INFOPACK #1
General info and selecting procedure
when: 4 – 12 SEPTEMBER 2019 (7 training days, 2 travelling days)
where: Dobrinishte, Bulgaria
who: 27 youth workers from: Bulgaria, Portugal, former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia, Belgium, Italy, Croatia, Georgia, Hungary, Cyprus
why: The idea is to turn “youth worker” into the title of a real personal story with the
power to inspire and motivate, into a brand, which presents and sets apart its
carrier as an important factor in youth work.
27 youth workers, leaders, mentors, mediators, facilitators, coaches, active volunteers, who
know youth problems, work with disadvantaged groups and are interested in effective
instruments for influencing target groups and impact on society.
Every partner must propose one disadvantaged candidate (due to economic, social,
geographic and other difficulties), whom he wants to invest in and turn him into
valuable social capital for their organization. The partners draw a profile for the
participant, describing his specific needs, abilities to take part in the educational
process and supports he needs.
(This information serves to popularize the project and provide quality communication
with potential participants and interested parties. We ask that our partner organizations
spread this information on their communication channels and send us links to
[email protected], showing its publication)
Project „Storify Yourself! Youth Worker as a Brand“ is developed within the
framework of Erasmus +, KD1: Learning Mobility for Individuals/Youth mobility. The project’s
duration is 5 months and it includes 9 partner countries – Bulgaria, Belgium, Cyprus, Italy,
Croatia, Republic of Macedonia, Georgia, Portugal and Hungary. Coordinator of the project is
VIA CIVIC Association, Bulgaria and the starting date is 15th of June 2019.
The project will provide a seven-day training course which will take place from
September 4th to September 12th 2019 (of which two extra days for travelling) in Dobrinishte,
Bulgaria. The training team will be international, gathering professionals with experience on
the subjects, who are familiar with the youth sphere, wield non-formal methods and are
constantly approbating new training programs and methods.
The training will include 27 youth workers, leaders, mentors, mediators, facilitators,
coaches, active volunteers, who would like to develop themselves as persons and
professionals and to find out what is their real motivation, strength and passion that could
become their personal brand.
The aim of the project is to: Increase the quality and effectiveness of youth work by
improving the skills of youth workers in the implementation of an innovative complex of
instruments for personal development in their work with young people with different profiles.
Objectives: 1. Supporting youth workers in finding and creating their own personal
brand, which will make them more motivated and successful in youth work.
2. Increasing their knowledge and skills for implementing innovative methods and
instruments for personal development (coaching, personal branding) of youths in a specific
situation and communicating (storytelling) their problems.
3. Sharing experience and discussing the implementing of methods for personal
development, aimed the social inclusion, career development and prevention of
marginalization.
4. Encouraging intercultural cooperation and working in a network when searching for
solutions for motivating and supporting youths in risk groups.
Practically, the youth worker should have a number of personal and professional
qualities in order to be successful. He/she is burdened with the mission of supporting youths in
hardship, working with them permanently and preventively, developing their key competences
– civil, entrepreneurial, communicational, etc., on a terrain, where he/she encounters all kinds
of situations. This means that he/she must first possess this complex of competences, which
keeps enriching itself and demands constant learning and development, in the ever more
complicated context of youth work.
Formulating the problem, the idea, that a person has to know him/herself very well, find
out who he/she really is and what he/she’s best at, takes shape. We believe that a person can
effectively help others only when he/she is motivated and aware of her/himself. This is why a
project, offering a process of reflection and innovative instruments through which we can find
who we are as people and professionals, what our path and calling are, what the qualities,
which make us unique and valuable are, are necessary.
This project will implement a complex of instruments for personal development
such as personal branding (known in marketing and used in coaching practice), coaching
and storytelling, and an integral approach for their use in youth work in regard to
disadvantaged groups. This integral approach could be used to accomplish different goals in
life – discovering talent, finding a job, career advancement, starting an independent project
etc. The intensive training program combines non-formal training with the modern concept of
the “personal brand”, the coaching and storytelling method, in order to offer a unique training
experience which can lead to transformation in youths from risk groups.
