Through the youth participation project “SEED – Strengthening Elections and Empowering Democracy”, we aim to support young people to take an active role in local decision-making processes. The project is an international cooperation between FACK, Eurobug (Lithuania) and LA FENICE (Italy) and consists of three parts:

• Local activities from March to June 2024 to create space for political discussion and to increase young people’s interest in political action. It is a series of local events on the topics of youth participation, elections and local youth strategy run locally in Altenburg, Varena region (Lithuania) and Tortona (Italy).
• The SEEDemocracy Youth Exchange in Altenburg in July 2024 will bring together young people from three countries to exchange ideas and experiences on local politics and democratic engagement. The youth groups from Germany, Lithuania and Italy will share results and experiences from their local activities and learn more about participation structures in other countries. It is a space to explore, meet new people, learn more about other countries and build friendships.
• After the Youth Exchange, participants will return to their communities to plan and run follow-up events: a series of actions to promote the role of young people in decision-making at local and European level.

The project “SEED – Strengthening Elections and Empowering Democracy” is funded by the European Commission under the Erasmus+ programme.

The “UHD – Heroes‘ Journey” project creates partnerships between established and volunteer-run non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The aim is to promote the exchange of knowledge and skills between the participating organizations by creating national and international collaborations. This strengthens the capacity of smaller organizations in particular and professionalizes their working methods. The project supports the participating organizations in empowering young people in their network to become active citizens.

The project consists of three main phases. In the first phase, “Into the rabbit hole!”, 12 bilateral trainings are organized and three series of job shadowing activities are carried out. In the second phase, “Growing strong together!”, young people and organizations receive long-term support through mentoring programs. In the final phase, “Outreach for new adventures!”, an international training course will be held in Erfurt to round off the entire learning process and create the basis for future cooperation.

A central component of the project is the job shadowing opportunities, in which members of smaller organizations work for several weeks at a mentor organization. For example, a member of FACK e.V. was able to gain experience in European project management, non-formal education and international youth work at CGE Erfurt e.V. in March 2024. Other job shadowing stays took place between APS La Fenice and Strauss and between FJT Botosani and FITT. These programmes enable participants to gain insights into the work of experienced organizations and to further develop their own skills.

In addition, bilateral training courses are held that are specifically tailored to the needs of the participating organizations. In Germany, the training focuses on financial systems, scaling, organizational development and international project development. In Italy, the focus is on the role of volunteers, SWOT analyses and mentoring methods. In Romania, the focus is on community insights, non-formal education and youth empowerment. Building on these training courses, the partner organizations engage in bilateral mentoring programs over the course of a year in order to anchor the concepts learned in their structures in the long term

The international training course in Erfurt marks the end of the program. From June 25 to July 2, 2024, 18 participants from Germany, Italy and Romania will meet at Saline 34 in Erfurt. Together with experienced trainers, they will reflect on their experiences, exchange knowledge and develop strategies to strengthen their organizations. They will also have the opportunity to design a joint follow-up project that will extend beyond the duration of “UHD – Heroes‘ Journey”.

The participating organizations bring a wide range of experience and backgrounds to the project. FACK e.V. is a youth-led association from Altenburg that reaches over 1,000 young people every year. APS La Fenice runs a youth center in a rural region of Italy and is managed by volunteers. FJT Botosani is a young organization from Romania that supports youth initiatives at local level. CGE Erfurt e.V. is an internationally networked NGO that has been working with non-formal education for over 20 years. APS Strauss and FITT have many years of experience in European mobility and youth work and support the project partners as mentors.

“UHD – Heroes‘ Journey” is funded by the European Commission as part of the Erasmus+ program. Through targeted capacity building, the exchange of best practices and the creation of sustainable partnerships, the project contributes to strengthening youth organizations in Europe and encouraging young people to actively participate in social change processes.

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