Internacionalism! A guide for eager minds

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Internationalism!

A guide for eager minds

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Internationalism! A guide for eager minds

Writting: Vanessa Casanovas and Marc García Collaborations: Anna Jiménez, Gemma Martín, Guido Spaccaforno, Heike Tellman, Ignacio Marín, Marc Cases, Marina Gallés, Núria Cangròs, Raimon Goberna, Sara Raposo, Oriol Piqué, Yolanda D. Alcántara Coordination of the edition: Eva Sanahuja Special thanks: to all members of International Commission of Esplac, to our partner organisations having encouraged us to translate this document and to all staff members of Esplac.

This is the translation and adaptation of the original version Internacionalisme!

Guia per a ments inquietes, published in February 2007.

Esplais Catalans, Esplac Attribution — You must attribute Internationalism! A guide for eager minds to Esplais Catalans, Esplac.

Noncommercial — You may not use this work for commercial purposes.

No Derivative Works — You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work.

Edited by: Esplais Catalans, Esplac c. Avinyó, 44 – 2n 08002 Barcelona Telephone: +34 93 302 61 03 / Fax: +34 93 302 00 89 esplac@esplac.cat / www.esplac.cat Translation: Olalla Cegarra Photographies: Esplais Catalans, Esplac Design: Clic Traç, sccl Markup: Grafòmon Printed by: Cevagraf, sccl Printed in ecological paper ISBN: Legal deposit:

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Chapter 1 – Introduction Chapter 2 – Some history: internationalism in our principles and our practices [9] 2.1. Internationalism in our foundational documents [9] 2.2. Esplac, an association with international capacity [12] Basic ideas [14]

Chapter 3 – Pedagogical aspect of international youth work. Objectives and goals [16]

3.1. What does Esplac learn from youth work networks? What does it contribute to the

networks? [16]

3.2. The educational aspect of international youth work [21] 3.2.1. Differences and connections between certain international concepts [21] 3.2.2. Organizational and pedagogical elements that shall be taken into consideration in an international project [23] 3.2.3. How can the educational practices of the esplais be internationalized? [27]

Basic ideas [32] Chapter 4 – How can we incorporate internationalism into the esplais activities? Participation tools at our disposal [34]

4.1. The tools provided by Esplac: International Cooperation Area [34]

4.2. What kind of international projects can we develop? [36]

4.3. Who will give us support to develop an international project? [39]

4.3.1. The support of international institutions: financing and training [39]

4.3.2. Institutions and programmes which support international projects [42]

Basic ideas [47] Chapter 5 – The importance of continuity and replacement in international youth work [48]

5.1. Experience and information transfer in international youth work [48]

5.2. Future challenges: the importance of replacement [52]

Basic ideas [54]

Glossary [55]

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Internationalism! A guide for eager minds

Introduction

Chapter 1 – Introduction “What’s your next trip? You never stop travelling with this internationalism staff… So many days away from home, I am sure you’re partying all day long!

It is not surprising that most people links internationalism to holiday, as, in general, the fact of travelling is related to relax, forget our obligations, enjoy our spare time and, above all, forget our problems.

This is not the case of many organizations working in the international field, for which travelling is in fact a nuisance: waiting time at the airport, work meetings which last all day with no time left for anything else, lots of days far away from home, friends, family…

Why do these organizations, for which internationalism is a way to act, keep on working on this field? Is the international work and action of youth organizations unknown for the rest of the society?

Esplac is an association of people and other voluntary educational youth organizations committed to social transformation and the transformation of secular and progressive values from the promotion of the popular education and the citizen participation. It develops proposals following these values and promotes equality, freedom, social participation, environmental sustainability and children rights.

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Internationalism! A guide for eager minds Esplac believes in lifelong learning, in increasing the capacity of critical and creative reflection of young people, through a global view of society.

The participation in international activities, such as exchanges, allows young people to put themselves in each other’s shoes, downplay their own ideas, wonder themselves and then learn, grow as responsible individuals, and enjoy.

Esplac puts an emphasis on this activity and considers it is very important as this is very often the first contact of teenagers with such a diverse world.

Regarding the range of international activities for young people (older than 18 years of age), Esplac has been organizing for four years a training aiming at different objectives such as children rights and children participation and the educators’ capacity regarding the work with children and young people using social theatre and theatre of the oppressed. This training has had excellent results regarding participation and reflections, which proves a great implication of Esplac in the educational work.

This is why Esplac underlines the great importance of internationalism as a working tool to strengthen the active participation of the esplais, to learn, to know new perspectives, to exchange experiences and to discover other ways of thinking.

It is believed, however, that internationalism is a retroactive element: one gives and receives at the same time. Esplac pretends to lead the Euro-Mediterranean perspective and the promotion of secularity as a value which suggests learning to live together in a more and more global world.

“Why do we have to do international youth work, if we already have other problems? What do I have to look for abroad?” This question has been often raised, but Esplac’s point of view of internationalism supports the fact that, regarding education issues, it is possible to find solutions thanks to exchange activities and the debate from different perspectives. As someone one day said: “men (and women) die but ideas never do”.

Esplac is aware of the need to give great importance to international youth work; this is why this Esmolet contains a number of reflections and actions which pretend to help understand the reason to be actively committed to international youth work.

Some history: internationalism in our principles and our practices

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Chapter 2 – Some history: internationalism in our principles and our practices Since it was founded in 1982 Esplac has always expressed its internationalist will. This will is reflected both in our Statutes and our principles, and supports the fact that internationalism is the central point of all the actions of the association. At the same time we will understand how this will has been expressed through an active participation of our association in the international youth work. From the very beginning, this active participation has allowed Esplac to influence other organizations worldwide, as well as continuously learn from them. This is the process which provides us with a constant capacity of reflection, a permanent learning, and it is the essence of what we call internationalism.

2.1. Internationalism in our foundational documents

If we read the Statutes of Esplac we realise that internationalism is one of the five educational pillars of the association. According to Esplac’s Statutes, “we also want to state our internationalist vocation, which is reflected in our will to look for the truth in any geographical or cultural situation”1 . Throughout this book we will confirm that the internationalist vocation of Esplac is present in a large number of actions, projects and reflections, all of them seeking an absolute truth, not as a dogma, but as a constant at1-Esplac’s Statutes approved by the Ordinary General Assembly of the 9th March 2003

“Internationalism is one of the five educational pillars of the association”

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Internationalism! A guide for eager minds titude of research. However, we shall always bear in mind that according to the Statutes, one of the means that Esplac has to reach its goals is to “develop projects of solidarity and projects of cooperation for the development with children and young people and organizations from all over the world”2 . For Esplac, the international action is a means to reach the objectives it has set as an organization.

Unfortunately, we tend to see internationalism as an external element to our daily pedagogical tasks. Nothing further from reality.

Internationalism is a part of every action we do and of the three central elements of our principles: secularity, progress and country. Let’s think then what the connection between internationalism and the three elements which define Esplac as an association is.

• Secularity. This is one of the pillars of Esplac’s principles.

It allows the free examination (freedom of thought and conscience), which “claims for every individual the right to question everything, at any time, between oneself and one’s environment. Free examination is, in this context, a method to seek freely relative truths, through a critical approach to reality, dialogue and discussion”3. As we know, the fact of changing the environment and/or comparing ours with the others’ provides us with the necessary tools to start the critical reflection of reality. Internationalism allows this change of environment and offers the framework to do these necessary comparisons. However, in order to do this critical reflection we have to start from three basic principles which are inherent to our conception of secularity4 and essential in the work of internationalism: relativism, diversity and the right to be different. When working in the international field, we have to remember constantly that there is no absolute truth, which is a basic principle of secularity and free thought, we have to recognise the diversity and the plurality of opinions and ideas and we have to be conscious that the difference is an enriching aspect. As a consequence, we observe that internationalism 2-Esplac’s Statutes approved by the Ordinary General Assembly of the 9th March 2003 3-Principles of the Secular and Progressive Movement, 2005 4-Principles of the Secular and Progressive Movement, 2005

Some history: internationalism in our principles and our practices and secularity feed each other back and, actually, we cannot work with one element without using the other.

