Our Belgian team spent this unforgettable week alongside participants from France, Greece, Italy, Romania, and Spain.

The setting itself was beautiful. Surrounded by the stunning Romanian mountains, the venue was warm and cozy. But the real magic happened in the meeting room, where three generations – X, Y, and Z – of open-hearted, curious people gathered almost every day to brainstorm ideas and better understand each other’s perspectives, needs, and expectations for the future.

The week began with icebreakers, name games, and activities designed to help us get to know one another. We had the opportunity to share our expectations, concerns, and experiences, making sure we were all on the same page before diving deeper into the core topics of the training course.

When it was time to focus on the main purpose of the TC, we spent many hours discussing the future of the labor market, particularly from young people’s perspectives. We explored what young people expect from the workplace, which competences and skills they consider essential, and how these views differ depending on individual values, experiences, abilities and cultural backgrounds.

It was fascinating and eye-opening to see how differently people define what is necessary or unnecessary in professional life. It was also a powerful reminder that everyone’s relationship with work is shaped by personal values and motivations that may not always be immediately obvious. This made it even more important for all of us to listen carefully and ensure every voice was heard.

One of my favorite aspects of the entire experience was the creative freedom we had in expressing our ideas. Instead of simply sitting through lectures, we worked in engaging and interactive ways, creating role plays, recording videos, and short podcast episodes. These methods made complex and important topics far more enjoyable, easier to focus on, and truly understand.

One particularly memorable day was our excursion to Bran Castle, originally built as a military fortress and now famously known as Dracula’s Castle. It was fascinating to get a glimpse into Romanian history and learn more about the lives of the royal family.

Afterward, we enjoyed a walking tour through the lovely city of Brașov, where we learned about the coexistence of three historical communities – Hungarian, German, and Romanian. Of course, we also received plenty of recommendations for restaurants, cafés, and bakeries, which was an exciting bonus.

As a group, we were all eager to learn more about each other’s cultures, so each country organized its own cultural night. These evenings were filled with engaging presentations, pub quiz-style games, music, and even a beautiful live performance by one of the participants. Last but certainly not least, we had the chance to try traditional food and snacks from each country. Honestly, what more could you ask for?

By the end of the training course, it truly felt like we had become a small international family. We shared beautiful energy, countless laughs, inside jokes, and created memories that will stay with us for a lifetime.

I am beyond grateful to have been part of this experience because I came back feeling richer.  Richer in knowledge, perspective, in meaningful connections, and beautiful views.

Anna Czaman

On April 4th, Carmen, Selma, Silviu, and I headed to CPSE Liège for a day that went far beyond a standard awareness session. As an ESC volunteer, I’m used to new experiences, but this session was special. We weren’t just there to talk; we were there to bridge the gap between “theory” and “reality” for the people who are shaping and will shape the next generation of our community: social studies students, educators and youth workers. The energy was infectious from the start. We didn’t just show them inclusive tools; we put them to work. This hands-on approach is vital because true inclusion starts with understanding the lived experience.

• Exploring Tactile Play: It was eye-opening to watch the students realize how a simple game changes when you rely on touch rather than sight.
• Navigating the Streets: We took the training outside, teaching the “human guide” method and white cane techniques. There is a profound shift in perspective that happens when you have to trust a partner to navigate the sidewalk (it builds a level of empathy that a textbook simply can’t provide).

The most important part of my day was the incredible exchange we had with the participants! We talked and exposed the Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps (ESC) opportunities for young people and the participants had so many questions about our projects, especially regarding my and Silviu’s journey as volunteers. By sharing our path we showed them that international opportunities are for everyone! Often, young people with disabilities or fewer opportunities feel that traveling abroad or volunteering in another country is a closed door – not only because of physical barriers but also due to socio-economic ones. They may never even apply because they don’t believe these programs are “for them”. But educators, teachers, youth workers are the frontline to open them! By sharing the possibilities to the youth, you aren’t just giving them a brochure: you are giving them the tools to gain independence, confidence, and be part of a global community they might never have dreamed of reaching!

