Project partners from Italy: Team YouNet and Volere Volar

ORGANIZATION Team YouNet (Italy)

YouNet is a non-profit non-governmental organisation founded by a group of youths keen to exploit their competences and to play an active role in the non-profit sector. YouNet operates as a network in the Italian territory coordinating and netowrking no profit organisations, local councils and intitutions and individuals.
The main aims of YouNet are:
- to promote youth learning, participation and mobility with particular regards to youngsters with fewer opportunities;
- to contribute and to boost the development of the non profit sector;
- to promote and to support volunteering;
- to foster active citizenship, social and democratic engagement;
- to support the human rights protection;
- to promote and facilitate the access at an European and intercultural dimension;
- to raise awareness and to promote mobilisation around global challenges.
To achieve these aims, YouNet promotes and carries out: volunteering activities at a local, regional, national and international level and activities of boosting, supporting and coordinating of volunteering itself; informative, scholastic and professional orienting, cultural, social, sport, recreational and editorial activities; seminar and formative training aimed to organisations, social workers and youths; formative, promotional and informative initiative related to specific themes linked with the third sector, the global challenges, etc.
To achieve all these aims YouNet cooperates with organisation, local bodies and institutions that foster similar objectives, especially with the Town Council of Bologna and the Underage Justice Centre of Bologna.
YouNet staff is formed of about half dozen youngsters and about 50 youngsters, aged between 18-30, cooperate, predominantly a as volunteers, with YouNet. There are several working groups that woks on specific themes (social inclusion, migrants and minorities, …).
YouNet main target is composed by youngsters, particularly the ones with fewer opportunities. YouNet cooperates with several local bodies involved in social inclusion activities of youngster from difficult backgrounds.
The following areas of interventions are considered strategic and priorities:
- Young ex-offender
- Marginalised youngsters from communities
- First and second generation young migrants
- Abused women
- Drug-addicted in rehabilitation
YouNet organised together with the local organisations and institutions specific projects to foster the integration of youngsters with fewer opportunities.

TRAINING COURSE PARTICIPANTS:

Barbara Usberti

Age: 37

Country: Italy

Experience in raising the awareness of the EU mobility policy, youth workers and etc.

When I was a university student I attended two semesters in Germany  with Erasmus project.

It has been an extraordinary experience and let me understand the importance of European exchanges bewteen young people.

Now I am a civil servant and I work for the  the Muncipality of Fidenza (a small town in the north of Italy) in the“Culture, youth policy and European projects” unit.

In the past years I had different experiences in organizing  different kinds of youth exchanges.

2006: I took part in the planning and managment of a session of  Centre of European Culture “Sigeric.

A European Culture Centre is an informal educational facility for high schools, whose aim is the promotion of European cultural identity.

A European Cultural Centre is based upon multi national sessions, which last fifteen days. During these sessions secondary-school students coming from three different European countries meet and carry out practical (workshops, excursions…) and theoretical (conferences, debates…) activities based upon a European theme.

This experience represents a great opportunity for young people to live a concrete European experiences with students coming from other European countries, to overcome cultural bias, to increase reciprocal knowledge.

Since 2004 I've been organizing annual exchanges between twinned cities. These meeting are good opportunities to increase exchanges between European peers.

In 2012 the Municipality of Fidenza realized the youth exchange “Youth on the stage” in the framework of “Youth in action” programme Measure 1.1.

The project took place in Fidenza and lasted 6 days.

The theme of the project was the intercultural dialogue and the European cultural identity.

The project was based on the realization of artistic laboratories, which have been realized by European young people and  constituted an original way of non – formal learning, in order to know their cultural identity, to participate to local life, to establish a dialogue with other European realities, to acquire new skills, to express their creativity.

These activitie favoured the active citizenship at local and European level and the consciousness of European cultural diversity.

We took part as partner in  the project “Flow4yu” Network on dialogue between young people and public institutions, in the framework of Europe for citizens programme.

Why have You decided to participate in this project?

Because I think the only way to become a real European citizen is to leave experiences in other European countries and to know citizens from different European realities.

“United in diversity” should be a concrete experience and not only a beautiful motto.

What are Your expectations for the training course?

I'd like to acquire new competences in non-formal and informal learning.

I'd like to learn ice-breaking activities, presentation activities

and braimstorming activities

I'd like to know people from other countries and to have the oppotunities to plan future European project with them

I hope to acquire best practices in the youth activities at local level.

What does EU mean to you?

I think that EU is not only an istitution but it represents an extraordinary opportunity of peace and prosperity.

European countries are very different and they should not  forget their different cultures, traditions and languages, because they constitute our richness.

We are different but we recognizes ourselves in common values and rights.

