The training is going to take place in Montecatini (Tuscany), Italy and it is co-financed by the Erasmus+ programme. 49 participants, from 7 countries can take part in this event in order to empower themselves with entrepreneurs qualifications and creativity skills.

This Youth Exchange, to be held in Montecatini between the 2nd and the 9th of November 2014, will bring together motivated volunteers, members of organizations that work with non-formal education or other interested in this subject on personal and professional level.

As far as there are many changes in economy, the economic recession and other issues related to the structure of job and labour markets to education, nowadays the youth unemployment is still increasing. There are many of structural differences among countries within EU in young people’s participation in the labour market. Youth unemployment rates are generally much higher than unemployment rates for all ages. Besides these big issues each of unemployed youngster are losing their self-confidence as well as they are confronted to unpleasant situation in front of their families, relatives, friends. Problems of youth unemployment affect more than youth, youth unemployment also has a major impact on society as a whole and the economy. Considering above-mentioned example, we can observe that this issue is getting bigger, that is why we want to promote and increase the need of entrepreneurship spirit among youngsters and enhance them to create their entrepreneurial projects. We want to contribute to the future Europe by making strong efforts to reduce youth unemployment and to promote young people’s participation in the labour market.
We will bring together 49 young people from 7 different countries. According to all statistics we have focused on countries with the highest unemployment rate such as Greece, Portugal, Italy, Romania, Poland, Lithuania and Bulgaria, where the rates reach even 56 % of youth unemployment. It is crucial to empower youth’s entrepreneurial qualification, and the best way is to use simulation games.

Objectives of the Youth Exchange:
· To provide a broader perspective on unemployment among young people coming from participating countries;
· To empower youth with entrepreneurs qualifications and creativity skills;
· To provide an opportunity to meet peers from different cultural backgrounds and stimulate mutual understanding and intercultural dialogue between them;
· To provide participants with the skills necessary to design and implement simulation games as a tool to fight youth unemployment.

Disable the label é um intercâmbio Europeu organizado pela associação Nadácia Krajina harmónie na Eslováquia.

Este intercâmbio irá acontecer entre 28 de Agosto e 6 de Setembro em Žilina, uma cidade do norte da Eslováquia.

“Disable the label“ is a youth exchange that will take place in our hometown Žilina. 24 young participants with and without disabilities from Italy, Portugal, Ireland, Turkey, Slovakia and Czech Republic will meet together. The exchange will last for eight days, time in which they will have the opportunity to explore their role and place in the local community (free time, work, school,…) and to share ways of creating the ” Disable the label” experience in their community. We will work on the topic of Inclusion in different workshops – art, theatre, music and we will use a lot of interactive methods in a context of non-formal education. Non-formal education methods allow the participants to share different ways of how to become a part of the community and how to be respected by others. We aim to promote the inclusion of young people with fewer opportunities, as well as foster and strengthen positive feelings such as solidarity, respect and interest in differences and cultural diversity, cooperation, and active participation. We will also organize outdoor activities to build up the team spirit and improve the team work. The aim of this project is to show everybody, including people with disabilities, that if we try we can create “Disable the label” in our communities.

The programme of the exchange that is going to take place in the South – Eastern part of Bulgaria, in the town of Melnik, between the 21 and 29 October 2013 is focused on the problem of youth unemployment and its possible solution through active citizenship and European citizenship in particular.

The main aim of the youth exchange “Ideas and Work for Better Future” is the discussion among young people about the problems related to youth unemployment and European citizenship – the fact that they belong to united Europe, and the opportunities that it offers. Through nonformal education, participation in volunteer activities, as well as using the liberties of circulation in the European Union, young people are able to improve their competences and skills, and thus to find a better way to develop personally and professionally. During the project, we will focus on important European issues that require the attention of youth and the active involvement of young people: European citizenship, youth unemployment, participation of youth in civic life, intercultural dialogue, etc. The participants will exchange ideas and good practices, they will meet representatives of local youth, local NGOs, the local business, etc. The participants in the project are going to be 28 young people between 18 and 25 years old who are interested in the topic of the project and are motivated to work together in order to promote the idea that united Europe offers unique opportunities to young people, which contribute in the process of finding solutions for youth unemployment.

In order to meet the objectives of the project we are going to use non-formal educational methods, such as “learning by doing”, discussions, team-building and ice-breaking games, role games, artistic and creative workshops. Through these activities the participants will receive more information about the issues we are focusing on, they will develop their competences for analytical and critical thinking, they will learn how to solve problems in an on-conflict way, how to work in a team, be creative and develop a sense of initiative and entrepreneurship. In an atmosphere that is beneficial for the creative approach to the specific topics, the participants will be encouraged to exchange their experiences, information, opinions, to develop their own attitude towards a number of issues, related to the responsibility for the personal actions, to the realization of a positive social change, to the tolerance, the understanding and appreciation of the cultural variety. They will develop a sense of empathy and solidarity to the others.

The participants in the project will establish contact and communicate with local organizations and people during the activities, e.g. the Mountain Rescue Service – one of the oldest volunteering NGOs in Bulgaria. Along with the every-day activities, the participants will have the opportunity to see and get to know different aspects of Bulgarian culture – the atmosphere, history and traditions of the picturesque Bulgarian town Melnik and its surroundings, Rozhen Monastery, the multicultural environment of the Gotze Delchev region (Dobrinishte) and its unique nature (Gotze Delchev hut, Bezbog peak, etc.).