TOY - Trainers Online for Youth
This is a reference for Rodrigo de Melo e Castro
The training course “Together Building Spaces for Participation” was a moment where inside the project DYPALL – Developing Youth Participation at Local Level, youth leaders, youth workers and local authorities officers will be working together developing their competences to create spaces where youth can work with local municipalities authorities in the development of local youth policies and strategies for the development of their communities.
The activity had the duration of 5 days, where participants with the support of a team of four
experienced trainers experienced an intense learning process that enable them to develop the
necessary competences to efficiently plan, implement and sustain local youth councils, youth forums and/or other spaces of permanent structured dialogue and co‐management at the local level.
The training course was a space for development of competences, dialogue and sharing of experiences among different actors in the youth field, public officers, youth leaders and youth workers, experts and researchers on youth policies development, co‐management and structured dialogue.
The participants team involved youth workers, youth leaders and local authorities were from Italy (Agenzia per la Promozione dei Giovani), Romania (Asociaia Tinerilor din Ialomia), Estonia (Estonia National Youth Council and Eesti Erinoorsootöö Ühing noOR), Hungary (CIM Horyzonty) and Poland (Fundacja Centrum Aktywnosci Twórczej, Eurodesk Leszno).
The programme was structured with a balanced combination of introductory plenary discussions, round tables and working groups supported by invited experts on the different fields approached during the five working days.
The use of non-formal education methodologies will ensure the active participation of all individuals involved. Working groups and active methods was also used in order to create an environment that encourages a dynamic involvement of all participants. The diversity of approaches was used in order to addresses the group various ways to better engage and contribute to the discussed topics. The presence of experienced facilitators and moderators during the all programme definitely contributed to create a productive and efficient working environment.
Besides the development of the participants knowledge and experience on the theme, participants had the opportunity to developed an individual action plan to implement in their local realities to bring the course experience. Many of this plans were focusing on restructuring and/or including new approaches on existing youth councils, other focused on creating new ones, while others where quite diversed but had a focus of promoting youth participation in the local municipalities.
Website: http://www.ecos.pt/dypall/
Full time trainer and co-responsibe for the training curriculum.