Practical Information

PRACTICAL I N F O R M A T I O N

What prior knowledge do you expect from me?

We don’t require any specific knowledge - only motivation to learn and to change the world! We will organise a training weekend for you in October and teach you everything you need to know. Interest in European news, politics and history, as well as experience in teaching or facilitating discussions will be a great plus.

What languages do I need to speak?

Most of UE Crash Courses are conducted in English, so is the training in the beginning and the communication within the project team. You should comfortably speak in English so that you can conduct workshops and facilitate discussions in it. Similar level of proficiency in official languages of Belgium (Dutch, French, German) will be beneficial because we sometimes conduct Crash Courses in them, but it’s not a requirement.

Any other requirements?

You should be between 17 and 25 years old so that highschool students can truly benefit from the peer-to-peer approach. You should also reside in Belgium for majority of the upcoming school year. If you reside elsewhere, you can still apply for Understanding Europe in your country, get in touch with us and we’ll direct you.

How time consuming is participation in the project?

First of all, you should be available to participate in the training weekend on 10-11 October 2020. After that, you are qualified to conduct Crash Courses in schools, but it’s not very time consuming. Experience from the previous years shows that each trainer will conduct, on average, 3-4 Crash Courses in a year. Note that most Crash Courses are scheduled in school hours (8:00-16:00), take 3-4 hours and you may need time to get to the location.

PRACTICAL I N F O R M A T I O N

When scheduling the Crash Courses we always take into consideration your availability. Aside from Crash Courses, you will also be asked to assist us in project management, but that should be limited to small tasks which shouldn’t take more than 1 hour per week (unless you volunteer to help more). We will also try to organise team meetings on weekends a few times per year but these will not be compulsory and will be planned with your availability in mind!

What are the benefits of becoming a trainer?

Most importantly, you learn a lot. You develop both hard and soft skills such as communication in English, teaching, discussions facilitation, project management, team work, time management and much more! Role of an Understanding Europe trainer is valuable on a CV and we are an international and well-recognized project. Furthermore, participation in the project allows you to build relations and contacts, and via membership in European Youth Parliament, gives you access to huge and diverse network of young people with similar values and experiences.

Will I get paid for being a trainer?

In Understanding Europe we are all volunteers and being a trainer is also a voluntary role for which you won’t be given a salary. However, we will cover all costs such as travel, food and accomodation related to your participation in the training in October, Crash Courses and team meetings. We will also provide you with all the materials you will need for conducting Crash Courses.

Don’t hesitate to contact us via understandingeurope@eyp.be information and apply through clicking here! for more