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.

The situation of Youth in Western Balkans is under constant change. Main issues the young citizens are facing are related to job finding and individual development to improve their living conditions. The situation is particularly difficult to youth with fewer possibilities and young girls. During years of work with youth from poor families we identified as main concern the lack of information and education programs. We also observed that youth with fewer possibilities are more inventive and willing to develop due to life necessity. They are more motivated and driven to work hard and succeed when they are given an opportunity. There are very few stories of such youth to take as model in Western Balkan countries that have a long way to reach European values. We have their top priority to give opportunities to young talented people from low income families and/or with disabilities to develop and become the model and instructor of their peers in their own countries. Young man and women with fewer possibilities have to be informed and guided in new development of their countries, of their way to become European members and what the future as European citizens will be. They need to be oriented and instructed, gaining knowledge and skills to be actively involved firstly in their own community and country, so they can develop themselves in good European citizens. This cannot be done by only handing out information they cannot understand. It is necessary a serious capacity building work and presentation of good practices of their peers, providing them with practical role models in how to get involved in society. The project focuses in giving opportunities to youth workers, especially youth with fewer opportunities, to gain skills, knowledge, connections and experiences in inclusive social enterprise establishment as a development opportunity for themselves and their peers. It addresses the need for opportunities for self-development, integrity and inclusion in society without discrimination because of their economic or social status. Youth with fewer possibilities in Western Balkan feel hopeless and confused because of the economic and social difficulties they face. They feel lost in a world that closes doors to education for those with the “inadequate” status or with disabilities. In accordance with European Youth strategy, the consortium will engage in information, education and training of youth with fewer possibilities to gain social entrepreneurship skills and knowledge in becoming active citizens fully prepared to build their future in the European society. The project aims to include youth workers and youth with fewer possibilities as well as a 50% participation of women.It will blend together capacity building, youth exchange, network building, good practices and non-formal learning, to empower youth with fewer possibilities to overcome social barriers, and initiating inclusive social initiatives.

<< Background >>This project concept was born from a double observation. The first is the current challenges some young people in difficulties are facing: unemployment, educational failure, lack of reference, social and economic barriers jeopardizing their inclusion in the professional and educational worlds. The second observation related to the current environmental issue, and the need for sustainable agriculture to be a driver in the fight against climate change. To succeed in this transition, organic agriculture and agroecology need more human labour but few people turn to these professions.So, on one side there are young people who are Not in Employment, Education or Training (NEET) and suffer a deep lack of reference and on the other side there are many job opportunities in the sustainable agricultural sector.This project aims to address the needs of NEET young people which entails to reconnect with a professional environment where they can learn and gain confidence in a safe place.This project also addresses the needs of rural areas that lack dynamism and are little valued altogether with the farmers’ needs to connect with young people to pass on their skills and knowledge and to make their agricultural enterprises more sustainable.But above all it considers the youth workers needs to have specific tools adapted to the needs of NEET young people in order to better support them. More precisely, tools to accompany them towards novel jobs in the field of sustainable and social farming and successfully increase their employability. All these needs will be addressed in a social agriculture Erasmus+ project: PROPAGRI.<< Objectives >>The overall objective of this project is to strengthen employability of NEET young people into the agricultural world through the development of an innovating training targeting youth workers and trainers. This will be reached through the following specific objectives:-Provide tools to youth workers to increase the awareness of NEET young people about the opportunities offered by sustainable agricultural professions.-Develop an innovative training which provides young people with basic skills and knowledge in organic and/or environmental-friendly farming techniques tackling climate change.-Increase the attractiveness of the farming sector and ensure sufficient working capacities for sustainable farming development in Europe.-Increase the interest and ability of farmers to welcome and teach NEET young people sustainable farming techniques and knowledge.<< Implementation >>The activities of the project are structured around the production of the 4 project results:PR1- The first project result consists in developing material for the theoretical part of the training. The activities will be to specify and produce the pedagogical framework and the theoretical content and then to experiment the courses in France, Italy and Germany with a group of 15 NEET people per country.PR2- The second set of activities aims at creating an online matching platform in order to promote the meeting between NEET young people and farmers based on matching criteria.PR3- The following activities consists in the development and implementation of guideline to support youth workers in the setting up of small internships to allows young people to discover the farm life for 5 days. A training session for farmers will be developed and tested with 5 farmers in France, Italy and Germany each. Farmers will then welcome 15 NEET young people on their farms to experiment the small internships.PR4- This novel training will be concluded by an orientation workshop, testing tailor-made tools for youth workers to accompany NEET young people towards sustainable agricultural jobs. All these activities aim to implement the whole training destined to youth workers, which is expected to fit with young people and farmers’ needs.<< Results >>This project will produce some tangible results which are:-Theoretical training material: a written and visual material which is the support for theoretical courses on sustainable agriculture and its linkage with the environment and climate change.-Matching platform: an online platform to connect young people and farmers, which will remain available at least 5 years after the end of the project.-Practical training guidelines: a guide containing all the necessary information to implement small practical internships of young people hosted by farmers.-Orientation toolkit: a set of tools to implement a powerful orientation workshop and solid guidance follow-up of the young people.The PROPAGRI project implements a training with guidance materials that will be reused and reappropriated by social workers and trainers working with NEET young people all around Europe. It will allows the project partners and then stakeholders from both the social and agricultural worlds to develop their skills in social farming.