Sofia Mangiaterra

Our journey started with an introductory seminar designed to melt the ice. On the very first night, we held the International Night, a vibrant celebration of European diversity. Standing with the Belgian team, I presented local specialties while tasting flavors from our neighbors in Germany, Luxembourg, and Liechtenstein. 

Of course, it quickly turned into a wonderful party filled with music and dancing! It was the perfect way to realize that while we come from different places, we share the same heartbeat: a goal to empower youth.

Throughout the week, we dove deep into the concept of intercultural learning, diversity and Inclusion, Communication, Conflict management, and International Project writing, and much more. We used creative tools like “identity flowers” to map out who we are: a difficult question that forces you to interrogate not only yourself but the world around you. 

In one of the most eye-opening exercises, we split into groups to create entirely new cultures: the “Spi” and the “Fa.” We developed our own social rules, values, and languages, then “met” the other culture. Without knowing each other’s codes or meanings behind gestures, we faced the raw difficulties of intercultural exchange.

This experience taught us how to deconstruct our own biases and explore practical activities to teach young people about diversity and inclusion.

Connected to this was our work on conflict management. We simulated being mediators in various contexts, learning the delicate balance of group dynamics. From this, I walked away with three new skills:

• Navigating cultural communication styles within a diverse team.
• “active listening” to ensure every voice is truly heard.
• Managing the natural tensions that arise when a group tries to innovate together.

The most rewarding part of the week was the “engine room” of project management. I worked closely with my peers to:

• Draft SMART Objectives: Writing specific goals for a project focused on environmental awareness and sustainable lifestyles.
• Co-Creation: Visualizing a project’s lifecycle, from the initial spark to budgeting and final impact assessment, on large sheets of craft paper.
• The Pitch: Developing the confidence to present our projects clearly and inclusively to the entire group.

Although, the learning didn’t stop at the classroom door; it continued through every meal, break, and late-evening conversation. One highlight was our city exploration of Trier, where we split into small groups for “funny tasks”: interviewing statues, taking photos with locals and much more.

After the city visit, we shared a group dinner in a rustic local restaurant, a moment filled with laughter but also a touch of sadness, knowing our time together was drawing to a close.

The final night was a huge goodbye party back at our accommodation. It was full of music, tears, and emotion, but also immense hope. We left with the promise to meet again and a shared drive to work together and give back to others everything we had the opportunity to learn!

Sofia Mangiaterra

Throughout the afternoon, the park was filled with music, performances, and a wide range of family activities. At our stand, we had the opportunity to share information about our work, offer inclusive games adapted for children with and without disabilities, and speak with families and visitors about the importance of participation and equal opportunities for all young people.

It was a real pleasure to meet so many members of the local community and to exchange ideas around inclusion and accessibility in such a friendly and open setting.

A big thank you to everyone who stopped by, and to the organisers, La Baraka ASBL and the Coordination Socioculturelle de Sainte-Marguerite (CSCSM), for inviting us. We look forward to the next edition!

At a time when youth work is asked to meet increasingly complex social realities, this training responded to a growing need for more sensitive, intersectional approaches.
The gender-based framework adopted during the course recognised that experiences of inequity are not uniform. Gender interacts dynamically with other factors such as disability, socio-economic status, religion, and sexual orientation and identity.
This understanding highlighted the ways multiple layers can overlap, exposing individuals to compounded forms of discrimination or marginalisation. By integrating intersectionality into youth mobility projects, participants worked towards building environments that did not merely promote diversity but actively celebrated it.

Throughout the week, the training moved beyond theoretical discussion and invited attendees to examine how gender inequalities materialise in real-world settings. Gender-based approaches were not treated as abstract concepts but as essential perspectives informing daily practices, project planning, communication, and conflict resolution. Recognising that discrimination and hate speech often stem from unexamined biases and systemic inequities, the course placed a strong emphasis on critical self-reflection. Participants were encouraged to explore their own assumptions and to consider how personal beliefs and cultural norms could unconsciously influence their professional roles.

