EVS Level UP Training Course - INTERVIEW WITH EGLE AND TAIRI

Name of the project: EVS Level UP

Date: 25^th November – 2^nd December 2017

Country/City: Velden am Wõrthersee / Austria

What was the main topic of the event?

Egle Hanilane: How to work with European Voluntary Service having a bigger impact on Social Participation in our communities.

Tairi Laats: The main topic was the EVS project. We learned what are the aspects of the EVS project, who are the people/organizations involved and how to improve your work with the volunteers.

What was the biggest learning moments on the event for you?

Egle Hanilane: My biggest learning moments were the moments to discover that I already knew some things and I must trust myself more on those topics. I got some good new ideas, which I´m going to use in my work with volunteer and other youngsters in our youth center.

Tairi Laats: The biggest learning moment for me was the financing. As an ex volunteer, I understood why the pocket money can never be enough, and how lucky I was with the accommodation and support I got from my organization. 

Do you have any plans to continue active in the field? If yes, what?

Egle Hanilane: I have been active in youth field since 2008 and we have our first EVS volunteer in our organization this year. These last 3 months have been interesting development time for me and I am definitely continuing to use the new ideas working with youngsters and volunteering.

Tairi Laats: Yes, I would like to get involved with the project. Be a mentor for a volunteer or help with coordinating a project or sending volunteers abroad.

Would you recommend it to your friends? I yes, why? If not, why not?

Egle Hanilane: I would definitely recommend the opportunity of intercultural learning and mobility projects to other people who work with youngsters. It is good way to take action in international level and gain more insight into the field.

Tairi Laats: Definitely yes. Erasmus+ projects are super informative. Non-formal learning is one of the best ways, since you are learning by doing and from other people the information actually stays easily in your memories. Also, it’s a great way of networking. The projects always gather a group of amazing people.

More comments or anything else you would like to share? You can add here in your own language, if you want!

Egle Hanilane: Thank you for the opportunity.

This Project was financed by European Commission's Erasmus + Programme

Active Citizens of Today Training Course- INTERVIEW WITH RANNO, JOHANNA AND LIIS

Name of the project: Active Citizens of Today

Date: 10^th – 18^th November 2017

Country/City: Denmark, Vordingborg

What was the main topic of the event?

Ranno Sults: European citizenship issues and making young people more active in society.

Johanna Reinvald: European citizenship issues.

Liis Kotselainen: How to be a more active citizen in local and national levels.

What was the biggest learning moments on the event for you?

Ranno Sults: Group work. I had a good chance to improve my teamwork skills and learn to communicate with people from other cultures.

Johanna Reinvald: The most important thing for me was getting to know what opportunities do i have to change something in my community and even in the world. I also feel very educated about the European citizenship because now i know what it actually means and what comes with it.

Liis Kotselainen: Definitely the team work exercises, this helped to raise our team spirit and how to work in groups. I couldn’t even imagine that I would get so close with people I’ve only known for a week. This helped me to be more open and considerate with new people whom I can call my friends now.

Do you have any plans to continue active in the field? If yes, what?

Ranno Sults: Yes, I would like to participate more in that kind of programs.

Johanna Reinvald: After the project i really thought about what should i do with the knowledge that i got. Now I am participating in a project at my hometown that will bring the whole community together. Also  i am planning to go volunteering next year. Without the project, i would never have even thought about it.

Liis Kotselainen: Not quite sure yet, but I will definitely keep this as one of the options of what to do in the future.

Would you recommend it to your friends? I yes, why? If not, why not?

Ranno Sults: I would definitely recommend it to my friends because of the friendliness of participants and trainers in first hand. Also because of the experience of learning something in non-formal way, developing your teamwork skills and communication skills.

Johanna Reinvald: I have already shared the whole experience with my friends  and recommended, that they should also take part in such project. I truly feel that every person should have this experience at least one time in his/hers life because there are so many benefits to it such as: language skills, knowledge about different topics and of course lots of friends around the EU.

Liis Kotselainen: Definitely yes, we learned a lot of new and useful things and I can say that I got inspired to try to be more active and open minded about new challenges and projects that may come in my way.

More comments or anything else you would like to share? You can add here in your own language, if you want!

Ranno Sults: I loved the program, everything was more than well organised. People were the friendliest I have ever met.

