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TRAINING COURSE TOOLBOX
TRAINING COURSE
TOOLBOX
Partners
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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The project - a seminar for EVS coordinator
The partners from all around Europe
Which EVS coordinator are you?
Tools for reintegration of volunteers
PART I - About Don't let me down
PART II - About the tools
Most of the organizations which are involved in EVS have dedicated timeand passion in promoting EVS and finding motivated youngsters which arewilling to live a volunteering experience in a foreign community. The wholeprocess of identifying participants, build the project with them according totheir skills, adjust activities during the project implementation and supporttheir own initiatives has been worked for years and we believe that most ofthe experienced NGO are already managing it pretty well.
In order to raise the quality of EVS projects, we take into consideration thefact that once the volunteers go back to their countries, it is not easy to dealwith the process, which involves reverse cultural shock and reintegration inthe sending place.
The project aims to identify the best practices for the critic moment of thereturn of the volunteers in their own country.
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THE PROJECT
Gathering and sharing the best practices to send EVS volunteers,focusing on the return to their own countries, in order to provide betteropportunities for them to feel more integrated or well prepared for anyfollowing international experience
Providing youth workers with skills that could empower volunteers whogo back by supporting their sense of initiative and helping them in beingactive citizens in the community
Creating new methods and/or tools which can support the difficultmoment of being back from a mobility experience, especiallyconcerning how to overcome cultural shock
Raising the quality of EVS projects, understanding how new tools andmedia can be used in order to make volunteers feel that the whole EVSexperience is never really over through a wide range of non-formalmethods such as open space, Salto-youth workshops, world cafè etc
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PROJECT OBJECTIVES
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Who are we
Asoc iac ión MUNDUS
MUNDUS Association is a non-profit organization located in Barcelona andZaragoza (Spain). We manage mobility opportunities for youth andpromote volunteering, values-based education, intercultural learning andnon-formal education in our local community.
The Association is implementing various learning mobility projectsunder the Erasmus+ programme since 2013. Mundus regularly organizestraining courses for youth workers, manages projects for culturalexchanges of young people and is one of the biggest organizationsworking with volunteers in Spain, sending yearly hundreds of Spanishvolunteers abroad.
Besides that, Mundus works as a network in Catalunya and Aragon regionsof Spain, where it cooperates with companies, schools, VET centres,universities and public institutions. It disposes of a large network ofcompanies, in both regions, eager to host VET students and trainees, withthe purpose of helping them to enhance their professional and life skills.
On a local level, Mundus acts as hosting and sending organization in theVET sector, establishing cooperation in consortium with variousprofessional high schools and from the area of Barcelona and in Zaragoza,for which students Mundus is in charge to organize mobility periodsabroad, in cooperation with other similar organizations.
Al the staff of our association have wide experience in “Erasmus +”, Mostof us were EVS volunteers in different countries and have participated andorganized several youth projects.
PARTNERS
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Nevo Parud imos
Nevo Parudimos Association it’s a nonprofit apolitical organization whichwas founded by a group of teachers, Roma activists and Romastudents from Caras-Severin county, in the south-west of Romaniain 2008.
The aim of the Nevo Parudimos association is to decrease the economic, social, educational and cultural differences in the society.
Objectives of the Nevo Parudimos association are: - to develop activities which promote democracy; - to promote tolerance, diversity and equal chances in the society; - to create community development programs to fight against prejudices towards Roma people; - to increase the organizational capacity of Roma people; - to help Roma communities to develop their own competencies andabilities to solve problems; - to develop professional, social, cultural, economic activities and civiccommitment.
Our activities are split into more fields like education, culture, social work,community development, human rights, youth work and volunteering. In the youth work field, our activities are in most cases connected withthe other activities of the NGO.
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Focus Assoc iat ion
Association “Focus - European Center for Development "- Pazardjikwas founded as a non-profit organization. The Association “Focus –European Center for Development “ is EVS accredited NGO to host andsend volunteers from all over the world.
