Researches show that between 92 and 94 million adults in the EU – i.e. 22 % to 23 % of Europeans aged over 15 – are involved in volunteering. A Eurobarometer survey published in April 2015, revealed that the most common areas for volunteering are charity, humanitarian and development aid (44 %); education, training or sport (40 %), and culture or art (15 %). Their activities are usually aimed at a local community (66 %) or the volunteer’s country as a whole (27 %). Cross-border volunteering remains modest, with only 7 % of activities being aimed at another EU country, and 11 % at other parts of the world.Project’s overall Aim: Support for social engagement of young people, youth workers and youth organisations through volunteering and capacity building actions with direct impact to boost active citizenship, inclusion, cross sectoral cooperation and quality of youth work in the local communities. The project is a continues cooperation of the approved project Volunteering Connecting Communities enriched with more actions and valuable tools to be used in the local level. Volunteering helps citizens to connect with others in their local communities who may be from entirely different backgrounds. It creates bonds and shared identities that go beyond superficial differences that might otherwise seem important. Volunteering also provides a meaningful way of grappling with social problems – for example, reducing social isolation or improving mental health – for both the volunteer and the communities being supported the volunteering.The theory of change we would like to propose is a combination of tools in local and European level. Each local campaign planned in the local community would promote volunteering concept as effective ways to normalize daily life.Objectives: • To build capacities of partner CSOs working with young people with fewer opportunities, their beneficiaries and volunteers on volunteering and its qualitative management• To develop further and support existing local volunteering infrastructures (volunteers Hubs) through cross sectorial approach • To plan and implement awareness raising campaign on promotion and values of volunteer work in local communities• To share best practices, exchange “know how” and establishing bridges of closer cooperation with various stakeholdersThe final project beneficiaries (people in local communities, elderly, minorities, and people with disabilities) will directly benefit from developed capacities of target group, as these capacities will enable more quality identification of needs, planning, implementation and securing the support of volunteering programmes focused on improving the quality of their lives. Therefore, the partner’s consortium expects to have a positive impact and to improve planning and implementation of quality volunteering programmes focused at local communities by achieving the following action results and outcomes in support of overall aim and specific action objectives.

<< Background >>Volunteering is a very important activity for youngsters to whom they can acquire additional knowledge and competencies, which will increase their opportunities in the labor market. Volunteering is a tool for social change and fosters youth participation. Therefore, this project was very important for the future of youngsters in partners countries and offered mixed alternatives for youth workers, partners and young people.<< Objectives >>This project objective was to increase youth potential in civic education and especially volunteerism topic through capacity building actions targeting youth workers who work with young people with fewer opportunities in local and European level. Also, our objective was to increase the quality of youth work through exchanging of experiences and building up sustainable partnership among partners of the consortium and other NGO-s and institutions in respective countries.<< Implementation >>The implementation of the project was organized in a period of 18 months with the participation of 5 organizations from 5 countries. During the project, six activities were organized, of which one is kick-off meeting, three mobilities, the preparatory phase for the establishment of Volunteer Hubs, after which we implemented local activities. During the project more than 7000 hours of volunteer work were realized.<< Results >>During the project, the following results were achieved: 1) enabled the participation of five hundred dozen in local activities, 2) organized three mobilities in two countries; 3) five volunteer HUB-s established; 4) strengthened knowledge and capacities of over 100 participants in the project; 5) Strengthened volunteerism and improved the area of volunteerism through the formation of strategic directions of action and the establishment of management structures. More than 2000 youth get benefit.

