Partner Organisations

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Ingens Risus | Romania

Ingens Risus is a non-governmental, non-profit organization based in Miercurea Ciuc, HR, Romania. It is dedicated to fostering the interests of youth residing in rural and small urban areas, primarily within Harghita County and beyond. Our mission extends to strengthening connections among individuals from various ethnic, social, and minority backgrounds. IR focuses on promoting intercultural dialogue and preventing the marginalization and social exclusion of young people with fewer opportunities. It also encourages both young people and adults to engage in international mobility and promote European culture and values.

Legaramlat | Hungary

Legaramlat is based in Budapest, Hungary. The organisation seeks to show young people that their world is not over with the walls of their communities, there are many different opportunities to get actively involved in the Erasmus+ programme, to grow, learn, travel, get exposed to different cultures, try new things that they are usually deprived of. We aim to promote a healthy active lifestyle, give e chance to youth to try out new sports, support them with the individual learning process, promote equality and social inclusion, and tolerance towards cultural diversities.

Youth for Youth | Czechia

YfY is an NGO based in Prague, Czech Republic. It has organized successful Erasmus+ youth exchanges on environmental protection, videography skills, photography skills, financial literacy, intercultural dialogue and entrepreneurship skills. Through the activities organized and by exposing young people to the non-formal educational context, as well as internationally diverse settings we often manage to change their perspectives. Our activities address and include young people that face social (youth from orphanages, single families, divorced parents, antisocial) and economic obstacles (youth from large families with limited possibilities, youth that support themselves financially and work while studying

VCS Skopje | Macedonia

VCS Skopje is an NGO from Macedonia. It offers non-formal educational possibilities to young people, in different fields, at the local, national and international level; we empower and connect young people without reference to their nationality, religion, political, economic or social status. We are putting effort to develop a multicultural civil society, reinforcing the existing democratic structure, to enhance the affirmation of young people through their individual abilities and skills. Being an org. with extensive experience in the youth field, VCS has created a sound network of organisations and youth workers towards whom will be disseminated the project results

Aim and Objectives

The project aim is to equip the youth workers and volunteers of the org. with the necessary competencies to use the design thinking methodology to build activities that contribute to increasing the inclusion of the young people with fewer opportunities within their communities. The project also addresses the partner NGOs from the perspective of improving their capabilities to adapt to the digital transformation. Finally, the increased capacities will contribute to creating enhanced blended and digital activities for young people with fewer opportunities, tailored to the needs identified by using the design thinking process.

Objectives of the project

O1: Increase the level of inclusion of the young people with fewer opportunities in non-formal learning activities of the 4 partner organisations by using the design thinking methodology;

O2: Increase the level of networking and peer learning opportunities for youth workers from RO, HU, CZ and MK to share and exchange practices to increase youth inclusion in the context of digital transformation;

O3: Build capacities among the 4 partner organisations to use digital means and tools to address social inclusion among young people with fewer opportunities and; design, organise and finalise a KA2 type of project.

Thematic Activities

Training Course

Local Activitities

Seminar

Toolkit

This activity has the role to equip the 12 youth workers with the methodology of design thinking in the context of youth work and its practical applicability with regards to the inclusion of young people with fewer opportunities. This methodology is human-centred and promotes problem-solving in a creative way. The 12 youth workers will be more capable of identifying the real needs of the youth with whom they work and will understand how they could respond to those needs in a tailored manner.

After, the training course, the 12 youth workers will implement the methodology of the design thinking process within their communities. Each partner will offer support to the youth workers to plan and organize the activities required. During the following 8 months, the youth workers will go through all 5 steps of the design thinking process with the youth from their communities.

During the local activities, the youth workers will have the task to gather activities, good practices appropriate both for physical and digital environments for young people with fewer opportunities and suitable to increase their social inclusion. During the seminar, participants will dive into the sharing of ideas, practices and put the basis of the working plan for developing the toolkit of the project.

