WOSOCOOP ACTIVITIES REPORT Casarsa della Delizia, 25th January 2015 – 1st February 2015
DAY 1 – Sunday 25th January 2015 Arrival day: The participants arrived to the hosting structure “Il Noce” where they were welcomed by the members of Consorzio Leonardo and a group of young volunteers. They were divided into small groups and discussed the programme, accommodation and hosting town with some of the local volunteers. During the evening, the trainer’s team (Aldo and Francesco) was introduced to the group and they opened the training session with ice break games in order to get to know each other. Afterwards, the participants enjoyed an intercultural dinner with different specialties.
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DAY 2 – Monday 26th January 2015 The morning was fully dedicated to the group building activities. The participants started to share information about them through the nonformal education activities and games. The afternoon was divided into three working sessions: expectations and fears; presentation of the programme and presentation of the participant organisations.
During the first session, the participants wrote down on post-it notes their fears and expectations regarding the week of the training course. The trainers together with the participants were divided into topic groups. As soon as the expectations were fulfilled and fears disappeared in the course of the training, everybody was encouraged to throw the post-it into the basket. The following session consisted in the presentation of the programme. Our trainers presented the plan of each daily session. The participants were invited to agree or disagree with the programme. In the last session, the participants got a creative task as they had to present their organizations on a flip chart paper. They explained their activities and projects to the entire group. At the end of the activity, the flip charts have been hanged on the walls (dining room) in order to be visible to all (participants, workers and visitors of the structure).
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After dinner the participants had the opportunity to meet the citizens of Casarsa della Delizia during the conference called “Youth of Europe�. This event was organized by the Youth Centre of Casarsa for its 20th anniversary. The conference hosted a representative of the Consortium Leonardo, the vice president of ALDA, a representative of Casarsa’s municipality and one of the Provincia di Pordenone. During the conference the project WoSoCoop was presented to the audience and then the participants described shortly their organizations. It was a moment of exchange of opinions about the Europe dimension and the youth work.
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DAY 3 – Tuesday 27th January 2015 The Tuesday morning started with a presentation of the Erasmus+ programme. Afterwards, the participants discussed the topic of social cooperation. The main objective of this activity was defining the concept of Social Cooperation. The participants were divided into 4 groups and they were asked to do a brainstorming about what is social cooperation. Group 1: Social work Cooperation between civil society and local authorities, including NGOs and individuals in the process of providing social care Exchanging experiences Analysing social clusters Volunteering Integration into labour market Integration of minorities Innovative ideas for labour market Capacity building Group 2: Social cooperation is based on reliable partnership, which aims at producing social change and it is not profit oriented. It involves people that are multipliers of the actions and can reach even more people. Social cooperation works for the integration of people with social and/or physical disadvantages and it helps in solving social issues. It respects the environmental sustainability and is supported by volunteers. Group 3: Improvement New ideas Crossing boundaries Collaboration Equality Awareness Sustainability Add value to community Skills Respect Exchanging experience and information 4
Hospitality Open-mindness Multiculturalism Activism Tolerance Volunteering and inclusion as factors inside of a socializing network. Group 4: This group divided the term into words “social” and “cooperation”. Social key words: needs, love, understanding, empathy, help, immigration, equal. Cooperation key words: living, meeting, responsibility, planning, networking, help, friendship, international, exchange, working, policy, institutions. Social cooperation key words: people, respect, trust, together, culture, education experience.
The results of this activity have been presented to the president of Consortium Leonardo - Mr. Luigi Piccoli. At the end of the presentations he gave his feedback to the groups.