One of the defining features of the event was its commitment to the principles of non-formal education. Rejecting rigid, top-down teaching methods, the course fostered an atmosphere of self-directed learning where participants’ experiences were valued as resources for collective growth.
Through interactive workshops and peer-to-peer exchanges, attendees engaged in a living learning process, reflecting both the diversity of their backgrounds and the inclusive values the training sought to encourage. This approach ensured that learning was not only informative but transformative, equipping youth workers to foster similar spaces of openness and empowerment within their own organisations.

Crucially, the training course created and upheld a safer space where everyone could express themselves. Special attention was paid to safeguarding LGBTQIA+ communities, too often expose to heightened risks of exclusion, hate speech, and violence. Workshops addressed how to recognise, prevent, and respond to gender-based violence, providing participants with tools and resources.

Attendees delved deeper into understanding how gender and other intersecting identities could influence young people’s experiences within mobility projects. They learnt to identify and mitigate risks, create gender-sensitive communication practices – even when navigating linguistic and cultural differences – and design educational activities that fostered inclusivity. The group discussions highlighted that a genuinely inclusive space was not merely one that welcomed different identities but one that transformed itself in response to their needs and voices.

Beyond the learning objectives, what remained with many participants was the experience of international solidarity: a diverse group of youth professionals coming together, sharing vulnerabilities, challenging each other, and collectively imagining more inclusive futures.

Participants left Lyon not only with new skills and tools but also with a renewed sense of purpose, ready to lead the next generation of mobility projects with a stronger, intersectional, and gender-sensitive approach.

The project primarily focuses on youth workers who support young people with disabilities or from disadvantaged backgrounds. Together, we aim to exchange experiences, share best practices, and explore strategies to make youth projects and activities fully inclusive and accessible.

Our first activity took place from 4 to 11 November, bringing together partners and youth workers from four European countries. During this week, we visited Bucharest and the Ilfov County in Romania, drawing inspiration from local organisations and educational institutions that are implementing inclusive programmes centred on ecological awareness.

During our visit, we had the privilege of experiencing the inspiring work at the Technological High School “Pamfil Șeicaru” in Ciorogârla, Ilfov County. This school, accompanying its formative offer with numerous Erasmus+ projects, has become a hub for initiatives on inclusion, democracy, and green awareness. These projects include youth exchanges across Europe on themes such as professional development, gender equality, democratic participation, and environmental awareness.

Collaborating with the school are nine European Solidarity Corps (ESC) volunteers and the staff of NGO Sakura. Together with the students, they run impactful development and awareness-raising activities. One example is the “Inclusion 1” project, where students, accompanied by ESC volunteers, dived into and exchanged insights into their countries’ histories, folklore, and religions.
The day concluded with a shared activities organised to show our similarities and a traditional Romanian dance, fostering connection and cultural exchange.

The following day, we visited the Technological High School “Cezar Nicolau” in Brănești, a bright example educational opportunities, inclusion and intercultural exchange. for its 950+ students. As an accredited Erasmus+ school, it offers mobility exchange programmes across Europe and hosts up to 60 participants annually for ecology-focused workshops. Partnering with NGO Sakura, the school collaborates with European Solidarity Corps (ESC) volunteers to engage students aged 16-18 in educational activities.
In the afternoon, we also had the opportunity to explore “PLANETISE”, a trivia game developed by NGO Sakura in a previous strategic partnership to make eco-awareness engaging and fun.

Tiago, an ESC volunteer collaborating with the school, shared insights into his role and introduced us to an activity he designed for students: we went on the school grounds looking for natural elements – leaves, branches, flowers – with which each team made an aesthetic arrangement. Collaborating directly with him offered a valuable perspective on his work promoting inclusion and accessibility in environmental education.

