Dates of the event: 04-11 October 2017
Place: Reggio Calabria, Italy
Mateja and Marija participated in the Erasmus + training course “Employment and Competences 4 Success” held in the very south of Italy, in the town of Reggio Calabria in October 2017. The topic of the training was the creation of strategies and various activities that could later, after implementation, contribute to the reduction of youth unemployment in European countries. Below you can read how Strive! participants spent their time in Italy and what knowledge they brought back home.
At the training “Employment and Competences 4 Success”, which took place from 4th to 11th October 2017, besides Mateja and Maria representing Croatia, another 28 young people and youth workers from Italy, Spain, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Belgium, Germany, Finland, Turkey, Poland, Greece, and Hungary arrived to the project. The training was primarily aimed at youth workers in the NGO sector, which aims to help youth in the employment process, as well as create competencies that will be of importance to their further careers by using non-formal education.
A large part of the training was focused on creating learning tools as well as sharing experiences with other young people working in the NGO sector. The project was hosted by the organization Euro Demos Youth Mobility NGO while 3 trainers of the project were from Italy, Spain, and Poland.
During this seven-day training, participants had the opportunity to get acquainted with the creation of the so-called blinding tool, workshops that will help young people to improve their competencies needed to successfully enter a working environment. Also, during various interactive discussions, they had an opportunity to find out what is the situation of (un)employment of young people in all the countries that participated in the project.
During the conception and creation of workshops, participants have worked in international teams to understand different cultures better, try some of the most delicious specialities of these 12 countries, learn some new words in many different languages, and even get friends for a lifetime.
“EC4S training helped me to understand the methods used in creating tools in non-formal education. I appreciate this experience because I have succeeded in using the skills I had acquired already 2 weeks later on a project in Moldova, where we did a simulation of a courtroom. Drinking morning coffee on the balcony overlooking Ethno, as well as specialities of Italian cuisine, are just two things that made this project extremely productive. In only 7 days, 28 participants from 12 different countries created 6 new tools for learning and developing skills in the fields of entrepreneurship and youth employment. ”
Mateja Gabor (27), Čakovec
“The whole training was based on the creation of a learning tool that could be implemented after the training, and I learned how we can create it together in a limited time by working in a team and joining forces. As for the organizers, my feelings are still somehow mixed up. I have never been to a better-organized training so far, and I have never met with such an organizer’s desire that everything has to turn out perfectly. ”
Marija Radalj (23), Belgrade
Finally, it’s worth mentioning that Strive!‘s participants, despite the very intensive workshops, found some free time spent on the tour of the magical south of Italy, as well as enjoying coffee next to the glittering sea, overlooking the beautiful Sicily and the highest and most dangerous active volcano in Europe.
Authors: Marija Radalj, Mateja Gabor