"<< Background >>Društvo Lojtra was implementing regular program Experience Erasmus+ in 2019. In the program we cooperate with the local primary school, where we build a group of 15 youngsters. We are organizing multiple meetings between September and March and after that we implement a youth exchange together. After the experience we include these young people in activities of the local youth organizations. In general we had many meetings and out of the group we start building a team!Suddenly we were confronted with a fact that 2 young people don't want to cooperate any more. It was a shock and surprise. We are not used to have drop outs. Especially not in the groups of teenagers where we have multiple meetings and where we take care to build a safe space for all the participanst. However 2 youngsters quited!Reasons and the way how they quitted differ from one case to another, however we wanted to understand the core reasons and we did multiple conversations with teachers, school management and between ourselves. We discovered that the story behind were emotional and behavioral issues of those young people.From the complete experience the fact that we did not notice this troubles in advance hit us the most. Further reflection brought up the finding that even if we would noticed the issue we wouldn't know how to react on it. We were in an uncomfortable situation of realizing how incompetent we are for working with the young people with emotional and bahvioral issues (EBI).We decided to investigate the area. We were surprised how common the issues are on one side and how rare are the educational opportunities for youth workers on the topic. That is why we decided to design a project which is targeting our needs and the needs of our partners on side and also addressing the need of the entire youth sector on the other side. Youth sector simply must react on the needs of young people. Currently those needs are better and more proffesional support from youth workers.During the research we found next statistics:- Publication Mental health of young people (Slovenia, 2018) is stating that the number of cases on primary health level because of EBI increased for 25,7% from 2008 to 2015, furhermore the number of cases on secundary level increas for 71%.- Waiting lines, regarding official online portal cakalnedobe.ezdrav.si from 20.11.2020 are showing that the longest waiting line for first visit at psychiatrist is 408 days and for the visit at clinical psychologist is 573 days.- The incidence of Mental and behavioral disorders have increased from 1245,7 cases per 100000 inhabitants in 2009 to 2592,3 cases per 100000 inhabitants in 2019. An increase of 208%!-Romanian Young people at risk of depression, according to quoted data from 2016 European barometer, is at approx 13%-50% of mental disorders arise by the age of 14. According to those facts, Croatian Institute of Public Health starts the preparation for implementing screening for mental health risks of school children. The screening will be implemented by the school medical teams for all students as part of regular yearly check-ups in the 5th and 8th grade of elementary school and 1st grade of secondary school. The screening will be carried out using the YP-CORE questionnaire, which measures the degree of general mental distress.The needs addressed by the project:- Acquiring/upgrading knowledge for detecting youngsters facing EBI, while we run youth work activites.- Design procedures/ways for addressing young people with EBI, during youth work activities.- Training reactions on not ""standard"" situation in youth work conected wotj young people with EBI.- Acquiring/upgrading competences for working with young people with EBI in the frame of youth work.- Establishment of procedures and structures for support and inclusion of young people in the youth work activities. .<< Objectives >>The project we will raise awareness about the situation on the area of mental health of young people and support organizations in youth sector for efficient and professional work with young people with EBI. Purpose of the project: Develop organizational approach for empowering youth workers for successful work with young people with EBI.Objectives:1. implement research about the needed competences of youth workers for working with young people with EBI (Regarding the existing competences and the situation they are facing)2. Build competence model for empowering youth workers for working with young people with EBI.3. Make a manual for youth workers with key topics on the mental health of young people. 4. Design a curriculum for training the youth workers to work with young people with EBI. Three modules, 6 days each module.5. Test the designed modules on 27 youth workers from partner countries. 6. identify support network in the local communities, which can support youth workers when facing young people with EBI.7. Design organizational guidelines for organizational development in the direction of inclusion and support of young people with EBI. And also not to forget about the support for youth workers working with these young people.8. Make 15 podcasts (50-90 min each) with different experts about the mental helth of young people.9. Organize 3 multiplication events and share the results with 180 people form different EU states.<< Implementation >>During the project we will make 3 intellectual outputs, which will enable sistematic organizational approach towards the work with young people with EBI. Effectivness of those results will be tested on three training courses for youth workers. We will share those reults on 3 multiplication events: For the purposes of the project coordination we will organize three project meetings. All the activities will be eaqually hosted by all three partners.<< Results >>Expected results of the project:Intangible results:1.Enhanced capacity to include and work with young people with EBI in all three partner organizations.2.27 youth workers trained to work with young people with EBI.3.Contribution towards demystifying the area of mental health of young people. 4.More approachable educational resources on the topic of mental health of young people for youth workers.5.Increased awareness of youth workers about the importance of professional development on the are of mental health of young people.Tangible results1.Research about the needs of youth workers for working with young people with EBI. 2.Designed competence model with descriptors, which will describe the most important competences for empowering youth workers for working with young people with EBI.3.Manual for working with young people with EBI, designed for youth workers.4.Designed 3 modules for training of youth workers for working with young people with EBI.5.Identified and described potential supportive environment for youth workers when working with young people with EBI.6.Designed organizational guidelines for organizational development directed into inclusion and support of young people with EBI, with a special accent on supporting youth workers, working with young people with EBI.7.15 podcasts (50-90 min) with different experts from the field of mental health of young people."

