<< Objectives >>COFA aims to support Adult educators to use Community organising with participatory approaches to make their practice more democratic, more inclusive and better able to connect with linguistically diverse communities of migrants and refugees. The project aims to transform Community organising through the addition of Legislative-Theatre and Newspaper-Theatre from Theatre of the Oppressed, multilingual and participatory pedagogy and Participatory Video.<< Implementation >>COFA will organise three trainings, one in Community organising, a second in Newspaper-Theatre with Participatory Video and a third in Legislative-Theatre and its potential for Community organising. We will also develop 5 Project Results: a podcast and article about Community organising, a website to support participatory and multilingual facilitation, a Newspaper-Theatre tool-kit, a handbook of Legislative-Theatre best practice and a Guide to start a Participatory Video process.<< Results >>Through training, research leading to 5 relevant Project Results and dissemination through a series of multiplier events in each of the partner countries COFA intends to support Adult educators and Community organisers to introduce new methods that will help them be more effective teachers and organisers, especially with migrant communities. The ultimate outcome will be that migrant communities benefit from the more inclusive and more effective community organising practices.

"<< Background >>The initial idea of the project is based on the observation that the practices described as ""Outreach"", although present in social work training, remain both difficult to put into practice by social workers and volunteers working with socially excluded people and young people and are not very present in the logic of support systems. It is the articulation of the three dimensions: policy planning, institutional organisation and professional/field intervention, which makes effective implementation difficult. This difficulty is visible in the regular questioning of specialised prevention associations which are entrusted with missions that question the basis of their intervention. It appears to us that there are a number of needs that are not covered today in most countries, particularly in terms of bridging the gaps mentioned above. The project will enable us, in the light of the experiences and practices in each country, to identify and evaluate the gaps in existing training, the concrete gaps between training and practice, the gaps between the needs of the populations and the ways in which they are expressed (needs), and how they are taken into account. We note that there is a gap between the strategic, organisational and professional levels of planning and execution of the intervention. The challenge is therefore to bridge the gap between training and practice, and to improve existing training content, and to question the gap between practice and social policy.<< Objectives >>Our general objectives are therefore to : Reduce the gap between training and practice through the education of adults (whether volunteers, returnees, continuing education, etc), Reduce the gap between social policies and professional practices, To concretise adult learning and intervention strategies that strengthen greater coordination between institutions, national, regional and local authorities, social partners and civil society, To fight against isolation, withdrawal and the renunciation of rights by those most in difficulty. Operational objectives : Identify existing studies and practices Design a training module and integrate it into existing training courses, Train trainers to implement this module, Train adults who will implement the experimentation (educators, volunteers, social workers, etc.) To create and experiment with a support methodology Experiment with low threshold services Construction of an educational kit and a common reference framework.<< Implementation >>Our project will be based on 4 main activities: - The capitalisation of training contents and outreach practices in the partner countries - The design and implementation of a training module on outreach in social work training - The design and testing of a methodology for outreach by professionals and volunteers - The design of an educational kit containing these elements. To accompany these activities, 2 learning mobilities are planned: one to train the trainers who will intervene in the training modules on outreach, the other to train in the practical methodology of outreach in the field.<< Results >>The results will allow us to verify that we are achieving the objectives set by the project. They will therefore be of several kinds and will cover several levels. Results during the project Accompaniment of individuals and groups Innovations in responses to people's needs Exchange of practices between partners and participants Training of adults Creation of a theoretical corpus and good practices of outreach (IO 1)Creation of a training module on outreach (IO 2)Creation of a methodology for outreach, (IO 3)After project : Better consideration of people's ways of functioning and needs, Better adaptation of responses to the needs of the populations concerned, Integration of training modules in the partner organisations and in other organisations in the country Pedagogical toolkit (IO 4)"

"CASVISITS SCOOLSThis project is striving to improve the capacities of youth workers - streetworkers and thus increase the quality of youth work in 6 member states of the EU. It is devoted to supporting cooperation among streetworkers on international level, exchange of good practice, sharing and confronting ideas, practices and methods in the field of COOPERATION OF SCHOOLS AND STREETWORK. Streetworkers often work with children who are leaving the formal education system too early (they do not finish the elementary school, or they are not qualified, NEETs). The specific partnership of this project will provide inspiration - how can we work with this group of youngsters, how to help them get back to the ""system"", job market, get qualification. The aim is to foster the European objective of promoting high-quality youth work with marginalized youth (or vulnerable youth, youth with fewer opportunities) and professionalization of youth - street - workers. The project partners, all working with a special method of youthwork - streetwork - will focus on sharing good practice regarding cooperation of schools (formal education) and streetwork (informal education).Sharing of good practice will be done via method of short, but intense and detailed reciprocal study visits of project partners from the Czech Republic, Slovenia, the Netherlands, Germany, Estonia and Finland. All project partners are joining together large numbers of outreach workers in their countries. Eg. Czech Streetwork Association (CAS), the applicant, joins together more than 90 outreach work organizations from all over the Czech Republic.A collection of professional reports from the study visits will be produced to allow as many interested stakeholders as possible to gain good practice and experience from this series of study visits."