Aims: 1. To create a European community of pupils, teachers and parents inthe territory of Pazardjik and surrounding that will support the idea ofsocial integration and professional development of adolescents; 2. To implement training and experiments about public interest indifferent problems cooperating with the local authorities. 3. To develop solidarity and promote tolerance among the public in orderto stimulate social cohesion in the European Union. 4. To encourage public participation in social life and to strengthen thelinks between local groups, schools, businesses and municipal authorities.5. To stimulate youth involvement in the activities related to personal andsocial development. 6. To carry out active work for sustainable social developmentand democratic principles in a civil society. 7. To organize activities and events, to restore and improve the qualityof the environment. 8. To improve the welfare of disabled people - their acceptance andsocialization in their families, among peers, colleagues, friends andamong the middle part of the community in which they live. 9. To provide an environment where the youth with disabilities willbe involved in the activities for their future development.. 10. To prohibit negative social phenomena’s spreading among the youthenvironment, such as crime, aggression, addiction, prostitution,xenophobia etc.
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Jo int Assoc iat ion
Associazione Joint was founded in December 2003 to promote socialactivities for youngsters between 14 and 30 y.o. The mission of theorganization is to provide non-formal education opportunities foryoung people in international contexts. The Association has the mainoffice in Milano and volunteers spread around Italy. Our aim is to helpyoungsters develop their transversal competencies (life skills) by using anon-formal learning approach. Our main activities are: 1. hosting and sending groups to several Youth Exchanges; 2. hosting 1 or 2 mobility of youth workers meetings and sending our staff and volunteers to MoYWs abroad; 4. coordinating multi-activity E+projects in particular training courses; 5. European Voluntary Service as Sending, Hosting (4 volunteers) andCoordinating (5 local NGOs) organisation; 6. events in the local community with the help of EVS and local volunteers; 7. consultancy activities for other NGOs at a national level for the preparation and implementation of E+ projects; 8. management of E+ Capacity Building in the Field of Youth projects, both as applicant and partner; 10. management of a youth centre for after-school activity for children andyoungsters and for the implementation of cultural events; 11. sending participants to international work camps abroad, 12. coordinating international work camps in Italy, 13. sending participants to international volunteering opportunities, mostly out of Europe, 14. sending participants to language schools abroad, 15. the creation and management of several websitespromoting international mobility opportunities.
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3rd Eye Med iterranean Youth Assoc iat ion
Akdeniz Üçüncü Göz Eğitim ve Gençlik Derneği (3rd eye association ofMediterranean) was founded in 2009 in order to protect the wildand natural life with the local community and youth in and around Mersin. We mostly take care of the turtles which leave their eggs on the coastof Mersin and are at the risk of extinction.
We act as an EVS coordinating organisation in Mersin (sending andhosting volunteers), give training courses to the youth, raise awarenessand European citizenship by volunteering.
Our organization is promoting international and inter-cultural values, alsoyouth initiatives and projects in the local community.
We have been organizing EVS projects and activities such as educationthrough sports and youth exchange projects. We have organised 40 EVSprojects as a coordinator and hosting organization and hosted more than500 volunteers from all over Europe. We have also been active asa sending organization preparing the departure of more than 100volunteers.
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Donega l Youth Serv ice
Donegal Youth Service (DYS) is an independent, youth service agency, a Company Limited by Guarantee with Charitable status. It is managed bya 13 member voluntary Board of Directors most of whom workdirectly with young people across the county. Donegal Youth Serviceacknowledges and embraces the importance of Interculturalismand Youth Participation in all aspects of the operation of our service, fromplanning to management and decision making.
Donegal Youth Service is the leading youth work organisation in Donegalwith a mission that aims to offer young people an opportunity todevelop holistically through informal education processes in a safe andequitable environment. DYS operates a range of specific coreprojects such as The Youth Outreach Project; Daybreak, Youth Information, LOFT Health Café, Teen Talk. With regard to EVS TheLetterkenny, Youth Information Centre coordinates the EVS Handof Friendship Project. The Youth Information Centre works with young people to enable themto access information and advice in a youth-friendly safe arena. The centre operates under the National Youth Information guidelines andoffers a unique approach to youth information in that the informationteam strive to animate the information through courses andinnovative projects.
We have been active in EVS since 2007, with mostly 2 volunteersper year and 4 in our last two projects.
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Hors P i stes
Hors Pistes is an organisation working in the field of non-formal educationfounded in 2013 and based in Marseille, France. “Hors Pistes” meansthinking outside the box, accepting unexpected discoveries, changingperspectives. We wish to foster interculturality in all its forms, encountersand mutual learning opportunities, international and learning mobility.
Hors Pistes develops a number of international projects supported by theErasmus+ program and OFAJ: • Sending, hosting and coordinating EVS volunteers • International and local training courses for youth/social workers • Intercultural youth exchanges • Erasmus + Internships in Europe for unemployed young people • An intercultural mentoring programme between migrant and localinhabitants for building social links and a better inclusion of migrants intheir host community.
