on the basis of joint brainstorming and long-term talks with beneficiaries and participants. This is the result of cooperation and a summary of the programmes that accompanied us in the 2014-2020 perspective.

Information and support activities marathon before the deadline's (EE NA)

reet_kost — 2022-09-25 09:06:53 UTC

NA organises a series of webinars, trainings, project labs and a pre-deadline to foster the absorption of funds and quality of projects submitted to the NA. This is communicated as a coherent package of entry into the programmes for newcomers as well as other priority target groups (organisations involvig target groups with fewer opportunities etc.)

DiscoverEU met-up

2022-09-26 07:19:28 UTC

DiscoverEU meet-ups organised in cooperation with other Baltic states. 2 days in Lithuania, next 2 days in Latvia and then 2 days in Estonia, ensuring DiscoverEU travelers motivation come to Baltic states.

TCA/NET Trainers' pool

2022-09-26 12:19:32 UTC

For SNACs and TCA/NET activities. The pool is "permament", NA trains them and works on quality with the trainers.

AT NA