Johanna Reinvald: I feel that the project really changed me and how i see things. I am very happy that i took part in this Erasmus+ project and hope that in the future, i will have many more.

Liis Kotselainen: I really really enjoyed this training course and the way that we learned was quite different every day, a nice alternation between learning in school and learning in this training course. Thank you for making this so interesting!

This Project was financed by European Commission's Erasmus + Programme

Social Media to Activate Youth and Communities 2.0 - INTERVIEW WITH SARAH AND ALJONA

Name of the project: Social Media to Activate Youth and Communities 2.0

Date: 26th October until 03rd November 2017

Country/City: Nicolosi - Sicily, Italy

What was the main topic of the event?

Sarah Lill - Topic of this project which turned out to be epic as well hectic  was to learn rules of rhetoric, tools to design pics that are slick  to raise concerns which in return create positive turn in this modern world   where social media is the word.

Aljona Kurbatova – Social media.

What was the biggest learning moments on the event for you?

Sarah Lill - Biggest learning curve for me was to build up the nerve   to serve a speech that would outreach  ...all the while keep myself chill as well my knees still 

Aljona Kurbatova - How to create group pages in different social media.

Do you have any plans to continue active in the field? If yes, what?

Sarah Lill - My motivation is high to apply for more projects from hereby    to create opportunities for youth to volunteer   steer ones' life as they please and maybe face some fears.

Aljona Kurbatova - About Erasmus+ answer is maybe as participant but not as organizer. If question is about social media – yes. On my current work I was asked to create page in social media for promotion.

Would you recommend it to your friends? I yes, why? If not, why not?

Sarah Lill - I would recommend it to a friend who tends to spend time working hard to blend   for the person to comprehend and to let the world around extend.

Aljona Kurbatova - Yes I will. Because even if you think that topic is far away for your studies/work and so on its still could be useful. Plus it is good opportunity to practice in English and broad horizons.

More comments or anything else you would like to share? You can add here in your own language, if you want!

Sarah Lill - What a fortunate creation-this Erasmus generation!

This Project was financed by European Commission's Erasmus + Programme

Inclusive Europe - INTERVIEW WITH MIRJAM AIT

Name of the project: Inclusive Europe

Date: 3^rd – 11^th September and 15^th – 22^nd October 2017

Country/City: Vilnius, Lithuania and Yerevan, Armenia

What was the main topic of the event?

Mirjam Ait: The main topic was migration challenges in Europe and tackling the integration process of refugees. The project was organized by the Youth To Youth Initiative and the aim was to share good practices and tools on refugees and migrants integration processes, to build the capacity of youth workers to combat hate speech towards migrants, misinformation about refugees and xenophobic discourse. The project involved about 30 participants from 16 European countries: Lithuania, Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, Armenia, Belarus, FYR Macedonia, Georgia, Moldova, Serbia, Ukraine.

What was the biggest learning moments on the event for you?

Mirjam Ait: This project was quite diverse in offering different activities. The first part took place in Lithuania and consisted mostly of lectures and workshops about refugee and migration issues in Europe. The biggest learning moment was definitely hearing what the researchers on this topic had to say. The lecturers included lawyers, scientists, different people who had worked with ex-extremists etc. So when they put down the facts and numbers, we could see really clearly how the media portrays a completely different picture and spears false information. So that was really an eye-opener for everybody.

The second part took place in Armenia. It was basically a study visit, which means that during the week we visited different organisations working with migrants and refugees, starting from youth organisations and ending with UNHCR. I never knew how much hard work and effort Armenians put into helping the migrants. So during this part I definitely learned a lot about the warm-heartedness of the people of this nation. But it also made me realize how much we could learn from the example of Armenia.

Do you have any plans to continue active in the field? If yes, what?

Mirjam Ait: As I am currently not active in social or youth work, it is difficult to say whether I’ll wok in this field sometime in the future. But on the other hand this project had so much to offer knowledge-wise so that it’s not just information that only youth workers come across. The migration issue is a hot topic all around Europe these days so sharing my experience and knowledge and letting people know the dangers of media illiteracy is already a big step from my part into making Europe a more inclusive place for everybody.

Would you recommend it to your friends? I yes, why? If not, why not?

Mirjam Ait: Definitely recommend! The organizers from Y2Y are super professional and inspiring people that really know how to motivate young people into becoming more active and voicing their opinions. They offered the participants immense knowledge and practical skills in so many different fields: youth work, but also project developing, social media and marketing etc. Y2Y connects a whole network of active people all around the globe so it is definitely worth looking into more of their projects.

