The Youth Exchange has started!

SALTO EECA Multipliers

Adventures in Adjara

Eastern Statistics The SALTO Eastern Europe and Caucasus Resource Centre

Support for Advanced Learning and Training Opportunities (SALTO–YOUTH) network within the YOUTH programme was created by the European Commission in the year 2000.

SALTO supports quality development in European Youth in Action projects. It organises training courses and shares resources with European youth workers on diff erent priority areas (geographic or thematic). The SALTO Network consists of 8 SALTO Resource Centres, based within diff erent National Agencies of the Youth in Action Programme. More information can be found on www.salto-youth.net

The SALTO Eastern Europe and Caucasus Resource Centre was established in Warsaw, Poland, in October 2003, on the basis of a European Commission decision.

The aims of the EECA Resource Centre are: • To raise visibility and awareness of the Youth in Action Programme opportunities within the Eastern Europe and Caucasus region; • To provide support and expertise to National Agencies of the Youth in Action Programme by contributing to events promoting cooperation with the EECA region; • To promote International Cooperation with EECA Partner Countries; • To support project organisers in the development of contacts, partnerships and projects.

SALTO EECA RC organises:

• TRAINING EVENTS with a focus on the development of skills, project management and building up or contact us contact or an understanding of Youth in Action Programme Actions and non-formal education; • DEVELOPMENTAL ACTIVITIES – contact making seminars and study visits aimed at building long-lasting partnerships between organisations from EECA and Programme countries; • INFORMATION ACTIVITIES that enable organisations from EECA Partner Countries to have easy access to the Youth in Action Programme and promote cooperation with counterparts in Programme countries.

If you would like to be regularly informed about the activities of SALTO EECA RC as well as the latest developments in the fi eld of non-formal education within the Region, you are invited to subscribe to the bimonthly NEWSLETTER on www.salto-youth.net/newsletter.

www.salto-youth.net/eeca In addition to everything mentioned above, SALTO EECA RC also provides access to:

• “SALTO EECA Support Service” www.salto-eeca.eu, which is a dynamic and attractive information tool. It has been designed to simplify the process of fi nding a partner organisation and to strengthen communication among EVS volunteers

and youth workers. Here you can fi nd a Contact List for future partner organisations for International Cooperation within the Youth in Action Programme, a Forum and Assistance for Communication of EVS volunteers as well as youth workers! • Network of Multipliers who have been trained by the Resource Centre. This is a network of people within the EECA region who are active and experienced in the promotion of the Youth in Action Programme. For further information visit www.salto-youth.net/eecamultipliers. • EECA manual – internet links to sources about Eastern Europe and Caucasus that might help you in the preparation of your projects. More information can be found on www.salto-youth.net/eecamanual. • Support resources for EVS Trainers and Youth Workers, with materials for future participants of youth activities from the [email protected] EU going to the EECA region: www.salto-youth.net/eecainfo. For further information please visit visit please information further For by e-mail: Dear Readers! Multipliers – who is who? We are pleased to present you with the new issue of Th e Network of Multipliers of the Youth in Action Programme the Youth in 7 magazine! in Eastern Europe and Caucasus involves active and experienced youth workers, who are ready to promote and support coopera- Our publication will allow you to get acquainted tion within the Programme. Who are these people? What kind of with diff erent aspects of the international youth organization are they representing? Why did they join the Net- cooperation in 7 countries of the Eastern Europe work? Th ese and other questions will be answered in this issue. and Caucasus, within the framework of European We invite you to see for yourself who is who in the Network! Community Youth in Action Programme. Th e Pro- gramme is constantly developing, involving more Youth Exchange – how to organize a successful project? and more youngsters, youth workers and youth or- If you are planning youth exchange, please read the article enti- ganizations from all over the Europe. tled “Th e Youth Exchange Has Started! Th ings to Do, Th ings to Remember and Th ings to Forget: Advice to Youth Group Lead- SALTO EECA’s activities ers”. Here, you will fi nd plenty of advice and helpful tips to be Th e fi rst half of 2008 abounded in courses on new kept in mind, e.g. how to avoid the typical problems of youth topics – training course Lab3Active, partnership exchange – or how to solve them once they appear. building activity EastWestIncluded and training Changing locally – cooperating internationally. It As usual, this issue also contains material written by EVS vol- was a very fruitful and interesting period and we unteer and participants of youth exchanges. We hope that these are happy to share with you some of the outcomes texts will prove a perfect opportunity to get a taste of realities of these courses. Do you want to know what the of diff erent youth projects executed in cooperation with Eastern Lab3Active means? Or how to make changes in Europe and Caucasus! If you have personal experience from in- local communities using experience of the inter- ternational youth cooperation within the framework of Youth in national cooperation? Or maybe you would like Action Programme with EECA region, you are welcome to share to tackle the issue of how to involve people with it with our readers! Please bear in mind that each experience is disabilities from the EECA region in some of the unique and could prove very useful to others! activities? As you can see, this issue off ers plenty of choice for readers with diff erent interests, and We wish you an enjoyable reading, hoping that you will be in- we are sure that some of our future initiatives will spired by the examples of good practice in youth cooperation come up to your expectations too. with Eastern Europe and Caucasus!

SALTO EECA Team

page 1 INTRO page 1

LOOK EAST Adventures in Adjara, Confusion about PARTICIPATION or playing football with your hands by Evelina Taunyte, page 3

Partnership Building Activity „East&West Included”, page 7

LOOK EAST „Changing locally – cooperating internationally” by Ekaterina Sherer, Jochen Butt-Posnik, page 8

page 11 Multipliers Diff erent people, diff erent countries, the same Youth in Action Programme,

Armenia, page 16

Azerbaijan, page 17

Belarus, page 18

Georgia, page 19

Moldova, page 20

Russia, page 21

Ukraine, page 22

The Youth Exchange Has Started! Things to Do, Things to Remember and Th YOUTH EXCHANGES to Forget: Advice to Youth Group Leaders by Rouzanna Ivanyan, ings page 23

Armenia’s culture for peace by Sergey Kirakosyan, page 27

EVS EVS in Lviv by Katarzyna Poplawska, page 29

EASTERN STATISTICS Salto EECA analysis of Action 3.1 in 2007,page 31

AUTHORS

Editor: Andriy Pavlovych ISBN 978-83-60058-40-4 Special thanks go to Marisha Korzh for her help in collecting Editorial team: Malgorzata Kostrowiecka, materials from Multipliers. Andriy Pavlovych, Tomasz Szopa Published by the SALTO Eastern Europe and Caucasus Pictures: project benefi ciaries. Resource Centre, December 2008 The views and opinions expressed do not necessarily express Design & layout: Justyna Marciniak the offi cial view of the European Commission Reproduction of texts and pictures is authorised or the SALTO EECA Resource Centre. SALTO EECA RC, Polish National Agency provided the source and author are quoted. of the Youth in Action Programme, FDES To receive further information or to contact the editorial team 43 Mokotowska St, 00-551 Warsaw, Poland Many thanks to all those who have contributed to this with your comments, suggestions or ideas please e-mail: Tel: +48 22 463 14 60, Fax: +48 22 621 62 67 magazine. [email protected] It seemed that there was some serious confusion about what par- ticipation could be. Most probably hundreds of years ago people So, what was happening in Adjara? Let me tell would have thought of it as some kind of culinary term. Th e fact you from the beginning. Several years ago, while is that the idea of taking part in decision making processes and thinking about what I should do with my life and the term participation is very much connected to our time and realising that there are so many structural bounda- the geographical space around Western countries. Our experi- ries to making ideas work I decided to try personal ence in the mountains of Adjara and dealing with applications action – independent of any fund givers, just doing for the training course taught me that participation is far from what I believed was good and right with minimal being universally understood as I had believed. resources. So I gave up my normal life, my career as a trainer and set off by bike to see the world and fi nd places where my eff orts could make sense. I Looking at the structure of interaction, participation could be went to Gypsy villages in Romania, taught girls to compared to a game – a mindset with certain rules and goals to drive bicycles in remote places in Turkey, and cel- achieve. But the mindset of participation is less clear and obvious ebrated Kurdish New Year (Nevroz). Enjoying the than, let us say, in football. Yes, participation is quite a wicked magic of each moment, I learned from the people game. While participating you might believe that you are playing on my way and gave them what I knew and felt I football and get angry about people grabbing the ball with their could give in exchange. hands or adding a few more balls. You still think it is football? No, what is being played is actually 2 sets of volleyball! Th e same can happen with participation. My experience in a small Muslim Finally I came to Georgia. I was hiking in the village in the mountains of Adjara in Georgia was just like this mountains of Adjara very close to the Turkish – funny and disastrous at the same time, as confusing football boarder. Not many people come there, and if they with volleyball could be. do, they do not tend to come by foot nor are they usually foreign women carrying nothing but a panduri, a Georgian instrument. Since there was no precedent, the people there decided I must be a spy and arrested me! Children gathered in crowds to see what a spy looks like. Th ere was no telephone connection to call for help and no way of getting

Evelina Taunyte Youth worker, artist candycactus @ gmail.com www.candycactus.net

page 3 out of there. So, I took off my long socks, asked for people could come and create their own space, maybe for thea- potatoes, put them in the socks and started doing tre, maybe just to drink tea together and play games. If someone poi. Th e young people of the village brought a ster- else came from abroad, young people of the village would have eo system out and everyone, from the very young the possibility to learn English. I had an open youth centre in to the very old danced to techno music surrounded mind and was trying to communicate this idea and make it real- by the peaks of the mountains and clouds. If Kus- ity there. turica had come to Georgia he would have done a movie here, no doubt. Th e children said there was no way I was a bandit, the women gave me food Everyone seemed to like my idea and was eager to support it. and we became friends. Young people came and we worked around the house together, building chairs, making the electricity work and at the same time When I was about to leave, the sun was setting having English and Georgian learning sessions. and the clouds were coming down to surround the houses. We waved goodbye to each other and In the evening though, older men would come and play cards. then they said, “don’t go away, we will miss you so Th ey did not help with the work. Th ey just played their cards for much.” money, leaving their mess behind them. Th ey liked the place a lot “I will miss you too,” I said. “What can I do for – where else could they play the popular card game “seca” in the you?” village? Th ere was no other place and outside it was very cold. “Come, play with us, teach us English, since we Women came sometimes to bring me food, but they would not don’t have a teacher.” stay. Th eir husbands did not allow them to go to the place where “OK,” I said, “I will come back in winter!” men play cards.

Seeing this, I asked the men to help us build the house. Th ey I knew the winters there were very hard. Th ere is so agreed, but did nothing, so I told them to go away. “We agreed much snow lying around and covering the roads, it that the young people, children and women would come to this is very cold and there is very little to do. Th ey have place,” I said. time, I thought to myself, and I do too – an excellent “But we are young!” they said. “And our women are proper wom- situation to be in when you want to do things to- en, they go to the barn to work and not to places like this.” gether. To be honest, I felt I was wasting time work- ing with young people in the cities, or on training It was cold and boring outside and the men became angry be- courses. Most of the people there had so many pos- cause they could not come and play cards anymore. Th ey said sibilities, but they could not even concentrate on en- “you want to spoil our youth!” When young people wanted to joying one. But in the mountains there is time. come to the house, some old men told them not to go and even threatened them. When I came back later, I asked the people about I was stuck playing my own kind of football with few youngsters, the idea of setting up an open house, where young surrounded by people playing a diff erent game.

I gave up the idea of the open house and moved my activities to the school. But it was not the same. I wanted to be a peer, but became a teacher.

When we were acting in the aft ernoons at school, it was diffi cult to stop the teachers coming to “help me” make the children keep quiet. I did my best to explain that I needed them to be noisy like this, because we were doing theatre! But the space of school, as every space, dictates its own rules. Th ese rules were natural- ly contradictory to my understanding of learning based on the principles of non-formal education. Usually I would be the one to announce to the world that formal education is a crime against humanity and was frustrated to accept the role of a teacher that I had slipped into. But the children and youngsters were excited and happy to have an unusual and crazy teacher – an entertain- ing change from their normal rather formal and authoritarian learning environment. page 4 I need them to be noisy! why is there such a big cultural diff erence in the Th is experience and the question about why we played diff erent values of participation and equality? I started dig- games became the basis for my own refl ections on participation, ging and among the many discoveries I made, I which resulted in some insights. stumbled over the sixties.