<< 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.

Youth work is a field which demands constant improvement and innovation, in order to support the dynamic and vibrant needs of target groups - young people. The Covid-19 crisis has significantly negatively affected young people, leading to an increased need for youth workers to successfully connect and intervene, and has shown us how gaps in the connection and preparedness in communities lead to disastrous outcomes in health - both physical and mental. Storytelling has a powerful and very positive influence on young people’s lives as it becomes a valuable tool towards building relationships, making young people laugh and ultimately helping all grow together. Through the project Storytelling for Youth, our consortium will be addressing the needs of youth and supporting their well-being, their development and their growth; empowering them to connect to each other and whoever they need, lead healthy and conscious lives and have good interpersonal relationships even when more effort is needed, all through work with youth workers and tools to support them. This will be achieved through the creation of 3 Intellectual Outputs, aimed at youth workers, and created to increase their capacity, support their work and encourage deep, active and effective communication with their target groups, as well as through 4 Multiplier events and countless informal meetings with young people, youth workers, educators and policy makers. SY unites the efforts of 5 active and driven organizations in a 20-month project, which aims to contribute to the communities they work directly with, as well as to Europe as a whole, promoting the value and joy of connectivity, the merits of active listening and sharing, and the importance of interpersonal understanding in youth work. Storytelling for Youth will provide youth and youth workers with tools for understanding and utilizing storytelling in their personal and professional lives, with which to improve how they relate to others (especially their target groups) and how they support them. Through the SY outputs, youth workers will have new practical skills, improved competences and specific strategies for implementing storytelling both in their work with young people, and in their work of engaging target groups and disseminating the results of their initiatives. The Storytelling board game will provide not only a tool for learning, but a bridge for communication between the youth workers and the young people. Our main activities in reaching SY’s overall aim are:- Create the Multimedia Guide on Storytelling, which will contain information, tasks, instructions, strategies, etc. on how to include storytelling in youth workers’ work seamlessly and effectively; the guide will be comprised of texts, videos, podcasts, infographics, etc. in order to be engaging, interactive and helpful; Create the SY board game to be a playable and replayable guide on working with storytelling and using it for establishing meaningful and supportive relationships with young people; Create the Dissemination Course, which will also be multimedia and will support youth workers and youth organizations in their engagement and dissemination activities; - Design and develop an online multilingual website, which will host all project results;- Organize a 3-day Joint Staff Training to improve the board game and prepare 10 youth workers for promoting the game with youth and youth workers in their communities and countries;- Promote the topic and the project results across youth and youth workers’ communities across Europe (via 4 Multiplier events and many informal meetings).The impact of SY will span across the following target groups:- Youth, who will in the short and long-term feel more and more significant support from youth workers, especially in crucial times of need; - Youth workers and educators - who will increase their capacities in providing high-quality services to young people; - Policy makers on a local, national and international level - who will be involved in Multiplier events and will receive knowledge and an increased awareness of the importance of well-being and mental health in youth; - Other stakeholders - youth training providers, youth platforms, youth communities, who will benefit from the outputs of the project and will be able to benefit from the outputs of the project and connect with each other via the SY website in order to create joint initiatives and exchange good practices. The project partners will work during the project implementation and after, dedicated to the topic and its impact, in order to deliver the best possible products and experience for youth workers and young people; the best assistance possible to youth workers and educators.