• Progress. Esplac defines widely the concept of progress and it refers, among other things, to equal opportunities, individual and collective rights, condition of citizenship, fight for social change and rights of minorities. We are not only heirs of an international fight, the reality of the world prevents us from fighting for these goals of progress from a local point of view. We live indeed in a global world where we have to work the progress from this specific point of view in order to transform the present processes of economic globalization. We are aware that nowadays these fights are not local any more, if they ever were, and have become global landmarks; and that our local actions have important consequences for the rest of citizens of the world. In fact, following the famous motto of the ecologist movement we have to: think globally, act locally!

• Country. Esplac’s conception of country starts from a wide identity concept. Therefore, we start from an identity conception of citizenship which is characterised by the fact of being dynamic. This dynamism is reflected in the concept of universal identity in which “feeling citizen of the world means to assume one’s own rooting to offer it and compare it to the whole humanity”5 because “a dynamic national community (…) has to be able to handle the opening to new contributions without reacting in panic (…)6. In fact, our national realization will be achieved “(…) by offering what we are to the others, but also learning from other mentalities, other ideas, other lifestyles, other solutions to community life. An open community is always freer7.

Bearing in mind all these factors, we can conclude that “this is why we have to come back to our internationalist vocation, which is expressed through the will to look for the truth in any geographical or cultural situation. The problems, the solutions, 5-Principles of the Secular and Progressive Movement, 2005 6-Principles of the Secular and Progressive Movement, 2005 7-Principles of the Secular and Progressive Movement, 2005

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Internationalism! A guide for eager minds the lifestyles and the ways of communication of individuals from other communities can help us to understand ourselves much better and to widen the possible horizons to experience our freedom”8 .

2.2. Esplac, an association with international capacity

“Working in international youth networks feeds back the local action field”

Esplac has always been an association with an internationalist will and this will is reflected in the foundational documents.

However, we all know that any will has to be followed by an action in order to achieve its meaning. From a general point of view, Esplac’s international action can be divided into two main action lines, which will be analysed in depth later, but which are introduced in the next paragraph.

Firstly, from an international point of view, Esplac is part of different youth networks. This participation has allowed Esplac to know and to share the experiences of educational youth work in Europe and in the world, and to offer Esplac’s pedagogical experience. At the same time, thanks to this international representation we are coordinated with organizations whose objectives are similar to ours, in order to carry out exchange projects with children and teenagers. Thanks to this active representation of Esplac, the debates originated in the association are enriched by inputs received from the international action. For these reasons, we can affirm that working in international youth networks feeds back the local action field, because the fact of confirming that other citizens of the world are actively engaged in the social transformation of their environment provides us with an important dose of motivation and specific knowledge to keep on with our daily tasks. The social change will only be possible through the work of all the citizens and their coordination in the global sphere!

8-Principles of the Secular and Progressive Movement, 2005

Some history: internationalism in our principles and our practices

Secondly, both Esplac and its member organizations (esplais) have implemented several international youth projects through the years. Different and varied international youth projects have been developed: • Youth exchanges for the esplais.

• Mid-term and long-term projects of cooperation aiming at strengthening youth work and activities for youth leaders and children: Maglaj España association (B&H) or Jóvenes en Construcción association (Argentina).

• Formulation and coordination of the training programmes such as Be inclusive. Be creative! (International training course on Children’s Rights). International activities have been one of our basic methodologies to go deeper into our internationalist will.

Would you like to know more about different kinds of international youth projects? You will find this information in chapter 4 Just like the reflections at the beginning of this chapter, internationalism is not only having a representation in different places and carrying out international youth projects. Internationalism is, particularly, to incorporate the global point of view into the local activities. However, how is this point of view translated into the activities of our esplais? We will tackle this issue in depth further on but in this chapter we shall retain that the realities of

“Internationalism is, particularly, to incorporate the global point of view into the local activities”

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Internationalism! A guide for eager minds our esplais and the children and young people which are a part of them are linked to global realities. Realities such us economic and social unfairness, environmental problems or migratory movements are not isolated and local facts, but global ones. Therefore, our educational task shall take into consideration, learning and experimenting realities of the world in order to educate in secular and progressive values.

How can we incorporate the internationalism into the educational task of our esplai? You will find more information in chapter 3.

“Internationalism is, particularly, to incorporate the global point of view into the local activities”

Basic ideas… Chapter 2 Esplac has been, from the very beginning, an internationalist association. This characteristic is translated into an important international will and capacity.

Esplac’s international will The international will of Esplac is clearly stated in Esplac’s Statutes and principles. Internationalism is present at the three central pillars of Esplac’s ideology and feeds them back: secularity, progress and country. The foundational documents of Esplac reflect the importance of incorporating permanently the internationalist perspective in the educational task.

Esplac’s international capacity This capacity has had a direct impact on the work done by Esplac in the international field. Moreover, Esplac participates actively in different international youth organization networks in order to keep and to analyse in depth the mutual and constant learning process with other similar organizations. On the other hand, both the federation and the esplais develop different kinds of international projects.

Some history: internationalism in our principles and our practices

What is internationalism?

Internationalism means to incorporate the global perspective into our local activities and reflections. It is the capacity to interpret our reality considering the different realities around the world. In order to internationalize the educational task, we have to work on our capacity to be critical and to learn constantly through the international youth work.

Internationalism: Bridge between action, reflection and learning

LOCAL SPHERE

INTERNATIONALISM

INTERNATIONAL SPHERE

FAQ (Frequent Asked Questions) The FAQ are all those frequent questions which we may have when working on a specific issue. Throughout this Esmolet you will find different FAQ which will try to give an answer to the common questions which may arise to any person working in the international field.

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Internationalism! A guide for eager minds

Chapter 3 – Pedagogical aspect of international youth work. Objectives and Goals In the previous chapter we have proved and introduced Esplac’s will and internationalist capacity. Therefore, the question which comes right after that is: “how is internationalism reflected in our daily tasks?” In this chapter we will introduce the objectives and goals of the international youth work as well as the pedagogical aspect of internationalism.

3.1 What does Esplac learn from youth work networks?

What does it contribute to the networks?

When starting an international youth project or planning an active international representation… What are the objectives we seek and what opportunities does the international youth work offer us? In other words, what do we look for? What do we think of? What do we want to find? These are obviously important questions to which we will try to answer throughout this chapter. Let’s mention, however, the main opportunities the international youth work offers us.

• Mutual learning: One of the central elements of the international youth work is the opportunity we have to share experiences with other organizations working in the same field we do. The possibility to meet other organizations, other realities, other working methods, lets us reconsider our work and enrich it with best practices from other contexts which could be extrapolated and adapted or not, to our closest reality.

Pedagogical aspect of international youth work.

Objectives and Goals • Strengthening intercultural learning: International youth work demands, as previous requirement, an attitude of curiosity, of openness to the world, a positive evaluation of the individual difference and an important capacity to work in a team. Therefore, participation in the international field lets us go in depth into intercultural learning (ICL), considered as a dynamic process, that is to say, as a permanent process of co-learning and evaluation of the reciprocal knowledge. This process starts from the individual, who is educated in a specific cultural context, but who also has the freedom and the right to shape the identity with several cultural sources. ICL is, therefore, co-learning among people, not among cultural groups enclosed on their cultural characteristics. This is why ICL starts from a secular perspective, “which refers to all the possible systems to interpret the reality, not giving priority to only one of them, and providing the rational means to judge them all in a critical way”9 .

• Towards a universal citizenship: There exist different conceptions of citizenship, just like it is said in the Esmolet Espai de ciutadania (Space for citizenship). From a republican ethic, citizenship is the feature which represents the dignity of a person regarding the fact of living together with other human beings.

The long-term international youth work helps us seize new sociocultural realities of the world for the children and young people of our esplai, letting us leave behind the classic conception of national or state citizenship. Internationalism leads us towards a conception of universal citizenship where the rights and duties are shared and can be applied to the whole humanity.