After returning home from the seminar, the youth workers supported by the partner organisations will work remotely on drafting and editing the toolkit with methods, tools and practices to be used to increase social inclusion of young people with fewer opportunities by using the design thinking methodology. Each partner will work on a specific chapter/category of the toolkit; the allocation of the contents will be done during the seminar.

Profile of the participants

Training Course & Seminar

The target group is composed of 12 youth workers from partner organisations.

Each partner will select them, based on the profile built together.

members with experience in the youth field, that have been involved in the Erasmus+ organisation project teams under the previous 2014-20 framework;
work with young people facing fewer opportunities or that are coming from disadvantaged environments;
familiarized and competent in using non-formal learning methods;
openness towards digital youth work and blended learning activities;
different knowledge and experiences in terms of digital means and tools used;
limited capacity with regard to using digital methods and tools in the work with fewer opportunities;
curious to explore the design thinking process in their youth work;
show a willingness to share their experiences gained in the youth field;
the availability to get involved in all stages of the project, including participation both in the training course and seminar and organise the local activities in their community.

Same participants participating in the training course will have to participate in the seminar (in case one has to be replaced due to objective reasons will pass all the information and work to the person substituting their role).

Local Activities

The target group of this activity is represented by young people with fewer opportunities from the communities of the four partner organisations. They will be involved by the youth workers in the design thinking process. Young people have the following characteristics:

16-19 years old;
come from the local communities of the partner organisations;
youth from the 4 partner org. communities facing one or multiple obstacles:
- - social (youth from orphanages, single families, divorced parents, antisocial),
  - economic (youth from large families with limited possibilities, youth that support themselves financially and work while studying),
  - geographic (young people from villages with poor connection to a nearby town, no internet connection, blocked roads during winter times, poor neighbourhood),
  - cultural differences (e.g. young people belonging to minorities – Hungarians in Romania),
  - educational difficulties (young people who dropped school to help their parents in the household or to get employment, young people who lagged due to Covid-19 situation);
they are interested in getting involved in the project activities (design thinking process) and NFE;
show openness towards sharing their needs and problems and give feedback on the activities.

Activities

Training Course | Hungary

Info-pack Training Course

The activity had the role of equipping the 12 youth workers with the methodology of design thinking in the context of youth work and its practical applicability with regards to the inclusion of young people with fewer opportunities. The activity took place between 25.03.2022-02.04.2022, including the travel days.

The activity was important because it aimed at equipping the 12 youth workers from the partner organizations with the methodology of the design thinking process. They learned and experienced the five stages of the design thinking process (empathize, define, ideate, prototype and test) and how to apply it to young people with fewer opportunities. Afterwards, when they returned to their communities, the 12 youth workers replicated the process on a larger scale, based on the reality of their communities.

Design thinking is a problem-solving approach that involves empathy, creativity, and experimentation to identify and address complex issues. As a youth worker, design thinking can help you to better understand the needs and challenges of the young people you work with, and to develop innovative solutions that meet their unique needs and aspirations.

Empathize

Start by understanding the young people you work with. This involves listening to their stories, experiences, and perspectives to gain a deeper understanding of their needs and challenges.

Define

Once you have a good understanding of the young people's needs and challenges, you can start to define the problem you are trying to solve. This involves identifying the key issues that need to be addressed in order to improve their lives.

Ideate

Brainstorm potential solutions to the problem you have defined. Encourage creativity and don't be afraid to explore unconventional ideas.

Prototype

Develop and test your ideas through prototypes. This could involve creating a physical or digital prototype, or simply testing out an idea in a small-scale way.

Test

Test your prototypes with the young people you work with and gather feedback. Use this feedback to refine and improve your solutions.

Seminar | Romania

Info-pack Seminar

After the training course, participants transferred the new methodology acquired and tested it out at the level of their community and in their organisations. During this time, the youth workers had the task of gathering activities and good practices suitable for both physical and digital environments for young people with fewer opportunities and suitable to increase their social inclusion. The seminar took place between 11-17.12.2022, in Izvoare, Romania. During those days, participants dove into the sharing of ideas, practices, and laid the basis of the toolkit.