The youth workers will be trained how to use the innovative methodology first on
themselves and later on the groups of young people they work with. It is valuable in that
it touches deeply on the subject of personal motivation and provokes facing complicated
questions about the meaning and possibilities of each one of them, it “unlocks” mechanisms of
self-reflection and awareness, which are at the base of human development and the desire for
change. It reaches the base foundations of the person and the values, which guide their
behaviour.
Improving knowledge about:
✓ The coaching methodology – building trust, active listening, goal setting, etc.;
✓ Personal branding and ways to implement it towards oneself and others;
✓ Storytelling – elements of storytelling, dramatic constructs for building an impactful
story, self-knowledge method.
Skills:
✓ Self-reflection – a skill every person needs to understand himself.
✓ Applying personal branding, according to the individual specifics of youths from
vulnerable groups;
✓ Using storytelling as a method for self-analysis and self-promotion in non-formal
education, as a tool for personal development, impact and social change.
✓ Developing flexibility, adaptability and creative thinking through experiencing unfamiliar
situations.
Attitude:
✓ Realizing the importance of youth work and increasing motivation in youth workers;
✓ Proactivity and initiative – to act, not simply react;
✓ Responsibility and improving the lives of others – realizing our impact on others;
✓ Overcoming fears and self-imposed barriers.
✓ Tolerance, accepting difference without being critical and evaluative.
✓ Positive attitude (optimism) – seeing opportunities, instead of problems.
The training program is designed for: current youth workers and specialists from the
partner organizations, as well as active youths, engaged in the organization’s activity, whose
purpose is to get into youth work, to develop the necessary competences.
Every partner must include one participant from the disadvantaged groups in the training. They
must provide details about the participant’s profile (circumstances, making them
disadvantaged), their need for support and their training abilities to the coordinator
beforehand.
The candidates from disadvantaged groups will be selected by common criteria, in compliance
with the form of training, to ensure no language or other overwhelming barriers hinder its
effective conduction.
The TC will gather 27 participants as follows:
Partner Organization Country Number of Participants
1. VIA CIVIC Association Bulgaria 3
2. Geoclube Portugal 3
3. YOUTH ON BOARD Republic of Macedonia 3
4. JOETZ vzw Belgium 3
5. S.S.D. ar.l. L'Orma Italy 3
6. Urban Youth Croatia 3
7. YOUTH ASSOCIATION DRONI Georgia 3
8. MeOut Hungary 3
9. S.E.A.L. CYPRUS Cyprus 3
In order to ensure the quality and effectiveness of the results, the participants in the
training should meet the following criteria:
1. Experience in the civil sector as youth workers or active volunteers, who are
familiar with youth problems and are working with disadvantaged groups;
2. Motivated interest in the topic, especially in personal development and
storytelling, to have specific expectations related to their current job and to be ready to share
experience and develop follow-up activities in their community and organization associated
with the topic;
3. Very good knowledge of the English language (at least B2 level) and freely use
it in writing and speaking in order to take active part in the learning process and non-formal
communication, to craft and tell stories;
4. To be ready for emotional experiential activities in the local community and the
mountain, which require good physical and mental form. The participants must be
prepared for surprising adventures and exciting events!
There is no age limit for the participants. However, it is preferred that they are between
25 and 35 years old. It would be nice if you keep gender balance in mind, when selecting
participants. If it is not possible to do so, be so kind to inform us on time, so that we can
coordinate the matter with the other sending partners!
Every partner has to propose one participant from disadvantaged groups, such
as those who face economical, geographical, social, educational and other restraints or
a person with some kind of disability.
We encourage our partners to motivate the participation of young people with this
profile, to invest in them and to include them even more in the pursuit of their ideas in the field
of youth work by helping them turn into a positive example and a motivating force for others in
a similar situation.
Every partner must prepare a detailed profile of this participant, so the coordinator can
be familiar with his specific needs and what supports he will need during the training,
by describing:
➢ The factor, determining he is a “disadvantaged person”;
➢ Provide brief information about his current social/health condition;
➢ List the supports he will need, as well as his educational needs.