9-Vicenç Molina, “Aprendre a viure junts”, Espai de llibertat, Magazine of the Secular and Progressive Movement, Nº 18

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“International youth work demands, as previous requirement, a an attitude of curiosity, of openness to the world, a positive evaluation of the individual difference and an important capacity to work in a team” “ICL starts from a secular perspective

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Internationalism! A guide for eager minds • Participation capacity: As it has been previously said, the fact of having an international representation and participation allows our association to play an active role in the definition of the youth policies which affect us as young people and citizens. This capacity is reflected both internationally (European Commission: White Paper on Youth) and nationally (National Youth Plan of the Generalitat, Catalan Government). As a consequence, we are able to widen our capacity to decide and to transform the society, without which we would not have a real participation.

“The esplai, as an educational youth association, belongs to the Catalan cultural reality”

“The specificity of the esplai is precisely one of the most important elements we can offer to the international youth work”

• Information, fund-raising and training in international youth programmes: As we will see in the following pages, there exist a number of institutions and programmes which help us and let us develop international youth projects. However, the complexity and the evolution of these programmes, both financing and training ones, require from us to be kept informed and trained to know in depth all the existing possibilities. The fact of having good international representation provides Esplac with this information and the possibility to participate in training projects, aiming at discovering a wide range of programmes and institutions, as well as the most burning issues regarding international training.

• Possibility to make specialized training: In the international sphere there exist institutions and training programmes specialized in different subjects. Therefore, we can participate in training programmes which offer us contacts, resources and tools to improve our educational action with regard to citizenship, intercultural learning, conflict resolution or global education, among others.

As we have seen there are a lot of benefits, but if we bear in mind that one of the main elements of international youth work is the reciprocal knowledge and the exchange of experiences, we have to wonder what we contribute to the international youth work.

In general terms, we can say that Esplac contributes four main elements: • The esplai, educational youth association: We have to be aware that the esplai, as an educational youth association, belongs to the Catalan cultural reality. In fact, the concept and

Pedagogical aspect of international youth work.

Objectives and Goals the practices which characterise the youth organization that emerges from the esplai do not exist in other countries. This is why our international partners often have a different point of view to ours, even if we share the objectives, the principles and sometimes the methodology. The specificity of the esplai is precisely one of the most important elements we can offer to the international youth work.

“We contribute the concept of secularity to the international sphere, both by what we do and by what we are” • Secularity: Our commitment to pass on secular values, our wide concept of secularity and how we put it into practise are with no doubt characteristic elements of our association.

In fact, very few organizations working on the international youth work have this strong commitment to secularity and Esplac is leader in this aspect. Therefore, Esplac contributes the concept of secularity to the international youth work, both by what we do and by what we are, as individuals, in the esplai and the federation. Moreover, from Esplac we offer solid and established principles, which might be very useful for the organizations which work secularity.

• Euro-Mediterranean perspective: The geographical situation of our country and our history are the reasons for one of our priorities: the Euro-Mediterranean work and perspective. Our link to the European continent and the Mediterranean society turns us into a bridge between these societies that unfortunately have lived, and often live, in a situation of mutual ignorance. Or, what it is even worse, between populations that sometimes base their relations on biased and stere-

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Internationalism! A guide for eager minds

“So our obligation as Euro-Mediterranean citizens is to know and to spread these specific issues in order to build the bridge of reciprocal understanding”

otyped information, received from different mass media and not always having the opportunity to confront them in order to think freely. These biased images of reality lead us to express opinions about wrong ideas. For instance, we base the fact of speaking Arab on professing the Muslim religion. In countries like Lebanon, the official language is Lebanese, but 40% of the population is Christian. Or, we identify Turkey as an Arab country, in spite of being a Turkish-speaking country, and we consider it to be Muslim despite its state structure is secular. So, our obligation as Euro-Mediterranean citizen is to know and to spread these specific issues, in order to build the bridge of reciprocal understanding.

• Our concept of cooperation: Cooperation in the framework of leisure-time education is an important aspect which allows us to do pedagogy on equal rights and social justice, Human Rights and Children’s Rights. Bearing in mind the nature, the aims and the structure of Esplac, its model of cooperation is oriented towards a denunciation of the causes of unfairness in the world. However, we believe that it is not enough to denounce the reality; we have to act to transform it. Unfortunately, the word cooperation has been underestimated and deformed and sometimes it might be confusing. For Esplac, there is no cooperation if there is not an equal relation between the partners and this is why we believe that cooperation means to work together for the reciprocal benefit and avoid, especially, adopting paternalistic approaches.

Bearing in mind Esplac’s nature and reality, the best cooperation actions it can implement are those related to the Education for the Development (EPD). EPD promotes the construction of a new civil society based on solidarity and participation, including three components which interact between each other with the aim to promote social change: knowledge, values and action. This perception of cooperation and EPD is one of the elements with which Esplac will aim to contribute, thanks to the joint work with Cooperacció and the lively debate on cooperation held in the international sphere. This is an open debate in which the approaches provided by the esplais will be of utmost interest.

Pedagogical aspect of international youth work.

Objectives and Goals

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FAQ:What is Education for Development (EPD)?

EPD is a teaching-learning process which pretends, from the knowledge, the reflection and the critical analysis of the reality, to develop values and attitudes in favour of the people and the groups who promote individual and collective transformation processes.

3.2.The educational aspect of international youth work

The international youth work requires specific educational practices. In this section we will tackle this aspect and some other practices that we already use but which need to be reinforced when planning an international youth project. This way we will realise that certain methodological dynamics, especially regarding personal relations and organization, developed in international youth projects, provide us with an important knowledge and a rich experience which will help us to introduce internationalism into our esplais. However, we will try to clarify first certain concepts used in this Esmolet in order to make certain debates clearer.

3.2.1. Differences and connections between certain international concepts Before we start working on the educational aspect of internationalism and international youth projects, we have to define the concepts which are commonly used in this field and, as a consequence, are part of this Esmolet.

• Internationalism: It is the capacity to interpret our reality according to the different realities of the world. This relation implies learning from seizing the difference and the critical analysis of our own values and identity concepts with relation to the others’. As a consequence we can define internationalism as the capacity to think globally, although we are in a local context.

“Internationalism is the capacity to interpret our reality in relation to the different realities of the world”

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Internationalism! A guide for eager minds

• International youth projects: These are the projects which involve young participants from Catalonia and other countries and which are developed in Catalonia or abroad: exchanges of young people and children, training projects, long-term collaboration projects, etc. Bearing in mind the objectives of Esplac, it always introduces an educational component in all its international youth projects.

FAQ: What is the difference between a project and an international youth exchange?

As we will see in chapter 4 there are different kinds of international youth projects. The exchange is one of them and it can be defined as an activity developed abroad (sending) or at home (hosting) in which participate children and young people from at least two different countries.

• Cooperation projects: As we have said before, Esplac believes that cooperation means to work together for the mutual benefit. We have to bear in mind that the concept of cooperation in youth work is constantly under debate and that very often, the landmark between cooperation and international relations is thin and confusing. In the sphere of international cooperation (outside Esplac), everyone knows that cooperation projects are those which aim at improving the life conditions of the South countries. Moreover we can make a distinction between cooperation projects for the development

Pedagogical aspect of international youth work.

Objectives and Goals (working together with the local communities to get their self emancipation/autonomy) and projects for local solidarity (awareness-raising and incidence). We have to bear in mind, however, that Esplac has a very specific point of view regarding its educational nature.

3.2.2. Organizational and pedagogical elements to take into consideration in an international youth project At the time of developing any activity, a Saturday esplai session or a summer activity, we have to consider some factors which shall be reinforced and some others which shall be modified or adapted. When talking about international youth projects, there are organizational and pedagogical aspects which are even more important. Given the nature and the characteristics of this kind of projects, it is essential to take into account the following aspects: Pedagogical aspects • The need of a permanent learning attitude: An international youth exchange often requires a change of the geographical context and the language and to work in a team with youth leaders that we do not know and who work with dynamics different to ours. As we can imagine, this educational context requires an open attitude and, specially, a permanent learning will. This learning will is essential (as every new international youth project is full of surprises), and without it we cannot make the most of our international experiences.

