INFOPACK #1 General info and selecting procedurewhen: 4 – 12 SEPTEMBER 2019 (7 training days, 2 travelling days) where: Dobrinishte, Bulgaria who: 27 youth workers from: Bulgaria,

INFOPACK #1

General info and selecting procedure

when: 4 – 12 SEPTEMBER 2019 (7 training days, 2 travelling days)

where: Dobrinishte, Bulgaria

who: 27 youth workers from: Bulgaria, Portugal, former Yugoslav Republic of

Macedonia, Belgium, Italy, Croatia, Georgia, Hungary, Cyprus

why: The idea is to turn “youth worker” into the title of a real personal story with the

power to inspire and motivate, into a brand, which presents and sets apart its

carrier as an important factor in youth work.

27 youth workers, leaders, mentors, mediators, facilitators, coaches, active volunteers, who

know youth problems, work with disadvantaged groups and are interested in effective

instruments for influencing target groups and impact on society.

Every partner must propose one disadvantaged candidate (due to economic, social,

geographic and other difficulties), whom he wants to invest in and turn him into

valuable social capital for their organization. The partners draw a profile for the

participant, describing his specific needs, abilities to take part in the educational

process and supports he needs.

(This information serves to popularize the project and provide quality communication

with potential participants and interested parties. We ask that our partner organizations

spread this information on their communication channels and send us links to

[email protected], showing its publication)

Project „Storify Yourself! Youth Worker as a Brand“ is developed within the

framework of Erasmus +, KD1: Learning Mobility for Individuals/Youth mobility. The project’s

duration is 5 months and it includes 9 partner countries – Bulgaria, Belgium, Cyprus, Italy,

Croatia, Republic of Macedonia, Georgia, Portugal and Hungary. Coordinator of the project is

VIA CIVIC Association, Bulgaria and the starting date is 15th of June 2019.

The project will provide a seven-day training course which will take place from

September 4th to September 12th 2019 (of which two extra days for travelling) in Dobrinishte,

Bulgaria. The training team will be international, gathering professionals with experience on

the subjects, who are familiar with the youth sphere, wield non-formal methods and are

constantly approbating new training programs and methods.

The training will include 27 youth workers, leaders, mentors, mediators, facilitators,

coaches, active volunteers, who would like to develop themselves as persons and

professionals and to find out what is their real motivation, strength and passion that could

become their personal brand.

The aim of the project is to: Increase the quality and effectiveness of youth work by

improving the skills of youth workers in the implementation of an innovative complex of

instruments for personal development in their work with young people with different profiles.

Objectives: 1. Supporting youth workers in finding and creating their own personal

brand, which will make them more motivated and successful in youth work.

2. Increasing their knowledge and skills for implementing innovative methods and

instruments for personal development (coaching, personal branding) of youths in a specific

situation and communicating (storytelling) their problems.

3. Sharing experience and discussing the implementing of methods for personal

development, aimed the social inclusion, career development and prevention of

marginalization.

4. Encouraging intercultural cooperation and working in a network when searching for

solutions for motivating and supporting youths in risk groups.

Practically, the youth worker should have a number of personal and professional

qualities in order to be successful. He/she is burdened with the mission of supporting youths in

hardship, working with them permanently and preventively, developing their key competences

– civil, entrepreneurial, communicational, etc., on a terrain, where he/she encounters all kinds

of situations. This means that he/she must first possess this complex of competences, which

keeps enriching itself and demands constant learning and development, in the ever more

complicated context of youth work.

Formulating the problem, the idea, that a person has to know him/herself very well, find

out who he/she really is and what he/she’s best at, takes shape. We believe that a person can

effectively help others only when he/she is motivated and aware of her/himself. This is why a

project, offering a process of reflection and innovative instruments through which we can find

who we are as people and professionals, what our path and calling are, what the qualities,

which make us unique and valuable are, are necessary.

This project will implement a complex of instruments for personal development

such as personal branding (known in marketing and used in coaching practice), coaching

and storytelling, and an integral approach for their use in youth work in regard to

disadvantaged groups. This integral approach could be used to accomplish different goals in

life – discovering talent, finding a job, career advancement, starting an independent project

etc. The intensive training program combines non-formal training with the modern concept of

the “personal brand”, the coaching and storytelling method, in order to offer a unique training

experience which can lead to transformation in youths from risk groups.