More comments or anything else you would like to share? You can add here in your own language, if you want!

Mirjam Ait: Firstly, I would thank NÜH for sharing these great project participating opportunities with young people in Estonia. And secondly, I would encourage you to take part in all sorts of different projects even though you might be hesitant in choosing the right one. I entered the Inclusive Europe project with not too many expectations, but in the end I gained more knowledge and skills than I would have imagined.

It is also a great way to learn about different cultures and meet different people. The more you see the world, the more tolerant and understanding you become about others!

This Project was financed by European Commission's Erasmus + Programme

Lord of Volunteers Training Course - INTERVIEW WITH GRETE, ALJONA AND EILIKA

Name of the project: Lord of volunteers

Date: 14^th to 20^th October 2017

Country/City: Czech Republic

What was the main topic of the event?

Grete Liis Kuurme - The main topic was the work in organizations as a volunteer, why and how you should do it, how to motivate yourself and others on this topic, share the knowledge with others in your home country or organization, how to be a good mentor, how to approach people on that subject, also showing that volunteer work can benefit you and others a lot in a fun and interesting way.

Aljona Vassiljeva - Volunteering. The reasons and purposes of volunteering, different types of volunteers, their tasks and motivation in NGO.

Eilika Trummar - Volunteer management

What was the biggest learning moments on the event for you?

Grete Liis Kuurme - I developed my social skills a lot, coming out of my comfort zone, also my language skills. Speaking in another language all the time and sometimes trying to explain yourself when maybe the other person doesn’t understand is also a good lesson on the language area. I also learned a lot about volunteer work, that its just not helping out your neighbor or friends but so much more. You can really change someones life or perspective by doing something simple. My developed as a person and got a lot of motivation for the future to continue volunteer work and join an organization.

Aljona Vassiljeva - Work on the meadow and workshop about collecting letters. Both times there were people who knew the back story, background, reasons why it all had to be done and people with a serious lack of information. It was a really good model of practically every big organization, where boss(es) don`t feel obligated to share information with other workers, and workers don`t understand why they`re supposed to do some tasks, which leads to conflicts and lost motivation.

Eilika Trummar - I’m very honest if saying that this was the TC I literally didn’t learn anything new.

Do you have any plans to continue active in the field? If yes, what?

Grete Liis Kuurme - Yes, I would love to help people with mental illnesses, also children and animals. In the beginning I would like to participate as a volunteer in an event for whatever the subject is and see, where I could develop myself. I am more interested in people and animals rather than politics and environment eventhough they are equally important.

Aljona Vassiljeva - I plan to continue as a volunteers` mentor in my organization.

Eilika Trummar - Yes, I work as a volunteer manager and continue my work.

Would you recommend it to your friends? I yes, why? If not, why not?

Grete Liis Kuurme - Yes, I would recommend this to my friends. It’s a good way to meet new people to hire into your organization, or just make new friends and learn about other countries and their problems and volunteer work. Also, you can step out of your comfort zone and see the wider world, learn new languages and culture, maybe learn something new about yourself too. If the person is interested in volunteer work, it’s a good project to learn about volunteer work from people who are working on this field.

Aljona Vassiljeva - Yes, because it was pretty fresh view on the subject, sometimes from unexpected angles and the most important point is that we learned the biggest part through some exciting and creative activities and not through the series of boring lectures.

Eilika Trummar - I would recommend training courses and seminars generally for everyone. It’s a very good way to learn and make connections. Just this particular TC was not enough for me this time.

More comments or anything else you would like to share? You can add here in your own language, if you want!

Aljona Vassiljeva - The leaders were great and atmosphere was amazing.

This Project was financed by European Commission's Erasmus + Programme

Young Entrepreneur - Create Your Opportunity in The Countryside Youth Exchange - INTERVIEW WITH DOROTHY, KIUR, LINDA, LISETTE, AKSEL, KIRKE AND MARKO

 Name of the project: Young Entrepreneur - Create Your Opportunity in The Countryside

Date: 8th -16th  October 2017

Country/City: Slovenia, Rakičan

What was the main topic of the event?

Kiur: The main topic was entrepreneurship and developing the mindset of an entrepreneur along with basic information that a fledgling entrepreneur needs.

