CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS
for the project
“ACHIEVE” – innovative methods for training and development of youth workers
long term training program (2017-2018) under KA2 (Strategic Partnership) of Erasmus+,
and implemented by organizations from Bulgaria, Romania and Cyprus.
Learning for Change Foundation is inviting you to apply to a unique long-term training program developed in partnership with Dreams for Life from Romania and allaZOYME from Cyprus.
The training program is part of a two-year Erasmus+ project (Strategic Partnership) called “ACHIEVE” innovative methods for training and development of youth workers. Under this project 16 youth workers from the three countries (6 from Romania, 6 from Bulgaria and 4 from Cyprus) will participate in an online learning process, 3 residential courses and a follow-up/application phase. The same participants will attend all the learning activities mentioned before.
WHY “ACHIEVE”
Throughout the years we have observed that in many international projects (youth exchanges, courses and other actions) there is a certain point or limit which is not crossed by the youth leaders, trainers or facilitators of the learning process. We could see how the participants involved in such projects are exploring only the surface of their characters and true beings, thus making only small personal and professional changes. But, we believe that sustainable and authentic change is coming from working with young people at deeper levels, addressing deeper life topics.
The youth workers nowadays have the challenge of supporting and empowering young people who are caught in the trap of finding and maintaining unsatisfying jobs in order to make a “normal” living. But the world we live in offers more and more challenges and pushes the youth in areas of insecurity and confusion.
Through ACHIEVE, we want to give new perspectives, solutions and tools for youth workers so they can create authentic and sustainable personal changes in young people. Solutions that are rooted in the following elements:
- Eco-centric development and nature based work.
- Positive psychology, positive education, holistic development.
- Empowerment, self-directed learning, self-motivation and strong experiential learning.
Thus “ACHIEVE” aims at increasing the capacity of youth workers to create sustainable results and powerful impact on personal and professional development of youth.
TRAINING PROGRAM OBJECTIVES
The training program is built on a flow which combines elements of practice/experience, reflection, theory and application. Thus, we are aiming at:
- Developing competences that enable youth workers to work with youth following a holistic approach, thus enabling them to reach their full potential.
- Building and strengthening personal and professional vision, mission and values of youth workers in order to act as responsible members of the planetary community for protecting the Earth and supporting authentic youth development.
- Developing the transferability and innovation capacities of youth workers in order to use and adapt new educational concepts, tools and methods in their own working environments.
- Increasing the strategic thinking of youth workers in order to create long-term interventions for personal and professional development of young people.
DATES OF THE RESIDENTIAL TRAININGS
Each residential training is focused on different areas of development.
- TC in Bulgaria – 1-8 October 2017 – Eco-centric development in youth work
- TC in Romania – 5-12 November 2017 – Positive psychology and positive education
- TC in Cyprus – 11-18 February 2018 – Educational plans, self-directed learning, self-motivation for development and innovation
PARTICIPANTS’ PROFILE
The ideal participant has:
- RELEVANT PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: persons who have at least 1 year of experience in youth work. The participants should have one of the following roles: youth workers, youth leaders, educational and career counselors, teachers, general educators, trainers, mentors, coaches, educational nature guides. The people under these roles should work directly and constantly with young people.
- MOTIVATION: persons who feel a strong calling to participate in this course and have strong and relevant motivation for joining the process. The motivation should be a blend of personal and professional factors. We are looking for persons who feel comfortable being in nature and who can immerse in natural learning environments.
- CAPACITY TO USE THE EXPERIENCE: each participant must be part of an organization/institution which is connected with the project topics or is willing to incorporate them in the future activities and projects.
The ideal participant is willing to:
- Work with nature and holistic approaches.
- Work with youth at deeper personal levels.
- Gain new non-formal practices and methods.
- Develop future partnerships in the area of eco-centric development.
- Address in his/hers work elements of universal spirituality.
- Learn how to work strategically.
- Develop personally and professionally.
The participants must be over 18 years and have a good level of English.
6 youth workers from Bulgaria can participate in the training program.
APPLICATION PROCEDURE AND DEADLINE
If you want to participate in this training course you have to fill in the application form available at this link:
https://goo.gl/forms/Pq4UffLG2ag8mQbV2
The deadline for application submission is 24th of August 2017 (included).
The selections results will be published in maximum 7 days after the application deadline.
CONTACT PERSON
Eleni Michail (Cyprus) project coordinator and trainer
elenimichail1@gmail.com
The project “ACHIEVE” innovative methods for training and development of youth workers is funded by the Erasmus + Programme of the European Union. The project is funded through Bulgarian National Agency (HRDC) under the number – 2016-2-BG01-KA205-023835.