Inclusive Tools for Active Youth – The project is funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union 🇪🇺

Inclusive Tools for Active Youth – The project is funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union 🇪🇺

On 28 September, we welcomed (future) youth workers from Italy, North Macedonia, Hungary, Poland, and Armenia to Ljubljana. The participants were young, motivated youth workers or individuals who aspire to become youth workers. Throughout the activities, we equipped them with additional knowledge, innovative methods, and inclusive tools for working with young people.

During the first two days, we took time to get to know each other, learn about our organisations, ways of working, challenges, and examples of good practice. Through teambuilding activities, we explored our city, its landmarks, traditions, and food. 🍔

Our serious dive into the work began with workshops on active youth participation and methods for involving young people, as well as with the project’s main goals: creating a map of organisations and a quiz on active youth participation.

On the third day, through role-playing activities, we explored the importance of cooperation between young people, NGOs, and decision-makers. We presented what we consider the most important and influential organisations in our countries, and we critically reflected on media, fake news, culture, and freedom of speech.

The fourth day was dedicated to developing our competences in digital skills and the use of digital tools for youth inclusion. We discovered very interesting and educational tabletop and digital games for young people that address topics related to various vulnerable groups. Through a quiz, we learned about the Erasmus+ programme, the European Union, and their values, and we continued to deepen our knowledge in the following days. We explored good practices from other countries and learned about their NGOs, which we combined into the “NGO Map of Our EU Countries”. 🥳

The fifth day began with the workshop “Meeting at the Mayor’s Office”, which provides an insight into real-life budget planning, applying for funding, and the involvement and cooperation of young people, organisations, and decision-makers. We continued with a group discussion on the inclusion of vulnerable groups and confronted our own beliefs, values, and biases. Together, we created a quiz for young people on active participation, serving as a tool for youth who want to assess how actively engaged they are in society, the country, and beyond.