<< Objectives >>By analyzing mobile youth work in Latvia (Sigulda and Gulbene) and Rumania (Izvoarele and Maramures), and in the same time educating youth workers about the youth work, encourage them to make and strenghten mobile youth work system, that would be used in long-term. As well as in this project, one of the aims is to make a recourse tool, that can be used by anyone interested to fulfill and upgrade or even to start the mobile youth work in ones own organization or region.<< Implementation >>In the time of the project we will hold: online discussions; conversations with guests from organisations of European countries, who will share the experience of mobile youth work; 2 good practice exchanges- one in Latvia and the other in Rumania; development of mobile youth work systems in each of the partner organisations; development and test phase of recourse tool.<< Results >>Results: developed knowledge for at least 20 youth workers from partner organisations about mobile youth work with youth; tested and adapted at least 2 new methods in each of the partner organisations; developed resource tool for youth workers, for implementing mobile youth work, that will give a chance to develop different mobile youth work activities and approaches, to fulfill the quality of life of youngsters from rural areas and to expand given opportunities to them.

Partners invested last two years into building a cooperation where organisations for young people come in the formal educational system, where, supported by teachers, but out of the formal curricula together with young people plan, implement and evaluate a youth exchange projects. Extreme success is the reason that we are thrilled to upgrade the current cooperation into the system of learning experiences or how we say into the program of non-formal learning.Aim of the project: Establish cross-sectoral non formal educational program for active citizenship of teenagers in their local communities.Project's objectives:1.Develop an active citizen competence model for youngsters 13-14 yrs old in Litija and Teisani over a period of first 4 months of implementing the project. 2.Develop a non formal education program based on the competence model.3. Test the developed educational program on 30 teenagers, aged 13-14 years from Litija in Teisani for a period of 15 months.4.Promote and disseminate the intervention model and its results and impact to at least 30 primary schools and NGOs in Slovenia and Romania over a period of last 4 months of the project.5. Organize 2 multiplication events for 140 international participants.In the phase of the research in the beginning, project will include 100 teenagers from both local communities into focus groups. There will be 500 young people, from the partner's local communities, aged 13 - 18 years who will take part in the online survey. Project will directly include 30 young people into the 15 months long non-formal educational program for active citizenship of teenagers. Furthermore there will be 4 teachers and 4 youth workers directly included in the making and implementation of the non-formal educational program. Different parts of the project will include over 20 teachers, and 20 youth workers.Project activities will contain multi layer needs, issues and interest analysis of young people, building the competence model for active citizenship of teenagers and detailed description of the program of non-formal education, which will equip the teenagers with the competences for active citizenship in their own community. To reach this we will implement regular workshops, different projects in schools and local communities, international learning mobilities and we will take care for effective transfer of the produced results to other stakeholders in education of young people via organizing multiplying events.Directly and indirectly project will make the biggest impact on young people, who will participate in it. Built competence model will bring structure, which we urgently need for the quality work with young target groups we address. Through the designed program of non-formal education (which will be the main result) young people will adopt knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviours identified in the competence model. On that way we will reach systematic approach in our youth work, which will on long term also bring the option for checking and upgrading the educational process, regarding the changes in next generations. Pupils will acquire specific competences based on the competences model, which will improve their career starting points and improve their employability. Changing their competences will also raise their self esteem, because when young people become active in the described program their changes are made with awareness about what they can do and what kind of change can they provide in the society. When their activation happen at the age of 13-14, there is a huge chance that they will remain active members of youth organizations and organizations for young people, that they will raise the level of intercultural dialogue in the local community and consequently contribute towards more inclusive and active society.Project is extremely suitable for transfers into other local communities, because of its transnational dimension and because of its devotion to the evidence based youth work.