We coordinate (4/5 projects per year), send (around 35 volunteersper year) and host (around 20 volunteers per year) EVS volunteerseach year. We have a large network where we disseminate EVSopportunities and vacancies. We have coordinated many EVS projects (sending, hosting and coordination) and partner on other EVS projectssubmitted by other accredited organisations.
HorsPistes team participated in European Training courses and Seminar (SOHO, PBA and Salto training courses) to meet partners, improveits methods and exchange good practices.
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STRIM
Youth Development and Integration Association STRIM wasestablished in 2001 in Cracow, as a non-governmental organization,gathering people that pay particular attention to social issues. Membersof our association are active people willing to undertake actions aimedat building an open-minded society, interested in youth problems,international education and culture.
STRIM leads a vast number of diverse projects in Poland and beyondits borders, mainly in the field of culture and intercultural education.
Our association initiates and promotes all forms of youth activities. Wereach that goal by organising trainings, seminars, conferences, publicevents, meetings and youth exchanges. STRIM is one of thebiggest organisations working with European Voluntary Service in Poland.
We also realized apprenticeships within the broadly understoodeducation of adults within Erasmus+ Programme. Each year we sendbetween 20 and 50 Polish Volunteers for EVS projects, we also host over 20 Volunteers in Poland.
We also have long cooperation with young people with feweropportunities. We coordinated many Youth Exchanges and we always tryto support disadvantaged young participants.
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Rota Jovem
Rota Jovem has been active in the youth field for more than 20 yearsaccompanying the whole evolution of this field. In these years Rota Jovemhas been working with international mobility and learning activities,reaching thousands of youngsters and managing the EVS projectsof thousands of young people.
The organization gives particular attention to young people with feweropportunities working in close collaboration with local schools, CascaisMunicipality, the Portuguese Scout groups and the Portuguese NationalYouth Council (National meetings of Youth).
It also tried to raise awareness of the refugee crisis with internationalprojects like “To Be On The Other Side”, another youth exchange in 2016, and “Migration and Otherness”, a youth exchange as well as a trainingcourse hosted by Rota Jovem. Currently, Rota Jovemhas 4 full-time project managers which withsolid international experience. Our trainers are members of the pool of trainers of the Portuguese National Agency Erasmus+ Youth in Action, of the pool of trainers of the European Youth Forum (YFJ) and of the pool of trainers of the Portuguese NationalYouth Council, developing trainings in the fields of volunteering, youth participation, active citizenship, human rights education, global education,intercultural learning and personal development.
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Udruga IKS
Association IKS was founded in 2003 and from the very beginning it hasemerged as a leading civil society organization in the Sisak – Moslavinacounty. In more than 10 years, it has carried out various programs fordifferent groups of citizens, representatives of civil society, sociallyvulnerable groups, children, youth and the elderly.
Vision: a humane, democratic environment in which Association IKS actsas a generator of changes and a stronghold of positive ideas.
Mission: to empower citizens to develop a sense of responsibility andinitiative for the advancement of the entire community.
We regularly conduct programs for children and young people throughwhich we encourage their creativity and active involvement incommunity life.
We are also an accredited organization for the European Voluntary Service (EVS) and extensively participate in youth exchanges witha number of European organizations. Every year we organize anInternational summer camp where foreign volunteers have theopportunity to work with children and young people in the localcommunity.
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Akropo l i s
AKROPOLIS, z.s. is a family, educational and volunteering centre based inUherske Hradiste in the Czech Republic. It offers and organizes trainingcourses, seminars and workshops for the public – children, young people,families and adults as well as professionals working in the social field,teachers etc.
Its mission is to contribute to social innovation in the development ofindividuals and organisations through action in the following areas: equalopportunities, counselling, education, the inclusion of people withfewer opportunities, working methods in a multisensory environment. The Akropolis centre is in charge of social events in our town, too.
The association is also involved in Erasmus+ youth projects, cooperatingwith EVS volunteers in the organization of various events.
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United Soc iet ies of Ba lcan
United Societies of Balkans (U.S.B.) is a non-profit, non-governmentalorganization based in Thessaloniki, Greece working in the field of youthmobility, participation and facilitating youth awareness about social issues. The vision of the organisation is the promotion of youth mobility, youthinvolvement and participation, voluntarism and human rights.