Life motto:

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do".

Maximiliana Stantcheva

Age: 24

Country: Italy

Experience in raising the awareness of the EU mobility policy, youth workers and etc.

I have partecipated in the Learning Mobility Project: “Improve yourself – improve the world”. It was a mobility of youth workers.

Why have You decided to participate in this project?

I decided to partecipate because I would like to become more proactive in the civic society.

What are Your expectations for the training course?

My expectations are to gain new communication skills, improve the teamworking and know new people from other countries.

What does EU mean to you?

An opportunity to create a multicultural environment among the member states. 

Life motto:

“Whether you think you can, or you think you can't. You're right.”

by Henry Ford

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/maxiStantcheva

ORGANIZATION Volere Volar (Italy)

TRAINING COURSE PARTICIPANTS:

Daniela Tomasino

 Age: 45

Country: Italy

Experience in raising the awareness of the EU mobility policy, youth workers and etc.

 attended some mobility projects in the European Union, as a worker and as an activist. For several years I have worked with an association specialized in youth participation, prevention of children's and youth through. Now I am an activist for LGBT rights and a himan rights defender.

Why have You decided to participate in this project?

I think that in this period is very important to convey to young people the European values, the knowledge, the desire to participate. It 's the best way to combat racism, xenophobia, fascism are rising across the continent.

I believe I could acquire some new tools to do it, or to do it better.

What are Your expectations for the training course?

Learn, learn and learn

What does EU mean to you?

Eu for me is still the hope of a better future, with fewer no borders and more rights.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danielatomasino/

Mattia Matrone

 

Age: 26

Country: Italy

Experience in raising the awareness of the EU mobility policy, youth workers and etc.

I already took part in several seminars and training courses financed by Erasmus + programme about youth participation, self-promotion and entrepreneurship as freelance professional and young active citizen.

Among the most recent ones:

10/08/2016 - 17/08/2016

E+ TC promoted by Nectarus in Daugirdiskes (Vilnius), Lithuania “OFF_ROADS: Alternative Learning Pathways with Digital Technologies” How to implement the use of web tools and connected learning experiences in educational activities.

01/06/2016 - 06/06/2016

E+ Seminar hosted by SONDIP in Turku, Finland

“MULTIPLYING THE IMPACT THROUGH CROSS-SECTORIAL COOPERATION” about the best practices of youth participation across EU, Georgia and Azerbaijan.

01/08/2015 - 08/08/2015

E+ TC at ACDR (African Centre for Development and Research) Brighton, UK

“MEDIA PRISM” intense media analysis workshop focused on biases recognition and different political influence detection in media about issues as immigration and integration.

05/06/2015 - 10/06/2015

“The rise of entrepreneurship among young people. Promote enterprise development and employment”, Erasmus+ Programme Training Course organised by Action pour le Développement Intégré et la Formation (ADIF) Interculturalité, French NGO; Training Course held at the Maison du Citoyen et de la Solidarité Internationale of Cognac (France).

Topics: Youth unemployment and entrepreneurship in different European countries (tendencies and influencing factors, specifications of the target group, focuses, etc.) to encourage the development of different education programmes for empowerment of unemployed youth in local communities, with special accent being put on developing their self-directed learning skills, entrepreneurship skills and business plan development.

Why have You decided to participate in this project?

Because I strongly agree with the aim of this course, I have recently seen many people even my closer friends or my parents loosing day by day trust in the idea of EU, so I want to demonstrate that EU means something different from what some media and politicians present. I believe that the union is made by people, not by bureaucracy.

What are Your expectations for the training course?

I hope to get a deeper knowledge about EU youth policies and advantages for youngsters that our cooperation produces and to get a better speech craft in presenting them within my own community.

I hope to find people that share my ideas abut the historical and social value of the Union and to build further cooperative project together mixing different backgrounds and resources.

What does EU mean to you?

Eu is my homeland and the place where can I feel at home from Lapland to Sicily.

Life motto:

#Strongertogether

Salvatore Cianciolo

Age: 24

Country: Italy

Why have You decided to participate in this project?

I decided to participate in this project because I believe in European integration, I consider very important awareness on issues such as equality and cooperation among people and because  it is always nice to enjoy a positive experience.

What are Your expectations for the training course?

I will have the chance to confront different cultures about common topics for each one. Expand my knowledge on the functioning of the European community and also learn to work with new partners.

What does EU mean to you?

EU means to deal with new needs that arise from being a united group of people ready to assist the parties who need it most. It makes use of unifying mechanisms between states and seeks methods and solutions in order to reach the ​​European development.

Life motto:

“Luck is blind”

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/slvtrgsepnea