<< Background >>Walk On project aimed to build the competences of youth workers, teachers, young people and community youth leaders in the Western Balkans, to address and work with reconciliation, countering hate speech and promoting peace building. The projects succeed to establish a successful practice and with positive regards to establish a network of association in the WB ad EU who are committed into promoting reconciliation sharing know how and fighting hate speech a different level.<< Objectives >>Promote reconciliation among communities with empowering young people and youth leaders with knowledge, skills and attitudes to act as advocates for peacebuilding Strengthen human rights-based narratives in society that effectively counter stereotypes justifying discrimination and hate speech in communities; Produce and promote concrete educational tools about reconciliation and addressing hate among young people, to be used by teachers and other community leaders;<< Implementation >>Implementation of the project was done during the time of pandemic, but through all the challenges, the project was implemented successfully through all its phases. The project outcomes were pursued through the specific project activities which were undertaken by including important stakeholders, training experts, youth workers, teachers and young people through local workshops, trainings, information sessions, media channels, partnership building activities and researches.<< Results >>127 mobility participants learned about peace and reconciliation, hate speech and developed competencies on ICD and follow-up on various project related workshops. 505 Young people, YW participated in the local level from all partners of the consortium where they developed their skills, increased knowledge on the project topic and developed their competencies, learned about the Erasmus plus program as a life-changing program and expand their network of work for further and future collaborations

Project partners realized that an important problem of youth, including those with fewer opportunities, is lack of competences to be competitive in the European labour market. Inadequate professional orientation programmes, work with youth in terms of planning their further education and profession, and active participation are fields recognized to be worked on, through development of innovative and creative approach in professional orientation programmes for stimulating youth to choose their further education and profession.Project dates: 01/01/2017 to 30/11/2017. It consists of Kick off meeting (Germany), Training of Youth Workers (Serbia), Practical work in local communities (testing InOrientation technique), Youth Exchange (in Serbia), Local initiatives, and Evaluation meeting (Albania). Project partners are from 6 European countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Germany, Italy and Serbia. Total number of participants is 80.Project aims to increase the capacity of youth workers to support the professional orientation of young people, including those with fewer opportunities, through non-formal education programmes on local and European level.Objectives:- To build links among partners in order to foster exchange of skills and knowledge, expertise and good practice and networking;- To familiarize youth workers how to provide services of professional orientation in terms of helping young people to plan and choose their future profession to be competitive in the world of work;- To review and address essential knowledge, skills and competences for youth workers working with youth with fewer opportunities to offer them practical InOrientation technique how to perform self-assessment, plan of education and development of soft skills;- To promote InOrientation technique and non-formal education among youth workers and youth leaders who are working in the field of employability education for young people;- To use multimedia and theatre tools to support professional orientation of young people, including those with fewer opportunities;- To develop future partnerships among youth workers/group leaders in order to develop cooperation among experienced youth workers working in professional orientation and carrier guidance programmes;- To raise awareness of young people, including those with fewer opportunities, about EU community and to broaden sense of social value, overcome prejudice against others in different European context and breake stereotypes; and- To promote Erasmus+ Youth programme as a tool for supporting employability of youth, including those with fewer opportunities, at European level.Project fits into the European youth policy that is presented in The EU Strategy for Youth. It is also in relation with Europe 2020 strategy calls for the development of knowledge, skills and competences for achieving economic growth and employment and initiatives ‘Youth on the Move’ and ‘Agenda for new skills and jobs’.

In touch is a project which would like to bring innovation in non-formal education activities and higher quality learning in youth work for youngsters with mobility and sensory disabilities.We would like to fill the lack of updates and innovation in available training materials for organizations working with disabled people. Our project will enhance the possibilities for individuals with disabilities to participate in different activities, have more access to opportunities and at the same time have increased opportunities to become more integrated into our European society, by contributing to their empowerment. The project is involving 6 countries, 3 from the European Union (Italy, Malta, and Cyprus) and 3 from the Western Balkans region (Albania, Montenegro, and Bosnia & Herzegovina) with a complementary partnership of organizations working with people with disabilities and others working on the creation of educational and didactic activities through the use of non-formal education. The two most important specific objectives of our project are:- to equip organizations with youth work methods, tools, and materials for the socio-professional development of youth workers and trainers working with people with disabilities;- to stimulate social inclusion by mapping accessible/barrier-free services/activities for leisure time with regards to empowering disabled youth and being in touch with their peers to prevent them from social isolation.The 1st objective is related to the 1st project outcome we will have which is an electronic Didactic Manual with innovative activities to involve and include young people with disabilities for operators, educators, youth workers, and all the ones working with people with disabilities.The 2nd objective is related to the 2nd project outcome which will be a Mobile APP accessible for disabled people and freely downloadable with mapped accessible/free-barriers services, activities and opportunities in the country.