Before the final choice, the coordinator will get thoroughly acquainted with every
candidate’s specifics and will evaluate to what degree everyone’s specific needs can be met,
what the most efficient “configuration” is and what adaptations need to be made to the training
program.
We kindly ask all our partners to stick closely to the following procedure in the selection
process and to be precise with the dates:
FIRST PHASE: selection of the candidates by each partner
Start: AS SOON AS POSSIBLE and to be done NO LATER than 1st July 2019
1.Every partner has to publish and/or provide full information
on the training (topic, dates, place, conditions, etc.), an
accurate profile of the candidates and selection criteria,
application deadline and etc. We prefer to start the selection procedure among the members
of your team or organization (volunteers, partners, etc.) and make “an open call”, if there is no
appropriate candidate available.
Send the links with the published information to [email protected].
2.The candidates have to send the following obligatory minimum of documents for the
selection:
➢ one page professional CV;
➢ one page motivation letter in English, stating why he is interested in the TC
and how will implement the new knowledge and skills in the field of the youth work;
➢ Copy of the certificate for English language level (at least B2).
3.Candidates from disadvantaged groups shall also be selected according to the general
selection criteria. In addition, each partner will have to describe the situation of this candidate
and his/her needs related to logistics, additional support, etc.
4.Each partner organization reviews the applications and conducts an interview with
the documents approved for verifying the language level and motivation. The partner
organization is obligated to offer the best candidates, after making sure they meet the set
criteria. The coordinator does not make the selection and does not look for candidates in the
partner countries. The coordinator just approves the candidates, proposed by each partner.
If necessary, the coordinator and the other partners may cooperate with selecting
participants, for which they must be informed in a timely manner.
Do not forget to prepare a waiting list of reserves in case there are unexpected
circumstances.
5. The coordinator, VIA CIVIC, as well as the National agency of the Erasmus + program
DO NOT APPROVE OF OR ENCOURAGE REQUESTING AN ADMINISTRATIVE TAX
FROM PARTICIPANTS, as that restricts the access to the educational and mobility
opportunities and is in contradiction to the idea of the Erasmus + program. We ask the
partners to take that into consideration and be guided by the program’s idea as well as
by the free access to it for young people and youth workers.
SECOND PHASE: APPROVAL OF CANDIDATES
BY VIA CIVIC ASSOCIATION (THE COORDINATOR)
1.Every partner has to do the selection of top candidates and propose them to the coordination
team for confirmation. Please, DO NOT WAIT FOR THE LAST MOMENT! It will be better, if
you do the selection early!
When you are ready with the selection let us know by e-mail ([email protected]), by
providing us with names and selection documents (CV, motivation letter, Language certificate
and the description of the situation of the participants from the disadvantaged groups)!
The candidates, selected by the partners, have to fill in an online application form. The
information is needed for the final selection phase, for the logistics and the precise design of
the program.
ONLINE FORM FOR THE SELECTED CANDIDATES:
https://forms.gle/BX4vjy4H77agvaSL7
The final selection has to be done by 7 July 2019.
In case of changes (cancellation by a participant or other problem), the partner is obligated to
inform the project coordinator and select another participant from the waiting list.
➢ Every partner is responsible for the appropriate selection of the participants, which is a
key factor for the success of the TC.
➢ Every partner is responsible for his participants until the end of the project. That
includes: motivation and informing, assistance during the preparation of the trip (ticket
purchase, insurance, providing documents for reimbursement to the coordinator), assistance
during the preparation for the preliminary tasks set by the trainers, during the evaluation of the
training outcomes – publication of materials, etc., for the follow up activities.
➢ The procedure for participant selection ends with the purchase of a
ticket for the trip, which must be made no later than 20th July 2019.
The project will take place in the beautiful small village of Dobrinishte in the Pirin Mountains. It
is near the famous tourist town of Bansko. The village is a famous SPA resort with several
mineral springs with temperatures of 30-43°C. The water is used to cure different diseases.