The last session of the morning included a presentation about social cooperation in Europe. The participants watched some videos which contained outspoken experiences of social cooperatives in different European countries. After the Lunch break, it was pointed out the target groups of social cooperation. 5
Participants of the activity were divided into 4 thematic groups according to their preferences and interests. The groups’ topics to work on were: people with disabilities, migrants, youth, and adults. People with disabilities: Main subject matter of the discussion was the need for a set of tools and policies which can improve living conditions of people living with disabilities. Most of the participants emphasized the importance of the State as an actor which guarantees basic services of assistance and support for these persons. Nevertheless, common conclusion has been the great importance of association, NGOs and cooperatives at the local level (analyzed in the morning session) in order to meet locally rooted needs of the people. While the State can provide infrastructure, local actors may contribute to its functioning and maintenance as well as gathering local citizens’ claims and requests. Additionally, education was also a subject of the discussion. To be socially accepted and considered as normal is desirable for all people, including people with disabilities. The state and the local authorities should interact in order to guarantee social inclusion. Campaigns in schools and public events were identified as potential tool to educate the society on the issue of disabilities. Gamification (the use of game mechanics in non-game contexts to engage users in solving problems and increase users' self-contributions) was also proposed as a positive methodology in order to reach the results. After the working group session, the results were presented to the rest of the participants and were completed with the expertise of a sociologist. Migrants: Whereas the participants were given the opportunity to choose the working group to attend, a large share of them joined the group dedicated to migration issues. A constructive debate emerged from the attempts to identify determinants of the migration phenomenon. Discrimination and human rights violation based on gender, religion and political thought as well as search of better living condition in general were identified as frequent reasons. However, due of this variety of reasons two main types of migration have been identified as a matter of interest: voluntary migration and forced migration. Peculiarity of the former is the possibility to choose the final destination, whereas in the later people are forced to move abroad by external reasons, for example by war. Many different points of views and arguments were raised during the discussion. According to some participants, external reasons should not affect the possibility to choose. For instance, in case of the threat to democracy, people should make pressure on institution and domestic and international media in order to change the situation. In the contrary, some participants defended the view that it is acceptable to move to socially and politically more stable environment in case of emergency. The meaning of the words status and refugee has been discussed at this part. Finally, all participants agreed that most of the determinants of migration should be tackled by improvement of political, social and economic conditions in the countries of origin. As regards the destination countries, an effective process of integration should be guaranteed in order to avoid social clashes between migrants and local population which may feel threatened by those considered as different and as the others. Social cooperatives should play a key role in guaranteeing the integration of those who, for many different reasons, decided to 6
move into different country. A set of tools has been identified through the merge of new instruments with those already existing. The tools can be implemented into practice in form of language schools and sensitization campaigns. Among these instruments, participants agreed with the great potential of use of non-formal educational techniques often used in intercultural exchanges, in urban neighborhoods. Youth: The first discussion of the group consisted of the definition of youth, in particular which ages to consider when talking about the youth. Initially, the participants considered the ages between 18 and 25 but finally have agreed that youth starts at the age of 15-16 and the end cannot be determined. Afterwards, one part of the group focused on the issue of unemployment in relation to education. The education does not provide the same professional orientation to those who reached secondary education and those who continued with higher education. A lot of graduated people, indeed, do not work in their field of study. To solve this lack of orientation, internships and trainings should be present during secondary and university level education, in order to implement the theoretical knowledge in practice. The tools which can help this process could be trainings, camps, workshops, non-formal education and mobility of youth. Because of to these tools, young people could learn more about their competences and skills and use them in their life. The main conclusion of this group session was: It is crucial for the youth to develop competencies in order to be competitive in labor market and to take initiatives in social and political life of their community and country (local, national & European level). Adults: The group discussed various problems of adults, such as the age of retirement, economic independence and values and transmission of them to the youth. Participants shared their national experiences and contributed to a constructive discussion. After the exchange phase they agreed to present results in the form of a pyramid, similar to the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. On the bottom of the pyramid were placed the physiological needs represented as the equal access to health care. Afterwards the participants considered safety issues, especially the economic threats. They assumed that the pension funds should be guaranteed to everyone. Above the safety, there is emotional sphere placed in the pyramid, where lies the love and belonging to a community or family. Afterwards was included the self-esteem important for both the job and the personal life. On the top of the pyramid was placed the self-actualization. It is important for the adults to do things by themselves and manage their own life. Participants also admitted that the order of these needs can change according to the concrete situation. At the end they suggested some approaches that could help to encounter these needs. Volunteering can be useful for adults in order to meet the others and help those, who are in need. Furthermore, an interesting activity could be to become a part of the educational system and contribute to sharing traditional values with youth of their country. The Government, however, should do its part and give support (financial or not) to the adults who cannot afford a decent life standard.
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The debriefing of this activity was held by an expert, Mr. Eliano Fregonese, sociologist and advisor of the Social Observatory of Casarsa della Delizia. He explained to the participants that, nowadays, it is fundamental for associations and social cooperatives to do networking with public institutions. The Social Observatory was an example of this cooperation.
During the other half of the afternoon, the group was divided in two little groups. One group went to a study visit tour in Casarsa and the other in San Vito. They had the opportunity to see some place of interest and social cooperatives of Consortium Leonardo and to meet youth workers. They explained to them their jobs and activities. On one hand the participants were enthusiastic to see the realities and eager to understand more about this work-field. On the other hand the youth workers were very glad about the interest demonstrated by the participants.
