"""Creative Learning Cookbook"" is KA2 Strategic partnership project organised by Estonian UNESCO Youth Association in partnership with Room of Fulfilled Dreams (Latvia) and Coobra (Austria), which will start in late 2014 and end in late 2016, consist of three training courses, nine local follow-up events, one final multiplier event and publication of three handbooks and full set of online resources.The main objective of the project is to help to raise the quality of educational and training activities in the system of formal and non-formal education by developing new and innovative teaching, training and learning approaches and methods and supporting the exchange and dissemination of best practices and innovative educational tools. In particular partners will develop and publish handbooks for trainers and teachers on topics of using creative writing, storytelling and visual facilitation for learning purposes. Materials will be selected and adjusted to the needs of youth work and school education, taking as foundation principles and values of non-formal education. Production of learning materials will be accompanied by series of training courses during which the content of the handbooks will be introduced and methods will be tested and improved, as well as additional ideas and methods collected.Apart from partner organisations staff, there will be 45 youth work practitioners and activists taking part in training and follow-up activities and 50 participants for final event. Regarding indirect involvement, the number of follow-up and online dissemination participants and beneficiaries is estimated as 200 for on the spot events and 1000 for online visits.Methodology, collected on the research phase of the project, will be later used during training courses and together with respective outcomes of training events will form the content of the handbooks and online informational and learning materials. As we speak about project, which methodology involves creative approach, the content of the trainings and publications will respectfully reflect to this priority and include individual and group exercises, introductional inputs, tasks, refelction and analysis of the outcomes. What regards the inclusion of the target group, participants of the trainings will be able to carry out local events to present the new methodology to their organisations and partners and also to perform a field test of new competences. To ensure the smooth flow of follow-up phase there will be handbooks published as on paper so online after each training, prior to follow-ups, and final web publications made by the end of the project prior to final multiplier event.Long term benefits of the project stand on improved methodological approach, applied in training, teaching and learning events across Europe, ensured by provision of learning materials produced during the course. Second perspective for sustainability and continuation of the project stands on translation of the published content into national languages of EU. Thirdly, project sets good platform for further elaboration of tools for creative learning and exchange of good practices in the field."

AIM AND APPROACHThe project AdultLife is a strategic partnership that aims to support young people in transition to adult life by making information about the process available in an understandable, relatable and youthful way, on the following topics:Employability, Housing, Financial Literacy,Mental Health Well being, Citizenship and Participation. To achieve this, the project is designed by young people and puts young people in the conceptualization and decision making of it's outputs. To have a better understanding of the target group’s needs and to make sure the outputs have a tangible response to them, multiple stakeholders will be involved in this project like high schools, universities, youth workers, teachers, youth centers, youth information centers and municipalities. The involvement of all of them will be mediated by a participatory design methodology where multiple interviews and focus groups will take place with the objective of bringing together all of their perspective on the adulting phase and make them decide what suits better for the achievement of the project’s objectives. CONTEXT AND BACKGROUNDThis proposal comes from a need that young people have a hard time understanding the information provided because is perceived as too bureaucratic and isn’t created by and for young people; Also the touchpoints where the information is provided lacks the bridges and communication style to the platforms used by young people for example social media. The two factors combined makes the access to information of quality around the many topics of the adulting process difficult, which translates in youngsters that aren’t fully aware of what their rights are, how to make responsible decisions and how to participate in society in its social, economic and political dimensions.INTELLECTUAL OUTPUTSThe proposed outputs fit the project’s objectives because they are conceptualized in a young adult focused and strategic way. At first they will grab their attention in social media with the VIDEOs, these serve as a bridge between social media where the target groups are widely present and the outputs with more detailed information and with the WEBSITEs or the PODCASTs; and the SURVIVAL MANUAL/DIARY serves as daily companion for the soon to be young adult. It’s content has not only information about this transition but also will have templates where they can plan their future alongside the usual purpose of a year planner; The ONLINE KITS FOR EDUCATORS and MOOC are designed to give educators working with young people in transition to adult life the tools to properly accompaign and use the delivered information with their youngsters. ACTIVITIESApart from the development of the intellectual outputs following participatory approaches and design thinking, there will also be 4 transnational partner meetings, a staff training for youth workers, 3 national multiplier events, and a europewide webinar.INDICATORS AND RESULTSOUTPUTS3 national websites with all topic info, library for educational providers12 Podcasts per partner organization, 1 podcast per 1 subtopic (check the added topic list)60 survival manuals in national language per organisation, 30 manuals in english 1 MOOC on adult life for education providers1 Educational kit for education provider, containing at least 10 methods 9 Videos - 1 general introduction to adult life, 8 on the topics: 2x employment, 1x