Connecting for social inclusion

Volunteering and international mobility are often a life-changing non-formal educational experience, providing opportunities to interact with other people, get involved and develop social skills, and has always been a means of inclusion, personal development and training for young people with fewer opportunities.

For almost 25 years, InformaGiovani ETS has been offering volunteering opportunities to young people with different kinds of social problems and, among them, also to young people in conflict with law, in probation, inmates or in the frame of other social programmes implemented by Juvenile Justice Authorities.

Such activities, in large majority turned into highly educational and growth-enhancing experiences, were made possible thanks to the cooperation and involvement of social workers from different Juvenile Services or Juvenile jails in Italy, volunteer associations and, above all, young people willing to take up the challenge.

With the aim of strengthening existing and establishing new partnerships at regional and international level, IG is organizing a Partnership Building activity (PBA) to meet with representatives of restorative/juvenile justice offices, social and youth workers, educators and representatives of organizations using Erasmus+, ESC and other EU programmes for social inclusion.

Concrete objective of the PBA is to establish collaborations and partnerships to offer mobility opportunities (in the same country or abroad) to young people with fewer opportunities with a focus on those in conflict with law, being them in probation, inmates, under other forms of social rehabilitation/inclusion paths. 

This meeting, supported by the Erasmus+ program, will take place in Italy from 26 to 31 May 2025 and will bring together 30 professionals from Italy and abroad. The goal of this activity is to foster cross-border collaboration, share best practices in the frame of social inclusion, exchange opportunities for implementing Erasmus+, ESC and other programme activities, including mobilities for young people aged 18-30 years old, and exploring interest for cooperation in large scale projects involving NGO’s, Juvenile Justice representatives, public institutions, schools, youth workers, social workers.

The objectives of the activity are:

• To build and strengthen international partnerships among organisations actively working with young people with fewer opportunities, with a special focus, but not only, on those in conflict with law;
• To support the participation in volunteering and educational experiences of young people who are in probation or other social programmes;
• To provide opportunities for social workers to learn about European programs and how to access them for both their professional development and for the implementation of activities for their beneficiaries.
• To create a network of professionals and organizations, aimed at fostering future collaborations for projects involving young people with fewer opportunities.

The activity will be conducted in English.

PROFILE OF PARTICIPANTS

To participate in this PBA it is mandatory to:

• be active members (as staff, volunteer or activist) of an organization implementing Erasmus+ or ESC or other EU funded projects to promote social inclusion of youth from disadvantaged backgrounds. Previous or current work with youth in conflict with law is a plus;
• be aware of current and potential future work on the field implemented by the sending organisation and be willing to share methodologies and working practices with other participants;
• be ready to actively participate in all moments of the meeting’s agenda and in particular introducing own organization’s specific activities related to social inclusion;
• be fluent in English.