The youth workers will be trained how to use the innovative methodology first on

themselves and later on the groups of young people they work with. It is valuable in that

it touches deeply on the subject of personal motivation and provokes facing complicated

questions about the meaning and possibilities of each one of them, it “unlocks” mechanisms of

self-reflection and awareness, which are at the base of human development and the desire for

change. It reaches the base foundations of the person and the values, which guide their

behaviour.

Improving knowledge about:

✓ The coaching methodology – building trust, active listening, goal setting, etc.;

✓ Personal branding and ways to implement it towards oneself and others;

✓ Storytelling – elements of storytelling, dramatic constructs for building an impactful

story, self-knowledge method.

Skills:

✓ Self-reflection – a skill every person needs to understand himself.

✓ Applying personal branding, according to the individual specifics of youths from

vulnerable groups;

✓ Using storytelling as a method for self-analysis and self-promotion in non-formal

education, as a tool for personal development, impact and social change.

✓ Developing flexibility, adaptability and creative thinking through experiencing unfamiliar

situations.

Attitude:

✓ Realizing the importance of youth work and increasing motivation in youth workers;

✓ Proactivity and initiative – to act, not simply react;

✓ Responsibility and improving the lives of others – realizing our impact on others;

✓ Overcoming fears and self-imposed barriers.

✓ Tolerance, accepting difference without being critical and evaluative.

✓ Positive attitude (optimism) – seeing opportunities, instead of problems.

The training program is designed for: current youth workers and specialists from the

partner organizations, as well as active youths, engaged in the organization’s activity, whose

purpose is to get into youth work, to develop the necessary competences.

Every partner must include one participant from the disadvantaged groups in the training. They

must provide details about the participant’s profile (circumstances, making them

disadvantaged), their need for support and their training abilities to the coordinator

beforehand.

The candidates from disadvantaged groups will be selected by common criteria, in compliance

with the form of training, to ensure no language or other overwhelming barriers hinder its

effective conduction.

The TC will gather 27 participants as follows:

Partner Organization Country Number of Participants

1. VIA CIVIC Association Bulgaria 3

2. Geoclube Portugal 3

3. YOUTH ON BOARD Republic of Macedonia 3

4. JOETZ vzw Belgium 3

5. S.S.D. ar.l. L'Orma Italy 3

6. Urban Youth Croatia 3

7. YOUTH ASSOCIATION DRONI Georgia 3

8. MeOut Hungary 3

9. S.E.A.L. CYPRUS Cyprus 3

In order to ensure the quality and effectiveness of the results, the participants in the

training should meet the following criteria:

1. Experience in the civil sector as youth workers or active volunteers, who are

familiar with youth problems and are working with disadvantaged groups;

2. Motivated interest in the topic, especially in personal development and

storytelling, to have specific expectations related to their current job and to be ready to share

experience and develop follow-up activities in their community and organization associated

with the topic;

3. Very good knowledge of the English language (at least B2 level) and freely use

it in writing and speaking in order to take active part in the learning process and non-formal

communication, to craft and tell stories;

4. To be ready for emotional experiential activities in the local community and the

mountain, which require good physical and mental form. The participants must be

prepared for surprising adventures and exciting events!

There is no age limit for the participants. However, it is preferred that they are between

25 and 35 years old. It would be nice if you keep gender balance in mind, when selecting

participants. If it is not possible to do so, be so kind to inform us on time, so that we can

coordinate the matter with the other sending partners!

Every partner has to propose one participant from disadvantaged groups, such

as those who face economical, geographical, social, educational and other restraints or

a person with some kind of disability.

We encourage our partners to motivate the participation of young people with this

profile, to invest in them and to include them even more in the pursuit of their ideas in the field

of youth work by helping them turn into a positive example and a motivating force for others in

a similar situation.

Every partner must prepare a detailed profile of this participant, so the coordinator can

be familiar with his specific needs and what supports he will need during the training,

by describing:

➢ The factor, determining he is a “disadvantaged person”;

➢ Provide brief information about his current social/health condition;

➢ List the supports he will need, as well as his educational needs.