I realised that there is a pattern. All the time I was in Georgia and I tried to act in a way that puts partners at the same level – on the In the sixth decade of the last century, many west- same horizontal line - I got into trouble. If I had suggested clean- ern societies went through a phase that psychologi- ing the dishes as a guest somewhere in Western Europe, it would cally had an eff ect that went far beyond wearing have been interpreted as a gesture of appreciation and my off er funky glasses and long hair. A liberation of norms might have been accepted, but while in Georgia it resulted in set by tradition, religion and the establishment unbreakable resistance. Th e guest is appreciated a lot, but at the went along with putting individual freedom of same time the guest has to obey the rules set by the host. I could choice into focus. Th e sixties can be seen as a last never sit on the fl oor, or where I would have prefered to – I had to wave caused by the volcano of the French revolu- do exactly what the host expected me to do. I realised slowly that tion putting the individual into the centre and most of the interactions here were based on a vertical line – the building the basis of our current understanding of game about swapping or maintaining superior and subordinate civil society. roles. Someone with an expensive mobile phone will be more re- spected than someone with an old one, and someone who drives In terms of mass psychology societies that stirred a jeep will deserve respect even if that person is nasty. during the sixties developed the concept of society as one based on equal relations between individu- Although this is a bit of a generalisation, I observed that in the als. My hypothesis is that democratic countries villages of the Caucasus and in the Middle East, someone whose that did not experience the social movement of the wife makes decisions in the family is laughed at as a loser and sixties do not have an “intrinsic” understanding of someone who works for the other without taking money de- democracy, since many of them were “top down” serves no respect and is actually treated like a slave. Th is is quite democracies, asking the population to practice diff erent from the values we seem to share and promote in most something they did not have “inside”. Regarding European societies and the ones I was respecting while living in the development of the EU and its neighbours, the mountains. I was a woman in a Muslim village and I was I would say that this is the case with most of the working without taking money. Now I see clearly that there was post-Soviet region and Turkey. Th ese societies were no way someone from the village would support me. But still, made egalitarian by force and are still, in a way, in

page 5 a phase that is resisting that force. Th is contributes Sharing requires conciousness about the resources that you can to the revival of nationalism and the strengthened share. For example, your attention is a valuable social resource. authority of religious institutions in many of these How much time do you spend on facebook instead of mingling countries. with people in reality?

In many cases, resistance goes with a recollection of old, tried and tested values. In Georgia, cling- On the other hand you have to be concious about the partners ing to tradition proved to be a successful strat- you share these resources with. In the streets of Tbilisi – the capi- egy, allowing the small state in the Caucasus to tal of Georgia – it is possible to buy greens from a grandma who survive. Th e perception of relations therefore are grows them in her garden. In Lithuania, the grandma would not probably unconciously infl uenced by respect for have the right to sell her greens on the street and I would not have superior and subordinate roles – the host and the a choice other than buying them from a supermarket. In the neo- guest, the man and the woman, the old and the liberal environment the law supports big companies over small young, the employer and the employee, the rich individual businesses. Th e people though, not being concious and the poor. Balance in society is maintained about whom they are giving their money, support the growth of through the mutual interdependence of both economic monsters on the one hand and the economical seclu- poles. Th e rich can only be rich if there are poor sion of individuals on the other. people, the women can only survive with the sup- port of men, and so on. We pretend to play football, but individually and at the state level we still grab the ball with our hands.

And do you? Understanding societies in the countries that went through the revolution of the sixties seems to be more based on individual freedoms and sharing space and resources. Th e idea that started with the French revolution – that freedom of the individual ends where freedom of the other starts – seems to be the basis for the common concept of civil society.

We could be proud of this. If it corresponded to reality. But, despite the fact that values are being supported by the institutions of the EU and the fact that you are reading this article, there is still the question of how much concepts of participation are implemented in our daily lives. No, in many cases we do not have a problem with authoritarian hier- archical understanding. Th e traps in Western soci- eties for participation to become a practiced value lie in a diff erent spot.

Much has been written and said about youth par- ticipation as the involvement of young people in decision making processes. Here I want to look at participation from a diff erent, more basic perspec- tive. Participation for me is not only about having an impact on decision making, but also about shar- ing practical things – space on the bus, time you speak in the group, attention you give to the TV or internet instead of the people around you, money that you give a corporation instead of a small local producer.

page 6 What do these comments refer to? Th ese are the opinions of people involved in the Partnership Building Activity (PBA) that was organised in Gdansk, 12th-18th May 2008.

Th anks to SALTO EECA and the Polish National Agency of the Youth in Action Programme, PBA involved 24 participants from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, Moldova, Poland, Russia, Ukraine and the UK. Th e group was supported by 5 team members, 3 trainers from Armenia, Hungary and Poland, and 2 repre- sentatives of the Polish NA and SALTO EECA.

All participants represented organisations and insti- tutions working with people with diff erent disabili- ties. Some of the participants had physical disabilities themselves, and were working as youth workers.

What could they do during the PBA? Th ey could: get to know each other, share information and facts about working with disabled people in their countries, take part in workshops organised by the local Polish association working with mentally disa- bled people, create their own, common projects present sweets and drinks from their countries to the rest of the group, have a nice time by the Baltic Sea.

All of the sessions were based on the existing knowledge of the participants. Th ey were the ex- perts, using experiences gathered from their pro- fessions, their working day, their passions and other aspects of their lives.

page 7 Th e training course (TC) „Changing locally – co- had one very important thing in common – the belief that we can operating internationally” took place in the beauti- change something in our community. ful and ancient city of Olsztyn in Poland. Th is TC gathered participants from all over Europe. Over We started by fi nding a common understanding of “Change” and fi ve days, 23 very active and enthusiastic youth “Youth Participation”- it was not easy but fi nally the group did it! workers and youth leaders from the European Un- For the group it became clear that “Change” is the result of a ion and EECA countries had the opportunity to process of youth participation at diff erent levels to develop skills, discover the meaning of youth participation, the attitudes, knowledge, the environment and society that comes changes we can bring to our community and the from bottom up; and “Youth Participation” is a process of active international resources available for productive and voluntary involvement of young people in society based on communication and development. the support of diff erent actors by using ideas, attitudes, skills and knowledge in order to produce positive changes. But what can Th is discovery was interesting as all of us were very youth organisations really change? Th is was the next question. diff erent: we represented diff erent organisations as It was clear that every community needs something specifi c, and well as diff erent countries, cultures, languages, and the most diffi cult thing was to take a step away from the TC and ages: all of us had diff erent backgrounds. But we realistically fi nd the specifi c needs of each concrete community. Finally the group managed, with the help of the “Magic Spiral of change”. With the help of this tool (see the following article) par- Ekaterina Sherer ticipants decided which changes should be achieved in each com- Association of Young Leaders munity, a strategy for the change, and, of course, concrete steps Russia sherer.ekaterina gmail.com for reaching this aim and following the strategy. It took three @ days but fi nally we had 23 interesting, bright ideas and strategies for making a change to 23 diff erent local communities.

Jochen Butt-Posnik Profondo Th is was only one side of the TC, because another, very impor- Germany tant part concerned international cooperation, can also help at jochen.butt @ gmail.com the local level. For some participants it was their fi rst experience of working in such an international group, for others it was not, page 8 and they already had plenty of experience of international coop- ties or other politically infl uential bodies). Th rough eration. Th is built up a good base for sharing experiences, and their experiences they found that there is indeed creating new projects and partnerships. a fi eld of infl uence for initiatives and civil society groups on relevant political decisions – but only if How we can use international resources in our local work, how they manage to do their job well: being well organ- local projects can have an infl uence at the international level, ized; being aware of their own values, strategies what international resources we have, what our international ex- and limits; being capable of fi nding support from perience is, what is easy and what is not, and how SALTO, NA’s, other citizens and the media; and being analytical, the European Youth Forum and other institutions can help us aim-oriented and creative in the implementation – these questions formed another part of the training course. of their projects and ideas. Th anks to this information sharing, by the end the participants had worked out common international projects, which can con- Th ey published a book on the basis of a spiral model tibute to the development of international cooperation and our – meaning that from a small scale initiative, actions local communities at the same time. would become more infl uential and powerful. Th e “Organizer Spiral Model” is based on seven steps, Most importantly for all of us, we discovered that if we want to which are known to almost everyone who has ever make changes, this depends on our beliefs, our enthusiasm, our run such a project: willingness to act and our motivation to fi nd resources we have ▶ Th e Starting Point around and...not to be afraid of making the fi rst steps toward ▶ Th e Analysis change! ▶ Th e Aim (to change something) ▶ Th e Strategy So...let’s do it, let’s participate! ▶ (this one we added for our international training course): Th e International Cooperation ▶ Th e Action Planning ▶ Th e Implementation Th e above-mentioned training course took advantage of a model ▶ Th e Evaluation that was developed by social and political grass-root activists in Germany1. Th ese people had experience of actively campaign- Th ese phases (which belong to any group project or ing for peace and disarmament, fi ghting against the building of organisational activity) are refl ected in the model, nuclear plants, for better protection of the environment... and which has seven aspects: Members/Stakeholders, simply having an infl uence as “normal citizens” who are not in a Environment, Understanding of Yourself (values, particular position of power (for example as politicians, authori- image), Problem & Solution, Resources, Commu- nication, Structure and Process.

For example, in the analysis phase, when your group has been established, aft er you have got to know yourselves and your positions; you start to refl ect on the problem you want to solve and the relevant circumstances. Th e “Organizer Spiral Model” off ers some guiding refl ection questions for this phase on the “Problem & Solution” and ”Environment” aspects, such as: ▶ Do defi nitions or descriptions of the problem ex- ist already, as seen by scientists, politicians, jour- nalists, people aff ected by the problem or oppo- nents? ▶ Who are the stakeholders (participants, people aff ected by the problem, interested people…) in relationship to the problem? ▶ Do we have any proposals already concerning how to solve the problem?

1 Eberhard, Jostes etc.: “Die Organizer-Spirale”, Stift ung Mitarbeit (Edit.), Bonn 1998

page 9 Organizer Spiral Model

▶ What context surrounds the problem: who is interested in get- ting rid of the problem and who wants to make the problem last?

Once you have identifi ed the important environments (such as political parties, local authorities, students, other young people, parents and so on) you will be able to put them in a

+3 +2 +1 -1 -2 -3 reach it. your aim. care about it. about care reach this aim. going to do everything do to going because I am against it. I share this aim and I am possible I can to make us I have nothing to do with thing to do with your aim aim your with do to thing to make sure that you can I do not want to have any- to stop you from reaching your aim, because I do not I respect your aim, but I do I am going to do everything I will do everything possible not feel obliged to help you.

Put all the people you identifi ed as relevant players in this scale and you get a clear picture of who is with you and whom you still have to convince about your ideas of change within the local community through good communication.

Th e model is simple and adaptable to the situation of youth or- ganisations and inititatives all over Europe – despite the dif- ferences of possibilities of democratic infl uence, resources and acceptance of youth work and the political frame in diff erent countries in Eastern and Western Europe. However, one step is left for the youth organisations to clarify by themselves as the fi rst point: To develop an understanding that youth organisa- tions should be agents of social change, and that they need to understand their own role in society as active citizens – whether it is in line with offi cial political opinion or not.

page 10 Diff erent people, diff erent countries, the same Youth in Action Programme.

People who form the Network of Multipliers of the „Youth in Action” Programme in EECA countries are active youth workers involved in non-governmental organisations. They support the visibility of the Youth in Action Programme in the region and work on increasing the quality of Youth in Action Programme projects. The fi rst question that might come to mind is: what is their motivation to promote the Youth in Action Programme? Why they are doing it and why did they want to be Multipliers? The motivation is sometimes very personal, sometimes very obvious and sometime unexpected. So let us see why they are doing this…

Giorgi Kikalishvili (Georgia): A long time ago, when I took part coming more tolerant towards other religions, by in my fi rst international activity, I felt great, and the success from gaining new values and skills I got more motivated this event still follows me and increases every day. What is my to pass this experience on to other young people motivation? To make friends or at least establish good contacts and I wanted to give the same feelings back by run- with “Foreign” friends, and of course to learn, and obtain new ning projects in Moldova. And I should say I suc- skills. ceeded.