“This learning will is essential and without it, we cannot make the most of our international experiences”

• A new place, new habits… Opportunity and challenge: When preparing an international youth exchange project abroad with our children and young people, we have to think on how the change of context affects the educational task. The group will have to get used to daily habits which are very often unknown. Therefore it is especially important to work on these elements beforehand with our group in order to facilitate that children, young people and youth leaders make the most to enjoy the international experience. At the same time, as educators, we have to pay special attention to how the change of context affects each member of the group and we have to lead them so that they enjoy the intercultural learning process. This process is not always easy and often requires a certain

“The challenge is important and goes beyond the fact of sharing folkloric habits”

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Internationalism! A guide for eager minds clash or discomfort which allows us to take a critical distance between our values and our habits and those we discover for the first time. Through these situations we will be able to experience secularity as a key factor for living together and start a true intercultural learning process. Therefore the challenge is important and goes beyond the fact of sharing folkloric habits. We have the opportunity to work with the values!

“The challenge to use a new language is shared by all the participants of the project: not only us!“

• A new place, a new language… Opportunity and challenge: When planning an international youth project we realise that we have to work in other languages. This condition might be a discouraging factor for the people who do not feel comfortable using other non-native languages. Therefore, it is very important to conceive international youth projects as a great opportunity to use them and learn them, and this knowledge will widen to a greater extent our personal freedom. International youth projects very often use the English language and, beyond cultural evaluations regarding the extension of its use, we have to see it as a tool which allows the mobility and communication with the rest of the world. We have to bear in mind, however, that the challenge to use a new language is shared by all the participants of the project: not only us! And the fact of using it lets us communicate and discover other participants.

• The need of group building: In an international youth project we often work with two or more groups of children and young people which have already been constituted.

Therefore, the most common tendency is to be related with the people of the group one already knows. This tendency is reinforced in the cases of unknown and unshared languages.

This is why it is very important to work from the very beginning the constitution of an integrated group in which all the people feel comfortable and know each other. Actually, the first activities of any international youth project should be dynamic, regarding both knowledge and group cohesion. These dynamic activities shall encourage the process of belonging to a group in a natural way and respect the individual processes towards this process.

Pedagogical aspect of international youth work.

Objectives and Goals

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• Intercultural learning dynamics: As analysed previously, intercultural learning is a cross cutting theme of any international youth project. For this reason, even though the educational subjects of the project are very varied (environmental education, conflict resolution, Human Rights, Children’s Rights, etc.), intercultural learning is implicit in any international youth experience and facilitates participation in the joint processes of building knowledge and experiences. Therefore, despite this learning process is very often spontaneous, it is very important to encourage it through certain dynamics and methodologies.

• The importance of evaluating the project: A critical evaluation of any activity of the esplai done by participants and youth leaders, allows us to take the necessary perspective to learn from our mistakes in order to improve in the next activities and settle the strong points we can keep on using. In international youth projects, the evaluation of the activity is especially important, as it allows to detect the basic elements to take into consideration for future projects and leaves a legacy for those who wish to start working in the international sphere. At the same time, thanks to the evaluation we can identify the learning and practices that we can adapt to our daily educational tasks in order to improve them and internationalise them.

We see how the pedagogical elements of international youth projects are based on the same dynamic process we use in the

“The evaluation of the activity is especially important, as it allows to detect the basic elements to take into consideration for future projects and leaves a legacy for those who wish to start working in the international sphere”

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Internationalism! A guide for eager minds

“The dynamic process of an international youth experience falls into two additional aspects: abstraction and application of the learning into a new context”

educational task of the esplai: Reflection, action, reflection. Obviously, preparing an activity implies a reflection process, then we develop it and analyse critically the educational processes in order to learn from the experiences and improve our task. However, we consider that the dynamic process of an international youth experience falls into two additional aspects: abstraction and application of the learning into a new context. Therefore, the pedagogical process of an international experience can be drawn as follows: Experience of the Action

Application into a new context

Reflection

Abstraction

It is important to work properly on the organizational duties in advance in order to be able to analyse the results of the activity (action) in the short term and to adapt ourselves to unforeseen situations.

Organizational aspects “The youth leaders in charge of an international youth project shall put in common their objectives and ways of working before developing the project”

• The importance of project planning: As we know, the previous meetings and a good planning of the esplai’s project are essential aspects to implement properly our educational objectives. However, when we plan to carry out an international youth project (an exchange or another kind of project) the youth leaders shall put in common their objectives and ways of working before implementing the project. This is a basic stage in order to create a good leading team where the roles and the responsibilities are clearly identified, both in a joint way (the leading group) and individually (the coordinator of the project, the facilitator, etc.). Moreover, this stage will allow us to work together on the educational objectives and the way

Pedagogical aspect of international youth work.

Objectives and Goals

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to achieve them, as well as forming an integrated group. Actually, it offers us a great possibility of mutual learning, exchange of experiences and ways of working.

• Good logistic conditions: They are always important in any activity of the esplai. In the case of an international youth project, however, these are essential in order to avoid collapsing in case of an unforeseen logistic event and concentrate all our efforts in the educational objectives. Good preparation is important if we receive a group from abroad, (as they have to feel like at home), or if we travel abroad. Therefore, it is important to foresee in advance what is the best place to develop the project, a properly planned agenda, a good time-scale, a correct distribution of the tasks and responsibilities, an adequate transport and meals planning, etc. Then, we have to bear in mind that the greater and better logistic forecast, the more flexible and qualified our educational task we will get.

In fact, if we have developed a good logistic planning, we will have the capacity to react to the unforeseen events much easier and, what’s more, we will make the most of improvisation.

3.2.3. How can the educational practices of the esplais be internationalized?

We have just identified the most important organizational and pedagogical practices when developing an international youth project. But the important aspect is that we have to realise that what we learn in an international youth experience can be worked

“We have to bear in mind that the greater and better logistic forecast, the more flexibility and quality of our educational task we will get”

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Internationalism! A guide for eager minds “What we learn in an international youth experience can be worked and incorporated into the educational project of our esplai. This way we will be able to internationalize the activities and the values we work with everyday at the esplai”

“The experience of defining ourselves in relation to the others and empathizing with other ways to see the world teaches us about diversity”

and incorporated into the educational project of our esplai. This way we will be able to internationalize the activities and the values we work with everyday at the esplai. In the next paragraphs we will pay special attention to the elements, practices and values that will help us to incorporate an internationalist perspective into our daily educational practices.

• Opening-up to the world: let’s widen our horizons!: As we have said before, the esplai is a Catalan reality. Despite this fact, it is important to know that in Catalonia there are other organizations with similar aims and which develop similar projects to the ones carried out by Esplac. Developing joint projects allows us to share our experiences and approaches while working together.

At the same time, when we carry out exchanges or when we participate in international youth activities we know and live the realities of the world from the personal knowledge of other young people and children. This way our horizons and our references are widened and we incorporate the new ways of understanding and knowing the world into our own daily practices. Just like our principles claim, join yourselves and you will be strong!

• Experiencing diversity abroad… and at home: When we are part of a group of people from all over the world, far away from our closest reality, we feel the intense need to compare our cultural landmarks with those of the other members of the group.

The experience of defining ourselves in relation to the others and empathizing with other ways to see the world teaches us about diversity. A diversity that we have to experience, in order to ex-

Pedagogical aspect of international youth work.

Objectives and Goals tract all its meaning and complexity! Once we have experienced diversity abroad, it becomes easier for us to face the diversity at home. Living together and the work on contexts marked by diversity (of origin, culture, values, etc.) teach us how to make our background seem less important and realize that our points of view and our values respond to cultural and social factors. This experience will help us transform our multicultural society into an intercultural society.