Before the final choice, the coordinator will get thoroughly acquainted with every

candidate’s specifics and will evaluate to what degree everyone’s specific needs can be met,

what the most efficient “configuration” is and what adaptations need to be made to the training

program.

We kindly ask all our partners to stick closely to the following procedure in the selection

process and to be precise with the dates:

FIRST PHASE: selection of the candidates by each partner

Start: AS SOON AS POSSIBLE and to be done NO LATER than 1st July 2019

1.Every partner has to publish and/or provide full information

on the training (topic, dates, place, conditions, etc.), an

accurate profile of the candidates and selection criteria,

application deadline and etc. We prefer to start the selection procedure among the members

of your team or organization (volunteers, partners, etc.) and make “an open call”, if there is no

appropriate candidate available.

Send the links with the published information to [email protected].

2.The candidates have to send the following obligatory minimum of documents for the

selection:

➢ one page professional CV;

➢ one page motivation letter in English, stating why he is interested in the TC

and how will implement the new knowledge and skills in the field of the youth work;

➢ Copy of the certificate for English language level (at least B2).

3.Candidates from disadvantaged groups shall also be selected according to the general

selection criteria. In addition, each partner will have to describe the situation of this candidate

and his/her needs related to logistics, additional support, etc.

4.Each partner organization reviews the applications and conducts an interview with

the documents approved for verifying the language level and motivation. The partner

organization is obligated to offer the best candidates, after making sure they meet the set

criteria. The coordinator does not make the selection and does not look for candidates in the

partner countries. The coordinator just approves the candidates, proposed by each partner.

If necessary, the coordinator and the other partners may cooperate with selecting

participants, for which they must be informed in a timely manner.

Do not forget to prepare a waiting list of reserves in case there are unexpected

circumstances.

5. The coordinator, VIA CIVIC, as well as the National agency of the Erasmus + program

DO NOT APPROVE OF OR ENCOURAGE REQUESTING AN ADMINISTRATIVE TAX

FROM PARTICIPANTS, as that restricts the access to the educational and mobility

opportunities and is in contradiction to the idea of the Erasmus + program. We ask the

partners to take that into consideration and be guided by the program’s idea as well as

by the free access to it for young people and youth workers.

SECOND PHASE: APPROVAL OF CANDIDATES

BY VIA CIVIC ASSOCIATION (THE COORDINATOR)

1.Every partner has to do the selection of top candidates and propose them to the coordination

team for confirmation. Please, DO NOT WAIT FOR THE LAST MOMENT! It will be better, if

you do the selection early!

When you are ready with the selection let us know by e-mail ([email protected]), by

providing us with names and selection documents (CV, motivation letter, Language certificate

and the description of the situation of the participants from the disadvantaged groups)!

The candidates, selected by the partners, have to fill in an online application form. The

information is needed for the final selection phase, for the logistics and the precise design of

the program.

ONLINE FORM FOR THE SELECTED CANDIDATES:

https://forms.gle/BX4vjy4H77agvaSL7

The final selection has to be done by 7 July 2019.

In case of changes (cancellation by a participant or other problem), the partner is obligated to

inform the project coordinator and select another participant from the waiting list.

➢ Every partner is responsible for the appropriate selection of the participants, which is a

key factor for the success of the TC.

➢ Every partner is responsible for his participants until the end of the project. That

includes: motivation and informing, assistance during the preparation of the trip (ticket

purchase, insurance, providing documents for reimbursement to the coordinator), assistance

during the preparation for the preliminary tasks set by the trainers, during the evaluation of the

training outcomes – publication of materials, etc., for the follow up activities.

➢ The procedure for participant selection ends with the purchase of a

ticket for the trip, which must be made no later than 20th July 2019.

The project will take place in the beautiful small village of Dobrinishte in the Pirin Mountains. It

is near the famous tourist town of Bansko. The village is a famous SPA resort with several

mineral springs with temperatures of 30-43°C. The water is used to cure different diseases.

