TOY - Trainers Online for Youth
This is a reference for Tsvetina Zaharlieva
The symposium aimed at:
• introducing the latest EU Youth policy developments and the role of the new programme within
• analysing the challenges and opportunities the new programme brought in the field of youth policy
• reviewing existing forms of EU cooperation in the field of youth and discussing new opportunities for future cooperation;
The symposium was a co-organised event by the Slovenian, German and Hungarian NAs for Erasmus+ Programme. There were about 38 participants from Austria, Belgium, Croatia,
Cyprus,Czech Republic, France, Germany,Hungary, Malta,The Netherlands, Poland,Portugal, Slovak Republic, United Kingdom and,of course, the host country–Slovenia. The participants were representatives of the main stakeholders in the process of youth policy development. There were representatives of the National Authorities responsible for youth, the National Agencies for Erasmus+, the National Youth Councils, the European Youth Forum, the CoE-EU Youth Partnership, youth NGOs etc. The Head of Erasmus+ Youth Unit from the European Commission- Mr. Pascal Lejeune shared his view about the opportunities the new programme offers for the EU youth policy development.
We used a variety of methods to foster participants' sharing of best practices, existing models of EU cooperation and national situation of youth policy development. We interlaced some group dynamics and energizing activities to offer a better evnironment for group work and open discussions.
The symposium was a great succes judged by the comments of participants in the final evaluation round. It ws unique in the way that it gathered all youth policy stakeholders in one place and offered them the chance to state their problems and concerns in open discussions and look for more models of future cooperation in the field of youth in the context of the new Erasmus+ programme. They discussed important questions such as:
-What kind of strategic partnerships we need?
-How to strengthen cross-sectoral cooperation in the youth field?
-How to strengthen Structured Dialogue and use it as an approach for youth policy development?
-How not to lose the “youth” aspect in the joint programme?
-How to develop cooperation with other educational sectors?
I took part in the planning and preparation of the symposium during two prep-meetings(one in 2013 and one in 2014). During the symposium I was responsible for facilitating the sessions together with my colleague trainer/facilitator Marius Ulozas from Lithuania.I have also contributed to the final report of the symposium.