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DAY 4 – Wednesday 28th January 2015 The morning session started with a “World café” activity. It was an interesting methodology which aimed to stimulate the discussion between the participants. As working materials were prepared 4 tables covered by paper - tablecloth. On each table, the participants could find coffee, fruit juice, water and glasses. As well, on each tablecloth was written a question about the social cooperation. The questions were: - How to promote youth entrepreneurship in the social field? - What communication strategy to better fit the needs of social cooperatives? - How to liaise with Las and local stakeholders - What profiles and competencies are required for social cooperatives?
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The results are: GROUP 1: How to promote youth entrepreneurship in social issues? From the very beginning, participants felt and expressed interest and a direct involvement in this issue. By sharing personal experiences they acknowledged the presence of common problems in each of the respective countries. Access to credit and loans has been identified as one of the main obstacle to youth entrepreneurship. In most of the cases, banks and credit institutions are inclined to consider innovative factors, main peculiarity for most of youth entrepreneurship, a weak point rather than a strength. Among these credit issuers, only few boast funds dedicated to finance start-ups and youth entrepreneurship although under very strict conditions. To simplify terms and conditions for new businesses run by young people to access credit has been indicated as possible mean to promote this kind of entrepreneurship. As specifically regards the promotion of entrepreneurship in the social field, the social cooperative model has been indicated as a model with high potential and easily adaptable to the needs of the youngsters. In this sense, specific informative campaigns would play a key role. Indeed, informing about advantages of social cooperatives can lead to new form of aggregation and progressively contribute in setting a legal framework for youth entrepreneurs to be considered as stakeholder in the dialogue with local authorities. TV shows, media, social networks can also bring positive contributions. While discussing the legal framework, most of the participants have complained about the lack of a registers of youth-workers, also European, by means of which there would be from one hand the acknowledgement of the profession, and on the other a system of quality certification. GROUP 2: What communication strategy to implement to fit the needs of social cooperatives? The importance of communication has been stressed also by several experts that contributed in the training. In most of the cases participants admitted that they have already faced many communication problems related to introducing themselves as youth workers or volunteer. In some experience a fundraising campaign without a communication strategy has led to a failure while in other experiences the most of difficulties concerned the involvement of youngsters in community activity. A definition of a “qualitative” communication strategy was set as first point of the group’s agenda. Features of the strategy have been identified as follow. A qualitative communication strategy should be: Direct: communication through social networks and IT communication tools should be preferred to the paper based and postal ones. Focused: attention to the target groups’ profiles. Different kind of approaches in terms of language style and tone should be considered. Charming: A communication campaign does not consist only of communicating an event, but also of making people interested in the activities of the organizers. In this sense, as in chain, every campaign is linked to the previous and following ones. 10
GROUP 3: How to liaise with LAs and local stakeholders Liaise with stakeholders and local authorities require efforts both in terms of communication and management. A general liaising frame gathering all the stakeholders was identified as a basic condition for implementing a good linking strategy. In order to ensure linkages between subjects with different characteristics and requirements, a primary role was given to the transparency factor. In fact, to connect and keep contacts with local authorities and stakeholders is above all objective. If the counterparty is not completely honest, the linking strategy is compromised at the base. At the same time it is necessary to identify a reliable contact person in the counterpart. However, a linking strategy is not limited only to management of public relations with members of the network. In fact, it is also about networking and connecting with potential new members, donors and partners. In this sense it would be appropriate to schedule attendance to at least four events per month, in order to have an up-to-dated overview of the situation. Nevertheless, some participants have correctly highlighted the fact that the attendance of an event has its costs (e.g. travel, accommodation exc.) It was suggested to include in the budget also some items serving for networking purposes. GROUP 4: What profiles and competencies are required for social cooperatives? After 20 minutes of brainstorming, the participants drafted a list of skills and competencies that are desirable to find into a social cooperative's workers' profile. Participants started reflecting on the fact that a social cooperative has to be able to perform some “social skills�. Teamwork attitude emerged as a must to fit the profile. Leadership attitude has been granted also an important role, even though has been clearly specified that to lead a group does not mean to command it. Ability to interact, open-mindedness, tolerance, respect are further features completing the profile. The educational level's issue also has been targeted during the brainstorming. Although in most of job advertisements it is requested to have a certain educational level in order to fit the job position, participants highlighted how most of the skills and competencies previously listed can be gained not only through school and university (formal education) but also and especially trough practical experience (e.g. volunteering) and non-formal techniques.
