Inter
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At the end of April we organized the final event of our project SILENT in Graz where we invited local stakeholders, adult educators and teachers working with deaf children to share the results of our project. We have presented our "Not so Silent" picture book, along with the video we've created about sign language in different languages and what sign language is.

We were very grateful for the opportunity to share our work with people who can use and benefit the most from our work.

Wrapping Up the SILENT Project in Brussels
We are truly grateful for the inspiring discussions and valuable contributions at our final event in Brussels: "Supporting Deaf Children and Families: Lessons, Challenges, and Moving Forward."
Designed as a World Café, the event encouraged open conversations rather than formal presentations, creating a space for shared experiences, collaboration, and new perspectives. A key theme throughout the discussions was the importance of ensuring families have the right information to make informed decisions. We also explored the critical need to shift from projects designed for the Deaf community to initiatives developed with them—honoring the principle "Nothing About Us, Without Us."

This picture book is for children aged 3-6, as well as their families, friends, and kindergarten teachers. It is designed to support parental involvement in language development and portrays the experiences of deaf children—whether they use sign language, cochlear implants, or both.
The stories also touch on the experiences of adults who lose their hearing later in life, highlighting different communication paths and perspectives.
You can read it online for free and download it as a PDF by clicking on the date below or the picture. The book is available in Slovenian, German, English, Portuguese, Macedonian and Greek.

We are happy to announce that we've officially become part of JOINT's International Network for Inclusion! This incredible journey began during an inspiring Training Course in the picturesque town of Galbiate, in the beautiful Lombardy region.
Over the course of the training, we engaged in meaningful discussions about the quality standards of the Youth Exchanges we deliver, ways to strengthen the inclusion process, and how best to meet the diverse needs of our target groups. One of the highlights was contributing to the Advocacy Plan of the network, which focuses on gaining recognition for Highly Vulnerable Young People as a distinct category within the program.

On November 29th & 30th, we gathered adult educators from Austria, Cyprus, North Macedonia, Portugal and Slovenia for a training as part of our SILENT Project – in beautiful Nicosia, Cyprus. The focus? Empowering those who make a difference in the lives of children with hearing loss and their families.
Our two-day agenda included workshops on: Coaching and Empowering Caregivers – equipping caregivers with the tools and confidence they need. Encouraging Parent/Child Interaction – fostering stronger bonds and communication. Working with SILENT Resources – exploring the unique materials and methods we’ve developed to support educators and families alike.

On November 21st and 22nd, the second KidLe project meeting took place in Cyprus, hosted by our partners at the University of Limassol

This in-person meeting marked nearly a year since the project began, giving us the chance to wrap up activities for year one, especially those related to the co-creation process of intercultural games. We also mapped out the exciting next steps, including the digitalization of the game and the piloting phase.

We are excited about the upcoming activities and to share our progress and results with you. Stay tuned for updates on our social channels!

We’ve just wrapped up our second Transnational Project Meeting in Athens for the InterGenic project! Reflecting on our journey so far, we celebrated the progress we've made and set clear goals and directions for the exciting months ahead.

This next phase will bring our target groups into the heart of our work, giving life to the ideas and hard work of the past six months.

Can’t wait to see the impact unfold!

Earlier this November, we had the pleasure of joining the 2nd Transnational Project Meeting of the Friends we Share #erasmusplusproject in beautiful Porto, Portugal, hosted by Proportional Message.

Together with our partners and project coordinator Miejska Strefa Kultury w Łodzi, we reflected on the local workshops held with Mentees and Mentors in each partner country and discussed our ongoing Connection Cafes.

We exchanged valuable insights and learned from each other's practices on how to bring newly arrived refugees and those living in the country for long-term together, fostering a sense of community and creating a strong support network.

We participated in "Cherry on the Cake," hosted by #MOVIT, a dynamic event that brought together youth workers and organizations across Europe in Bled, Slovenia. This creative platform explored key aspects of Youth Exchanges, including:

• Connecting with local youth work to create meaningful impact.

• Enhancing the learning dimension for participants.

• Actively engaging young people in every step of the process.

This experience has inspired us to innovate and collaborate even further in our mission to empower youth through impactful projects!

In October we traditionally gather youth workers to reflect on their teaching and training methods as well as their target group's mental health.

This October we incorporate philosophy in the training for the first time, searching for meaning and reason in different schools of thought.

In late September, we joined our partners, iKoBi and Mobilizing Expertise, in Lund, Sweden, to kick off our new project, GUIDE – Promoting Gender Equality and Diversity in International Youth Work through Gender-Sensitive Language.
In youth work, it's especially important to choose language that makes all young people feel respected and valued, especially those who don't fit into traditional gender categories. By using gender-neutral and gender-sensitive language, we can create spaces where everyone feels free to express their identity without fear of judgment.