FAQ:What is the difference between a multicultural society and an intercultural society?

In a multicultural society we find different groups that respect themselves and who live together in a shared space, but who do not share their views of the world or start a mutual learning process. In an intercultural society, on the other hand, the people (beyond the groups) learn mutually and consider their differences as positive in order to create a new view of the reality and their own shared identity. • Conflict resolution: As we know, all groups generate conflict.

Conflicts, however, are not negative, quite the opposite! They are an opportunity to work on the values of solidarity, pacifism and empathy. Therefore, the conflict has to be neutral. The way in which we deal with it and turn it around might make it become positive or negative. Conflict resolution is not always easy

“The experience of defining ourselves in relation to the others and empathizing with other ways to see the world teaches us about diversity�

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“International youth work allows us to study in depth conflict resolution in more complex contexts than the ones we may find in our esplai”

in more or less homogeneous groups, but in groups of people with different cultural backgrounds it is even more difficult. International youth work allows us to study in depth conflict resolution in more complex contexts than the ones we may find in our esplai. Thus, this experience will let us learn essential abilities about how to deal, in a more positive way, with conflicts held in a local context.

• Identity redefinition: Just like we said in chapter 2, to feel one is a citizen of the world means to offer one’s own roots and to compare them with the whole humanity. But, when we have to offer and explain our identity uniqueness in an unknown context, we discover certain elements that so far we had not even noticed. When defining ourselves towards the others we have to wonder and look for answers about our identity. It is true that if we are in a context of cultural contrast we learn more about our own culture and identity. This better knowledge of our identity will help us develop a critical view of it, which is essential to evaluate the differences and go into the intercultural learning process in depth.

• Motivation of the members of the esplais: international youth projects often originate a motivation wave among the members of the esplai (both for youth leaders and children). The opportunity to carry out a different activity, very suitable for children and young people and difficult to develop outside the youth work field, may extend the youth work culture of the members of the organization and let the new generations take over leadership of

Pedagogical aspect of international youth work.

Objectives and Goals the esplai, which is a very important aspect for esplais. At the same time, we consider that the participation of a youth leader in an international youth activity is an opportunity to express him or herself. For an Esplac leader it is a way to learn how to explain him or herself in front of an unknown audience; moreover, incorporating the experience into the local level allows the leader to introduce new topics and practices and to motivate new generations and new esplais.

“The realization of an international youth project often originates a motivation wave among the members of the esplai�

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Basic ideas... Chapter 3 When studying internationalism in depth we have to think about the reciprocity relation between the local educational practices and the actions, reflections and learning we develop in the international field. Within the framework of this approach we have to bear in mind: What opportunities does international youth work offer us?

These are some of the opportunities offered by international youth work: • Mutual learning • Making the most of intercultural learning • A new conception of citizenship • Participation capacity • Information, fund-raising and training on international youth programmes • Possibility to receive specialized training What is Esplac’s contribution to the international sphere?

Bearing in mind that internationalism starts from the idea of feedback, we have to take into consideration the characteristics that define our association and that can help to improve the internationalist youth work. These are some of them: • New approaches regarding educational youth organizations • Secularity • Euro-Mediterranean perspective • Ideas and new concepts in the cooperation debate International youth projects need to analyse in depth and to adapt certain pedagogical and organizational aspects.

Pedagogical aspects: The pedagogical elements of international youth projects are based on the same dynamic process we use in the educational task at the esplai: reflection, action, reflection. Some specific and specially important elements are: • The need of a permanent learning attitude • The opportunity and the challenge to change the educational context • The opportunity and the challenge to use a new language • The need to create a group with all the participants • The importance of intercultural methodology • The need of a good evaluation of the project

Pedagogical aspect of international youth work.

Objectives and Goals Organizational aspects: Bearing in mind the characteristics of international youth projects, the working methodology agreement made by the youth leaders and a good planning are absolutely essential. A good logistic planning lets us react to unforeseen events and to increase our flexibility and response capacity.

How can we internationalize the educational practices of the esplais?

We have to bear in mind that what we learn in the international experience can be used and put into practice in the educational project of our esplai. This way we will internationalize the activities and the values we work with everyday at the esplai. These are some of the elements, practices and values that will help us to incorporate an internationalist perspective to our educational action: • Opening-up to the world and widening our horizons • Experiencing diversity abroad… And at home • Practising conflict resolution • Identity redefinition processes • Motivation of the members of the esplai

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Chapter 4 – How can we incorporate internationalism into the esplais activities? Participation tools at our disposal In this chapter, we will present the participation and support tools to help our esplai incorporate internationalism in its practices and develop international youth projects. Firstly, we will provide an explanation of the tools Esplac offers us. Secondly, we will make a description of the different kinds of international youth projects that can be developed. And finally, we will shortly introduce the kind of support we can receive, regarding fundraising and training, in order to examine in depth the details of the institutions and available programmes.

4.1.The tools provided by Esplac: International Cooperation Area

The International Cooperation Area of Esplac (ACI) is a space to participate and to promote multidisciplinary pedagogy. Regarding participation, it promotes the presence and action of its members outside Catalonia. Regarding pedagogical promotion and action, it pursues the main objective of connecting Esplac’s pedagogical youth work to that of youth work platforms and international institutions. Thus, it is the main training and information tool of the Federation which internationalizes the voluntary work of the esplai. The ACI helps us to find the international trainings we wish and it advices us on our first international adventures. Those who assume the international represen-

How can we incorporate internationalism into the esplais activities? Participation tools at our disposal tation of Esplac come out from the ACI. But the Area is not just an informative tool. The ACI is, above all, a participation and exchange space constantly under development.

FAQ: How can I contact the International Cooperation Area of Esplac?

I can contact with the International Cooperation Officer at any time at international@esplac.cat.

We can work on internationalism from our esplai without necessarily participating in the ACI, of course. However, our participation in the ACI will allow us to improve our work and our projects, as it will provide us with lots of tools and experiences from other esplais or Esplac itself, and it will give us the chance to raise our questions. The Area pretends to share the information and experience of all the member esplais and of Esplac, as well as put the youth leaders in contact with the international youth work. It is, therefore, a tool which is specially designed to help us internationalize ourselves as esplais and as individuals!

The participation in the ACI allows us, at the same time, to contact directly the international representatives of our Federation.

As we have already said, this representation gives us access to interesting information and training and gives us the chance to share experiences and to have a say in the decisions which affect us as young people.

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Internationalism! A guide for eager minds 4.2. What kind of international projects can we develop?

This Esmolet deals with international projects in general, it does not specify the kind of projects we can develop. In the following paragraphs we will define the kind of projects we can draw up from the esplai and those in which we can participate, improving our educational task. We have to bear in mind, as we will see in the next chapter, that these projects are supported by international institutions.

“International exchanges are usually similar to the summer activities carried out by the esplais and, therefore, the preparation and documentation required are very similar”

• International youth exchange (bilateral, trilateral and multilateral): this kind of international activity can be carried out abroad or at home. It is addressed to children and youth from at least two different countries. If they come from two countries we talk about a bilateral exchange, if they come from three countries we talk about a trilateral exchange and if there are more than three countries involved we talk about a multilateral exchange.

International youth exchanges are usually similar to the summer activities carried out by the esplais and, therefore, the preparation and documentation required are similar. One of the advantages of international youth exchanges is that, compared to training courses, they allow most of the members of the esplai to participate in an international experience directly.

• International representation (networks and thematic meetings): Throughout this manual we have tackled repeatedly the international representation of Esplac. An active representation requires a formal representation of the association in ordinary and ex-

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traordinary encounters and meetings of different international youth networks. At the same time, Esplac is invited to participate in thematic international meetings to bring its point of view or its experience in the relevant topics tackled. Being present both in youth networks and thematic issues shape Esplac’s international representation.