Linda: The main topic was entrepreneurship. The main objective was to encourage young people to find out their own business opportunities in rural environment and give them basic knowledge about entrepreneurship.

What was the biggest learning moments on the event for you?

Kiur: My moments were when we had to discuss our personal experiences in giving gifts and then finding a problem in it. Then we had to make a business idea out of it and I was surprised how many bright ideas can come from something so small. Another moment was when we were divided into groups and had to make a business pitch to an actual businessman. It was scary, but it taught us to see things from the perspective of a potential investor.

Dorothy: My biggest learning moment was building up my own business idea with my group. It was a very inspiring process on it’s own, but the reality sank in when we had to present our idea to a local entrepreneur. He was critical of the feasibility of our idea, to say the least. The whole ordeal taught me a lot about the business world, and I learnt not to be so attached to my product that I take constructive criticism on it as a personal offence.

Do you have any plans to continue active in the field? If yes, what?

Lisette: The project was very interesting and I hope that one day I can truly call myself an entrepreneur. For now, I am waiting on my big idea though!

Marko: I’m definitely thinking about starting my own business in the future and I feel as though the project gave me valuable tools and ideas to build on. So if I’m ever raking in millions, I’ll know which project to thank.

Would you recommend it to your friends? I yes, why? If not, why not?

Aksel: Already did, because I learned a lot about entrepreneurship, which was the theme of the project therefore I consider it successful if I obtained new information and knowledge about it, the other participants are awesome, not only is it a good practice in english, but all the stories, culture and views from people who were foreigners in my point of view – it was indescribably amazing of an experience.

Kirke: I definitely recommend it to my friends because besides learning a lot and getting to see things from a different perspective, I got to meet incredible people who were all able to leave a lasting impression on me. I will never forget the people and the project.

More comments or anything else you would like to share?

Linda: It was very enjoyable project, the best company and fun activities!

Marko: Once Erasmus, always Erasmus!

This Project was financed by European Commission's Erasmus + Programme

MOJU U(th)niversity - Transformers Training Course - INTERVIEW WITH ALICE AHO AND ELINA RAUDSEPP

Name of the project: MOJU U(th)niversity - Transformers

Date: 16^th to 21^st October 2017

Country/City: Portugal, Faro

What was the main topic of the event?

Alice Aho - The main topic of this training course was intercultural conflicts. We opened the topic with how to understand which type of conflicts we are dealing and afterwards played out different type of solutions.

Elina Raudsepp - The main topic was to get to know on what grounds conflicts are appearing, to detect conflicts in different cultures and to get to know different ways of solving them.

What was the biggest learning moments on the event for you?

Alice Aho - I was very interested to see how people from different EU countries understand conflicts and how relevant they think these topics are. I learned the most from an activity where people introduced conflicts/problems that are important for them and their country right now. After that we were working in different groups on one specific topic that was important for us.

Elina Raudsepp - The biggest “ahhaa” moment in practice was that we don´t actually understand other cultural backgrounds if we haven´t been in them. So if you want to get to know some different cultures and people in them you have to go really deep and you have to leave all your prejudice.

Do you have any plans to continue active in the field? If yes, what?

Alice Aho - Right now I’m not directly involved in youth field, but since I have some friends who are I can share my knowledge. Besides, this topic about conflicts is important in any field. I would even take this as a general knowledge; we all need to know how to deal with conflicts and problems.

Elina Raudsepp - The topic was so wide that the knowledge of training course you can use in everyday life. Conflicts are part of human nature, so all the information was very useful.

Would you recommend it to your friends? I yes, why? If not, why not?

Alice Aho - Yes, for sure I would recommend applying to training courses to my friends. With travelling to different countries and meeting other EU nationalities is very interesting. But, I recommend to choose a topic that is interesting and relevant for you, because then you enjoy these training courses even more.

Elina Raudsepp - I would definitely recommend this kind of projects to my friends. You can learn a lot even only by communicating with people from different countries. And if the topic is interesting, and it really was, then the benefit is lots of times bigger. And for me personally the way of non-formal learning is the best option.

More comments or anything else you would like to share? You can add here in your own language, if you want!

Alice Aho - If you ever see any training courses shared, apply, you don’t have anything to lose. This is a win/win situation.

Elina Raudsepp - First time on mainland of Portugal was wonderful. Time flows differently in this country!

This Project was financed by European Commission's Erasmus + Programme