Strengthening Local Youth Work through European Charter Ambassadors

Training course
1-4 March 2022 | Paris

for 24 participants
from Austria, Belgium-Flanders, Croatia, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Sweden, Slovenia, Slovakia, Neighbouring partner countries in the EECA and SEE region.

Working language(s):

English

Organiser:
JINT vzw (Belgium-Flanders) (National Agency)

Background
The European Charter on Local Youth Work was launched in June 2019 as “a common European platform for the necessary dialogue on youth work”. The Charter is not a political document, but “a check-list around which stakeholders can gather and discuss what measures that might be needed for the further development of youth work”. In order for this dialogue to be carried out in a constructive way, the steering group of Europe Goes Local (EGL) also developed an online Changemakers Kit (CMK), containing different kinds of support material such as guiding questions and examples of good practices.The Charter has met very positive reactions throughout the youth work community of practice. Worth noting is also that the development of the Charter goes hand in hand with last year’s policy development. In the declaration from the 3rd European Youth Work Convention, Signposts for the future, the Charter is explicitly mentioned as an important tool for quality development of youth work. Therefore, the work within EGL and supporting the implementation of the Charter will be an important contribution to the Bonn process.

Concept and benefits
In order to support the use of the Charter and the CMK as a basis for quality development of local youth work and enhancing the use of Erasmus+ and ESC as a means for this, the steering group of EGL has decided to establish a network of European Charter Ambassadors (ECA).

This will be done through:

• A residential training course of European Charter Ambassadors
• The establishment of the network of European Charter Ambassadors
• The creation of a specific toolkit for ambassadors, complementing the CMK 

This way EGL, its national working groups and the National Agencies will:

• Give a sustainable and on-going contributions to the Bonn process;
• Have a pool of continuously updated ambassadors, who might also contribute to the realization of other Strategic National Agency Cooperation (SNACs);
• Create more knowledge about, and willingness to use, Erasmus+ and ESC in local youth work;
• Have ‘antennas’ in local youth work, gathering knowledge on what measures that might be needed in order to further promote European cooperation.

The ambassadors will

• Be part of a tailored training process that mixes both theoretical and practical knowledge through a blended learning approach with different activities (online as well as offline);
• Become members of a European network that offers both peer-learning and mutual support as well as opportunities to run different kinds of activities;
• Have access to a special ambassadors toolkit, facilitating their work;
• Have a central role in the further development of local youth work.

On the ambassadors
The possible tasks of the ambassadors will be:

• To disseminate information about and promote the Charter and the CMK (within and beyond their own local organization or municipality);
• To set up and facilitate development processes based on the Charter and the CMK;
• To set up and run trainings for national Charter ambassadors, using concepts and material from their own training process;
• To support national Charter ambassadors and others who want to set up and run development processes;
• To support the continuous development of the CMK through gathering material and good practices related to the different sections of the Charter;
• To promote Erasmus+ and European Solidarity corps as means to implement the Charter and develop youth work through European cooperation.
• Depending on the agreement with National Agencies at the national level, the trained ambassadors are to be ‘antennas’ of the NAs, gathering knowledge on what measures that can be needed in order to further promote European cooperation;
  • to be resource persons, available for NAs and others when they would support or themselves run such processes;
  • to report their work as well as observations and suggestions for actions back to the NA.

On the ambassadors’ network
The network will be established at the end of the training course and will function as a platform for follow up on experiences and best ambassadors’ practices as well as for additional trainings. It will also offer possibilities for continuous coaching and support from both EGL and colleagues.
The platform will have meetings both online and IRL, and have common digital tools for communication. 

On the training
The residential training will take place on 1 – 4 March 2022, Paris. The objectives of the training are to give the participants:

• Knowledge about the background and purpose of the Charter; its links to policy, why it was developed and how, etc.;
• Deepened understanding of the various bullet points of the Charter. (E.g. why they are there, how they can be understood, what they might mean to different stakeholders, etc.);
• Knowledge about the background, purpose and content of the CMK; why it was developed and how, the different features, etc.;
• Knowledge of European youth and youth work policy and policy development;
• Knowledge about Erasmus+ and ESC and how the programs can be used for European cooperation and the further development of youth work;
• Knowledge about European structures, such as SALTO, Eurodesk, etc. and how they can be used in the information and implementation process;
• The skills needed to set up and facilitate development processes based on the Charter and the CMK;
• The skills needed to educate and support others to set up and lead such processes;
• The skills and knowledge needed to communicate about and disseminate the Charter and the CMK beyond their local context.

The training will contain both more formal methods, on the content of the Charter and the CMK, and more non-formal methods, on how they can be discussed and used for the development of youth work.
The training will be designed and supported in a way that makes it possible for the ECAs to replicate itin adapt manner at national, regional or local level. The ECAs will also be equipped with support materialin terms of introductory videos, leaflets, etc. that they can use both themselves and when training national ambassadors or others that wants to support the use of the Charter.

On the profile of the European Charter Ambassadors
The future ambassadors:

• See the need for further development of youth work;
• Have a solid experience in carrying out and/or managing local youth work, working as civil servants or being active in NGOs;
• Are familiar with the Charter;
• Have previous experiences in leading discussions and/or holding courses/trainings;
• Have contacts and channels to reach out with information and support also beyond their own organisations.
• Are willing and able to support or run processes also outside of their own organisations and with different stakeholder groups (such as politicians, managers, young people, etc.);
• Are able to communicate well in English.

The training course will be provided in English.
To register for the training course
Please, fill this form:
https://forms.gle/R7DTYY6smgwhyA377
Deadline to register: 20 January 2022 (midnight, CET)

Selection and notification of participants
This activity is offered for participants resident in the countries where the Europe Goes Local project is implemented:
Austria, Belgium-Flanders, Croatia, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Sweden, Slovenia, Slovakia, Neighbouring partner countries in the EECA and SEE region.

Before applying, please, contact your Erasmus+ National Agency or the SALTO EECA and SEE Resource  Centres from the neighbouring partner countries to discuss your application. National Agencies and  SALTO Centres will decide whether they wish to send participants for this activity or not. Not all Europe Goes Local member countries will delegate participants for the training course.

Applications will be evaluated and the list of participants will be decided by the Erasmus+ National Agencies.
All applicants will be notified by the 31st of January.
Number of foreseen participants: 24 people

Practicalities for the training course:
All costs of this training course are covered by the Erasmus+ grant.
Participating at this training course does not imply a registration or participation fee.
Full board and lodging will be provided by the organizing team.
Please, contact your National Agency regarding organising your travel. National Agencies might book tickets directly or reimburse travel fees to participants. Please, do not book any travel ticket before agreeing with your National Agency on the terms and conditions and before being notified about your participation, otherwise your costs will not be covered.
The organisers and participants will have to follow the safety rules related to COVID-19. In case the rules would not allow organising the training course, the activity will cancelled/postponed to another date. Participants will be updated in case any change occurs.

Contact:
Judit Balogh
project coordinator
judit.balogh@jint.be
JINT vzw | Grétrystraat 26, 1000 Brussel
02 209 07 20

Training overview
 

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Jelentkezési határidő: 2022. január 20.
Értesítés a jelentkezés eredményéről: 2022. január 31.

Kapcsolat:
Sztráda Eszter Anna / Ms Eszter Anna Sztráda
Csoportvezető-helyettes / Deputy head of Youth unit
eszter.sztrada@tpf.hu

ERASMUS+ IFJÚSÁG / ERASMUS+ YOUTH
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