Youth — the right direction

AT A GLANCE

The project aims at enhancing the promotion and visibility of the Youth programme in South East Europe (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”, Montenegro and Serbia) and the Southern Caucasus (Georgia).The overall objective is to allow young people to acquire knowledge, skills and competencies, focusing on the training of multipliers and on the development of networks and partnerships. The proposal combines co-operation, training and information aspects, through the implementation of different actions: information seminars, the setting-up of specialised info-points, web-site and newsletters, youth ambassador groups, trainings of peer educators (multipliers), job shadowing, trainings on the European Volunteer Service, itinerant crossing youth fair and the setting-up of 4 different networks of stakeholders (networks of info-points, of youth ambassadors, of EVS organisations and network of peer educators-multipliers) working in the field of youth in SEE and in Georgia.

TARGET GROUPS

• Young people, aged 15-25 (involving also people up to 30, according to the new guidelines of the forthcoming «Youth in Action»)
• Youth leaders and youth workers
• Youth organisations, NGOs
• Local and Regional Authorities

The proposal can count on 20 partners, representing ten different countries in Western Europe, South-East Europe and the Southern Caucasus.

ACTIVITIES

Youth Centre in Nis — LDA CSS

Thanks to the programme YOUTH, the Right Direction, sponsored by the European Commission, a new group of news people set up an innovative and challenging Youth programme in Nis, in Central and Southern Serbia. They are fully equipped with skills and goodwill for the future.
One of the strategic priorities of LDA CSS in the next period will be work with the youth in Nis and development of numerous youth projects under the Youth Center Program. This program is a build-up of idea of opening Info Points under the Youth the Right Direction project.
Aims of this programme are:

• youth education and development of various skills, (with acknowledging the principle of peer education, youth for youth learning)
• membership networking and development of voluntarism
• development and support of youth initiatives and campaigns
• development of local cultural potentials and intercultural exchange
• working on increasing the knowledge of youth about processes of involvement in EU processes, and encouraging them to take an active role in these processes

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International Youth Crossing Fair in Verteneglio/Brtonigla, Croatia

An international crossing fair organised by ALDA in the framework of its project Youth: the right direction started on Friday the 25th of July in Verteneglio/Brtonigla, Croatia. This fair aims at promoting the European Commission’s «Youth in Action» program and at deepening the mutual knowledge of the different youth contexts whilst promoting cooperation in the field of youth. The activity involves young people, from 7 different countries of the Balkans and European Union. They are travelling all together by bus from Croatia to Albania, passing through Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro, taking part in different activities such as workshops, cultural events, etc.

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Training in Kutaisi, Georgia, 24 — 28 June 2008

During 4 days, 20 people from Kutaisi (Georgia), Belfast (Northern Ireland), Nis (Serbia), Monfalcone (Italy), Osijek and Verteneglio (Croatia) have been trained in order to promote, employing a peer to peer methodology, the Youth programme at the local level, supporting the work of Youth National Agencies, Contact Points for Youth and SALTO resource centres.

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Training in Shkodra

During four days, 25 young people from South-East-Europe and EU countries including ten Albanian from Shkodra had the opportunity to deepen their knowledge of the «Youth in action» program and to draft project together.
Apart from the training the young people discovered the city of Shkodra and created real links among each other.

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Training on EVS in Montenegro, 10-11 December 2008

This pre-training on European Voluntary Service (EVS) is the first step of a project aiming at developing EVS projects and at setting-up a network of EVS organisations in the field which may grant multiplying effects, high quality projects, exchange of best practices, long-lasting commitment and cooperation.

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EVS training seminar in Kotor, Montenegro, 9-13 February 2009

The aim of the seminar was to complete the trainings for the youth officers about the European Voluntary Service within «Youth in action» programme. During the first day, the participants refreshed the knowledge on EVS from the previous trainings held in 2008 in Budva, Montenegro. A special focus was put on a role of the hosting and sending organisation and the other stakeholders, the tools for promotion of the programme as well as the financial part of on EVS project. Also, all the participants appreciated the nice walk in the old picturesque city of Kotor which surely contributed to the team building.

The second day was reserved for the accreditation of the LDAs for becoming hosting, sending and coordinating organizations for European volunteers. Thanks to the Salto SEE Resource centre, all the LDAs were accredited in the same place and time on the base of the Host expression of interest (HEI) they have previously provided. The LDAs benefited from the presence of the Salto accreditors for SEE to ask some questions and share some ideas of how to develop good EVS projects and to promote this programme among the youth on local level.
Finally, the last day was focused on the future cooperation by creation of EVS network that include all the LDAs and other European partners. The creation of this network is a result of the «Youth: the right direction» project that during the past 3 years has informed and trained many young people on the European programme «Youth in action». These young people are now youth ambassadors among their peers and are willing to continue working in the youth field on local level.
By the creation of this network, the LDAs will have the possibility to develop high quality projects by straitening the cooperation with the other European Partners. The final beneficiaries will surely be the youth from the Region who will have a possibility to live and work as a volunteer in EU for 6 months as well as the youngsters from all around Europe that will come to discover the Balkans by working in one of the LDAs.

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New activity on the «Youth: the right direction» programme: Job shadowing

In the framework of the tree-year project «YOUTH: the right direction», ALDA is preparing the final activity: the job shadowing. Job shadowing is practical learning experience that consists of short stay in one partner organization in another country.