I hope peers and young people have such experiences, and the Lusine Simonyan (Armenia): Youth in Action is a Youth in Action Programme is one of the most eff ective oppor- great opportunity for young people from Armenia tunities to enhance and empower young people... to visit diff erent European countries or host young people from there. It gives them a chance for in- I enjoy having the chance to help young people from rural areas; tercultural dialogue and to extend their knowledge to send them to diff erent types of Youth in Action activities: EVS, about European citizenship and principles of civil YE, TC... aft er their return, I am much more satisfi ed, as I see society, which are our priorities. Th e main goals how eff ectively the events were infl uenced... of our NGO coincide with the goals of the Pro- gramme so we are ready to promote it for the sake Viorica Topor (Moldova): I am in the Multipliers network by ac- of all young people who can benefi t from partici- cident. I participated in a TC on Human Rights Education. At pating in it. the time I had no idea about youth work, about human rights, about non formal education or about the Youth Programme. Natalia Podkovyrova (Russia): First of all it is in- One week was enough to love this activity and decide that this teresting for me. And I see that it is interesting for was what I wanted to do in my life. Aft er other youth projects young people and youth workers. I would like more where I changed myself by understanding other cultures, by be- young people to have the opportunity to partici-

page 11 Natalia Podkovyrova pate in the Programme; to have this opportunity to Max Pijevskii (Moldova): “We make a living by what we get, but learn and develop. I hope that participating in the we make a life by what we give.” A long time ago, my participa- actions will give them an experience of independ- tion in a Youth in Action project changed my life. It started with ent thinking and will open for them the values participation in a youth exchange in Romania, then I spent the which can make the world better. whole year in Germany as an EVS volunteer. Th en there were other projects. I suddenly realised that I had got really deep into Olena Yaremko (Ukraine): I see the positive ef- all these “youth things”. Now I know that it is a part of my life- a fects that the Youth in Action Programme has on hobby, an “idea”, a way of thinking. I like it, that’s why I pro- young people and organisations that are involved mote it. I want other young people to use these opportunities and in it. We want as many young people as possible to make their lives more interesting and more full. participate in this Programme, as it is really great! It changes lives and makes a huge impact on local Rouzanna Ivanyan (Russia): I see here some new opportunities communities. Once you are infected by the virus for myself, for my organisation and for other Russian youth or- of non-formal education, active participation and ganisations. Th is is a pretty new issue for Russian youth workers intercultural learning, you can not stop! It becomes and a very useful tool for developing international projects. It is part of your life and you want to share this experi- also challenging because it combines a whole bunch of topics I ence with others. am interested in: international youth work, project management, volunteerism, evaluation, educational process. It is also a won- Giorgi Kakulia (Georgia): My main motivation is derful feeling when you can help people by sharing your knowl- to give many young people of Georgia the possibil- edge and expertise. ity to benefi t from the Youth in Action Programme. Especially since there is a huge problem of youth Tatevik Margaryan (Armenia): Th e fi rst time I participated in a mobility, active participation and local youth ini- CoE TC was in 1999. When I came back, I was alone in my mo- tiatives in Georgia. tivation, experience and will to be an open and tolerant citizen. Maybe my motivation is too selfi sh, but I do not want to be alone Aliaksandr Mazurkin (Belarus): In due time, the in the hard work of improving life even at the micro level. Th e Youth Programme helped me a lot. I got experience Youth in Action Programme is the best school for young people that defi ned my job as a youth worker. Having the to become those who will start to change the world. possibility to understand my values through refl ec- tion on tolerance, diversity, active life and civic po- Olga Artsiukh (Belarus): My motivation to become a Multiplier sition during Youth in Action Programme projects of the Youth in Action Programme came from my positive expe- made me more fl exible and free in my choices. rience of cooperation with diff erent Belarusian NGOs at nation-

I would like youth workers and especially young MOTIVATION? TO MAKE people to have such possibilities; to escape their WHAT IS MY SH daily routine and to have some unusual experi- FRIENDS OR AT LEAST ESTABLI ences which will provide them with alternatives GOOD CONTACTS WITH “FOREIGN” and choices. FRIENDS, AND OF COURSE TO LEARN, AND OBTAIN NEW SKILLS. page 12 ng people to Olga e more you e Artsiukh I would lik y to participat al and regional levels, as I used to be involved in national-wide have the opportunit ve this projects. I am happy to see that volunteering still happens in our programme; to ha in the n and develop. diffi cult world and I believe that opening up this opportunity ortunity to lear to them will lead to the development of these NGOs and their opp members. I learned a lot during my participation in projects or- ganised in the frame of the Youth in Action Programme and I am happy to share this opportunity with other young people in my country. As we all see, there is a great deal of motiva- Anna Yeghoyan (Armenia): Some 2-3 years ago I was the tion among Multipliers to promote the Youth one who was looking for information about European Youth in Action Programme and a great need among Programmes (the Youth programme and European Youth young people from EECA countries to partici- Foundation), and for me it was quite a challenge to finally get pate in activities within the Programme. At involved in them, but I did not give up and finally found the fi rst glance it looks really simple – just read right people to ask my questions. So I know how it feels when the rules of the Programme and join in! Unfor- active young people lack the opportunity to “be informed” and tunately, people from the region face many “ask their questions or ask for advice”. And this was probably diff erent problems that can sometimes be ob- my main motivation to become a Multiplier. The other reason stacles to creating and implementing projects. was the fact that throughout recent years our organisation has accumulated a lot of information and resources, which were Among the “hottest”, Multipliers list visa is- much more then what we could bring to life ourselves, and we sues, fi nancial problems (sometimes it it diffi - thought that being a multiplier organisation would give us a cult to cover even 30% of the travel costs) and, chance to share, at the same time as enlarging our own unof- something that might surprise you, fi nding ficial network of youth organisations in Armenia. partners for their projects – “...a lot of young people from the European Union still have no Ekaterina Sherer (Russia): First of all, I like the Idea of the clue about where Moldova is, which defi nitely Youth in Action Programme; it is really interesting and it pro- creates some obstacles for doing YiA projects vides new opportunities for development for myself. in Moldova, but we will work on it!” (Max Pi- At the same moment it is also a great opportunity for our youth jevskii). So there is a strong will and if young organisations to develop professionally, it gives unique oppor- people manage to overcome these problems, tunities for young people. they can really benefi t from the Programme!

page 13 Natalia Nikitina (Russia): Th anks to the Youth about European citizenship and democratic values. Youth in in Action Programme, youngsters from Russia Action brings people together to help them design new project can open the world, fi rst of all. For the majority ideas, get to know organisations from diff erent parts of Europe, of young Russians from areas outside the capital, build new partnerships between programme countries and part- participation in international activities and meet- ners from Eastern Europe and Caucasus, create an atmosphere ing peers from other countries is just a dream, and of common understanding between people representing diff er- the Youth in Action Programme makes this dream ent cultures and working styles, provide knowledge about the come true. possibilities of co-operation with Eastern Europe, and promote Eastern Europe and Caucasus region among partners from Pro- Th rough participating in the Programme, young gramme countries. people gain experience of social work in other coun- tries, discover diff erent methods of social work from Atom Mkhitaryan (Armenia): Intercultural learning, partici- diff erent parts of the world and use these methods pation, inclusion, becoming more active and responsible, vol- later in their own countries and regions. unteerism, friendship are benefi ts for young people.

Of course, Youth in Action is an opportunity to ex- Yaryna Borenko and Andriy Donets (Ukraine): Summing up all plore and understand other cultures, to believe “oth- our activities over the last three years we can say that the results ers” are not so dangerous and terrible as the mass-me- are obvious. Now we can be proud of several organisations we dia oft en presents them to be, to fi nd your own way in supported. Th ey have started international youth cooperation, life and to make new friends all around the world. particularly within Youth in Action providing EVS opportuni- ties for young people both coming to Ukraine and going abroad Youth in Action is a wonderful opportunity for for Voluntary Service. We have slowly convinced the „right” peo- non-formal and informal education. Youngsters ple that non-formal learning is a necessary and important issue improve their communication skills, gain experi- as international cooperation should have local grounds. ence in leading an independent life, practise deci- sion making and leading projects, improve their Anar Gadimaliyev (Azerbaijan): Youth in Action projects stim- linguistic skills and become more open-minded ulate young people to bring positive changes in their community and socially integrated people. and to move away from stereotypes. It gives them the opportu- nity to understand diff erent religions and to respect them. Rusudan Kalichava (Georgia):Th e Youth in Ac- tion Programme provides an incredible opportu- Areg Tadevosyan (Armenia): Th e political situation in the re- nity for youngsters to get involved in non formal gion has created major challenges for youngsters from Arme- education that can equip them with information nia wishing to participate in international youth activities. Th e page 14 tures; × fi nding friends among young people from all over the world (or Europe at least); × fi nding out about life in diff erent countries; × non – formal education.

Lilia Ranlol (Moldova): I get a lot of positive en- ergy from communicating with interesting people; additional knowledge, skills, information and ex- perience and also new contacts.

Alexander Khalturin (Russia): Young people from the Kaliningrad region get a real opportunity to meet and know the world around our region. Kaliningrad is in the centre of Europe, so it is vital for our citizens to establish good relationships with our neighbours.

Youth workers who participate in Youth in Action activities get the opportunity to fi nd partners in Europe and develop youth policy in local societies Anar Gadimaliyev with respect to international cooperation. country has borders with four countries and the borders with two of them are closed. Th e economic situation is also hard, so Oksana Bondar (Ukraine): Th e benefi ts include it is almost impossible for young people from Armenia to get the opportunity to fi nd out the way European intercultural experience. Th e Youth in Action Programme and youth live and gaining new experiences of inter- other opportunities are ways to break down this isolation and cultural cooperation. also to present the country to wider Europe (where only a few people even know about the existence of our country).

Slava Oleinik (Belarus): I would say that every second provides a benefi t for any person, even if this benefi t is not very positive! As for Belarusian youngsters, I believe that participation in the Youth in Action Programme widens their boarders, infl uences their attitude to life and gives them valuable experiences which they can implement in their future life and career. And one more thing, probably the most important one, they realise that Belarus is also part of Europe.

Natalia Alexandrov (Moldova): Mobility; intercultural ex- change; the development of a positive image of Moldova – this is the benefi t for young people.

Pavle Tvaliashvili (Georgia): Georgian youth in our region and town (Rustavi) are not rich enough to travel by themselves and visit diff erent countries. By participating in the Youth in Action Programme our young people and youth leaders have the chance to share diff erent cultures, respect others and think about our common values, which can guarantee peace and love on Earth.