Activities: Key areas of the organization’s activities concern the defence of humanrights, the organization of youth-related projects such as youth exchangesand training courses, which can bring young people from Balkans andEurope together, and the organization of local interventions, campaigns, researchers, seminars and multimedia productions.
U.S.B.’s objectives and values are actualized in the society and the needs of the youngsters by: • Promoting the values of non-formal learning, voluntarism, active citizenship and democracy; • Promoting human rights, solidarity and respect for diversity; • Involving minorities and immigrants into youth activities; • Building healthy cooperation bridges between countries of the area of theBalkans and Eastern Europe with the rest of Europe; • Using New Media and Citizens’ Journalism methodologies to encourageyouth expression; • Utilizing art as a tool for the cultivation and expression of youth; • Locating and multiplying the special cultural attributes of our societies.
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Ba lt i c Reg iona l Fund
The “Baltic Regional fund” is a non-governmental organisation andfoundation, supporting social and intercultural dialogue, social inclusion andcultural exchange among young people and adults. The organization islocated in Riga but the foundation organizes regular activities in the wholeLatvia as well as collaborating on a European level, implementingeducational projects. The Foundation target groups are children, youth, students, adults and especially groups at social risk - early school-leavers,migrants and unemployed.
Organization's activities: Project work, seminars, training courses andconsulting, online TV. The Baltic Regional fund focuses especiallyon training business skills, project management, ICT instruments, leadership, team building, communication, active participation etc.
The foundation is also involved in social integration projects in areas such aseducation and integration into the Latvian society. It is alsoaccredited hosting, sending and coordinator organisation in EVS and hasa Youth centre in Riga. The organisation is actively working withyoungsters and provides them different activities and trainings. In our work,we use different non-formal education methods.
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Mlad i info
Mladiinfo International is a non-profit, independent organization dedicatedto helping young people to fulfil their educational potential as they arechallenged by many educational disadvantages caused by either personal, social, cultural or economic circumstances. As a logical result of this mission was the founding of the web portalwww.mladiinfo.eu, updated and supported by young local and Europeanvolunteers, with the goal of bringing international opportunities: scholarships, internships, conferences, volunteering to students inMacedonia and all around the world.
As a web platform, informative centre, and a network, Mladiinfo Internationalhas developed the necessary capacities to enhance the educational potentialof the young people in Macedonia and abroad. By providing free educationalopportunities for youth and offering them help, advice and support throughthe process of application, Mladiinfo International has a direct impact onthe lives of youth, empowering them and motivating them for action.
In this sense, Mladiinfo network creates a true youth podium glocally whereyoung minds can also share their thoughts, prepare food-for-though articles,give tips to their peers on how to benefit from learning experiences or howto navigate themselves once admitted to a new university program. Thenetwork of Mladiinfo through its members has also gainedsignificant experience in event management and its members haveorganized a multiple number of local and international events (trainings, workshops, conferences, youth exchanges).
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Youth Centre L i t i ja
Youth Centre Litija was established in 2005. For seven years we have beenimplementing a range of activities for young people in several fields:education, culture, information, counselling, prevention, sport, interculturaldialogue; we nurture contacts between young people and theirorganizations. We work closely with other local, regional and nationalorganizations.
Overall objectives MC Litija: - Encouraging and promoting the creativity of young people and youthfields, - Active participation of young people, - Active citizenship, - Development of volunteering, - Cooperation between generations, - Inclusion of young people with fewer opportunities, - Humanitarianism, - Youth mobility and international voluntary work, - The development of youth entrepreneurship.
In our organization we have a well-developed area of internationalcooperation because we are regular performers in European VoluntaryService, we regularly participate in international youth exchanges andother youth mobility and thus permanently maintained andupgraded contact with the international environment.
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REVE
REVE is the Spanish Network of ex-European volunteers that gives supportto the volunteers throughout the whole process. Our objectives are: - offer a platform for communication and establishment of a network of exEVS volunteers; - give an extra value to youth programs in Europe; - promote and develop mobility and personal and professional growth of theSpanish youth; - increase the participation and active citizenship among the youth, as wellas raise awareness on cultural diversity and social inclusion for those whohave fewer opportunities;
In order to achieve these objectives we take different actions: - we support and follow the volunteers; - we create structures and resources to generate and increase theconnection between participants of the mobility programs, especially EVS; - we work with institutions and associations; - we organize, participate and support formative activities for the diffusion ofthe international mobility projects.
