From April 26 to May 3, 2024, Ananda Kalyani in Portugal hosted the “Connecting Experiences” training course, a vibrant and enriching event dedicated to equipping participants with the foundational knowledge, concepts, and tools necessary for crafting KA153 projects. This intensive week-long program brought together youth workers and representatives from various organizations to foster cooperation, share best practices, and enhance the quality of youth work. Notably, our organization, Ananda Marga Danmark, actively participated in this training course with five enthusiastic participants.
Goals of the Training Course
Dissemination of Good Practices and Tools:
- Promoting non-formal and informal learning techniques.
- Ensuring participants can later transfer knowledge to youths in their respective communities.
Sharing Knowledge and Ideas:
- Enhancing social entrepreneurship, employment, and cooperation.
- Fostering the creation of green jobs and active citizenship among youths.
Raising Awareness:
- Highlighting social, environmental, and economic challenges and solutions.
Building International Relationships:
- Increasing solidarity and laying the foundation for future EU development projects.
Enhancing Synergy and Quality in Youth Work:
- Encouraging cooperation between youth organizations and other stakeholders.
- Improving the international dimension of youth activities.
- Increasing the capacity of youth workers and organizations to support young people.
Creating New Erasmus Partnerships and Projects:
- Enabling participants to develop new Erasmus+ projects and partnerships.
Activities
Throughout the course, participants engaged in various activities designed to inspire and educate:
- Project Experience Sharing: Each entity presented their project experiences.
- Inspiring Cases: Discussions on successful and motivating project examples.
- AI Tools for Project Enhancement: Workshops on using AI to improve project videos and writing.
- Brainstorming Sessions: Collaborative idea generation for future projects.
- Project Drafting: Partners worked together to draft project proposals for 2024.
Expected Results
By the end of the training course, each partner entity was expected to have a complete KA153 proposal ready for submission to their National Agency. This preparation included three mandatory planning sessions held prior to the course:
- February 5, 2024: Introduction to new concepts such as proposal summaries, activity descriptions, project planning phases, themes, facilitators, and partners.
- March 13, 2024: Strategies for finding project partners, assembling project teams, and leveraging different platforms for collaboration.
- April 19, 2024: Discussions on project facilitation, team assembly, venue selection, and partner calls.
Highlights
The training course featured insightful presentations where participants shared details about their organizations, including:
- Background and Main Activities: Overview of the entity’s focus areas.
- Erasmus+ Projects: Implemented projects and their impacts.
- Cultural Insights: Unique cultural aspects influencing project collaboration.
This exchange of information inspired the group and facilitated the discovery of common interests, laying the groundwork for future collaborations.
Conclusion
The “Connecting Experiences” training course was a highly enriching experience. It not only provided valuable knowledge and tools for project development but also created a beautiful network of potential partners for future initiatives. The participants left with a strong sense of community and a shared commitment to improving youth work and creating meaningful projects across Europe.