Alesia Bialenik (Belarus): × self-development; × broken stereotypes of other nations; × new knowledge and skills on diff erent themes; × the possibility to visit other countries and explore other cul-

page 15 Anna Yeghoyan, [email protected]: The “Youth For Peace and Development” NGO was es- Atom Mkhitaryan, [email protected]: Federation of Youth Clubs of tablished in April 2002 by a group of like-minded young people concerned with the problems of Armenia (FYCA) was foundedon 10th November 1999 by uniting several youth youth in Armenia. The NGO was registered with the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia clubs with 7-8 year histories, including the fi rst youth NGO ErAk. FYCA was on 24th October 2003. registered with the Ministry of Justice of RA in June 2000 and re-registered in The mission of “Youth For Peace and Development” NGO is to promote the civic activity of youth November 2005. More than 70 professional and regional youth clubs, centres towards the country’s peaceful development. and organisations from all over Armenia and Karabakh are united in FYCA. The main goals and directions of our activities are: Our mission is to raise the role of young people in the history and strengthen • the investigation of diff erent vulnerable groups among the young people and fi nding solutions to civil society. their problems; • increasing levels of legal awareness among youngsters and advocacy; The activities and aims of FYCA: • provision of up-to-date and applied knowledge and skills to young people involved in diff erent • To develop youth club movements, advocate open youth work, unite youth spheres of activity; clubs, strengthen cooperation and mutual aid between organised youth; • preserving and passing to younger generations the historical and cultural heritage of Gyumri, • To support the formation of a system of values in the younger generation, work in the fi elds of ecology and environmental control; the increase of solidarity among generations, the enlargement of legal and • uniting prospective young people around common problems and interests. political level of culture of our generations, the protection and fortifi cation of The target groups with which “YFPD” works are young people between 14 and 30 years of age, social-political rights of youth, and the enlargement of youth participation; from all over Armenia (although we also organise activities in cooperation with young people from • To strengthen the connection and exchange of experience between foreign, other countries as well). international and diaspora youth organisations, promote the formation and Usually our projects are directed towards the young people from vulnerable backgrounds (young development of youth information, implementation of youth international refugees, unemployed youth, teenagers living in children’s houses, and young people from rural projects, cooperation among Armenian youth organisations; communities). • To promote the protection of human rights and strengthen democracy, to support the development of the election system, and civil society; Lusine Simonyan, [email protected]: Together with a group of community leaders, • To support the formation of youth centres and the enlargement of services Capacity and Development for Civil Society has provided information on regional and international for young people, and to encourage the active involvement of young people in academic exchange programmes, volunteer and internship opportunities with local organisations, their community,and promote volunteerism; and technical training, for the past four years as a community group. In 2006, the group integrated • To support environment protection and promote environmental projects youth representatives and registered as the Capacity and Development for Civil Society NGO. Reg- among young people, spreading and fortifying the view of human sustainable istration facilitated funding requests, formal collaboration with other NGOs in the area, and the development; implementation of projects for regional youth. The NGO’s mission is “to develop a powerful society • To enforce non-formal educational methods in youth work, organise training with strong citizens”. The goals of the organisation are: courses, conferences, festivals, exhibitions, campaigns, marches, scientifi c • to promote the development of civil society and build the capacity of civic action groups/organi- meetings and other events, as well as organising research. sations in the Republic of Armenia; www.youthclubs.am • to promote gender issues; • to strengthen women’s participation in the process of civil society development; Areg Tadevosyan, [email protected]: National Pool of Trainers • to support the development of the Republic of Armenia in the region; was created in 2003 by a group of freelance trainers, experienced in non-formal • to promote the establishment of regional collaboration between countries and implementation of learning and youth work in general. The mission of the organisation is to em- development-oriented projects; power trainers of diff erent profi les working in Armenia, to develop non-formal • to increase the level of youth involvement in civil society development processes; education/learning institutions in Armenia, to assist to its recognition and to • to support the personal and professional development of the organisation’s members. support regional/international co-operation and integration in this sphere.

Capacity and Development for Civil Society works mainly with young people, women, youth workers Our Objectives: and trainers, active members of the community, village councils and youth clubs. • To organise various “Training for Trainers” events and to develop the profes- sional skills of members of the Pool; Tatevik Margaryan, [email protected]: The World Independent Youth Union is a youth NGO • To create a Club of Trainers, where the members of the Association will get the from Armenia. Activities take place all over Armenia and include events at local, regional, national possibility to communicate in a friendly atmosphere, exchange experiences and international levels. WIYU was created by the participants of the “Leadership management and knowledge and create partnerships; and confl ict prevention” training courses held in Tbilisi from 1997 to 1999. The organisation was • To mobilise the potential of Armenia, to organise various scientifi c-educational registered with the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia in 2000. events (conferences, seminars, round-tables etc) which will develop non-for- Its main mission is the development and promotion of culture and mechanisms of dialogue and mal education in the country; co-operation between civil society actors through international activities, and the consolidation of • To raise the awareness of society about non-formal education, to organise the “culture of peace” in the region and the world. The target group is young people (16-35 years various advocacy and lobbing projects to support the recognition of non- old), without any specifi c further classifi cation. formal education in Armenia; The objectives of WIYU are: • To create a Pool of advisors and experts that will work with the National pool • Promotion of civil society at national and regional levels; of Trainers; • Promotion of youth initiatives to improve society; • To organise international training measures in Armenia; • Development of young Armenians’ political and European awareness; • To create a Training Centre which will support local, regional and international • Promotion of youth involvement in political decision making. training courses. OUR MISSION IS TO RAISE THE ROLE OF YOUNG PEOPLE IN THE HISTORY AND page 16 STRENGTHEN CIVIL SOCIETY. Anar Gadimaliyev, [email protected]: The Ganja Volunteer Public Union Emin Amrullayev, [email protected]: AEGEE-Baki – The European Students’ Forum Baku is a branch of the Azerbaijan Volunteer Public Union, which was established Public Union is one of young local antenna of the AEGEE network. It is a non-political, secular and in May 1999. It was created, in order to tackle children and youth problems, non-commercial youth organisation. Our members are students from various universities and and to introduce innovations into primary and secondary schools such as young professionals. using international experience and methodology. It is the only organisation Our goal is to promote, support and broaden international cooperation, democracy, human rights in Ganja (the second city of Azerbaijan) that works especially in primary and tolerance, European integration and European standards on education. Considering Azerbaijan and secondary schools (there are 37 primary schools in Ganja) on a purely as a part of Europe, AEGEE-Baki encourages relations, cooperation and integration between the voluntary basis. young people of Azerbaijan and Europe. For this purpose, the association organises international What we have done and what will we be doing in the future? and local events, summer universities, and language courses, as well as having its members Our fi rst activities were in cooperation with UNICEF and Save the Children. participate in other related events. These activities were music and drawing competitions to raise awareness Aims: about immunisations and diseases. • to promote a unifi ed Europe without prejudice Furthermore we began to work on children and youth rights, civic education • to strive for an open and tolerant society for today and tomorrow and intercultural learning. This led to the establishment of our newspaper • to foster democracy, human rights, tolerance, cross-boarder co-operation, mobility and European “Hope” about children and youth rights, and their problems. Last year each dimension in education month we organised a training-seminar in order to involve young people in Fields of action: voluntary work in Azerbaijan. • Cultural Exchanges Our projects: • Active Citizenship “Role of Youth in Community Development”, fi nanced by Open Society Insti- • Higher Education tute, East-East program, (Gadabay-Goranboy-Ganja/ Azerbaijan August, Sep- • Peace & Stability tember 2001) www.aegee-baki.org “Football Action against Discrimination in Azerbaijan”, fi nanced by the Vienna Institute for Development and Corporation, FARE program, (Ganja, Azerbaijan Vusal Guliyev, [email protected]: The Educational Centre for Youth (ECY) is non-profi t, charitable, 2003 October and November) We organise this every year. politically non-aligned non-governmental organisation that was founded by young people from In 2004 we organised a youth exchange project in Romania about using diff erent universities of Azerbaijan in 2000. The main aim of the centre is to facilitate the active sports as a tool for tolerance. participation of youth in the development of civil society and ensure integration into Europe. Every year we organise activities like education week, voluntary exhibitions Our main fi elds of activity are: and information sessions for young people. • The enlightenment of youth • Non-formal education Shahin Bayramov, [email protected]: AYAFE – the Association of • The establishment of youth centres Young Azerbaijani Friends of Europe is a youth NGO, established in November • The Student Grant Programme 1997, with the general aim of contributing to the integration of Azerbaijan into • Advice services and the development of libraries the European Institutions. We stand for peace, tolerance and understanding. www.ecy-az.org We do lots of interesting projects, mainly organising seminars, conferences, and voluntary activities around diff erent problems in Azerbaijan. AYAFE is a partner organisation of the Service Civil International (SCI) in Azerbaijan. AYAFE has already organised six international work camps in orphanages and refugee/IDP camps in diff erent regions of Azerbaijan. Since 2002 the AYAFE-Azerbaijan has been an organization coordinating long- term voluntary services. We help NGOs, self-governing bodies etc. which are interested in letting international volunteers participate in their actions. To cover the need of European Volunteers in Azerbaijan we off er information about Azerbaijan projects, about the expectations of Azerbaijan hosting or- ganizations, about the social conditions and the programme during the stay. OUR GOAL IS TO PRO- We help the Azerbaijan hosting organizations in the process of attracting for- MOTE, SUPPORT AND eign volunteers as well as in the organization of their stays. AYAFE-Azerbaijan is at the same time itself hosting organization for European Volunteers within BROADEN INTERNA- the frame of projects of the European Voluntary Service. TIONAL COOPERATION, In April 2002, AYAFE was made “Organisation of the Month” for its volunteer DEMOCRACY, HUMAN programmes carried out in Azerbaijan by the “Volunteer Voice” bulletin, which is published in Brussels by the UN Volunteer Programme. RIGHTS AND TOLERANCE At the same time as hosting international volunteers in Azerbaijan, AYAFE also sends volunteers from Azerbaijan to diff erent camps all over the world. Since 1998, with the help of AYAFE more than 350 volunteers from Azerbaijan have gone abroad to do social work in diff erent countries around the world. www.ayafe.org

page 17 Olga Artsiukh, [email protected]: The Belarusian Youth Public Union “New Faces” is based Aliaksandr Mazurkin, [email protected]: “Fialta” is a non-political, on the principals of openness, tolerance and equality. It uses alternative methods of work, and non-governmental organisation founded in 1995. It was one of the fi rst NGOs promotes the active citizenship of young people in the Republic of Belarus in order to give them whose youth work was based on a non-formal approach. an opportunity for self development. Aim of Fialta: BYPU „New Faces” is a non-governmental and non-profi t organisation. To help those who get in touch with Fialta to consciously determine their own The aim of BYPU “New Faces” is to assist the development of the youth movement in Belarus and life path and develop a free and fl exible way of thinking. to support youth initiatives in the sphere of culture, education, information, ecology and sport, is What does Fialta do: a member of the “Belarusian National Youth Council”, which is called the Belarusian Union of Youth Educational programs for teenagers and young people; and Children’s Associations “RADA”. • Seminars and training for non-profi t organisations and youth workers; BYPU “New Faces” unites active, initiative and creative youth and runs several activities like: • Mass youth events; • International Youth Exchanges; • Peer education programmes; • Training courses, conferences; • Trainings of trainers; • Educational seminars: info-cultural campaigns for AIDS and STD prevention, seminars for NGOs • International youth exchanges; leaders: team building, organisational and project management, intercultural learning, art therapy • Consultations within Fialta. for criminal youth, prevention of women/human traffi cking issues, etc; Fialta works with and for: • Participation in action 2 of the Youth in Action Programme - European Voluntary Service as a • Teenagers and young people sending organisation; • Non-profi t organisations (NGOs) • Educational-cultural campaigns; • Those who work with and for young people/ youth workers, etc. • Partnership work with NGOs in Belarus: Development of the “Cobweb” – cooperation with youth • Former participants of trainings, seminars, educational programmes and organisations dealing with socially excluded children and young people; Fialta exchanges • Cultural Festivals, workshops (contemporary art, traditional art for young amateurs and profes- Members and volunteers of Fialta are highly qualifi ed and are constantly get- sionals); ting more trainings and experience in Belarus, France, Germany, Hungary, • Publications in the frame of the current projects; Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Moldova, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Portugal, Austria, • Exhibitions, concerts etc. (photos, paintings, installations, etc.); USA, Russia and Ukraine. • Ecological seminars, camps, etc. Members of Fialta have written books and scientifi c publications on a range of www.newfaces-belarus.org issues of interest to Fialta (Healthy Life Style, NGO Development).