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XENA
XENA is a non-profit, cultural association which was set up in 1994 in Padua,Italy. Its main objective is to increase and improve the level of contact andinteraction amongst different cultures, promoting intercultural learning, theprevention and fight against racism and exclusion, communicationamong youngsters, care of the environment, social and cultural services andthe preservation of the artistic and cultural heritage.
It promotes projects mainly within the frame of European Programmes with the following principal aims: - offer young people the possibility to join mobility programs in educational, professional and cultural spheres and to promote awareness of different cultures and systems; - promote opportunities for meetings between different cultures and to encourage greater knowledge of foreign languages also in the local sphere; - promote intercultural learning dynamics, and to prevent and combat racism and prejudices; - encourage the active and responsible participation of youth in society.
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How do you see yourse lf as EVS coord inator?
Upload your photo with the hashtag #evscoordinator
#evscoordinator
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TOOLS
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There are no existing tools to support the volunteers participatıng inErasmus+ projects at the end of their volunteerıng actıvities and duringthe first moments of their coming back. However, youth workers hadidentified in the returning volunteers a need to deal with the doubts,fears and questions about the future that is not well oriented and thatcan have as a result a post-volunteering syndrome.
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What do you want to do? What resources do you need? Where can you get them?
What support do you need? Who can support you? Three steps to go (with a specific date)
What fears do you have? Overcome/Opportunities
The ideal period to complete the questionnaire is three months before theend of the Project in cooperation with the Hosting Organization or rightafter the end of the Project with the support of the Sending Organization.
The specific questions that they need to answer are the following:
Allora+
It is recommended for the volunteer to do a self-SWOT analysis before thequestionnaire as a complementary tool to focus on the reflection. We alsosuggest that the questionnaires should be filled in a safe environment forthe volunteers, personally with someone they trust and not in groups.
How do you see yourself in 5 years? Place (city, country, accommodation)
Doing (job, position, activity) Feelings and attitudes
I have (what you already have to achieve) I need (what do you need to make it real)
Allora Tool is a set of two questionnaires that the youngsters should fillonline or on paper with as much detail as possible. The first one, calledAllora, is mandatory as it is more immediate and with objectives in theshort-term and the second one, Allora+, is optional because it is morefocused in the long-term, but still important to fulfill.
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II
General notes regarding creating this tool: How hard is it to decide whether I want to come back or stay where I amright now? What will I do whenever I will decide to stay? Where can I get all the information regarding the options available to me? Organising the official stuff (health care, revenue, residency etc) What are my rights and entitlements in the country I want to live? General living arrangements/ living costs etc.
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● In this part, the EVS participant is focusing on an assessment of theirpersonality, skills, knowledge, experience, and all the competencies. (UseSWOT analysis to better the experience.) ● Personality test ● Working style (team worker/ freelancer/ highly driven individual etc) andpreferable working environment (dynamic/ office based, more structural etc) ● Perception is projection- how you want people to see you and how theyreally see you? (Positioning and branding)
● What do I want? ● What field of work is in my interest? ● What can I offer? ● What makes me happy? ● What do I need right now? Short- and long- term approach. ● What do I need in terms of education/ experience? ● Setting SMART goals. A short paragraph explaining what SMART goals arerequired. ● What will I do when I reach my goals? ● Maslow’s hierarchy of needs required
● Where I am? PILES (psychological, intellectual, lingual, emotional, andsocial factors) and PEST (political, environmental, socio- cultural, andtechnological factors) analysis required. ● Where is my happiness? ● Where is my comfort zone? ● Where can I achieve my full potential?
WHO?
WHAT?
WHERE?
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● Why do I do it? (Motivation). ● Why am I here? ● Why change or no change? ● Why do I need to make a plan? ● Why do I need deadlines?
● When is the right moment? ● When should I start… ○ Preparing? ○ Taking action? ○ Asking for a help? ● When will I achieve my goals? ● When will I be happy?
Personal action plan ● How will I achieve what I want? ● How will I know that I have achieved my goals? ● How will I stay focused/ motivated? ● How much time will I dedicate to get what I want? ● How will I cope with failures? ● How will I celebrate my successes?
WHY?WHEN?HOW?
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PS Add a buttons o that the volunteer agrees on sharing his story ondifferent social platforms
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IDEASIf you want to give your contribution, here's a space foryou. You can decorate the rooms as you please. Fill themwith new ideas!
Attic of e
xperie
nce. What does an EVS need?
What is missing in these tools?
What is your opinion?
Pro- -pos- -als
