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NonFormal+
Start date: Sep 1, 2015, End date: Mar 31, 2016 PROJECT  FINISHED 

Focusing on the non-formal learning, we strongly believe that it is important to continue its promotion, at a higher and higher pace, in order to keep up with the challenges that modern European society is facing: youth unemployment, social exclusion, xenophobia, etc. Still, for many young people and NGOs Europe-wide there is a lack of understanding of the benefits of non-formal learning and lack of knowledge in terms of methodology. It is therefore necessary to strengthen the awareness of young workers and leaders, as NGO representatives, and of young people themselves in order to promote non-formal education as an integral part of learning and education. Moreover, they should be exposed to relevant non-formal methodology and also encouraged to think outside the box and produce methods of their own. The aim of our training course is to make non-formal education methods more popular among the NGO representatives that are working with young people and encourage them to use such methods in their day-to-day activities. In order to reach our aim, NonFormal+ has the following objectives: 1. To stimulate the interaction between the 30 youth workers and leaders participating to the activities, providing them space to share experiences, knowledge and learn in a constructive way from the trainers, as well as from one another 2. To equip the 30 participants to the activities with tools from the non-formal education field, through a structured programme (1 type of method each day), which they can afterwards use in their own communities 3. To create a booklet in electronic format containing non-formal education methods, thoroughly explained, designed by the participants, to be spread in the home communities of the participants (in particularly to schools, high schools, NGOs and local bodies) 4. To foster cooperation between the 10 NGOs partnering for this training course by setting up online common resources (official blog, Facebook group) and also 5 future project sketches in a dedicated session during the activities. NonFormal+ is an international training course for youth workers and youth leaders that took place in the village of Poiana Negrii, Romania, between 7 and 15 December 2015, for a total of 9 working days. There were 2 travel days: 6 and 16 December 2015. The training reunited 30 participants representing 10 different organizations from 10 European countries: Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Netherlands, Lithuania, Poland and Latvia. Each partner organization sent 3 participants, selected among its own youth workers, youth leaders and close collaborators. Our organization, as host, included a group of 7 persons: 3 participants to the activities, 2 trainers and 2 facilitators. The facilitators have also been working as support staff on various logistical matters (accommodation, travel arrangements, materials, etc). 10 participants involved were with fewer opportunities, being challenged with economic and social difficulties. The methodology used, as previously mentioned at other chapters and in the activity timeline, comprises the following: -Integrative methods: There were team building and trust building exercises, get to know each other activities, name games, group work for the method design and for the new project ideas -Creative methods: There were sessions that stimulated the artistic sense Human statues, Babel tower) and the participants’ self-discovery through art -Intercultural learning: There were 2 culture simulation exercises and one session for breaking stereotypes and prejudices -Open space: There was a session which gave freedom to the participants to show their skills to the others and a more structured discussion session too -Study visit: There was a multi-purpose study visit activity in the city of Vatra Dornei in order to make participants more familiar with the local realities -Learning by doing: The participants were stimulated to deal with a practical situation, being put to brainstorm, create their own methods and test them on their colleagues from the group, receiving feedback afterwards -Reflection and self-reflection -Evaluation Envisaged impact (facts and figures): -to inform aprox. 10.000 persons about the outcomes of this training and the benefits of learning mobility in Erasmus+, using the following distribution channels: official websites, blogs, Facebook pages, local press, online press) -to transform the 30 participants into multipliers through the use of the competences learned in our training -5 new projects sketches, each of them possibly leading to a new project, which will have the potential to involve, in average, 35 participants -increasing the degree of internationalization of the partners (increasing the number of partnerships they have) -increasing visibility for all partners -creating new structures for cooperation between our NGOs
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