Alesia Bialenik, [email protected]: The public association Hrodna Regional Centre for Yaroslav Oleinik, [email protected]: League of Youth Voluntary Service Informational Support of Public Initiatives „The Third Sector” was founded in February 1997 by a (LYVS) is a non-governmental, non-for-profi t organisation, which was founded group of journalists and public activists. In September 1999 the organisation was re-registered in 1994. It is a member of Eastlinks and the Alliance of European Voluntary under new name – Centre for Informational Support of Public Initiatives „The Third Sector”. Organisations. The mission of the organisation is the development of civic activity among diff erent social strata LYVS co-operates with organisations in more than 35 countries of the world. by means of informational and educational support of public initiatives. Our objective is to assist young people to carry out their ideas on the basis The main courses of our activities are: of voluntary service. Our activities include social long-term projects, edu- • Informational support of public initiatives; cational projects, workcamps, seminars, trainings, and international youth • Civic education in the fi eld of journalism; exchanges. • Stimulating cooperation between diff erent sectors of society in the sphere of local problem solving; Since 1999 we have also been working with EVS projects. • The development of cross-border cooperation; Our target group is young people over the age of 18. This means that anyone • International Youth cooperation; can join us if he/she feels young! We had a volunteer who is in his sixties, but • The support and development of women’s initiatives 30 in his soul! He proved himself to be very active and enthusiastic! Mostly we work with youth groups – young journalists, other creative young people, social workers www.lyvs.bn.by and public leaders.

OUR TARGET GROUP IS YOUNG PEOPLE OVER THE AGE OF 18. THIS MEANS THAT ANYONE CAN JOIN US IF HE/SHE FEELS YOUNG! WE HAD A VOLUNTEER WHO IS IN HIS SIXTIES, BUT 30 IN HIS SOUL! HE PROVED HIMSELF TO BE VERY ACTIVE AND ENTHUSIASTIC! page 18 Rusudan Kalichava, [email protected]: The local Non Governmental Giorgi Kikalishvili, [email protected]: The Youth Association Droni (YAD) is a non-governmen- Organisation ATINATI was the fi rst NGO in Zugdidi, a small rural town in the tal organisation with a mission to promote the establishment of a modern, healthy, and educated Western part of Georgia, near the Abkhazian border. The notion of the “third society. In order to meet this task the association has been implementing educational and youth sector” was absolutely new and the local community could not understand development programmes. its purpose. We were constantly questioned about whether “NONs” (Non The organisation’s aims are to support young people’s physical, spiritual and educational develop- Governmental, Non profi t, Non political) implied opposition to the govern- ment and to develop educational initiatives in the fi eld of civil society, confl ict resolution, human ment or political regime. Romain Rolland once said “It is very diffi cult to help rights and peace-building, to promote intercultural relations in Georgian society and youth. people against their own will”. But ATINATI was fortunate to have a team of The Youth Association Droni was established on the basis of an international organisation Academy motivated people who did not want to wait for change, but be the change for Educational Development in 2003 by young people with 4-5 years work experience in the they wanted to see. And we started our work with no support from the local NGO sector. YAD works mainly in the education fi eld with diff erent target groups (children, youth, community or anybody else, no funds, no skills and no information. students, teachers, refugees). YAD mostly focuses its activities on the Caucasus region and coop- Today, 14 years later ATINATI staff includes 78 paid members and 5 volun- erates with diff erent NGOs in Europe. teers (2 EVS volunteers from Poland). We have our own building (600 sq. The organisation has been providing activities on: m.), more than 60 successfully designed and implemented projects, modern • Human Rights Education; equipments, a radio station, a library, a number of partner organisations and • Gender Issues; donors, a good reputation, and the trust and respect of our community. Today • Civil Education; we are mostly working with youths in the following directions: • Peer Education; • Education (formal and non-formal); • Confl ict Prevention and Peace-building • Civil Society development YAD actively works on developing the „All Diff erent, All Equal” European Youth Campaign for Diver- • Mass-media sity, Human Rights and Participation in Georgia. • Assistance to vulnerable people www.atinati.org Pavle Tvaliashvili, [email protected]: SIQA – the Georgian Association of Educational Initiatives was established in 1999 and registered as NGO in 2000. SIQA was re-registered by the local George Kakulia, [email protected]: The Academy for Peace and representative of the Ministry of Justice in 2006. Development is an international, non-governmental, non profi t-making, non- Since 2004, SIQA has participated in diff erent Actions of the YOUTH and Youth in Action Pro- political, youth organisation, which is targeted to develop youth, and to pro- gramme. mote peace, tolerance and solidarity in the Caucasus, through helping young Goals of SIQA: people acquire knowledge, skills and competencies, and recognising the value • to support problem-solving process in ecological, legal, economic, social, educational, community, of such experiences. cultural, anticorruption, youth and other spheres by means of fostering education; APD is based on the 6 years experience of the Young Leaders for Peace • to support development of civic society; and Development (YLPD) Training Programme, which had the mission to build • to implement educational initiatives in Georgia; bridges of friendship, understanding and dialogue among teenage war victims • to implement democratic principles; of the Georgian – Abkhaz confl ict. The programme represented a tremendous • to increase quality of social cohesion; opportunity to promote youth leadership development and confl ict resolution • to encourage healthy life style; in the South Caucasus. APD is dedicated to improving people’s lives by increas- • to support continuing education in multiple spheres of activities; ing knowledge and promoting democratic and humanitarian ideas. • to support Georgia’s integration and self-maintenance in its integration eff orts among the Euro- Goals and objectives: pean and global communities; • To provide high quality programmes to young people with fewer opportuni- • to initiate and implement collaborative programmes and projects on international, national, re- ties (from a less-privileged cultural, geographical or socio-economic back- gional and local levels. ground, or with disabilities); The main target groups of SIQA are young people and educators: • To develop leaders who are committed to peace, democracy and solidarity; • school students 11-18 • To provide practical community-based educational opportunities for youth; • university students 18-25 • To support the peaceful and nonviolent process of transformation of the • young people 20-30 confl icts in Caucasus through providing knowledge, skills and competencies • teachers of all ages. to youth, youth leaders and youth workers; www.zari.org.ge • To promote the integration of young people into society and the involve- ment in self initiatives to support solving the community, educational, eco- nomic, environmental and social problems; • To promote better understanding of the diversity of common cultures, sup- TODAY, 14 YEARS LATER porting the fi ght against racism, xenophobia, discrimination and promoting equality at all levels of society. ATINATI STAFF INCLUDES We work with young people with fewer opportunities mostly aged between 18-25. Most of our benefi ciaries are young people from confl ict areas who are 78 PAID MEMBERS AND 5 IDPs (Internally Displaced People). VOLUNTEERS www.apd.ge

page 19 Natalia Alexandrov, [email protected]: ADVIT is a non-political, non-profi t, non-govern- The organisation offi cially opened on 1st August 2006, but has professional mental organisation, started by and for young people, to involve Moldovan young people, with and NGO workers as board member. Our fi nal loggo is “Welcome to Youth, It’s without professional experience, into programmes at national and international levels in the fi elds Your Generation”! of education, culture, ecology, historical heritage protection and helping disadvantaged people, by As we were young and wanted to work with young people this settled the contributing to the development of a more peaceful society, and the decrease of social injustice. priorities of our target group: Young people and no barriers of background, ADVIT started organising weekend work camps for disadvantaged young people and international race, religion, minority etc. volunteers in 2002. In 2004, ADVIT was offi cially registered by Ministry of Justice of the Republic www.youth-generation.org of Moldova and was acknowledge as a non-profi t organization in January 2007. In November 2007 ADVIT was accepted as an Associate Member of the ICYE Federation (The Inter- Maxim Pijevskii, [email protected]: The Federation of Students national Cultural Youth Exchange). ICYE is an international non-profi t youth exchange organisation and Youth Organisations of the Republic of Moldova (FOSTM) was founded more promoting youth mobility, intercultural learning and international voluntary service. than 10 years ago. Until today, the Federation has 21 organisations as mem- ADVIT’s main goals are: bers, which are represented in diff erent educational institutions from Moldo- • to promote dialogue and contact between young people from all over the world; va, and are located in many places around Moldova. The federation is a public, • to create favourable conditions for cooperation between youth from diff erent cultures and na- non-governmental, non-political organisation which has the following goals: tions; • To promote, represent and defend the interests of its members with the • to develop the spirit of volunteerism among youth; higher education institutions of the Republic of Moldova; • to provide information and youth education according to current European models; • To promote the spirit of democracy within universities; • to inform youth in such spheres like: education, culture and social activities; • To create the necessary socio-economic and cultural conditions for young • to create and coordinate youth exchange programmes; people; • to study the national cultural history of Moldova; • To initiate diff erent proposals regarding legislation about youth, defend • to promote a healthy lifestyle among young people. their interests in front of the offi cial authorities; • To establish international relations with similar organisations from other Lilia Ranlol, [email protected]: The youth organisation “New generation” has been working in countries by managing diff erent collaboration programmes; Moldova since 2001. • To take part in the European and international youth movements; Main Activities: • To synchronise civil society in Moldova with other states by extending inter- • Non formal education/ Life Skills Development national contracts; Developing the life skills of young people such as communication, confl ict resolution, and other • To propose initiatives towards an open society in Moldova necessary skills through seminars, summer camps, and trainings. • Civic Participation/Community Outreach Over more than 10 years of its activity The Federation of Students and Youth Promoting volunteerism and active civic participation among young people and other citizens as Organisations of the Republic of Moldova has run a lot of events in Moldova on a way of contributing to the development of the society. the local and national levels and also abroad in partnership with other NGOs • Social Work from European countries. Among these events were student congresses, na- In collaboration with Counterpart International, we serve as the regional distributor for southern tional forums, festivals, student conferences, sport contests, international Moldova of humanitarian aid and assistance. youth exchanges, summer camps and others. With the support of donors and local authorities we created Youth Centre in our city. As well as coordinating the work of this Youth Centre, we provide several services for local young people from 13 to 25 (included young people with disabilities). www.geocities.com/newgeneration_cg/moldova.html

