Challenge Accepted

Aims & objectives

There is a need for IVS actors to:
- Be empowered in personal and professional development
- Understand and analyse what is missing now for their IVS activities in the future
- Gain new confidence and competences to empower them to solve their own needs and societal ones
- Encourage the implementation of the newly gained competences
- Reflect on the outcomes by sharing the challenges and best practices
- Develop collaboration among the participants

Target group & international/intercultural composition of the group & team

‘Challenge Accepted’ target group consisted of anyone volunteering, or working in an IVS organisation that is member/partner in CCIVS, the Alliance of European Voluntary Service Organisations and/or SCI. The participants were furthermore:
- Based in an EU programme country.
- Interested in gaining creative problem solving skills.
- Committed to actively participate in all 3 phases of the project.
- Excited about the idea of spending two weeks in Spain and the Netherlands with an international group from all over Europe.
- Able to speak sufficient English to be able to express yourself during the training as well as the (online) evaluation afterwards.

Training methods used & main activities

- Non-formal education
- Creative problem solving skills, including improv theatre
- Personal development/coaching sessions
- Learning Community
- Open Space

Outcomes of the activity

- 22 trained youth workers in the field of IVS
- average score of 8.3 for A1 in Spain and 8.0 in the Netherlands (on a scale of 10 as the highest)
- Top 3 increased competences: enterpreneurship +35%, IVS +30% and analysing challenges +20%
- 4 Videos introducing the Learning Community format: see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q24CbuUY3no among others

Your tasks and responsibilities within the team

Main coordinator, organisation, co-trainer/facilitator, (financial) reporter

I worked on this training for 6+4=10 days days as a full time trainer.