"Within the European community there is an increasing disintegration through discriminatory and populist policies & practices. In addition there is a growing tendency (intensified by Covid-19) towards nationalism and closed borders. This has to be countered by transnational cooperation and public spirit among active EU citizens. We as youth organisations make an important contribution by creating spaces where young people can come together, get involved and experience self-efficacy. Although the working cultures and objectives of youth organisations in Europe can be (formulated) very different(ly), we are convinced that there is a common interest: to recognise the concrete needs of young people and to create an environment in which they can develop their potential. In this Context our project: ""Evaluate, engage, empower - yoth work ... "" is placed, as we see the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the European Youth Goals as useful instruments for us to learn more about shared values in our youth work practice in a transnational context and to support each other in developing our self-image as European institutions. And as the overall topic of this project are the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the European Youth Goals, we want to strengthen partnerships that foster children’s rights and lead to a realization of the Youth Goals in each partaking organisation and the community they are part of. Therefore, in our project we - four youth organisations from Germany, France, Romania and Slovenia - want to: -EVALUATE our practice and learn from each other and strengthen our common values as youth actors in Europe-ENGAGE the participation of young people as active euopean citizens and support local civic Engagement-EMPOWER young people to take charge of their own lives and be able to work in transnational contexts.Our central project goals are:* To integrate children's rights into our organisational structures and working cultures as a foundation on which youth organisations (should) stand.* To develop concrete recommendations for transnational youth work in Europe, which can be used by multipliers and volunteers in the partner regions and beyond.* Reflecting on and further developing our own youth work practice in relation to the ""European Youth Goals"".* Establish and deepen stable transnational partnerships that form the basis for future cooperation in the transnational field (e.g. ESC, youth meetings and camps).With our plan to evaluate each other and work towards an integration of those rights into the organizational sphere, we hope to support educators and youth workers in their daily work, by designing a guideline for human rights based methods. While researching this topic we found the European network project ""Youth for Human Rights"" which is an excellent starting point for indepth examination and the testing of practical implementation. In order to strengthen our advocacy for the rights & social participation of young people in Europe, we need to share knowledge and best practice with each other. A network of solidarity, pooling resources and capacities, will help us to respond more effectively to the challenges mentioned above."

"The project ""Open Youth Work For Open Society - Give A Chance To Informal Youth Centres"" responds to the need of the partners involved to create a dossier that is an argumentation aid for decision makers to support open youth work. As open youth work we understand an unrestricted access to spatial, material and personal resources, which allow young people to develop their personal competences in an informal context.In order to achieve this goal, we need to present the different perspectives of those involved. These are the perspectives of young people, youth workers and social scientists. We will collect and evaluate empirical studies, collect, develop and publish good examples of successful open youth work, and publish young people's ideas about what open work should achieve and how it should be equipped. In order to achieve the latter, a youth encounter will take place in Romania within the framework of this project, in which the young people (6 from each country and a group leader, together 35 participants) will jointly develop this idea.In a second step we will create three argumentation aids for open youth work. The first is aimed at decision-makers and administrations. It summarises the opportunities and results of open youth work and places them in a context of positive social development. This is done in detail and is primarily addressed to specialist politicians and the specialist departments of local administrations. There will be a summary in the form of a short handouts addressed to all parliamentary decision-makers.The second contains recommendations for action for universities in order to sharpen the profile of youth workers in open youth work and to better shape it.Both are discussed with representatives of the respective target groups and tested for practical usability.The third argumentation aid is aimed at citizens. It is intended to provide media content that is produced by the partners jointly with their young people. These can be pictures, Youtube videos and sound files that present open youth work in a comprehensive and creative way and make it understandable.With all components an extensive dossier develops, which does not exist in this form so far. It will be available online in English and all languages of the participating partners (Germany, Italy, Romania, Serbia and Slovenia).The partners involved in the project are ""ARCI Strauss"" (Italy), ""Curba de Cultura"" (Romania), ""Narandzasti"" (Serbia), ""RIS"" (Slovenia) and ""Roter Baum Berlin"" (Germany). They represent countries in which different models of youth work exist, with Slovenia even having its own legal basis, all the way to Italy, where there is no entitlement to state-supported youth work. The partners agree that we see the model of open youth work as particularly positive for the development and participation opportunities of young people and that for this reason we want to support the objective 9 of the European Youth Goals (SPACE AND PARTICIPATION FOR ALL).In order to achieve the objectives and results, we target a project duration of 24 months (September 2019 to August 2021). We will work closely together online. The important milestones will be discussed and finalised in 4 transnational meetings, each in one of the partner countries. In each of the 5 partner countries we will also organise a multiplier event in the format of a symposium, which will present and discuss the results of the work and thus contribute to their dissemination and use."