Center for Education and Development took part in the Erasmus+ KA1 Training course for youth workers “Start In Project” in Ashbourne, Ireland 

The rising number of people entering or seeking to enter Europe in search of safety and in search of a better life has captured the world’s attention with scenes of heartbreaking tragedy. Travelling hundreds and thousands of miles over land and over water, from Africa, the Middle East and Asia, people are risking everything in the hope of reaching their goal, and the danger does not end at a border crossing. Amid this crisis, young people are the most vulnerable of all. Many are travelling with their families, while many others are on their own. Every one of them is in need of protection and entitled to the rights guaranteed under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Since 2015 the migration of refugees became a focus topic of medial and political attention all over Europe. As a result of (civil) war, social and economic inequality and discrimination people are forced to escape from their home countries in search of a better and safe life. This process leads to different challenges in society, education and youth work as a part of education. For this reasons our organization took part in the Erasmus+ “Start In Project”. 

Main part of the "Start in Project" was training course which gathered youth workers from  8 countries, from  01 to 09 February in Aushbourne, Ireland. The participants were staying in Hotel Pillo in Ashbourne and implementing the activities in Ashbourne and Dublin. During the training, the youth workers were developing their capacities for work with young people of migrant or refugee background. The experiential leaning approach was used during all the activities of the training, as the most suitable approach and methodology that the youth workers can use for equipping and empowering young migrants and refugees not only for better social inclusion, but also for all aspects of social interaction in a new environment. During this course, by using of innovative pedagogical methods and creative tools and methodologies, with having enjoyable and inspirational environments, collaborative learning that rests on a competence-based and learner-centred approach the participants explored various issues related to the topic. They learned how to reflect and take lessons learned from past experiences. How to establish a culture of diversity, acceptance and pluralism. How to deal with fears that exist in our society. They discovered that only by being open to and accepting our differences we can manage to reach out to disadvantaged groups, succeed in keeping learners in the learning pathway and encourage a positive attitude towards learning throughout life.

“ Start In Project” was connected to several main objectives and features of both Erasmus+ programme and its KA1. First of all, it supported professional development of youth workers and it provided them with tools to facilitate learning and development of young migrants and refugees in different contexts. Through its practical part, it stimulated their creative and innovative thinking in designing experiential learning activities, based on young migrants and refugee’s needs and requirements for their social inclusion.