We just came back from a great training on Digital Literacy skills for Adult Educators working with migrant and refugee women as part of the project Remcread. During the five days in Jelenia Góra in Poland, we learned and discussed Safety and Privacy online, with a focus on Social Media platforms. We also learned how to take better photos and videos with smartphones and how to edit them to create content for our Social Media accounts.

Designed as a dynamic virtual playground, learning space, and meeting hub, this platform was initially developed for the Youth & Commute project. However, we’re excited to share that it is now available for FREE to everyone beyond the project!

All the resources developed within the Youth and Commute project are saved and easily accessible in our Online Classroom and Library within Gather.town.

We invite you to dive in and make the most of this new space. Whether you're looking to learn, collaborate, or simply connect!

Between 8th-15th of July we organised a hands on training course about building with natural materials. The training took place in Slovenia and gathered young people from Austria, Slovenia, Spain, Greece, Portugal, Italy, Bulgaria and Germany. They learned how to use and reuse the resources available around themselves, how to check if the soil is good for building, as well as different building methods. Besides working hands-on, they also had the opportunity to taste local products and home made sweets made by the people from the local community.

This month we attended the first training of the #erasmusplusproject REMCREAD in Palermo, Italy. Together with the partners we worked on finding interesting creative methods and practices that would fit our target groups, migrant and refugee women living in Austria, Poland, Cyprus, Belgium and Italy, which face many similar challenges but are also very diverse and have different needs.
Now we are working towards building a manual with different creative practices that will be tested in each partner country, starting in the autumn.

We proudly sent three participants—Merve, Pînar, and Julia—to the transformative “BeWell” training course held from May 12th to 19th, 2024. The primary aim of this course was to empower youth workers by equipping them with the necessary skills to create safe and inclusive environments, build strong connections with youth participants, and promote their emotional well-being. 🤗

The last Newsletter of our project is out! Check it out and read about all the great events the partners organized in each of their countries to promote the activities of the project!

On the 25th of April we organized the Multiplier Event for our project Youth & Commute together with LOGO in the format of a World Cafe and brunch. We invited experts working in the youth work field, social work - working with young refugees or bicycles to share their experience.

We also shared what we worked on during the Youth & Commute project and the resources they can use with their target groups.

In April we were invited to take part in a Partner Building Activity by CPDIS in Busteni, Romania. During the 2 days of the event, we met new NGOs from across Europe working in the field of youth, education and sport and worked on developing a new project together with some of them for the future deadline.

We met in Denmark between the 15-18th of April to Kick-off our project Inclusionary - Art for Social Inclusion and discuss the next steps for the following months.
Besides getting to know each other a bit better, we have discussed the most important points and tasks for the following period. Moreover, we divided the work and established the dates for our trainings that will take place in Croatia, Spain and Romania in the next 2 years.

This year's theme, "Voice Your Vision," focused on empowering young people to speak up about the issues that matter to them. The week highlighted democracy and the upcoming European elections, encouraging youth to get involved and make a difference. As part of this, we organized the youth exchange "GOT SOMETHING TO SAY?"

The international youth exchange took place in Trofaiach in April 2024, and brought together young people aged 18 to 30 to focus on youth participation in the democratic life of the EU, particularly about the EU Elections of 2024. The exchange emphasized that while voting is a fundamental aspect of democratic participation, there are numerous other ways of active citizenship. Participants got a deeper understanding of the structure and work of EU institutions and the ways of voicing their ideas and taking steps towards social and environmental issues.

Together with Banana Bikes we set up a station in Augarten Park, checked the bikes of the people passing by, and told them about our Youth & Commute project. We had quite a few visitors, of all ages and most of the people left happy with their bikes fixed and adjusted.

The last newsletter of the #erasmusplusproject PlainVET is here! It includes information about the last project results including the video interviews and the Manual "Your Future Job".

At the end of March, we had our last meeting of the project Youth&Commute and it took place in Skopje, North Macedonia.

We have checked together the last details of the project results, tested the e-learning platforms and set up the deadlines for the final tasks. The project will be finished at the end of June and all the partners will prepare local events where they will share the project results to stakeholders and youngsters.

We had the chance to meet the partners Lëtz Rise Up and Youths Gozo in person and kicked off the project’s next steps💪🏼 With the coordination of TERRAM PACIS , we believe we will reach impactful achievements with this partnership.

This is the first project that we are collaborating with an organisation from Norway so we hope to exchange good practices and learn from their experiences.

We have met our partners from Sweden (@hello.youth - coordinator), Germany, Italy and Turkey in March, in Kiel to start the @youthcanleadyouthproject, distribute tasks, set dates and goals, and ensure the activities of the project run smoothly.