Viorica Topor, [email protected]: Youth Generation NGO is a youth organisation working at the national level but hoping soon to be an international organisation as stated in its statute. It is going to be the fi rst international organisation with a central offi ce in Moldova. Goals and objectives: • To promote youth exchange and cooperation between EU and neighbourhood countries; • To promote youth development alongside economic development; • To promote human rights protection; • To promote and sustain democratic values and social equality; • To promote European diversity; OVER MORE THAN 10 YEARS OF ITS ACTIVITY THE • To promote youth rights and youth policy. FEDERATION OF STUDENTS AND YOUTH ORGANI- SATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA HAS RUN A LOT OF EVENTS IN MOLDOVA ON THE LO- CAL AND NATIONAL LEVELS AND ALSO ABROAD IN PARTNERSHIP WITH OTHER NGOS FROM EURO- PEAN COUNTRIES page 20 Ruzanna Ivanyan, [email protected]: The Saint Petersburg re- We publishe an award-winning environmental journal and other educational and promotional mate- gional, charitable organisation for youth “Youth Information Centre” was regis- rials, as well as producing short documentary fi lms. tered on 3rd October 2000. However, the decision to create the centre was Baikal Wave has been at the forefront of encouraging the development of non-governmental or- taken much earlier on 25th May 2000. ganisations and grassroots groups in post-Soviet Russia, and with this goal aims to promote active The “Youth Information Centre” is an offi cial Russian partner of the European citizenship and participation in a civil society. To this aim, Baikal Wave has a well developed policy Youth Information and Counseling Agency (ERYICA). Within three years the of working with and supporting both local and international volunteers. A local group of volunteers organisation had become an information centre in Saint-Petersburg for the help regularly with many of the projects run by the organisation, and Baikal Wave has also hosted “Young people: health and development” programme of the United Nations several medium and long-term volunteers from other countries within the organisation, both as Children’s fund (UNICEF). part of the EVS scheme and independently. We work mainly in three interlinked directions: youth, information, education. Mostly we work with teachers, students, librarians, journalists, other NGOs, representatives of • YOUTH local and regional governments and business. We organise various activities for school children and students: interactive www.baikalwave.eu.org trainings on various topics, such as intercultural learning, healthy lifestyle, confl ict management etc.; city campaigns and competitions; international Ekaterina Sherer, [email protected]: The Association of Young Leaders was founded youth exchanges, volunteer activities etc. We work a lot within the Youth in on 14th December 1992. It was reregistered as an interregional NGO on 8th May 1998. The target Action Programme. Group of our Organisation is young people, 13-22 years old. Young people are involved not only as participants but also as project coor- Currently, AYL operations and sphere of functioning include the following priorities: dinators, trainers, and peer educators. • Developing and running one-day seminars dedicated to a particular topic on a monthly basis; • EDUCATION • Organising and running Ropes Course training programmes; The target group of this direction is youth workers. The idea is to assist • Implementing various community development and charity projects; them in their professional development by proposing training opportunities, • Publishing special literature dedicated to leadership; and organising internships, study visits, seminars, and job shadowing. We • Providing consulting and training services to various educational institutions on a personalised also develop manuals on various aspects of youth work. basis; • INFORMATION • Organising educational conferences and practical training programmes for students, teaching The main idea of our work is to promote socially important ideas among staff , and school administrations with a duration of up to fi ve days. professionals and society in general and raise awareness on important is- Over the 15 years of AYL’s existence, tens of thousands of young people from more than 25 sues such as tolerance, inclusion, intercultural cooperation and so on. Russian regions have taken part in the organisation’s activities. 17 regions founded youth volun- www.youthcentre.ru teer centres carrying out local projects of social importance, 10 regions became AYL’s collective members. International projects are being carried out; and AYL is included in the State registry of Natalia Nikitina, [email protected]: SFERA was created on the initia- federally supported NGOs. tive of youth voluntary centres in 14 Russian regions in 2006. The headquar- www.ayl.ru ters is situated in Nizhniy Novgorod. The mission of SFERA is the promotion of youth voluntary initiatives, fi rst of all, on the international level. Today SFERA Alexander Khalturin, [email protected]: “TSUNAMI” was created on 23rd August 2001 and reg- has 14 branches in diff erent Russian regions and lobbies for the interests of istered on 10th September 2001 as a result of founder Elena Finagina participating in the project youth voluntary services on the governmental level. “Mosty Megdumoriya” organised by the Polish organisation “School for Leaders”. Main activities: The mission of “TSUNAMI” is to support the actions and initiatives of young people, directed to civil • Volunteer work camps community development, the involvement of young people in fi nding solutions to problems that • EVS and other kinds of LTV programmes aff ect them, and the development of leadership. • Internships, training, seminars and other support activities for youth volun- Main lines of activity: tary centres • Defending young people’s rights; • Our targets group is youth from 14 Russian regions, with special attention • Developing international co-operation; on disadvantaged youth. • Developing volunteering opportunities. www.dobrovolets.ru “Tsunami” has been implementing these kinds of activities since the beginning of it’s existence in 2001. The fi rst project was ”Memorandum of students’ rights”. Natalia Podkovyrova, [email protected]: Baikal Environmental Wave “PoLiBelKa” aims to promote environmental protection and sustainable development of In August 2003 “TSUNAMI” and its partners from Poland, Lithuania and Belarus arranged a forum society and the economy, by encouraging education, information, discussion for public youth organisations from the region called “Neman” – “PoLiBelKa” (www.polibelka.org). and public participation in decision-making processes. Representatives of diff erent organisations from the region got the possibility to spread informa- Baikal Wave runs an environmental information and education centre for the tion about the activities of their organisations and to fi nd new contacts with similar organisations Baikal Region. Working in co-operation with local government, other NGOs, from another countries. The forum was carried out in Pionersky and was given fi nancial support businesses and the media, the organisation encourages widespread public from the committee for youth aff airs of the Kaliningrad region’s administration. participation and democracy with the aim of promoting sustainable develop- “TSUNAMI” also runs common projects with the Polish organisations “Pogezania” and “Rodowo”. ment and protection of the environment in the Lake Baikal region, which has The aim of the common projects is the development of cross-border cooperation and experience been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of its unique ecologi- exchange in diff erent areas. cal habitats and natural beauty. www.cunami.ru page 21 Oksana Bondar, [email protected]: The Vinnytsia Centre For European Information Andriy Donets, [email protected]: The Donetsk Youth Debate Centre started its work in February 2006 in the Vinnytsia Regional Timiriazev Library. The centre is sup- is a non-governmental, non-for profi t, civil organisation. It was founded in 1997 ported by the International Renaissance Foundation and administrated by the Vinnytsia Regional on the initiative of school teachers, debate clubs trainers and young people Centre for Information “Kreativ” and Vinnytsia Regional Timiriazev Library. from the Donetsk and Lugansk regions. The grassroots of the organisation was The purpose of the Centre for European Information is raising the community’s awareness about the Debate programme fi nanced by the International Renascence Foundation questions of European integration. The centre off ers the following kinds of services: (Soros Foundation). The organisation works as an information and methodology • Accumulating, handling, storing and providing free access to materials on EU issues in the In- centre for thousands of students; teachers from diff erent educational estab- formation Centre, including information received from NGOs, educational establishments, state lishments, including universities; leaders of civic organisations and a wide circle authorities and foreign representatives; of young people from the Donetsk and Lugansk regions. Our target groups are • Consulting, providing access to EU internet recourses and the possibility to work for Information also journalists, state social workers, and local government offi cials. Centre users; The mission of the organisation is the promotion of civil society development • Creating a library and electronic database on EU issues and providing access to them through the in Ukraine through the design and implementation of educational and social internet; projects and programmes. • Organising events to attract the public’s attention to European integration processes (press- Donetsk Youth Debate Centre works in four main areas: conferences for journalists, round tables and seminars on integration issues, etc.); • Civil initiative development • Publishing and disseminating the Weekly Electronic Bulletin of the Vinnytsia Centre for European • Human rights education Information (5500 e-mails); • International integration • Non-formal european education for youth, spreading information about youth exchanges, camps, • Personal development European programmes and projects, School EuroClubs, etc. The main activities of the Debate Centre vary in accordance with the methods VINNYTSIA CENTRE FOR EUROPEAN INFORMATION is the Information Partner of the “Youth in Action” used to implement the main organisational aim and objectives. They usually Programme and member of the Network of ProEuropean Organisations in Ukraine. include the following: interactive seminars and trainings; practical workshops; www.eurocenter.vn.ua conferences and round tables; public hearings; informational support; pilot activities; small grants programmes; TOT’s Yaryna Borenko, [email protected]: The European Dialogue Society was founded in 1997. It www.cent.dn.ua was created to respond to the need to maintain initiatives promoting tolerance a better under- standing of the European integration processes, and partnership building among youth organisa- Olena Yaremko, [email protected]: Academy of Ukrainian Youth tions in Ukraine and outside. is organisation which enables young people to involve themselves consciously Thanks to the fi nancial support of international foundations and local sponsors “European Dia- and actively in their own development and in the development of their com- logue” has implemented about 50 projects at the national and international level. About 1000 munities. We are hosting and sending EVS volunteers, organising Youth Ex- people have participated in training activities, study visits, seminars and conferences, organised changes and providing presentations, informing and giving support within and within the framework of these projects. about the Youth in Action Programme. ED is active in the following areas: We are also: • European and non-formal education • Create possibilities for development; • Networking and intercultural dialogue • Involve young people in active participation in a social life; • Developing self-governance and local initiatives. • Unite youth from diff erent countries; Currently we provide training for youth workers, youth leaders, teachers, journalists and local • Support youth initiatives; community leaders in civic education, NGO development, European issues and civic journalism. • Promote development of non – formal education, voluntary work and inter- Within the frame of several projects we provide grants for local initiatives as well as monitoring cultural learning. and evaluation activities. Target group: The activities of the European Dialogue Society cover all the regions of Ukraine. Main activities are • Children from 6 – 14; concentrated in 8 regions of Western Ukraine and the Donbas region (Eastern Ukraine). There is • Teenagers from 14 – 16; a partnership network of NGO, local governments and authorities, schools and youth centres that • Students; work together in the fi eld of local community development, youth work and non-formal education, • Youth leaders and volunteers; European issues and local partnership. • Youth organisations. www.dialog.lviv.ua

THE MISSION OF THE ORGANISATION IS THE PROMOTION OF CIVIL SOCIETY DEVELOPMENT IN UKRAINE THROUGH THE DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF EDUCATIONAL AND SOCIAL PROJECTS AND PROGRAMMES.

page 22 THE YOUTH EXCHANGE HAS STARTED! THINGS TO DO, THINGS TO REMEMBER AND THINGS TO FORGET: ADVICE TO YOUTH GROUP LEADERS

FINALLY! AFTER A LONG PE RIOD OF PRELIMINARY WORK, VISA PROCEDURES, BOOKING AND TRAVEL YOU AND YOUR GROUP ARRIVE AT THE SPOT WHERE YOUR EXCHANGE IS TO TAKE PLACE. IT MAY SEEM LIKE ALL YOUR DIFFICULTIES HAVE BEEN LEFT AT HOME, BUT UNFORTUNATELY, THIS ONLY SEEMS TO BE THE CASE. NO MATTER HOW WELLPREPARED THE YOUTH EXCHANGE IS, THERE ARE ALWAYS SEVERAL SURPRISES AHEAD. WHAT SHOULD YOU PAY AT TENTION TO DURING THE YOUTH EXCHANGE?

1. THE YOUTH EXCHANGE TOPIC 2. PARTICIPANTS Every youth exchange has a topic. Th is has to be fi xed by the time Finally everyone is here. Now the main task is to the application form is submitted to the granting organisation. create a friendly and comfortable atmosphere in the Sometimes, granting organisations want to know not only the group. Remember to introduce participants in the topic of your exchange but also its programme. In this case, aft er youth exchange to each other on the fi rst evening, arrival you have only to follow the programme that was negoti- and give them the possibility to talk to one another. ated and agreed on during the leaders meeting and make sure that it facilitates the educational goals of your exchange. It is better to start with less intensive interactive ex- ercises that do not involve extreme physical contact. Don’t forget to be fl exible! Don’t be afraid to change programme For many of your participants the beginning of the blocks in the course of the exchange. For instance, if you planned exchange will be stressful enough, so do not aggra- to have a discussion, but suddenly aft er several days of rain the vate it by violating personal comfort zones. Before sun is shining again, it might be a good idea to skip an indoor ac- starting any exercise, think about whether your tivity and to go for a group walk. If participants in your exchange group is ready for it and if it is the right moment. have diffi culties communicating in English so are not able to par- ticipate fully in the discussions, fi nd a substitute for this activity Pay attention to participants who need special where speaking is not so important, like exercises in pairs. support, such as disadvantaged youngsters, peo-

It is worth remembering that guided tours through the city and Rouzanna Ivanyan visits to museums should not be more important than the topic Programme Director of your exchange. Th ese elements can be included in the pro- YNGO Youth Informational Centre gramme, but they should not prevail. Th is applies to language rouzanna @ youthcentre.ru learning and sport competitions as well.

page 23 YOU SHOULD BEAR IN MIND THAT YOU HAVE TO ple with basic levels of English or ACCEPT PEOPLE AS THEY ARE AND NOT EXPECT youngsters in diffi cult emotional THEM TO BE AS YOU WANT THEM TO BE. states. Off er them your help!

