Culture and dialogue trough volunteering

AT A GLANCE

ALDA will host 2 French volunteers for a period of 12 months in the office in Skopje, North Macedonia.

This project was inspired by young people as drivers of society and the hope for a better European future, the need to find new ways to reach out to them and motivate engagement, for given the proper encouragement youth can bring significant and needed change. With the development of new technologies, we also witness a creative approach proposed by youngsters in facing the problems that concern them and proposing innovative solutions

The project will give opportunity to 2 volunteers to immerse them-self in the Macedonian experience, improve their skills in communication, languages and youth work. They will contribute to the multi-cultural team of ALDA Skopje and will create different tools such as videos, photos, articles and interviews on the topics of the project as well as promotional materials used for “Erasmus +” programme.

ACTIVITIES

The project activities are covering 3 topics:

• Youth social activism and regional cooperation
• Intercultural understanding & European Citizenship
• Youth development & Francophonie

Youth social activism and regional cooperation and Intercultural understanding & European Citizenship

These topics will be tackled through the activities of one of the main projects of ALDA Skopje conducted in the Balkan region and which is currently in its inception is the project “Youth Compact”. The project tackles the issues of rule of law, fundamental rights and economic and social issues from the perspective of youth, the idea is that across these issues young people accept and exercise European values and nurture common European identity, as well as recognise the potential of their own countries.

The volunteers will be included in the Raising awareness activities in the framework of this project, they will work mainly on the communication activities: news articles, photography, online campaign, video and audio campaigns, info graphics on relevant topics, website and internet platform management. A special highlight will be put on stimulation of creative communication tools and technics. They will also be present on the regional events organised in the country in order for them to engage and exchange with other youngsters from the region and thus will gain direct insight into the Balkan youth context.

Youth development & Francophonie

On this topic the volunteers will be engaged in activities in the framework of ALDA Skopje’s programme for decentralised cooperation between partners from Normandy and Macedonia. The volunteers will be engaged in the activities of the cooperation between Normandy and Macedonia on the topics of Remembrance, cultural heritage and youth, as many youth exchanges on these topics will be organised they will exchange with youth from Normandy and Macedonia. This activity will also include the topic of European remembrance through the discovery of the common history of European countries with a focus on the First World War.

Moreover, ALDA Skopje started, with the help of EVS volunteers, in 2016, the ALDA Youth Club around Francophonie where students from Skopje interested in French language and culture can join to learn more about French traditions and improve their French language skills or more technical competences, as animation, video or photography.

Finally, one of the main aims of this project is to promote intercultural dialogue through creative exchanges and mobility. In order to encourage creativity and personal development of the volunteers, they will be encouraged to develop their own ideas and initiatives for projects on this topic that could be implemented with the help of ALDA Skopje. Therefore, their activities will also involve project development, brainstorming and drafting project idea with the assistance of the staff.

Volunteers will also be encouraged to prepare and participate in activities on these topics, to share their experience, to promote youth mobility among our partners while presenting the possibilities of the European educational programmes.