The debriefing was held by Mr. Luigi Cesarin expert in Social cooperation. He presented his life experience as social entrepreneur and he explained how to create a social cooperative. After the Mr. Luigi Cesarin’s intervention, it took place other 3 short presentations about associations and best practices from territory.
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The first presentation was about of the “Associazione Il Noce” (hosting organization) which is a volunteer association and they dedicate themselves totally to children, adolescents and families in need. The second intervention was held by two representatives of the “Osservatorio Sociale di Casarsa della Delizia” (Social Observatory), a group of organizations, schools and associations that are working in thematic committees (elderlies, decentralized cooperation, immigrants, time bank and sustainable development, youth, disability, minors, health). It had been one of the first social observatories in Italy (21 years old) and does a great job of networking between institutions and associations. The third presentation was about the “National Civil Service”. It is an Italian programme for young volunteers and it allows them to have an active role in the community by offering their skills to different sectors: assistance, civil protection, environment, cultural and artistic heritage, education and cultural promotion, peace and education. The session after the lunch break started with a funny game called the “Eggcercise”. The participants were divided into little groups. Each group had a boiled egg and some different materials (papers, scissors, straws etc.). The challenge consisted in building a structure that allowed the egg to fly down from a window without breaking. The members of the groups could not speak to each other. During the flight tests the groups where evaluated and they got points for different parameters. The participants really enjoyed the game and they had the possibility to improve a good non-verbal communication. After the activity, the group met an expert in social cooperation: Mrs. Giuliana Colussi. She explained about the Italian regulation regarding the social cooperatives and its different types. The most interesting part for the participants represented the social farming. She pointed out the therapeutic importance of farming for people with disabilities (from mental to physical). Also they showed interest for the organic agriculture and the positive influence of farming for people with special needs. The second part of the afternoon has been dedicated to territorial visits and its realities. The groups remained in the same composition as in the previous day but they changed the visiting objects between them. Two groups went to the municipality of 12
San Vito al Tagliamento and had a meeting with the mayor. The evening ended with a special dinner in a traditional restaurant, where the participants ate typical dishes from Friuli Venezia Giulia.
DAY 5 – Thursday 29th January This working group session has followed the introduction session of the European Voluntary Service. The introduction session was held by 2 EVS volunteers committed with the hosting organisation as well as by one expert in EVS projects management. While the expert’s contribution has been more focused into technical and administrative aspects of the mobility of volunteers, the 2 volunteers shared their personal and practical experience within the EVS. The question time that followed the introduction session has been occasion both to answer participants’ questions and to identify specific topics to be discussed in the following working group session. Participants were guided to identify and discuss the following topics: How to increase the visibility of EVS? How could we ensure quality control? How to best apply knowledge and competencies
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How to increase the visibility of EVS? The group discussion began with assessing how widespread was the knowledge of the EVS among participants. It came out that although some persons had already participated in the program as a volunteer and most of the participants they were somehow aware of the EVS existence, a significant part of the group had never heard about it. All were in agreement that the EVS was not enough promoted. The first proposal to give wider visibility to the program was to use the same media channels and tools used for similar initiatives (e.g. National Civil Service). Advertising through TV and radio has been proposed as most direct mean. Also informative campaigns in schools and youth centres has been suggested as positive attempt to inform as many youngsters as possible. Local association and NGOs should also be targeted by the informative campaign. Indeed many of these local actors, mostly those who works with local, regional and national funds, are not aware of the possibilities granted by the European Union. How could we ensure quality control? Participants acknowledged that they heard mainly positive experience about EVS. However, they highlighted also how common is to hear about unpleasant situation where volunteers where hired and kept in a passive situation, basically without a task to carry out. Indeed, it affects the quality of the experience and the programme itself. Without a quality control, it would not be possible to guarantee the same possibilities to all participants from all participating countries. In order to enhance the quality control system, all the different actors involved in an EVS project development should be addressed. National Agencies should control the suitability of the project description/report with the reality of volunteering process. Filed visits, better without prior notice, should be scheduled. There should also be set up a direct communication channel between participants and National Agencies to express problems and complaints. Sending Organisations should run the selection process toward a target group with skills and competencies best suiting the project and not limit to gather volunteers at random. Moreover, 14