• Participation in specific international training programmes: Some international institutions develop training activities for leisure-time education in which we can participate. These are normally quality-based activities and give us the chance to work during some days on a specific issue (such as education in intercultural learning, Human Rights, conflict resolution, etc.). The aim of these activities is to train those who work everyday within educational youth organizations. The trainers of these activities are normally people who have been (or still are) involved in youth work, with consistent theoretical and practical backgrounds; thus these trainings are especially interesting for the youth leaders of the esplais.

• International seminars: The seminars are those activities focused on specific issues, in which the participants use to be experts of the issue tackled aiming to put in common different experiences, that is to say, to share experiences on a specific field to make concrete proposals progress (normally educational ones).

Therefore, the participants are expected to provide a clear and elaborated view on the subject of the seminar in order to contrast it with the other experts. However, we do not have to mistake

“The aim of these activities is to train those who work everyday on educational youth work”

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Internationalism! A guide for eager minds these seminars for certain exchanges or training projects which are sometimes called “seminars” too.

• Cooperation projects: The NGOs define cooperation projects as those aiming at improving the life conditions of the South countries.

These organizations make a difference between projects of cooperation for development and projects of awareness-raising in the North.

The former develop directly a concrete action on a South country.

The latter, however, are local awareness-raising projects aiming at having an impact on South countries thanks to the North countries’ public awareness. As set forth previously, Esplac’s view of cooperation may differ from the projects carried out by the organizations which work exclusively in the cooperation sphere.

FAQ:What do we understand by South countries and North countries?

The South countries were previously called Third World, that is, the poorest countries in the world. The North countries, on the contrary, are the rich ones. The debate on what are the most suitable expressions is still alive, but there seems to be a consensus to use the expression South countries and North countries.

• Network projects and/or long-term projects: In a long-term project we set a continuous work with a partner following certain objectives to be achieved in the mid and long-term. For instance, the 10-year project developed by Esplac with an esplai

How can we incorporate internationalism into the esplais activities? Participation tools at our disposal from Maglaj (Bosnia and Herzegovina). The long-term projects can be easily carried out in a network, that is to say, with the participation of different youth organizations and/or institutional partners; they are normally developed in the framework of an international platform and usually tackle a very specific subject.

A good example of this kind of project is the international campaign for the fight against discrimination: all different, all equal (http://alldifferent-allequal.info).

4. 3. Who will give us support to develop an international project?

In this section we will explain the two kinds of resources offered by institutions: financing and training. In the next paragraphs we will briefly introduce the institutions and the programmes we have at our disposal and which offer us this kind of support.

4.3.1. The support of international institutions: financing and training When we wonder about the kind of support we can receive from international institutions we mainly think of financing. This support is very important but we have to bear in mind that the institutions also offer us the opportunity to participate in very interesting specific training courses. Therefore, we would like to clarify the difference and importance of these two kinds of support. • Financing: In the next section we will see different institutions which offer financing support programmes to develop international projects. However, it is very important to ana-

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Internationalism! A guide for eager minds

“It is very important to analyse in depth the kind of project we want to develop to submit the application form for financing support to the most appropriate programme and institution�

lyse in depth the kind of project we want to develop to submit the application form for financing support to the most appropriate programme and institution. For instance, if we wish to carry out an exchange in the European Union, the most suitable programme is Youth in Action, but if we want to develop a awareness-raising programme about the Millenium Development Goals, we may have to apply for other kinds of programmes at local and/or regional level. At the same time, we have to remember that our local institutions (city halls, provincial councils, governments of the autonomous communities in Spain and local youth councils) also offer us financing possibilities. If we do a hosting programme, that is, an exchange in which a group of children and young people from all over the world come to our country, it might be interesting to study the partnership and support possibilities offered by our local insititutions.

FAQ:What are the Millenium Development Goals?

The Millenium Development Goals are the agenda agreed by the leaders of the countries of the world at the Millenium Summit (2000) in order to reduce poverty and have an impact in the eradication of its consequences. This worldwide agenda was agreed by the United Nations Organization and it is developed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNPD), http://www.undp.org/spanish/mdgsp/.

FAQ: Is it difficult to fill in a financing application?

When we think of submitting a financing application to an international institution, we often believe it will be difficult to fill it in. Nothing further from reality. Financing programmes use to have a manual which explains in detail how to fill in the corresponding forms. At the same time, the forms and the information we are required are very similar to the summer activity cards we do at Esplac. Moreover, both these cards and the application forms are a good tools that help us to structure the projects in order to achieve our educational goals.

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FAQ: Can we submit different application forms for the same project?

Yes! In fact this is a very advisable practice in many cases as the institutions normally subsidize a part of the project, but not all of it necessarily. This practice is possible because many institutions share some priorities. It is important to bear in mind, however, that we have to lay down our aim and objectives educational goals very clearly and then find the institutions in which best fits our project to ask for the necessary financial support. • Training: As set forth previously, training programmes are another kind of support we offer. In the next section we will analyse in detail the training programmes in which we participate, but we would like to underline that these courses are very useful and high-quality. Some institutions, such as the Council of Europe, are specialized in the offer of training courses regarding different subjects related to educational youth organizations. The participation in these courses allows us to study in depth a specific subject with qualified trainers in Europe and to share our ways of working with the members of other organizations. Moreover, the participation in these courses allows us to contact partners with whom we will be able to work in the future. It is important to bear in mind, however, that the participation in these courses is usually individual. This is why it is crucial that the person representing our NGO will pass on the new learnings and practices to the rest of the members of the esplai. There is no doubt that this is one of the best ways to internationalize our educational practices.

“It is crucial that the person representing our NGO will pass on the new learnings and practices to the rest of the members of the esplai�

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Internationalism! A guide for eager minds

4.3.2. Institutions and programmes which support international projects In the following lines we introduce a list of institutions which give support to international projects together with their programmes and financing guidelines, if any.

“The European Commission, one of the four main institutions of the European Union, counts on a specific programme for international youth work: the Youth in Action programme”

• European Commission – Youth in Action programme and other related programmes: the European Commission, one of the four main institutions of the European Union10, counts on a specific programme for international youth work: the Youth in Action programme. This programme is, without any doubt, one of the main financing channels for youth international projects. It is aimed at giving support to youth mobility projects and non-formal education in the EU for young people between 13 and 30 years old. Thirty-one European countries participate in this programme which gives financial support to the development of international exchanges, European Voluntary Service (EVS) and training courses, among other kind of activities. The Youth in Action programme is coordinated through the national agencies of each Member State in the EU. This programme, however, is not exclusively European as it includes neighbouring partner countries and other partner countries of the world. Moreover, the Commission has created eight resources centres with different national agencies. Theses centres are called SALTO-YOUTH and their 10-“The European Commission, one of the four main institutions of the European Union, counts on a specific programme for international youth work: the Youth in Action programme”

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goal is to provide resources (especially educational ones) to improve the projects developed in the framework of the Youth in Action programme. They also offer training courses, pedagogic tools, information and good practices, databases and contacts of possible partners.

FAQ: What is a National Agency?

A National Agency (NA) is the Governmental body in each EU-Member State which coordinates the implementation of the Youth in Action programme in the territory of the Member State. Therefore the functions of the National Agencies vary from the reception and evaluation of the financing applications, to the support and information for the associations to participate in the programme. In Catalonia, the International Service of the General Secretariat for Youth develops the tasks of the NA (http://www.gencat.cat/joventut > Relacions internacionals) , despite the State agency is in Madrid.

• The Council of Europe – Directorate of Youth and Sport: The Council of Europe (CoE) was created in 1949 and it consists of 47 countries including almost all the countries of the European continent. This organization aims: • to protect human rights, pluralist democracy a nd the rule of law; • to promote awareness and encourage the development of Europe’s cultural identity and diversity; • to find common solutions to the challenges facing European society; • to consolidate democratic stability in Europe by backing political, legislative and constitutional reform.

The Directorate of Youth and Sports (DYS) is in charge of youth policy and programmes, and it offers several resources.

