TC “Write It Up”
From 12th to 20th of January, our team of three from Partner Up Estonia participated in a training course “Write It Up”, in Kolin, Czechia. We spent a week with the other passionate youth workers from Czechia, Poland, Germany, Spain and Latvia to learn about writing better Erasmus+ educational projects and come up with new project ideas together.
Our trainers Helena and Ondra from CEFIG International and Ula from YoWo Poland are youth workers who have a lot of experience with creating international mobility projects, while also concentrating on how to make youth work more economically sustainable for the NGOs and youth workers themselves. As everyone might imagine, the field of youth work (and education overall) does not have the reputation of being a very financially smart decision to dedicate your time for. But as it is also a field that has immense potential for having a positive impact on our society (and is rewarding in personal development), it is crucial that youth workers know how to create opportunities for youth without forgetting to sustain their own needs. Supported by the trainers, we went through all of the bureaucratic details of the Erasmus+ programme, for raising the confidence of youth workers who are new in the field of project management to start their own projects.
The aim of this week in Kolin was for everyone to come up with their own ideas for future projects and find like-minded people to collaborate with. We formed different work-groups and spent many hours working on our own project applications. Although it was not a classic Erasmus+ project, where we would constantly be in action, standing in a big circle and playfully learning by doing and sharing, it was surprising how much hard work really connects people. The stress levels might have been high, there were many disagreements (out of which some led to groups being rearranged) and it was definitely not just a chill week hanging out with friends (still, we definitely also found time for that), but it might just have been one of the most impactful trainings I’ve participated in. It was incredible to experience how I went from doubtful and intimidated by all of the responsibility, to confident and inspired to act on even more of my ideas, just in one week. Most of this learning can be credited to the whole group of participants and organisers, who showed a lot of dedication while also keeping the mood up, creating a place for creativity and sharing.
In the tradition of Erasmus+ projects we also spent time in the evenings getting to know each other’s cultures during the cultural evening and different participant-led workshops, such as learning how to dance bachata, practising our skill of juggling, playing a lot of board games and putting our acting skills to the test.
Through all of the people at this project, we found great friends and expanded our network with multiple valuable partners. And as a result of this project we will have two new projects for the next Erasmus+ funding deadline, that would have before been totally outside of our comfort zones, but now we found some much needed support to move on with our ideas that had so far patiently waited for their time to be brought up. Soon there will be more information on what we have in the works, but until then keep an eye on other opportunities that are shared on our social media.
- Kirke, Ingrid & Nora