once assessed multiple negative experiences related to one Hosting Organisation, this latter should not be considered for a future partnership any longer. Hosting Organisation have been considered as the pivotal point. Indeed their working methods are the premises for a quality project assessment. It is necessary for HOs to deliver a training to their Mentor in order to ensure a proper monitoring of the volunteers throughout all the volunteering period. Furthermore it is necessary to specify that volunteers must not be considered as “free workforce” as usually is. Furthermore a general monitoring system should be set up for all the organisation hosting an EVS. How to best apply knowledge and competencies? Even though an EVS certification is already provided in order to give volunteers references that might be helpful to certify skills and competencies acquired, the main problem is the acknowledgement of these certification by employers. Linked with the visibility topic the other group was working on, participants identified a visibility campaign targeting companies and employers as necessary to reach an acknowledgement of the EVS experience quality and its added value in working places. By convincing enterprises of the EVS experiences' contribution to shaping skills and competencies, it is likely that, in the long run, companies and employers might directly address NGOs, association and EVS projects’ actors while searching skilled candidates for their job vacancies. On the other side, volunteers must try to capitalise the time they spend abroad to create contacts and make networking so that they might boast in their professional future also feedbacks from those with whom they have been working during the EVS. Financial aspects Participants also engaged in the discussion about the financial aspects of the EVS. The first issue raised concerned the budget available for volunteers. In most of cases, in fact, the budget for the volunteers is not enough to cover all the subsistence’s expenses or to ensure a minimum quality of accommodation. In front of the scant pocket-money granted to volunteers, further financing tools should be provided. A contribution from the local authorities of the territory where the volunteer serves could be an example. The support of Local Authorities is, however, not intended to be strictly economic. In fact, also a contribution in terms of services would play an important role. A reduction in the use of public means of transportation or access to public facilities such as gyms and libraries would be appreciable. The idea presented below described is an additional 15
tool of intervention possible to cope with budget problems. "Adopt an EVS" is the name proposed for a campaign of support for European volunteers. Just as for the system of adoptions, EVS volunteers receive a little help from benevolent individuals willing to help those who, especially from difficult situations, are in fact excluded from the EVS opportunity. In exchange for support, the volunteers could commit to keep updated donors about his/her activities and results through blogs, email, photos, etc. The afternoon session had been dedicated to a cultural visit to Venice. The group had the great opportunity to have a guided tour made by two young guides in the “carnival city” and to discover its beauty and different curious spots.
DAY 6 – Friday 30th January The morning session started with a visit at the Municipality of Casarsa della Delizia. The participants have been welcomed by the mayor with whom they shared their impressions and feedback about the hosting town and as well about the social cooperation.
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For the second part of session, Aldo (trainer) held a presentation about the relationship between volunteering and soft skills for employment. The soft skills that people are developing during volunteering activities could perfectly match the requests of companies and enterprises. As a fact, people with a volunteering background have the capacity to adapt faster to any context.
In the afternoon the group left Casarsa and went to Pordenone. Firstly, they have met the President and the Director of Confcooperative Pordenone in its headquarters. Secondly, the participants had the great opportunity to visit the old municipality building of Pordenone and meeting the mayor with his counsellors. The reunion had been really interesting because it turned into a great exchange of opinions and ideas.
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The third part of the session took place in the “Centro Culturale Zanussi” which is a cultural centre. It offers the possibility to have language courses and European experiences. The representatives of the centre hosted the participants by explaining its history and activities. As a reward for everyone, the evening ended with a special dinner.