It is important to bear in mind that the CoE’s perspective is focused on non-formal education. At the same time, the DYS lays down certain priority areas every two years. For instance, the priorities for the two-year period 2010-2012 are: Human rights and democracy: youth policy and youth work promot-

“The CoE has a Youth Directorate, an exclusive department for youth policy and programmes, which offers several resources”

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Internationalism! A guide for eager minds ing the core values of the Council of Europe; Living together in diverse societies: youth policy and youth work promoting intercultural dialogue; Social inclusion of young people; Policy approaches and instruments benefiting young people and children. The resources offered by the CoE can be classified as follows: • Financial resources: the CoE has different programmes and credit lines for international projects. These are the main programmes: the credit lines of the European Youth Foundation (EYF), the Solidarity Fund for Youth Mobility (FSMJ) and study sessions.

• Training resources: the CoE is well-known internationally thanks to its high-quality training resources, both regarding the activities it develops and the ones it offers to associated young people, and the pedagogical material it elaborates. The training resources are managed by the European Youth Centres (EYC) which are in Strasbourg (France) and Budapest (Hungary).

“The North-South Centre has the objective to study in depth the training and information regarding interdependence between the South countries and the North countries in the framework of the CoE values”

• The North-South Centre: The European Centre for Global Independence and Solidarity, known as the North-South Centre, was created in 1989 by the Council of Europe with the aim to encourage cooperation and North-South solidarity.

The North-South Centre has the objective to study in depth the training and information regarding interdependence between the South countries and the North countries in the framework of the CoE values. The North-South Centre has a Youth programme focused on the promotion of the role of the youth and their organizations as actors of global development.

This programme works in the framework of a permanent dialogue between organizations and international youth platforms from the North and the South. In order to promote the role of youth in the interdependent development of the world and favour the creation of stable partnerships, the Youth programme of the North-South Centre develops several training and network-creating activities. These are some examples of activities where we can participate: University of Youth and Development, training courses on global education, seminars and workshops on youth participation in the development and exchanges of best practices, and so on. Therefore, the

How can we incorporate internationalism into the esplais activities? Participation tools at our disposal North-South Centre offers very interesting training resources regarding development and Global Education. Further information at: http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/nscentre • Catalan Government – The Youth Secretariat, the Catalan Agency of Cooperation for Development and the Secretariat of Foreign Affairs: The Catalan Government has three institutions which support youth international projects: The Youth Secretariat (SJ), the Catalan Agency of Cooperation for Development (ACCD) and the Directorate for the International Projection of Catalan Organizations (DPIOC). Firstly, the SJ, as its name indicates, works for the Youth Policy of the Catalan Government and has a specific department for international youth work. This department is the National Agency for the Youth in Action programme. Apart from that, it offers specific training courses and financial support to certain international youth projects specially using the joint subcommittees programme. Secondly, the ACCD has an annual call for cooperation projects and offers courses on cooperation for development. Since 2005, however, it signed an agreement with the SJ in order to start a specific credit line of cooperation for development projects of youth organizations. Finally, the DPIOC has an annual programme to support Catalan organizations internationally recognised in worldwide platforms (federations, movements, etc.). This programme consists of two budgetary lines financing the development of platform initiatives and the participation in international multilateral institutions.

Esplac and other Catalan NGO internationally recognised usually apply for the first budgetary line to cover expenses like membership fees, translation of self publications, attendance to statutory meetings or the establishment in Catalonia of the platforms central office.

• The Catalan Fund of Cooperation to Development: The Catalan Fund of Cooperation to Development is an organization made up of Catalan city halls and other regional bodies, which give a part of their budget to finance actions for Cooperation for Development and Solidarity aimed at the South countries. The Catalan Fund of Cooperation manages the economic resources together with the associated institutions; it is the coordination instrument of the effort made by Catalan city halls in case of an emergency situation, specially regarding post-emergency and

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“The Catalan Fund of Cooperation to Development is an organization made up of Catalan city halls and other municipal bodies, which give a part of their budget to finance actions for Cooperation for Development and Solidarity actions with the societies of the most disadvantaged countries”

“Municipal associations and regional associations support certain international projects”

reconstruction; it promotes, in Catalonia and in the developing countries, the creation and consolidation of an active civil society committed to the values of human development and human rights, by financing projects which give priority to direct participation of the beneficiary population and by giving support to awareness-raising and educational projects done by Catalan associations. This is why the Catalan Fund of Cooperation gives economic support to cooperation projects designed by Catalan associations in the South or in the North (awareness-raising).

• Municipal and regional associations: municipal associations (such as city halls) and regional associations (such as provincial councils and regional councils) support certain international projects. Some of these institutions have fixed support programmes for youth projects, while some others do not have stable calls but provide help on specific issues. This is why it is important to work with our closest governmental bodies in order to analyse together if they can help us to develop an international activity. This support can be either financial or logistic or even regarding the implementation of an international activity. Some governmental bodies, such as the Barcelona City Hall, have stable financing policies, such as the project Barcelona Solidària. Other local governmental bodies organize and collaborate in international municipal projects in which the associations are sometimes allowed to participate.

FAQ: Would you like to work with Asia? Basic details of the Foundation Asia-Europe The Foundation Asia-Europe was created in 1997 and it is a non-profit organization with the seat in Singapore. It aims at the promotion of the knowledge and understanding between Asia and Europe. This Foundation has created the informal network of Youth Cooperation Asia-Europe (AEYC) which has the objective of creating bonds between the youth of both continents. This is why the AEYC promotes exchanges between the young people of both continents using different activities such as forums, meetings and training courses. For further information http://www. asef.org/aeyc/.

How can we incorporate internationalism into the esplais activities? Participation tools at our disposal Basic ideas... Chapter 4 There are different participation and support tools in order to introduce our esplai into international activities and develop international projects. We have to bear in mind that we have two kinds of resources at our disposal: TRAINING:

FINANCING:

High-quality specialized programmes

We have to submit our application to the institutions and different programmes depending on our objectives: importance of a proper needs analysis

Possibility to create partnership networks Importance to pass on the knowledge acquired in these trainings to the esplai

It is advisable to submit several applications for the same project Each programme has its forms and manuals to make the application process easier

This support can be offered from Esplac (International Cooperation Area) and from different kind of institutions. These are some of the most important ones: • European Commission – Youth in Action programme and other related programmes • Council of Europe –Youth Directorate • North-South Centre • Catalan Government (Generalitat) – the Youth Secretary and the Catalan Agency of Cooperation to Development • The Catalan Fund of Cooperation to Development • Municipal and regional associations There are different kinds of international projects: international exchanges; international representation in networks and thematic meetings; international training programmes; international seminars; cooperation projects and network and/or long-term projects, among others.

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Chapter 5 – The importance of continuity and replacement in international youth work The aim of this chapter it to introduce the debate on the continuity, the transfer and the replacement of the international action developed by Esplac and the esplais. This is a very important debate because if we know what has been done previously, we will be able to continue the progress of internationalization in our association. This is why we will start speaking about the problems of the information transfer and we will present the tools which help solving them, and we will then go into the debate in depth, discussing about the bond between the international action and the importance of the replacement in this field.

5.1. Experience and information transfer in international youth work

As we have seen through this Esmolet, Esplac is an association with an important experience in international youth projects. It has been present internationally for a lot of years, its members have participated in several exchange experiences, projects and international training sessions. However, we know that one of the challenges of youth organizations in general is the information and knowledge transfer and the continuity of the projects initiated by our predecessors at the association and at the esplais.

This is why we want to underline the importance of making the most of Esplac’s experience as a federation and that of its esplais in order to be able to implement international projects today. For

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this reason, we would like to present a reflection of the typical problems involving the international youth work regarding the information transfer, and we suggest some possible solutions.

• Information transfer and project continuity: As we know, information transfer is one of the main problems in youth work. Sometimes, there is not a good transfer and knowledge of the actions previously developed by the associations. Despite this is a general problem in youth organizations and it affects all the spheres of action at the esplai, we can affirm that the problem gets especially bigger as far as the international work is concerned; these are some of the reasons: • Those who participate or who are in charge of longterm projects are no longer part of it or they do not do a good transfer. Then, we are involved in an international project where we do not know what the role of our federation or esplai is.