The participants will be accommodated in the cosy family Hotel “Valentino-2”
(http://valentino2.dobrinishte-bg.com/) in the village. The rooms are comfortable and there is a
bathroom and toilet in each one of them. The participants will be accommodated in mixed
national groups of 2 or 3 people in one room.
➢ Participants should choose a comfortable but inexpensive option for travel, to fit in
the budget. We recommend buying tickets as early as possible.
➢ Before buying the tickets, the participants have to coordinate their choice with
us by sending a screen shot of the chosen travel option with the price and the exact dates for
arriving and departing.
➢ Tickets, purchased without the coordinator’s confirmation will not be reimbursed!
➢ The participants have the right to arrive two days earlier and stay two days after the
project’s end, but the expenses for the extra stay are not covered by the project.
The arrival day is 4th of September 2019:
All the participants (with the exception of the Macedonian candidates, who could take a bus to
Blagoevgrad or Bansko) have to do their best to arrive in the capital of Bulgaria - Sofia no later
than 17:00 local time on 4th of September, as we will ensure a bus to Dobrinishte and we will
all travel together. We have another 170 km or about 3 hours to reach the venue.
The return is on 12th of September: we recommend the participants choose a travel option
NOT EARLY IN THE MORNING (after 12 lunchtime is ok), because we have the same way
back to Sofia.
We will inform the participants for the meeting point in Sofia in addition.
Travel costs are reimbursed 100% if the sum does not exceed the Erasmus+ limit for your
country. The sum is calculated via the distance calculator
(https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/resources/distance-calculator_en) of Erasmus+
programme from the city where the partner organization is registered.
In cases when a participant travels from another city or country it is possible to make
corrections (into smaller sums), depending on the calculations made by the calculator (the real
distance you have to travel). When the distance is longer, there is no increase in the foreseen
sum for travel costs.
Let us know if any of the participants plan to travel from a point out of his/her country!
The limit for the travelling for 1 participant, 2 directions.
Country City Calculated distance Available travel funds
30 EUR will be deducted from the above amount, because we must calculate the
transfer from Sofia to the venue and back in the travel cost.
➢ Participant’s travel costs will be reimbursed when they provide originals of all travel
documents - invoices, receipts, tickets, boarding-passes or any other transport
documents.
➢ The participants must send electronic documents and scanned copies of the paper
ones via email to [email protected], and then send the originals by mail to:
1330 Sofia, BULGARIA, POSTAL BOX 154, VIA CIVIC Association
➢ We will reimburse the traveling if we have the tickets from the arrival and return. We
cannot cover a one way ticket!!!
➢ The reimbursement of the travel cost will be given at the end of the project via bank
transfer, upon completion of the Mobility Tool+ (considered mandatory under the
Erasmus+), after receiving all necessary documents and when the follow up activities
are done.
After the training is complete, the partners must support the participants in the realization of
the follow up activities, which includes:
Bulgaria Sofia 10 - 99 km 20 E
Portugal Gondomar 2000 – 2999 km 360 E
Republic of Macedonia Shtip 100 - 499 km 180 E
Belgium Brussels 500 - 1999 km 275 E
Italy Milan 500 - 1999 km 275 E
Croatia Zagreb 500 - 1999 km 275 E
Georgia Tbilisi 500 - 1999 km 275 E
Hungary Budapest 500 - 1999 km 275 E
Cyprus Strovolos 500 - 1999 km 275 E
➢ Providing a report with information about the participant’s impressions,
recommendations and comments on how they would apply what they learned;
➢ Realizing a work meeting in the partner organization’s team – providing pictures from
the meeting to the coordinator, as well as brief information on how it went, meant for
distribution;
➢ Developing and realizing a workshop on a subject from the training – pictures from the
workshop and information on how it went;
➢ Cooperation for the dissemination activities of the project’s results – creating a post on
FB, a blog, vlog, article or other, providing links with the information’s distribution to the
coordinator.
CONTACTS
e-mail: [email protected] // www.viacivic.org // +359 888 198 017 Deiana Dragoeva
FB page: https://www.facebook.com/ViaCivicBG/
FB group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/viacivic/
JOIN the FB group of the project:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/645362419221739/