With 2 international events in the summer of 2024, we had enough to plan, consider and deliver. Young people take an active role in this project, and we are looking forward to this 2-year journey of mentoring, peer learning and training, and skills development.

Our team just returned from a great Kick-off meeting of the #erasmusplusproject Friends we share - Wellbeing Programme for Refugees with Role Models and Mentors that took place in Łódź, Poland.

Together with the coordinator @miejskastrefakultury and the partners from Germany, Cyprus and Portugal we have discussed the main tasks and activities that each of us is responsible for and focus mainly on the first project result - "Friends we Share - Connection Programme" and what we should do for a successful implementation.

Exciting News! Over the years, we've mentored incredible young people from all over Europe who, inspired by our youth work and the impact it can have, have established NGOs in their own countries, where they are turning ideas into initiatives. 

This week, we're facilitating a networking event in Gran Canaria, bringing some of these passionate young organizations together to brainstorm new ideas, connect them with European partners and welcome them into the Erasmus+ family.

In January, the Buddy Migrants team met in Turnhout, Belgium to discuss on the project's progress and next steps in the implementation.

This meeting, spanning over two days, was a melting pot of ideas, showcasing Blenders’ foundational pillars and delving into the societal needs across Belgium, Greece, Cyprus, Slovenia, and Austria. A significant pivot was the consensus to develop a desktop-friendly educational platform, moving away from the initial smartphone app approach, after insights revealed a preference for laptop usage among educators for learning and resource gathering.

​In January, we hosted the Kick-off meeting of the #erasmusplusproject REMCREAD - Empowering refugee & migrant women through creative methods and digital literacy.

Together with the coordinator from Poland - @fundacjadlamigrantow and the partners from Cyprus, Italy, Belgium and Poland, we have discussed the first steps into the project and the next actions to be taken for starting the 2 years journey into this new and exciting project.

We have officially started a new #erasmusplusproject @intergenicproject with a great consortium!

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A learning intergenerational adventure is awaiting us, including digital but also environmental topics.

Different skills belong to different generations. Time changes people, and knowledge and interests alter from one generation to another.
Our new project puts young people and seniors together to explore the differences and teach each other useful skills.

We are excited to present to you another brand-new #erasmusplusproject that we began in January. Lisbon was the location of the Kick-off meeting, which our project manager attended.

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The KiDLE project is designed to assist children and adolescents with diverse cultural backgrounds in navigating new school environments more effectively. To achieve this, five intercultural board games are being developed and consolidated into a digital gaming package.

On December 12, 2023, the OeAD presented the winners of the 2023 Erasmus+ and ESK Awards in Vienna. The award went to organizations that have achieved a significant impact on a personal, institutional, and systemic level with these EU funding grants. We are delighted to be among the winners!

Our work with young people is a matter close to our hearts, and this award confirms our commitment. The recognition from the OeAD is invaluable to us and will continue to inspire our future work with passion and energy.

We have kicked-off our Buddy Migrants project in Austria, introducing its goals to teachers, parents, and stakeholders. The first event took place at the S-Bim School Fair in Graz, followed by a second gathering in Trofaiach.

At the beginning of November, we hosted the last team meeting of the project Erasmus+ Plain VET in Graz.

Together with the coordinator @kultur_life and the partners from Spain, Sweden and Cyprus, we have discussed the next steps to be done in the project, established deadlines, and gave feedback on the materials that are in the final stages of finalization.

At the moment, the first project result is completely finished and it is being translated into the partner languages - Assessment tool in plain language. You will be able to find it soon on the website below:

https://kultur-life.de/projekte/plainvet 

Our association was represented at the S-Bim and BeSt3 Graz 2023 booth on October 19. We proudly presented the "Start Point" and "Buddy Migrants" projects.

We came together again between the 14th and 21st of October, to explore the topic of Mental Health, and how to maintain it through Outdoor Activities!

We played fun games and tried yoga and other interesting activities outside, went hiking and cycled together, sang and danced, cooked and ate till late hours.

We turned ideas into concepts and discussed what the people we work with
need and could benefit from.

The last newsletter of the #erasmusplusproject Start Point is here! It includes information about the last project results, the final meeting in Kiel and the final conference that took place in Kiel, as well.

The 3rd Newsletter shares information about the LTTA in Turkey and the Youth Exchange in Austria, as well as about the progress of the project and some exciting news from the European Green Mobility Policy. Check it out below!

This week we were in Kiel, northern Germany, for the last partner meeting of the Start Point #erasmusplusproject where we finalized the last outputs, established the last few tasks and prepared for the final dissemination and exploitation of results.

We also took part in the Final conference organized by the coordinator of the project KulturLife, where we talked about the project and its results and about Erasmus+ programm.

That was our Youth&Commute youth meeting in Trofaiach!

We would like to thank the week and Trofaiach - my city as well as Mayor Mario Abl for their support!