The participants will be accommodated in the cosy family Hotel “Valentino-2”

(http://valentino2.dobrinishte-bg.com/) in the village. The rooms are comfortable and there is a

bathroom and toilet in each one of them. The participants will be accommodated in mixed

national groups of 2 or 3 people in one room.

➢ Participants should choose a comfortable but inexpensive option for travel, to fit in

the budget. We recommend buying tickets as early as possible.

➢ Before buying the tickets, the participants have to coordinate their choice with

us by sending a screen shot of the chosen travel option with the price and the exact dates for

arriving and departing.

➢ Tickets, purchased without the coordinator’s confirmation will not be reimbursed!

➢ The participants have the right to arrive two days earlier and stay two days after the

project’s end, but the expenses for the extra stay are not covered by the project.

The arrival day is 4th of September 2019:

All the participants (with the exception of the Macedonian candidates, who could take a bus to

Blagoevgrad or Bansko) have to do their best to arrive in the capital of Bulgaria - Sofia no later

than 17:00 local time on 4th of September, as we will ensure a bus to Dobrinishte and we will

all travel together. We have another 170 km or about 3 hours to reach the venue.

The return is on 12th of September: we recommend the participants choose a travel option

NOT EARLY IN THE MORNING (after 12 lunchtime is ok), because we have the same way

back to Sofia.

We will inform the participants for the meeting point in Sofia in addition.

Travel costs are reimbursed 100% if the sum does not exceed the Erasmus+ limit for your

country. The sum is calculated via the distance calculator

(https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/resources/distance-calculator_en) of Erasmus+

programme from the city where the partner organization is registered.

In cases when a participant travels from another city or country it is possible to make

corrections (into smaller sums), depending on the calculations made by the calculator (the real

distance you have to travel). When the distance is longer, there is no increase in the foreseen

sum for travel costs.

Let us know if any of the participants plan to travel from a point out of his/her country!

The limit for the travelling for 1 participant, 2 directions.

Country City Calculated distance Available travel funds

30 EUR will be deducted from the above amount, because we must calculate the

transfer from Sofia to the venue and back in the travel cost.

➢ Participant’s travel costs will be reimbursed when they provide originals of all travel

documents - invoices, receipts, tickets, boarding-passes or any other transport

documents.

➢ The participants must send electronic documents and scanned copies of the paper

ones via email to [email protected], and then send the originals by mail to:

1330 Sofia, BULGARIA, POSTAL BOX 154, VIA CIVIC Association

➢ We will reimburse the traveling if we have the tickets from the arrival and return. We

cannot cover a one way ticket!!!

➢ The reimbursement of the travel cost will be given at the end of the project via bank

transfer, upon completion of the Mobility Tool+ (considered mandatory under the

Erasmus+), after receiving all necessary documents and when the follow up activities

are done.

After the training is complete, the partners must support the participants in the realization of

the follow up activities, which includes:

Bulgaria Sofia 10 - 99 km 20 E

Portugal Gondomar 2000 – 2999 km 360 E

Republic of Macedonia Shtip 100 - 499 km 180 E

Belgium Brussels 500 - 1999 km 275 E

Italy Milan 500 - 1999 km 275 E

Croatia Zagreb 500 - 1999 km 275 E

Georgia Tbilisi 500 - 1999 km 275 E

Hungary Budapest 500 - 1999 km 275 E

Cyprus Strovolos 500 - 1999 km 275 E

➢ Providing a report with information about the participant’s impressions,

recommendations and comments on how they would apply what they learned;

➢ Realizing a work meeting in the partner organization’s team – providing pictures from

the meeting to the coordinator, as well as brief information on how it went, meant for

distribution;

➢ Developing and realizing a workshop on a subject from the training – pictures from the

workshop and information on how it went;

➢ Cooperation for the dissemination activities of the project’s results – creating a post on

FB, a blog, vlog, article or other, providing links with the information’s distribution to the

coordinator.

CONTACTS

e-mail: [email protected] // www.viacivic.org // +359 888 198 017 Deiana Dragoeva

FB page: https://www.facebook.com/ViaCivicBG/

FB group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/viacivic/

JOIN the FB group of the project:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/645362419221739/