DAY 7 – Saturday 31st January The morning session started with an important theme as project drafting by developing ideas for future international projects. Every participant of the session was told to write an individual project using the structure of a solution tree. Each person had 3 euros to invest into the project of someone else project. The 5 winners explained their project proposals and then the others joined them according on their interests. Group 1 - Maja, Maria, Andrea, Francesca 18
Goal: To find an old building to be reconstructed into a school and free-time centre for 100 children from several countries, from 5 to 18 years of age children. Activities: • Find and reconstruct the suitable building • Get in touch with the local authorities/stakeholders • Train the staff • Identify children in need • Give children the access to formal education • Run workshops, trainings, camps on employability • When the children will be 18 years old they get out of the system, but they must be prepared for the life and should be integrated. Results: • Decrease number of homeless children • Decrease number of illiterate children • Decrease unemployment rate • Increase self confidence Impact: Integrated into the community Feedback from Aldo: Aldo suggested borrowing the building from another institution. There should be an activity in the project aiming at strengthening relationship with at least one stakeholder. The goal should be rephrased. How to write the expected results: it is better to use the past tense instead of the present/infinitive. More successful if they move from the local level and then reply the model into different countries, so gather together trainers that than can reply that in their countries. They did not find a funding instrument. Aldo suggested thinking about the European social fund. Group 2 - Seyda, Anguun, Ildirim, Sudaba, Goran, Larisa Target group - orphans The project gathers 4 partners from different countries which are supposed to start a social cooperative at the same time. Goal: to help people with disadvantages and integrate them into the society in order to give them a chance to be autonomous. Aldo rephrased the goal because in his opinion was not well set: to promote social inclusion with this target group doing this activity and expecting this result. Activities: Work with local authorities and orphanages Workshops: arts, sports, music, computer skills Seminars with businessmen and entertainers. Creating network. Work with companies for the employability of the youngsters. Building info and consultation centres. 19
Feedback: A lot of things that create confusion. There is no action plan (e. g. which kind of workshop, for which target group, how many people involved what is the result). In the partnership we cannot understand the role of each partner. Group 3 - Branka Ana, Alicia, Marco, Stribor, Dominik, Almedina, Orest They established a social cooperative with a lot of NGOs from different countries working on the tackling of the visibility of social cooperation. They have partners from 6 different countries and they will call also some external expert for some activities. After a field research they decided to make video about the 5W on social cooperation. Target group – high school students Activities: The promotion of the video will be done through: Webpage, social media, radio, tv, conferences, events. Training for the trainers in order to increase employability among the youngsters. Results: Decline in unemployment – 20% Impact: higher employability – 20% Feedback: confusion between goals and activities. They should rephrase and put the pillars in order. Group 4 - Dritan, Ketevan, Dino, Sara, Ina, Zoran, Martina. Aim: To promote the integration of disabled in Europe and Caucasus through specifically trained social and health care workers. Objectives: 1. Capacity building of health care and social workers 2. Developing a methodology 3. Establish a sustainable network 4. Adopting new methodologies Activities: Online consultations for developing methodology manual. Create a network (online platform, social media) Dissemination of the results Target groups: Social & Health care workers People with disabilities Partner countries: Albania, Czech Republic, Georgia, Macedonia, Spain, Bosnia Results: 20
Established network Methodology manual Trained workers Implementation in local level of the methodology Duration – 12 months. Feedback: the order of the objectives and activities could be changed. First you can do some manual and then you train them. But they reply that the manual is the product of the work of partnership and network of trainers. Try to individuate more countable results. He suggest also to select the trainers that work in different fields. Group 5 - Armen Mack, Ruzan, Harut, Hucha Aim: provide healthy food in schools. Partner countries –EU (Germany, Italy) -EECA (Armenia, Georgia) Steps: Establish social cooperatives in Georgia and Armenia with the help of the EU countries. With Erasmus plus – job shadowing. Implement a strategic plan. Evaluation Networking Activities: Creating direct marketing system between the producers and consumers Use the methods of organic food production Creation of local certification system by farms and households Cooperation with fair trade system Goals: Direct marketing Decreasing the risks by being able to resist to outside fluctuations Recognition of locally produced products Cooperation with fair trade system Results: Creation of flexible food system Production of healthy food and increase of diet quality Creation of the local production More participation into the system Impacts: 21
Increasing the supply of local food products for the schools Partially solving the obesity problem among the youth Facilitate the consumption of local products Diversification of the risks concerning the production. Feedback: It is not clear if it would be better first to invite the experts in Georgia and Armenia in order to start the business of social cooperatives and then train the farmers or vice versa. It would be good if there would be an association of farmers in the partnership, because they can bring the farmers to the training. There are a too much activities and the results and impacts are not so clear. After such an intensive morning session, the afternoon was dedicated to Youthpass certificates and the participants have been asked to fulfil in knowledge and skills developed during the training course. The last night had been an intercultural night with typical dances and traditions - event organized by a group of participants. They created a good atmosphere in order to share more about their traditions. In the same context, they received Youthpass certificates as recognition for their great work.
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DAY 8 – Sunday 1st February Last sharing session took place before the lunch on Sunday. It was the right moment to share all the feelings about the week and strengthen the network created in really 8 intensive days of work. During this activity the participants created a real net with a cord while sharing something personal about the experience.
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