Training Course
06 - 15 June 2022
Vatra Dornei, Romania
“Make E+ducation for YOUth” is an Erasmus+ international training course, with partners from 7 European countries:
Romania, Turkey, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Croatia.
Romania, Turkey, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Croatia.
It has a period of 8 days dedicated to the implementation of activities between 07–14 June 2022
(6 - 15 June with travel days included). The location for activities is Vatra Dornei, a small picturesque mountain resort in the Carpathian Mountains of Northern Romania.
The group present at the activities will be 26 youth workers.
(6 - 15 June with travel days included). The location for activities is Vatra Dornei, a small picturesque mountain resort in the Carpathian Mountains of Northern Romania.
The group present at the activities will be 26 youth workers.
We need the following number of persons from each country:
Latvia: 4 persons
Latvia: 4 persons
Lithuania: 3 persons
Estonia: 3 persons
Turkey: 4 persons
Croatia: 3 persons
Bulgaria: 4 persons
Romania: 5 persons
All selected participants should be over 18 years old. There is no upper age limit.
Experience in the field of youth is needed, if it is at basic level.
A medium level of English is needed.
We have noticed that those who work with young people prefer homogeneous groups, often avoiding including young people with limited opportunities, unless they work in a specialized NGO. Our experience and our partnership on inclusive activities has given us a large-scale picture on this topic, which makes it clear to us that including young people with reduced opportunities in our youth projects greatly enriches the program and offers long-term benefits. long, not only for the group, but also for the communities, creating and promoting sustainable and inclusive models and methods. Based on these beliefs and values, which we want to promote in the field of youth internationally, which is based on the urgent need for inclusion (on both sides).
Also, through “Make E+ducation for YOUth” we will encourage intercultural communication, cultivate non-judgmental thinking, stimulate tolerant and cooperative attitudes, thus contributing to building a more inclusive society. The purpose of our activities is to educate youth workers in the spirit of inclusion, multiculturalism, promoting intercultural dialogue and developing tolerant and respectful attitudes.
To dig into the topic, we will use the following non-formal methods:
getting to know each other and teambuilding methods;
idea generation and grouping methods: brainstorming, star-busting, mind-mapping;
methods for presentation of ideas and information: interactive presentation, visualization, graphic facilitation;
methods of studying a topic/problem: research, analysis and synthesis, case study;
methods for organizing discussions – group discussions, debates, open space;
educational games;
reflection;
public speaking;
dramatic, experiential and learning by empathy methods: improvisation, drama, symbolic framework, educational theater, role play;
practical learning methods: street interview, community quest;
intercultural learning methods.
As a result of the activities, young people will develop multilateral thinking and more complex views on culture and religion, will overcome stereotypes and barriers. They will learn to respect various opinions and to understand different points of view, becoming more tolerant and oriented towards solving problems in a constructive way, avoiding extreme attitudes. Subsequently, youngsters will perpetuate these attitudes and behaviors in their daily environments, in the community, in families, at work.
Activity schedule
Day 0 06 june
Arrival day to Cluj Napoca
Day 1 07 june
Getting to know each other
Expectations, Fears, Contributions
Erasmus+ & Youthpass - beginning
Group Contract
Family groups (reflection time)
Cultural night
Day 2 08 june
Team Building activities
Youth workers, who are we?
Public Café – about inclusion
Human Library - storytelling
Family groups
Cultural night
Day 3 09 june
Sharing session – best practices
Outdoor activities
Take a step forward
Family groups
Cultural night
Day 4 10 june
Plan, execute, verify
Pyramid challenge
Outdoor activities
Family groups
TEDx inspirational night
Day 5 11 june
Make E+ducation for Youth: planning activities in the community
Family groups
Free Night
Day 6 12 june
Activity with young people in the community
Cultural visits
Family groups
Free Night
Day 7 13 june
Project experience map
Flash mob preparation
Flash mob
Family groups
Costume Party
Day 8 14 june
Review of tools learned
Dissemination planning
Erasmus+ & Youthpass – closure
Evaluation
Closing Moment
Day 9 15 june
Departure day from Cluj Napoca
*The schedule could suffer modifications depending on the weather,
flow of the project and the availability of our local transport.
Travel
You will arrive in Cluj-Napoca (or simply Cluj, as most Romanians prefer to call it) at the Avram Iancu Airport (CLJ). It is the only airport in the city of Cluj-Napoca and the biggest one in Transylvania: http://airportcluj.ro/
To get to the city center you will use the public transport. Bus line 5 of the local public transit system CTP Cluj-Napoca runs between the airport and the city of Cluj-Napoca. The trolleybus departs approximately every 10 minutes between 05:00 a.m. and 22:00 p.m., on weekends and evenings every 15 to 20 minutes. The airport bus stop is located 200 metres from the terminal, along the ‘Strada Traian Vuia’. It is a short walk from the terminal, you first have to go to the main road and then to the right. In the centre of Cluj-Napoca, you can get off at the stops Constanta (Regionale CFR), Sora and Central. The bus ride to one of these bus stops in the centre of Cluj-Napoca takes an average of 25 minutes. The first and final stop of bus line 5 is known as Fierul and can be found in the street ‘Strada Cuza Voda’. Tickets are available at vending machines and service counters near the bus stops. Keep in mind, it is not possible to buy a ticket from the bus driver. The price is 2.50 RON for a single ride and 5.00 RON for two journeys.
Schedule for line 5: http://ctpcj.ro/index.php/en/timetables/urban-lines/linia-5
As additional advice, don’t change too much money inside the airport because of the bad rates compared to the exchange offices downtown (we recommend 5-10 euro maximum).