According to the laws of group dynamics each sibilities to get new ideas, develop creativity and improve the group goes through several stages. quality of the group’s work. 1. Getting to know each other. At this stage, the personal characteristics of each person and his/ To make your youth exchange successful you have to secure the her social experiences are revealed. Each partici- active participation of the young people involved. Th e participants pant tries to show his/her best, and everyone is have to see the exchange as “their” project. With this essential very amiable and polite to each other; but the condition met, the exchange will be effi cient and successful. Th is communication is very superfi cial. means that formal leaders have to be ready to share their respon- 2. Aggression. Th e group structures itself and sibility with the youth. Be ready if the participants suggest their adopts rules. Roles are divided and confl icts own energizer or game. However, you have to talk to them fi rst to over leadership follow. Th is is the most diffi cult understand what kind of game they suggest, who can play it and stage, when the fi rst contradictions and confl icts how to fi t it into the programme. Make sure it is convenient for all appear. Aft er all roles have been divided and participants and does not put anyone in an awkward situation. each participant is in the “right place” the group probes its durability. 3. LEADERS’ TEAM 3. Stable functionality. Group members feel more Let us consider ourselves as well! Contradictions among leaders at ease and active work begins. Group culture is can cause confl icts in the group. To avoid this, leaders should formed, but some “failures” can occur. In such meet every evening to discuss the day that passed and plan the cases leaders should try their best to bring the next day. At the fi rst meeting, introduce yourself one by one and group back together. Evening group refl ections present your professional expectations from the project. You and individual conversations can be an effi cient need to share your responsibilities and decide whether all of you tool at this stage. will be present throughout the programme or whether it is better 4. Disintegration. Group members are proud of to take turns. their work results and start to get ready for part- ing. Th is causes sad and happy emotions at the Ideally, you have to understand your partners and catch what same time. they mean at once. You need to trust each other fully, to share common values and principles and common views of the work Group leaders should understand that group mem- during the exchange. You must divide your work and the respon- bers will need their support at all stages of the sibilities within the project equally. Th is is possible, but rare. Even group’s time together. if you were lucky enough to meet before the youth exchange, it is Th e group will become a successful team if: very likely that contradictions will appear anyway. • its members feel responsible for their common work and the fulfi llment of mutually set goals; What is the best way out of such a situation? Universal advice in • the members do not think that time is wasted such situations is impossible to give. Experience tells us that the if they spend it on lengthy discussions of main most constructive solution is to fully discuss the way the exchange approaches and ideas, evaluations of their work, is going to be run with all the partners involved, and to try and and the weakness and strengths of relationships build not only professional but also interpersonal relations. in the group; • all group members understand that personal and If you need to criticise a partner, wait for the appropriate mo- common goals can be reached only by common ment to do so. Speak about your observations of his/her behav- eff orts; iour and your reaction to it. Give information that can be useful • decisions are taken jointly; to him/her. Describe but do not judge or generalise, and do not • its members are ready to invest their eff orts, ex- give advice unless you are asked to do so. periences, skills etc; • group members inspire each other to express You should bear in mind that you have to accept people as they their opinions freely; they support, respect and are and not expect them to be as you want them to be. Some- trust one another; times it is useful to “reschedule” criticism – for instance, if you • group members are encouraged to develop their are in a bad mood. Th ink about whether your partner can do abilities and use them in the group’s work; anything. If he/she does not have any means to improve the • confl icts are considered to be natural elements of situation your criticism will hurt his/her self-esteem and your interpersonal interaction and are viewed as pos- relationship. Please make sure that you criticise a person’s be- page 24 WE SPEAK ABOUT CRISIS IN YOUTH EXCHANGES IF SOMETHING AFFECTS THE WHOLE GROUP AND haviour in a certain situation that happened at a PUTS THE WHOLE PROJECT IN SERIOUS DANGER particular moment in time.

What if it is you who is being criticised? You should listen to For instance, if a participant breaks his/her leg or the criticism even if it is unpleasant; do not ignore or deny criti- has to leave sooner than expected, or loses his/her cism. Do not explain and do not try to justify yourself even if you baggage or is arrested by the police... If we call all would like to. Try to fi nd a grain of truth in the things that are decisions made under these circumstances “crisis being said to you. Do not forget to thank the person who criti- management” then our exchange risks being one cised you even if he/she was not very polite. big permanent crisis!

4. LOGISTICS We speak about crisis in youth exchanges if some- Unfortunately, even if you have thoroughly prepared for the ex- thing aff ects the whole group and puts the whole change, unforeseen obstacles can still appear in your way. Th e project in serious danger, forcing it either to stop or acoustics in the room you are working in might be worse than seriously transform. you expected and you might have to shout, competing with the kettle boiling water for the coff ee break. At the very last moment Before making a decision in such a situation, lead- you might fi nd out that the rooms for the participants are not ers have to consider several possibilities. It is im- heated and in the morning you have 20 people queuing for the portant to analyse the pros and cons of every pos- only functioning shower. Th e hotel you are staying in might host sible solution, decide on the one to choose and a youth exchange for the fi rst time and its personnel might be inform the rest of the group; explaining how you inadequate – interfering in your exercises, demanding that you came to the decision. If the group does not agree have to be quiet aft er 8 pm, not allowing you to have an evening with your solution try to fi nd a mutually acceptable programme and so on. compromise.

YOU SHOULD LISTEN TO THE CRITICISM EVEN IF IT IS UNPLEASANT If the crisis is caused by out- Th e list of possible problems is very long. Th e only advice is to side circumstances (e.g., the threat of natural disas- prepare carefully and to try to predict them. If this does not help ters in the region where your youth exchange is tak- then try to solve the problems as they appear. Remember – some- ing place) ask external specialists for their support. times a good sense of humour is the only thing that can help! If the crisis is caused by relations inside your group, Hotel personnel can turn into friends if you invite them to the analyse the reasons, and remember that every multicultural evening and ask them to present “local” culture project goes through several emotional phases. Th e or prepare two-three short (15 minutes) language lectures. You initial enthusiasm and joy may gradually transform can create a shower schedule or start the morning session one into disillusionment, disbelief in the effi ciency of hour later. It is impossible to change the acoustics of a room, but the work being done and doubts about whether the maybe it is possible to fi nd a more convenient substitute, like a project makes any sense. You can tell if the “Black meadow or benches in the yard. Day” of the exchange has begun by participants’ sad faces, many confl ict situations, leaders’ passive 5. FORMALITIES behaviour and overall pessimism. Don’t let it dis- Make sure that you, as group leader, have prepared all the necessary courage you! It is a part of a natural process! documents for reimbursement and have talked with the person re- sponsible for the reimbursement about the procedure. If your par- If, by the time the “Black Day” begins, your partici- ticipants need to buy return tickets, let them do it during the fi rst pants have built good and trusting relationships, days of the exchange. Ask how your group can get to the railway/ the group will live through this day and forget it. bus station or airport on the day of departure (maybe some trans- Remember to discuss what has happened with the port can be organised for that purpose). If any of your participants participants; their emotions and feelings, and how will stay longer, think about their accommodation and departure. to cope with them. If you see that some of the par- ticipants need time on their own, give them free 6. CRISIS MANAGEMENT time or announce an hour and a half of silence. Th e key question is what constitutes a crisis in youth exchange and how to detect it? When do we start to speak about “cri- Some circumstances are really unforeseeable. For sis management” instead of “dealing with unforeseen circum- instance, an important institution is inaugurated stances”? in the city you have your youth exchange and your

page 25 participants are invited to the ceremony. A famous • gained knowledge – What did the participants learn in the politician insults one third of your participants course of the exchange? who belong to national minorities in his speech. • behavioral change – Do participants use the knowledge they Th ese youngsters take off ence, leave the ceremony gained in their everyday life? and say that they will leave the next day. • results – How did relationships in the class, school etc change some time aft er the project ended? Another situation: you have your youth exchange “Youth and Civic Society” in the capital of Blue- At the fi rst level you evaluate attitudes and interest. Th e most typi- land. Local legislation defi nes homosexuality as a cal methods here are either a questionnaire at the end of the ex- crime. Two exchange participants fi nd out about it change or a discussion in a circle. Th e simplest technique of evalu- and decide to organise a rally in front of the Parlia- ation in this case is to divide a fl ipchart into two columns marked ment building. Th ey talk to other youngsters EVALUATING THE EFFICIENCY OF THE YOUTH and persuade them to take part in the rally. What would you do in such situations? EXCHANGE IS NECESSARY IN ORDER TO UNDER STAND WHERE YOU SUCCEEDED AND WHAT SHOULD “+” and “–”, and ask participants to write the BE DONE DIFFERENTLY IN THE FUTURE things in the youth exchange that were useful to them and the things that could be done better on stickers, which are then stuck on the fl ipchart. Th ere are no ready-made recipes and there cannot be any. Your experience, intuition, professionalism At the second level you fi nd out to what extent the topics you and support from colleagues will show you the best dealt with during the exchange were internalised. How can par- way out of such problems. ticipants show it? Th is level of evaluation is about understand- ing and information. Th erefore it can take the form of a written 7. ANALYSIS, EVALUATION or oral interview with the participants on the content of the ex- Evaluating the effi ciency of the youth exchange is change a month later. necessary in order to understand where you suc- ceeded and what should be done diff erently in the At the third level of the project’s effi ciency evaluation we asses future. To make an evaluation of the project’s ef- changes in participants’ behaviour aft er the project. Do they use fi ciency you should look at the primary aim and the new knowledge and skills they gained, is this visible and how goals of the exchange and see which of them were can we measure it? attained and to what extent. Th e forth level is about global evaluation. How did the changes in Experts usually single out the following evaluation the participant’s behaviour infl uence the work of his/her organi- types: sation, and relationships in class, school, university and so on. • current/everyday: during the exchange, for instance, refl ection groups each evening; Th e fi rst two levels of evaluation can be carried out by leaders • fi nal: at the end of the exchange; aft er the exchange; changes on the third and fourth levels will • long-term: several months aft er the exchange. be noticed by those who communicate with the participants on a regular basis. Please remember that oft en the results of exchange Th e effi ciency of the youth exchange can be evalu- do not show immediately, but this does not mean that they do not ated at the end of the exchange or three months exist. Th ey do and they are real! aft er it. In the fi rst case you evaluate the experi- ence using the participants’ immediate reactions, 8. DOCUMENTATION in the second you look at personal development Aft er the exchange you will have to prepare a report. It would also and behavioural changes. be nice to give exchange participants some kind of certifi cate (YOUTHPASS would be the best). Th ink of sending thank-you letters Th e evaluation model that is the most suitable for to the individuals and organisations that took part in your project. youth exchanges is the Donald Kirkpatrick model with his 4 levels of evaluation: Finally, remember the most important thing – you have to bring • reactions, feelings and interest – Did partici- everyone home safely and evaluate the effi ciency of the exchange pants like the exchange? What are the emotions for you personally! Th is will help you to understand whether you and feelings it caused? are going to take part in these ventures in the future or not. DO NOT EXPLAIN AND DO NOT TRY TO JUSTIFY YOURSELF EVEN IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO

page 26 Th e project itself was a great opportunity for the participants to tography skills. Th ough the day was packed full of meet and discuss topics related to culture, tradition and history. activities, the participants continued dancing in the Th e young people discovered similarities and diff erences between hall until aft er midnight. each other’s cultures and became aware of the value of peace, un- derstanding and friendship between cultures and countries. Th e following morning, the participants went to the Armenian capital Yerevan, to visit the city museum, Th e fi rst day started with the introduction of the project it- where they learned not only about the history of the self. Th en, throughout the day, the participants were involved capital but also about traditions and the national pe- in diff erent games, to teach everyone each other’s names and culiarities of Armenians. Th en they visited the of- strengthen the group as a whole. At the beginning, each partici- fi ce of the “World Independent Youth Union” NGO pant painted her/his portrait on paper, wrote his/her name and where Tatevik Margaryan (the president of the or- country from where she/he came, and aft er this everybody ex- ganisation) presented the mission and objectives of plained the meaning of her/his name. Aft er this the participants had to go through an ordeal – the “Electric Wall”. Th e task was to pass over to the other side of a rope, tied up between trees at 1,5 meter high. Th e game lasted a long time, as, according to the rule of the game, if somebody touched the rope, the game had to start again. Despite being tired, everybody was very happy when the task was successfully completed and the participants went to lunch as a strong group.