housing, 2x finances, 2x mental health, 1x citizenship + 1 making of / behind the scenes). Videos max 3 minutes. Also produce 30 sec teaser for sm. 3 emotional promotional devotional videos on our organisationsDISSEMINATION1000 Followers on social media1000 Views on youtube50 participants in Europewide webinar for promoting all IOs6000 podcast listener per each partner (of total minimum 12 podcasts included all topics)100 Downloads of the educational kit100 Educational providers participating in MOOCIMPACT AND LONG TERM EFFECTSApproaching youth through the innovative way of informing them about the topics needed for transition to adulthood is the core theme of the project. Through the resulting outputs adapted for different audiences - youth and educational providers we aim to increase the awareness, knowledge and skills for them as direct participants in the process. The project creates innovative and attractive information channels which on the long term will adjust the educational balance towards these topics. Recognition of cross sectoral collaboration will increase and bring the necessary information for transition to being an adult to a wider audience on community level.Therefore the project is organized in the following phases:Research; Prototyping and testing ; Production and dissemination - After all the outputs have been tested the shall be produced and disseminated each of the involved partners and to put in place a local, regional, national and European dissemination strategy in order to increase the transferab

The proposed project is aimed at increasing the educational potential of four European organisations: MODE Foundation (Poland), IFOM (Italy), Pistes Solidaire (France) and Coobra (Austria) by exploring the subject of gamification. It is a relatively new, yet immensely popular trend that has found its way into training and management processes of numerous entities, including some of the world’s largest businesses.By providing our staff with a chance to learn about exploiting gamification for educational purposes, we wish to significantly increase the effectiveness of our activities. We also intend to immediately utilise the newly gained knowledge in our work with adult learners who participate in international initiatives.The competences to be gained by our trainers can be divided into three main areas: 1) multicultural education and mobility preparedness; 2) specialised education; 3) personal development, also with the use of e-learning tools. Each subject will be explored during a short-term training course, where participants will exchange their knowledge and develop common standards for effective use of gamification in a given area. This will lead to the creation of a competence map that will facilitate the formulation of future plans and strategies for subsequent initiatives.As seen by the partners, the project neatly fits into our development philosophy, as it entails following top global trends in education, while maintaining cost effectiveness in the pursuit of broadening our competences. It will make use of partners’ own resources. Upon the completion of the project, we will implement the newly gained competences without the need for additional funding. All the while, we will noticeably increase the effectiveness of our educational activities addressed at adult learners.

YouTrain - fresh video for non-formal education!IN A NUTSHELLWe produced video tutorials on general considerations in non-formal education, on specific methods in non-formal education, as well as an interactive manual on how to produce video tutorials yourself. Find our videos on the YouTrain youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrP1Y7Bl4_8rW4wIitZ6M3gCONTEXTNon-Formal education is being more and more used inside and outside of youth work, and the search for methods and tools that any trainer or youth worker can use, is increasing. There are already some toolboxes like the ones by SALTO, but those platforms are very text-based in describing the methods and tools. Responding to the growing trend and preference of learners to watch video tutorials for acquiring new competences, as well as to bring in an innovative and sustainable approach in the training of trainers and educators, this strategic partnership project aimed at producing video tutorials on methods and considerations in non-formal education. In the big picture, we want to contribute to quality in youth work and education by providing an efficient, innovative and open tool for the development of competences of trainers and educators. AIMOur main aim is to:-> Promote non-formal education and raise the quality and impact in education and youth work by providing free access to visual learning tools of methods and exercises to youth workers, educators and other people interested, so it can be used to design and facilitate group activities for young people and other learners. OBJECTIVES 1) Enrich the offer of free tools which contribute to the professional development of facilitators and trainers.2) Support new trainers and facilitators by presenting in visual way methods and exercises of NFE.3) Use ICT tools to facilitate learning competences of non-formal education methods and exercises 4) Increase the level of digital competence among youth workers and educations and encourage them to use more digital tools in their work 5) Promote non-formal education by creating, developing and promoting explanatory videos6) Provide free online access to non-formal education methodsMAIN ACTIVITIESOur main activities were concept development, video production (23 videos), liaison and testing with target group (115 testers), partner meetings (3) , project management, training activities (1), community-building, local mulitiplier events (4), as well as physical and online dissemination activities.DIRECT PARTICIPANTSThe participants directly involved in our activities were trainers, youth workers, video producers, graphic designers and graphic artists, and youth work managers. TARGET GROUPOur project targets anyone interested in the practical application of non-formal education and its methods, as well as interested in the use of video-tutorials as an educational tools. METHODOLOY The main methodologies used during the project were Design Thinking, Dragon Dreaming and Non-Formal Education. RESULTS: -> easy-to-understand short educational video tutorials on basic tools and approaches in non-formal education (including visual vocabulary, templates for storyboard etc) produced-> interactive manual on how to produce