Youth & Commute is a youth project co-funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union, which focuses on sustainable transport, road safety skills, mobility and inclusion.

In July, together with our partners KulturLife, Drustvo Nacekova hisa, AKtive Kosmos and Be Visible Be YOU we have organised a training course for Youth workers "Sustainability and Youth work". This was a wonderful opportunity to discuss how to introduce the topic of sustainability to young people in a non-formal setting, brainstorm educational activities ideas and even work hands-on!

Re-thinking Sustainability, our first Youth Exchange under the #erasmusplus youth accreditation 2021-2027 took place between the 21st-28th June. We gathered once more in Trofaiach with young people from Austria, Romania, Croatia, Turkey and North Macedonia to discuss about Sustainability, but this time looking at it from different perspectives and with a critical mindset.
Along with exploring the issues in our local environments, we also looked for ideas and solutions that could be implemented right away in the local communities of our participants.

Between the 13-14th June, we were in Predeal, Romania taking part in the seminar "E-valuate" organized by A4Action which had as a primary objective consolidating the network of partners and evaluating the mobilities they have organized under the Erasmus+ Youth accreditation.

It was a very fruitful meeting for us, getting to know new NGOs from different European countries, and learning more about the Erasmus+ accreditation and different European funding programmes. At the same time, it was a good opportunity to exchange good practices from our daily work in our organizations and get new fresh ideas for improving our work.

We were very happy about this invitation and looking forward to more projects together! 

The 3rd Newsletter of the project Start Point is out and you can find out what we have been working on in the last months.

Between the 6-10th of June, we had our Learning, Teaching, Training, Activity that took place in Igdir, Turkey. We gathered youth workers from all the partner organizations and shared good practices about working with young people with fewer opportunities in our countries and how to better involve them in our activities. We also had the chance to explore Igdir by bike and have first-hand experience with the cyclists in this town.

We met with the partners of the Erasmus+ Project: Agents for Inclusion in Milan to discuss the progress of the project, plan the next steps in the implementation and set the dates for the next meetings and activities.
The project consists in providing the tools and know-how to people with fewer opportunities (ie immigrants, women and long-term unemployed individuals) to learn how to carry out a social project and, through this, to strengthen their skills and competencies to enter into the labor market and to empower them with respect to the rest of society.
Check out more about the project here: https://agentsforinclusion.com/

During our LTTA (Learning, teaching, training activity) in Örkelljunga, Sweden, we introduced our guide in easy language and exchanged plain language as an instrument for#equalityopportunityother#inclusion. It was a lovely training and meeting!

Soon, we will share with you the final assessment tool in plain language. Check more about the project here:

https://kultur-life.de/projects/plainvet

​The BuddyMigrants project aims to address the barriers faced by newly-arrived third country national (TCN) families in the project countries in accessing the social services (access to information, health, education, employment) as well as to contribute to creating inclusive environments that foster social inclusion, equity and equality, and that are responsive to the needs of the wider communities.

We were in Finland, for the 3rd Transnational project meeting of the#Erasmusplusprojectstarting point. We have evaluated the LTTA, that took place in March in Slovenia and checked on the pending tasks and future activities that we should organize in each of our countries. The Citizenship Learning Toolkit and the Learning Community Program are finished and are being translated into all the partner languages at the moment.

The last Newsletter of the AMIF project ENGAGE is focusing on the job shadowing experiences of the participants, in each one of the partner countries.

Testimonials of some of the migrant women are included also/ Check it out by clicking on the photo!

In March, our collegues Iulia and Hewa were in Novo Mesto, Slovenia attending the "Community Learning Programm" from the #erasmusplusproject Start Point.

They discussed topics such as Cultural Identity, Intercultural Dialogue, Active Citizenship, and Community action, as well as meeting the participants from Cyprus, Germany, Slovenia, Portugal, and Finland and exchanging ideas and experiences.

In the last session, the participants had to create vision boards for the activities they want to implement with the young adults in their communities back home. You can see some of them on the last slide.

In January we had a transnational partner meeting of theErasmus+ Plain VETProject. The meeting was hosted by the amazingCentro Formativo Otxarkoaga- a school providing education from 12 years old to adults, on Secondary Education, First Education for Migrants, Vocational Education and Training, Task Learning Education, Adult Education and others. One of their main goals is to pay attention to people in disadvantaged situations offering integral education and promoting their integration by offering adapted learning paths.

We are starting the new year full of enthusiasm!

The ENGAGE Volunteer Week connects women with refugee experience with non-profit organizations, associations and individuals, and gives them the opportunity to experience volunteer work with our team up close. Clubs, organizations and individuals who need support can register by January 23, 2023 using this form:https://forms.gle/q6K2P3CNRtZVq2Zu5

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