• Those who participate in a training activity do not always do a proper transfer of the knowledge acquired.

• Those who have represented the federation leave their position without an imminent replacement, which causes a lot of information to be lost.

• We do not always have all the information of the projects previously developed and the partners with whom the association has worked.

“Information transfer is one of the main problems in youth work”

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Internationalism! A guide for eager minds These hypothetical situations (which are often real) become more evident by the fact that international contacts often turn into personal contacts. Therefore, in international youth work, each association is identified with one or two persons (the most active ones) and when they leave, a lot of information, and sometimes even the partner’s trust, is lost for the association.

“If we want to make the most of the past experiences and let our international learnings be useful in the future of our association, there are different tools which allow placing them in common”

• Tools to solve information transfer problems: We have just identified the causes of the difficulties of information transfer regarding international projects. If we want to make the most of the past experiences and let our international learnings be useful in the future of our association, there are different tools which allow placing them in common. We strongly recommend you to use them, as you will be reinforcing Esplac’s capacity to act, as well as that of your esplais, and you will allow action coherence and the quality of our educational task will be improved. These are some of the tools: • Minutes and reports: the minutes of the meetings are an indispensable tool for our esplais’ smooth running. Therefore, it is advisable to write the minutes of the international activities and meetings we participate in, in order to save all the information. At the same time, it is absolutely indispensable to do an evaluation and a report of the international projects we develop or in which we participate. These reports shall include information on the association, programme and content, and the evaluation of the activity (have we achieved our goals?). So, we have to write a good report, like the ones done at the esplais for summer and yearly activities. We recommend you to add a section for the internationalist evaluation: relation and work with the partners, group reaction and evolution (especially in the cases of multicultural groups), and the learnings that can be incorporated in the esplai’s daily routine.

• Training activities and information transfer meetings: Usually, just one member of our association participates in training activities. Then, the problem of how this person will transfer the knowledge acquired is raised.

One of the options is to do transfer meetings where one

The importance of continuity and replacement in international youth work

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explains the activity and offers the documents to the esplai. This practice will allow the rest of youth leaders to put into practice the knowledge and the educational practices gained in the training. If the training has been particularly interesting or the issue tackled is especially important for our esplais, anyone can suggest short training sessions to learn the new educational practices and to think of the possibility to move them into our daily routine at the esplai.

• The personal replacement: When we are actively involved in international projects and networks, we meet personally a lot of partners. It is important, therefore, in case we have a position of responsibility and we expect to leave it soon, to do a transfer of the contacts and an introduction of the person who will take over. This practice will allow the transfer of personal information and, at the same time, an image of coherence and responsibility of Esplac’s international action and that of its esplais. And it will make things easier for the person who takes over, of course!

• Participation in the International Cooperation Area: This is another tool that Esplac puts at the esplai’s disposal. As we have previously explained in depth, this is the space where youth leaders and associated members of Esplac interested and involved in the internationalization of our association gather together and share their reflections and experiences. It is, therefore, a stable and accessible tool which allows proper information transfer, the proper experience gathering of our association and the coherence of our international action.

Obviously, these tools do not exclude themselves, quite the opposite! Their combination allows an ideal transfer and makes the international adventure easier for those who want to take their first steps in it. Therefore, you have to think that international activities do not end when we arrive at the airport! When we get home the task of internationalizing our association begins, as well as that of multiplying and disseminating our international learning.

“International activities do not end when we arrive at the airport! When we get home the task of internationalizing our association begins”

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Internationalism! A guide for eager minds 5.2. Future challenges: the importance of replacement

The replacement is a key element to achieve the internationalization of our association and to make the most of our international action. It is so important that we would like to debate this issue in depth, introducing a double aspect in the discussion: the replacement of international leaders and the replacement in our esplais thanks to international activities. “It is very important to evaluate, as esplai and as individuals, what level of participation and effort we want to give to the international action�

• The replacement of international leaders: Any member of the esplai is able to and has the tools at his/her disposal to be initiated into the international youth work, but it is important to bear in mind that this sector might demand a specific training and participation. As we have seen, we have at our disposal the necessary tools to develop an international project and/or participate in projects and trainings organized by other associations. We have to remember, however, that if we really want to internationalize our educational task, we need a very active and constant participation in order to know and evaluate the practices and debates we can discover thanks to our participation in international youth work. At the same time, we have to know in depth the international networks if we want to have an influence through our principles on them. For this reason it is very important to evaluate, as esplai and as individuals, what level of participation and effort we want to give to the international action. If we decide that internationalism is one of our main priorities, we have to be ready to take over the members of our association, who have previously chosen the same path. The replacement of international leaders is, therefore, especially important and implies a continuous commitment and a training will in the mid-term, like in the other spaces of participation. But, obviously, it is a gratifying path that offers us a wide range of knowledge and experiences!

The importance of continuity and replacement in international youth work

• The replacement in our esplais thanks to international activities: As we know, the problem of replacement not only affects the international sphere, quite the opposite, it is one of the permanent debates in our esplais. More than once, however, the implementation of activities and international participation have played an important motivation role in order to encourage the young people of our esplais to take responsibilities as youth leaders. As we have discussed throughout the book, the implementation of international activities implies some knowledge (which we hope to have put at your disposal), but it has to be complemented by a high level of motivation of the members of the esplais.

The possibility to develop a different educational activity, in another country, with a multicultural group and with an international partner is a particularly motivating challenge. But motivation does not end with preparation, it increases in the execution of the project, thanks to this learning through contrast that we do of our educational practices and those carried out around the world. When we compare our way of working with that of other partners, we discover their originality and importance. This learning through contrast, which is part of any international project, will motivate most of the members of our esplai to continue with our educational task and face the challenge of internationalizing our practices. Therefore, we do not have to underestimate the contribution of internationalism to the participative health of our esplais!

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“More than once the implementation of activities and international participation have played an important motivation role in order to encourage the young people of our esplais to take responsibilities as youth leaders”

“We do not have to underestimate the contribution of internationalism to the participative health of our esplais!”

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Internationalism! A guide for eager minds

Basic ideas... Chapter 5 Information transfer and project continuity is a particularly important problem in the international task of our association.

PROBLEMS:

TOOLS::

Lack of continuity of the representatives

Writing of minutes and reports of all international actions

Bad information transfer Lack of imminent replacement of the representatives Lack of information regarding projects and/or partners

Information transfer meetings Activities and meetings to put into practice the learnings of international trainings Proper personal replacement

If we want to guarantee a proper replacement of our representatives and international leaders and international leaders we need an active and continuous participation in the international field. This is not contradictory, however, with the fact that all the members of the esplais have the chance and the tools to work in this field. At the same time the activities and the international participation might be a good tool to guarantee and to strengthen the motivation of the members of our esplai.

Glossary Glossary ACI: International Cooperation Area, Esplac Hosting: International project organized by the esplai, which implies hosting of a group of young people from abroad National Agency: Body appointed by each Member State to manage the different generations of Youth Programmes of the European Commission CEJ: European Youth Centre CoE: Council of Europe Sending: International project in which the esplai is hosted by an association of another country Experiential learning: Pedagogical methodology based on learning from a specific experience, analysing four processes: experience, reflection, abstraction and application (of the learning drawn from a new reality) International Exchange: International project, either hosting or sending International Organization: network of youth NGO active in more than one country. In case they want to become members of the YFJ, they must be present at least in eight countries Partner: Organization or group of organizations with which we do a project and with whom we share common principles Pool of Trainers (PoT): Working group of the YFJ made up of European non-formal education trainers (continental scope) Bilateral project: International project which involves two partners Multilateral project: International project which involves more than three partners Trilateral project: International project which involves three partners UE: European Union Youth Forum Jeunesse (YFJ): European Youth Forum. European platform made up of National Youth Councils and International Non-Governmental Youth Organizations Youth in Action: European Commission programme addressed to youth organizations, in force between 2007 and 2013

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Internationalism! A guide for eager minds