video tutorials yourself -> junior trainers/facilitators/educators trained in basic tools and approaches in non-formal education, as well as in how to produce video tutorials -> videos tested with different types of educators and institutions -> videos disseminated via dedicated YouTube channel, facebook groups, a “mini-MOOC” on the website of the International YOuth Work Trainers Guild, as well as through existing toolboxes, libraries and MOOCs -> feedback on videos gathered, survey completed for identification of follow-up project and further videos to be produced -> maintenance of long term cooperation of the consortium of partners and development of other projects and activities together; -> raise awareness of NFE methods, as well as increasing the use of ICT tools by all partners and people participating directly and indirectly -> changes in individuals and organisations concerning their attitude and competences towards trainings and trainer’s work as well NFE methodologies. -> improved competences of staff related with project management, ICT tools, research and training. EXPECTED LONG-TERM IMPACT- production of more videos on methods and considerations in NFE- MOOC for trainers- based on manual, other people to produce videos and growing the library-Contact and cooperate with other stakeholders-Continue the cooperation between all the partners involved and develop other activities/projects in cooperation;- Translation of the outputs for the languages of the partners and possible from other countries.- transfer of the YouTrain mission to other trendy media and approaches of learning, eg podcasts- overall strengthening, application and recognition of non-formal education and youth work

"The rapid increase of European funding being allocated into the youth sector in the last decade through programmes such as Erasmus+ and the European Solidarity Corps has given way to a wide array of exciting initiatives in the international youth work scene, and contributed to the development of inspiring professionals and organizations, many of whom changed their life drastically thanks to the international dimension added by such programmes. Yet, there is not a concrete platform to collect those stories at an international level and a lot of great practices and inspirations are being lost in the never ending news feed or are scattered around the Internet in various languages, websites and formats.""Gems of Youth Work"" is a strategic partnership in the field of youth that will gather stories from trainers, youth work practitioners, organizations and active young people to share them in the form of podcasts and graphic recordings to make these stories alive, attractive and able to reach a large audience on online channels. AIM AND OBJECTIVES: The ""Gems of Youth Work"" strategic partnership aims to gather youth field stories in a form of podcasts and interviews to share them amongst practitioners of the international and national youth work fields to foster exchange of good practices and promote the value and recognition of international youth work at national levels. The strategic partnership sets the next objectives: - To gather a database of inspiring, innovative and interesting stories of youth work projects and approaches and their implementers; - To design a podcast and graphic recording approach to present the gathered stories in an appealing way to the audience;- To promote organizations and practitioners contributing to the development of the youth work field; - To promote the recognition of international youth work amongst national youth work bodies.In order to achieve these objectives, the project includes the following activities:* Three transnational project meetings: Kick-off meeting in Austria; Mid-term check-up meeting in Slovakia and Evaluation and final podcast meeting in Spain.* One training activity that will gather youth workers and educators from each country to train them in creating, producing, promoting podcasts as a means to promote best practices, discuss important and relevant issues as well as promote the work in the youth field. * Development and promotion of two seasons of monthly publications of Podcasts and Graphic recordings (9 months and 9 months);* National offline promotion events and presentations;* Online promotion of results of the project.The participants for transnational meetings will be the coordinator and content responsible person for each partner involved. The participants of the training activity will be chosen through a call among associated partners based on an invite only approach. Youth workers, educators, NGO volunteers and staff, youth work institution representatives will be involved in the pre-study when it will come to the choice of topics to concentrate more on and for sure develop podcasts on. The selection of podcast guests will be based on the consortium decision based on guest interest, availability and relevance to the project.TANGIBLE RESULTS (products/activities):- Podcasts on the topics of good practices in the youth field done in English with corresponding graphic recordings (at least 25);- Two digital story books (compilation of podcasts + graphic recordings, one after each season);- Visual report with testimonials of the speakers/audience;- Website category dedicated to podcasts on the website of SGI;- Photographs and videos of the project activities; - After project webinar to share the results and learnings at the end of the project.INTANGIBLE RESULTS (effects):- To promote the work done in the international youth work field to the national youth work bodies;- To establish and strengthen cooperation between our organizations and the national youth work bodies; - Growth in interest of youth workers to take part in international training activities and contribute to the international youth field;- Organizations to be more known at the local and international levels.The impact for the youth work field: Raised exposition and recognition; Opportunity for networking and partnership-building; Upskilling and enhancing organisational capacities and quality of services offered through learning from the practices and stories conveyed through the podcasts.For our target groups, we expect them to benefit in the following ways:- Young people: improved services from youth work, thus more opportunities and empowerment.- Youth Workers: access to inspiring practices and stories, thus opportunity for upskilling.- Organisations: improving their services by learning from the stories and practices shared through the podcasts."