The aim of the project was to establish supporting elements for the sovereign and equality implementation of street work with young people. The partner organizations involved in the project recognize street work as an approach with which we are able to establish contact and build relationships with young people in their environment, including vulnerable young people and those, who for various reasons are not involved in organized activities happening in institutions. Street work is carried out outside of institutions, in parks, on streets, in courtyards, in shopping malls, etc. Therefore street workers work in a less structured and predictable environment. Within the Magic Wand project we have developed tools that support street workers across Europe to carry out quality street work with young people. Within the Magic Wand project we also strived for the highest visibility of street work at a local, regional, national, as well as international level. Greater recognition is the basis for the development of work areas and provides better conditions for the implementation of street work, reduces staff precarization in the sector and strengthens the identity of street workers. The main activities of the project were:1. We conducted four international partnership meetings (the topics were related to project coordination, sharing the reality of street work, and learning about good practices in the local environment).2. We conducted the basic training on street work for 24 street workers and representatives of organizations.3. We documented, tested and upgraded 39 activities that are adapted to the needs of young people and the specifics of street work. The activities serve as a tool for the implementation of specific street work activities that aim for active participation and the empowerment of young people.4. We have designed an online platform with 30 activities that can be used directly in the field when performing street work.5. We carried out a multiplication event in Brussels which was attended by street workers from all over the world. The main results of the project are:- Partner organizations are familiar with the methodologies and trends of street work with young people from different countries;- We carried out 150 street work activities (each of the partner countries carried out / tested 30 activities), 620 young people were involved in the activities;- We published a handbook with guidelines for the implementation of 39 activities that are innovative, tailored to the needs of young people and the specifics of street work;- We created a didactic online platform that enables the participation of young people in the process of street work;- Street workers (24) have strengthened their skills and competences to carry out street work;- We developed theoretical bases for quality implementation of street work with young people;- We expanded the network of street workers, strengthened affiliation and professional identity. All three intellectual results are available in English and the online platform is available in the languages of all partner organizations, allowing direct testing and use of the tool in the field.The primary target group of the project were street workers who were strengthening their competencies for street work through participation in all levels of the project (coordination, international meetings, training, development of intellectual results). The indirect target group were young people, who were included in the project during the phase of testing specific street work activities.With the project, we supported the development of street work, as well as increased its visibility and quality. By successfully participating in the partnership, we set an example of good practice in connecting and jointly developing innovative approaches in the field of street work with young people. We also made a positive contribution to the qualification of street workers, as well as to the development of guidelines, which will contribute to a more uniform and higher-quality street work. Coinciding, we also recognize the effect of the project in the increased rate of active participation of young people and their empowerment in the local environments of partner organizations. Intellectual results are encouraged and provide support for the implementation of street work. Consequently, the impact of the project is also recognized in reducing the spatial, cultural, economic, social and symbolic exclusion of young people (which is recognized as one of the basic challenges of the EU) and ensuring inclusion and equal opportunities for all.

Over the last few years Educational LARPing (LARP=Life Action Role Play) and simulation approaches increasingly grab more attention in the non-formal and formal education field. The approaches proofed to be effective and esp. productive in educational topics that need empathy, awareness and self-reflection. The educational LARP method incorporates some techniques of education through art-methods like the role-play, the improvisation theatre and theatre of the oppressed as well. Many other educational approaches that aim to tackle stereotypes, prejudice and bias are failing to reach their goals due to the lack of focus raising empathy and self-reflection capabilities of their learners. Mainly because the pedagogy against populist, racist and antidemocratic attitudes and behaviour need to interact with their learners on a personal level and cannot just focus on knowledge transfer and cognitive procedures. LARP has proven that its merits consist especially on the emotional and self-reflective capacities of the method.In this strategic partnership project we are involving five partners form four different European countries that are working with this methods for a good practice exchange. Five partner-meetings and three joint staff trainings will set up an extensive opportunity for the staff of the organisations.Though EduLARP is considerably a new method for many educational institutions and therefore extensive exchange and sharing experiences and best practices are still needed. There is a strong need to exchange experience and learn from each other concerning digital formats of the art- and cultural related educational approaches. This project aims to create a space for knowledge transfer, to experience digital formats and their didactic techniques and to exchange ideas for the digitalisation of methods as well as new development. The primary target group for the project are the staff members of our organisations that are working with experience-based cultural and art related learning approaches, especially LARP and simulation.During the project we will especially focus on the topics inclusion-exclusion, diversity and discrimination that are especially addressable by experience-based learning approaches. Many educational institutions - esp. in the non-formal field - are aware of this advantage and consider this approaches as a chance in the actual social and political situation in a lot of European societies. Polarized and stereotyped society discourses forced by populist political movements and the natural defence-psychology of people against accusations making authentic experience necessary. EduLARPs can be used to work on this topics and they have the advantage that they can be used with target groups of all sectors and milieus and they can be applied in digital and non-digital formats.