Aft er lunch, the participants presented their expectations and fears concerning the youth exchange. An evening of national the “Youth in Action” Programme as well as an in- games ended the fi rst day, where people from each country sug- troduction to non-formal education and Youthpass. gested 2 or 3 traditional games to the rest of the group. All the games were held in a lively, cheerful mood. Th e 7th August was Within the framework of a photo marathon, the the most important for the participants, as the whole day was de- participants were divided into groups and took a voted to photography and modelling clay. Each participant had walk under the dazzling sun through the streets the chance to make fi gures out of clay aft er participating in dis- of Yerevan all aft ernoon, taking photos of impor- cussions about stereotypes that exist in their own societies con- tant places such as the Republic Square, Cascade, cerning other participants’ countries and to improve their pho- Vernisash, Matenadaran, and the Fruit Market in

page 27 Mashtots Avenue. Th e fruit market sellers were very On the 5th day of the exchange, the group of 36 participants re- hospitable and they treated our guests to diff erent turned to Yerevan, heading this time for the Tsitsernakaberd kinds of Armenian fruits, both dried and fresh. Th e Memorial in order to get acquainted with the history of the Ar- participants returned to Lusakert aft er the photo menian Genocide of 1915. Th e existence of the memorial itself marathon and, aft er supper, began to pick up the is an example of what can happen in the absence of friendship, photos of that day. Th is had to be done quick, as understanding and peace in the world. All the participants were participants from Moldova, Estonia and Lithuania then divided into three groups and the “All Equal, All Diff erent” had to present their national food to the rest of the activity began. Th is activity had a direct link to the notion of goup in the evening, and tell the group about the genocide, as such an evil deed would never have taken place if history of the capitals of their countries. Th e na- people had understood that everyone is diff erent but at the same tional evenings over those two days were superbly time everyone is equal. In the streets of Yerevan three groups well organised and each country tried to surprise went to write “All Equal, All Diff erent” in 6 languages and to the other participants with their presentation. take photos near them with ten ordinary passers-by.

Th e next day was diff erent from the others as buses In the evening, in a restaurant, all groups continued to teach each took the participants on a journey towards Geghard other their national dances. For most of the participants it was the Monastery, a part of which is dug into the rock. Here, fi rst time they had tasted a traditional Armenian barbecue. Th e the foreign youngsters got acquainted with numer- group returned to Lusakert in high spirits. ous traditions and history related to the beliefs of the Armenian nation and drank natural water fl owing On the morning of the last working day mini-buses took every- from the rocks, which is supposed to have a mi- body to Yerevan to present the exhibition of photos and ceramic raculous eff ect on believers. Aft er exploring the sur- works to visitors – the result of seven days’ hard work. Th e media roundings of the monastery, the group continued on was present and it was a good opportunity to present a project their journey towards Garni Temple. Th en, in Garni implemented through Youth in Action to a wide audience of Canyon, which is located directly below Garni Tem- young people. ple, the group engaged in active discussions about peace, overcoming confl icts, mutual understanding A farewell party was organized aft er the fi nal evaluation in Lu- and friendship. Many youngsters made the most of sakert! the opportunities and swam in the cold river. Th ese places were especially striking for the Moldovan Th e next day all the participants were sad as they had to sepa- group as they confessed that it was the fi rst time in rate from each other. Th ere were plenty of reasons to be happy at their lives that they had seen such beautiful places the same time though, as they had all made new and wonderful in nature. Before returning, the participants made friends from diff erent countries. chalky pictures on the rocks for holiday-makers, travellers, local inhabitants and passers-by to stop See you again in Armenia! for a second and think at least for a few minutes about the necessity of culture for peace. page 28 had the opportunity to spend six wonderful months doing voluntary work in Lviv, in Ukraine. Th e title of my project At fi rst, we were to work for LART (Lvivian Asso- I was: “Twin cities – youth for cooperation between Wro- ciation of Tourism Development) for one month. claw and Lviv”. As I am a student of International Relations and Our tasks were to translate their web pages into Ukrainian philology at the University of Wroclaw, I wanted to go Polish, and to translate a guide book about the re- to Ukraine to get to know more about Ukrainian culture and to gion of Lviv into English. Th e fi rst few days I had practice my Ukrainian. My friend and I decided to go together and problems making myself understood in Ukrain- we wrote the project almost by ourselves. We went to work for the ian. Although I understood a lot, I was not able to non-governmental green tourism organisation “Galycki Oseli”. speak well.

Th e project started in February and fi nished in August 2007. My My coordinator was a wonderful women, who real- friend and I arrived at Lviv railway station in the evening, about ly cared about us volunteers, me and my friend. She 11 p.m., and our coordinator, a very nice woman, was waiting for was like a mother to us, and we had very good con- us and took us to the fl at where we would live. I will never forget tact with her, talking to her about our problems. the wonderful view of Lviv that I saw from the taxi window: the whole city covered in snow, and the street lights, together creating For 4 months, during the school year, I worked as a magical picture. I can remember it was very cold, as in the winter a Polish teacher in a secondary school. I think it the temperatures in Ukraine can be very low. Th e house where we was my favourite work. I worked with a group of were going to live was quite old, with old but cosy furnishings. 15 pupils, all of whom were really interested in my classes. I tried to use diff erent methods of teaching Th e next day we met our coordinator in the city to talk about our (I studied pedagogy at the University of Wroclaw). work. We planned what we would do, when we would do it and I made my pupils active, showed them a map of Po- how. Our coordinator was open to our ideas, and we saw that she land and photos of the main cities. I talked to them was easily able to work with young people. about my country.

page 29 My work Th e lessons took place twice a week. I Lviv is only available for 3 hours in think that this kind of activity, which the morning ( 6-9.a.m.) and 3 hours teaches the language and something in the evening (6-9 p.m.) During the about the culture to the children of other hours there is not so much as another country has a positive eff ect a drip that runs from the tap! I got on bringing foreign cultures closer together and worried if I was not on time to catch the water. Bowls and breaking negative stereotypes. buckets of water in bathrooms and kitchens in fl ats in Lviv are an everyday view. Without access to running water I could not As my host organisation works with other non- cook dinner. governmental organisations, I had the opportunity to work with them, and fi rst of all I took part in the Other less attractive aspects of living in Lviv included a prob- preparation of some projects. lem with the hot water. Th e water from the tap ran cold, and needed to be warmed by special equipment that ran on gas. However, the equipment did not work and every time the fl at Aft er work, I was never bored, as there were so owner tried to repair it, it broke down again. I took cold show- many places to go, and so many friends to meet. ers for six months! Every time I went away I dreamed of taking I got to know some very good friends, and we of- a hot shower. ten spent time together. We went to our favourite clubs and enjoyed drinking “Medovuha” (a kind of Another attraction was the old tiled stove, which I could not use honey vodka). Some of my friends were musicians, as heating as I was frightened. It was so cold in the fl at that I who were in a group, and sometimes when we met asked my friend to help me. I was lucky, as we came together on they played the guitar and we all sang Ukrainian EVS and were able to help each other. songs. I enjoyed these moments.

Lviv is a great place for sightseeing with a lot of in- The 6 months in Ukraine passed quickly. I was very sad when teresting museums, exhibitions and churches, but it was time to leave Lviv. It was difficult to me to say good the most interesting thing for me was to look at the bye to all those wonderful people I had been lucky to meet. old, beautiful but unkempt houses. Even if the city could not offer good conditions, like the poor availability of water, I still think of Lviv as a magical place, In my leisure time, I tried to go out as oft en as pos- which I love. That is why I am going back next year, to study sible, to meet people and see what was new in the at the University of Lviv, and continue working for my host city; I did not come to Ukraine to stay at home. organisation.

Th e very interesting adventure that was “EVS in Lviv” has fi n- ished, but the experience I had there will always be in my mind I must say, Lviv surprised me a lot. I could not and in my soul. I wish everyone was given the chance to have get accustomed to the fact that running water in such an adventure! page 30 16% 14% Type of projects: 12% Projects hosted in: Poland Youth Exchange Training& Networkng Total 10% 16% 8% Turkey EECA Countries 32 34 66 13% 6% Germany 4% Programme Countries 86 63 149 10% 2%

Total 118 97 215 0% Top 3 National Agencies – percent of all Action 3.1 granted projects Type of projects: Projects hosted in: Youth Exchange Training& Networkng Total As shown in the fi gure below, the largest number EECA Countries 14.88% 15.81% 30.70% of Action 3.1 projects was hosted in Georgia and

Programme Countries 40.00% 29.30% 69.30% the smallest in Belarus. Ukraine and Russia also hosted over ten activities, but considering these Total 54.88% 45.12% 100.00% countries’ human and size potential, the numbers cannot be considered high. Armenia Ukraine 12% In 2007, 66 projects were hosted in EECA Countries, which 18% amounts to nearly 31% of all activities organised with EECA partners in Action 3.1. Among all the projects, there were more Azerbaijan 14% Youth Exchange projects than Training&Networking – 55% vs. 45%, respectively.

Russian Federation Belarus 17% 3%

As shown in the fi gure, the three National Agencies which grant- ed the largest number of projects organised with at least one Moldova Georgia partner from the EECA countries were the Polish, Turkish and 11% 25% German one. In total, these three countries fi nanced nearly forty percent of all considered projects. Projects hosted in EECA

page 31 Th e most popular theme featuring in projects with partners from EECA Countries was “Strengthen- ing civil society, citizenship and democracy”. 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Individually, the themes within the Youth Ex- change and Training&Networking projects appear as follows: Armenia

Youth Exchange Training&Networking

1 Strengthening civil society, Strengthening civil society, citizenship and democracy citizenship and democracy

Fight against racism Azerbaijan 2 European awareness and xenophobia

3 European awareness Regional cooperation

Belarus

Organisations from Ukraine, Georgia and the Georgia Russian Federation participated in most Action 3.1 projects overall. When considering Youth Ex- change projects only, Ukrainian, Georgian and Russian organisations were most oft en seen as partners, while in Training&Networking projects Moldova these were Georgia, Armenia, Ukraine.

Th ere were 45 partner organizations from South East Europe Countries and 28 from EuroMed Countries participating in projects that involved Russian Federation EECA organisations.

Main conclusions: Ukraine * the total number of persons involved in Ac- tion 3.1 projects with EECA (youth, partici- pants, leaders, experts, support stuff ) was 6705, amounting to 31 individuals per project, on Total EECA 32 34 average; * there were more persons taking part in Youth Exchanges (approx. 4500) and in Training&Networking projects (approx. 2300); Projects in EECA countries * in each Youth Exchange, there were involved Youth Exchange 37 persons (31 youth), on average; Training&Networking * in each Training&Networking, there were in- volved 24 persons (19 participants), on average.

page 32 EVELINA TAUNYTE (also known as CandyCactus) is an artist and youth worker managing several things at once - slow life, small ecological footprint and the beauty of the moment. Living unwaveringly as a nomad, she strives after life beyond books. She stayed with communi- ties that are disadvantaged for various reasons – Gypsies in Romania, Kurds in Turkey, Arabs in Israel and recently Muslims in Georgia. Furthermore, Evelina has been involved in several trainings, such as “LAB 3 active”, “Building Bridges in confl ict areas” and “Inclusion and Diversity – ID Modules” (Malta, Sweden, Czech Republic). ü [email protected]

EKATERINA SHERER is a President of the Interregional Youth Organisation „Association of Young Leaders” and a Board member of the Na- tional Youth Council of Russia. She has been involved in Youth Work since 1997. She started her work at the local level in the Murmansk region and then moved to the national- and international-level Youth Projects. She lives in Moscow today, is a trainer in youth non-formal education fi eld and works for several national and international organisations. In 2007 she became the Multiplier of the Youth in Ac- tion Programme and also started to work with EVS trainings. Her fi elds of interest: youth participation, intercultural and interreligious dialogue, voluntary service, leadership, project management. ü [email protected]

JOCHEN BUTT-POSNIK lives and works as a freelance trainer and project manager in Hanover, Germany. With his association “Profondo”, he is executing projects and training schemes in youth participation, youth policy, and integration policies, with a special focus on youth initiatives. He also published in the fi eld of youth information and coaching. After completing his trainings and education to become a carpenter, social scientist and family therapist, he is constantly looking for possible new professions he could add to his collection. ü [email protected]

RUZANNA IVANYAN An Armenian living in Russia. She has been involved in youth work since 1999 on local and international levels, fi rst as a coordinator of UNICEF activities in North-West Russia and later as a program director of NGO “Youth Information Centre”. She is actively involved in international youth work within the framework of “Youth in Action” Programme as a multiplier, EVS trainer and EVS coordinator for SALTO EECA. Ruzanna is a freelance trainer in youth-related fi elds and a member of the trainers pool of the Council of Europe. She holds Master’s Degree in Journalism and Social Work, and received her PhD in political science. Author of over 30 publications, including manuals on youth work, social journalism, international cooperation. She also works as a researcher and lecturer to future journalists and social work experts. ü [email protected]