He also shared a bit of his motivation and experience so far: “I came from an archipelago, the Azores, with a rich ecosystem, to explain the students about ecology and my experience in the islands, and to show them that, in the world we live in, we may have different mentalities but we can help each other for a better world, if we work together. […] The students are creative, I always try to use their ideas, so they learn from me and I learn from them – […] the best way to work with them is to connect theory with practice. For example, after I teach them about ecosystems, I have planned an activity to construct a small ecosystem with them. I want to see with their own eyes what we are doing to the planet”.

Another interesting highlight of the trip was the visit to the Văcărești Natural Park, a formerly abandoned concrete dam that over the decades developed a rich ecosystem. Local NGOs united in an initiative to protect the area from being sold for construction, and won their battle when the park was declared a protected area in 2014. Walking inside the park gave us a feel of the vastity of the area and of its biodiversity.

A special mention goes to the National Museum of Natural History “Grigore Antipa,” which is committed to making its collection accessible to all through a continuously evolving strategy shaped by feedback from visitors with disabilities. During our visit, one of our visually impaired participants contributed to this initiative by collaborating with the museum guide to assess the accessibility of the embossed renderings of the collection.

Our study visit provided valuable opportunities to reflect on the examples observed and lessons learned during our week in Bucharest, while also exchanging experiences and best practices from our own contexts. These reflections are crucial, as the outcomes from this visit, combined with the results of the upcoming training activity in March and our contributions, will form a set of guidelines aimed at helping youth workers make youth work more inclusive and accessible for all.

A special thanks to NGO Sakura for hosting us, we are looking forward to this project’s next activity in Belgium!

The webinar was opened by our VIEWS staff member Loredana, who was a moderator of this event. She briefly presented the subject of webinar, the agenda and the guests of conference.

The first speaker was Marta Gutierrez Benet from the European Commission Directorate General for Education and Culture (DG EAC). As a person responsible for the Erasmus + programme in European Commission she explained general assumptions of this project. The Erasmus + program currently consists of three Key Actions, with KA1 being the most popular. Getting to the details, around 37,000 people with special needs took part in the KA1 in 2014-2018. Over 5000 disability projects have been financially supported since 2014. Also, around 22,000 inclusion projects have been created under all KA, which represents around 18% of the Erasmus + programme.

What about the future of the Erasmus programme for people with special needs? We received a short plan of what we can expect:
Enhanced visibility of inclusion and diversity measures
A more accessible programme for people with fewer opportunities and organisations in this field.
Inclusion and diversity at the heart of the future Erasmus
It is important that EC is constantly working on improving the program and thus expanding the group of its beneficiaries, while making their activities more accessible.

Monitoring organizations are also useful for improving Erasmus +. At the conference one of the representatives of such an organization was Dominique Montagnese, inclusive mobility expert from Support Center Inclusive Higher Education (SIHO). His speech focused on the obstacles encountered by participants in the Erasmus + programme. As we could hear, the most common problems appear in the communication field between a participant and an organization. Equally often, there is a lack of institutions dedicated to support people with special needs. He also mentioned the platform www.inclusivemobility.eu , which is a huge information database, containing analyzes of many countries in the field of the rights of persons with disabilities and advice on preparation for the Erasmus + project. Besides, on the platform are surveys conducted to improve the functioning of the programme; thus they gather opinions and suggestions for changes from: students with disabilities, Higher Education Institutions, Ministries for Education. There you might find also testimonials of students who already participated in Erasmus +.

We had the opportunity to listen to the testimonies of Klass and Virginia, i.e. two young beneficiaries of the Erasmus +. They also emphasized that more attention should be paid to communication between relevant institutions and participants. Otherwise, they emphasized the important role of social media in thier projects. It was on the internet that they could find many advices and people able to help them.

We are truly glad that the Erasmus + programme is constantly evolving because we consider ourselves part of it. The important issue is also providing it more inclusive for disabled people. The current huge challenge is the pandemic of COVID-19, but we hope that the people and organisations will be still able to profit of Erasmus + in safety environment.