If you choose to take a taxi, it will be your own expense because taxi fares are not refunded
in our project, having available public transport.
The arrival day to Cluj-Napoca is 06 June 2022 at maximum 18:00 in the evening!
If for some reasons you cannot manage to find tickets with arrival in the morning or in the
after-noon please email us and we will find a solution for you!
The arrival hour is like this because we need to leave for Vatra Dornei in the evening by bus and we will travel through the night, arriving possibly after midnight on 07 June 2022!
You can also arrive 1 or 2 days earlier to visit Cluj-Napoca, on your own expense.
The meeting point for the departure to Vatra Dornei will be at an accessible location
in Cluj-Napoca and set later on.
The departure back to Cluj-Napoca will be on 14 June around midnight, so make sure you have flights that leave around 6:00 at the earliest on 15 June, because we will, again, travel through the night in order to reach Cluj-Napoca on 15 June!
You can also stay in Cluj-Napoca 1-2 days later and visit, on your own expense.
Here are a few online resources to guide you if you wish to spend some additional time
in Cluj-Napoca before/after the project:
https://www.romanianfriend.com/attractions/cluj-napoca-what-to-do-guide
http://www.visitclujnapoca.ro/en/
https://wikitravel.org/en/Cluj-Napoca
For more general details about Romania you can check out the following links:
https://www.facebook.com/romaniatravel.ro/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romania
http://www.romaniatourism.com/
Our currency is the Romanian Leu (RON): 1 Euro = 4.94 RON (in April 2022)
You need to send us by email (or bring with you) all original receipts, invoices, e-tickets and boarding passes!
We strongly encourage you to buy flights that have the possibility to do online check-in so that you can give us the return boarding passes as well, without sending them to us by post when you return home! Of course, if for your airline is not possible, you still need to send us the boarding passes by post after the project.
It is very important to have all your travel and financial documents with you for each person, otherwise the reimbursement is not possible! Reimbursement will be done by bank transfer in the account of your sending organization, according to the rules of Erasmus+.
The amounts of money for travel, per person, per country are as following:
275 €
180 €
275 €
275 €
275 €
275 €
*We do not cover taxi or private car transport costs.
The location
We chose a guesthouse in the outskirts of Vatra Dornei town that is close to nature, but also benefits fully from the comfort of modern life.
Here are links to the website and Facebook page of the guesthouse:
We will stay usually 2-3 persons in one room,
maybe some rooms will host a maximum of 4 persons.
We will have two persons in one bed because some rooms are designed as matrimonial rooms, but rest assure that the beds are big enough and each of you will have his own blanket.
There is signal for mobile and wi-fi internet connection throughout the establishment.
We will have our meals at the restaurant of our accommodation,
serving fresh eco products from the country side.
Attention: We will be in the middle of the Romanian mountain countryside in a place that serves traditional Romanian food. For vegetarians / vegans might be hard to adapt because here most meals contain meat and cheese products.
We will surely have vegetarian / vegan option, but please come with an open mind because you may need to eat a lot of potatoes, bread and polenta (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polenta).
We will have many typical Romanian meals with meat, cheese, eggs because most of the products served are from ecological farms and households in the area. Also, it will be permitted to consume alcoholic drinks in your free time and bring typical alcoholic drinks from your countries for the national evenings, with moderation.
If you wish to learn more about the town and the region you can check the following links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vatra_Dornei - town of Vatra Dornei
https://taradornelor.ro/en/ - the region
What to bring
Typical food and drinks from your countries! We will have traditional evenings during the project and basically every evening will belong to a different country. Unfortunately, we don’t have budget to reimburse you the expenses made for the things that you are bringing but try to be creative and funny! You can bring typical costumes, ornaments, leaflets, posters, flyers, food, sweets, alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks… and so on! There may be the possibility to cook something using the kitchen of the establishment.
Also, you can show videos, photos, sing music and dance traditional dances from your countries! We are counting on you to make these evenings as interesting as possible and promise to help you in any way that we can!!!
In October, weather can be cold in the mountains! Prepare for temperatures between
10 Celsius or more during the day and as low as 0 (or below zero) Celsius during nights. It is recommended to bring some warm clothes in case it rains or you wish to stay outside during the evening, when it gets chilly. It is not impossible to see snow in October, especially on the mountains around.
Towels and whatever you need for taking shower, washing, etc.
Good shoes and proper clothes for outdoors. The mountains of the area are very beautiful, so we might organize one hiking trip (8-9 hours, medium difficulty) with the entire group, so it would be mandatory to have proper hiking equipment if you wish to take part. More details about that will come in the weeks before the exchange because it is important to take into consideration the weather, temperature, amount of snow and other technicalities, before venturing on a hiking path.
Research about the situation of multiculturalism and problems of cultural minorities in your communities. It would be wise to look into the matter before coming to Romania and during the work sessions explain and give practical examples from your countries.
Although we can’t reimburse you the cost of health insurances, we strongly encourage you to make one! Romania is an EU member state, so an insurance for traveling here should be cheap and easy to make. If you have a European Health Card, please bring it with you, it is valid in our hospital system also and can replace a regular insurance.
About the organizers
Friend’s Society is a member of D.G.T. (Do Great Things) Network and its main targets are high-school and university students, young entrepreneurs and disadvantaged young people in Romania. We are a non-governmental organization that was born from the passion of a few youngsters who wanted to take action and make a change in the society they were living into. Our founding members have also the desire to give back all the things they have learned and experienced during previous years of volunteering.
Our mission focuses on national and international networking among young people, students, trainers and teachers of different nationalities, cultures and backgrounds. It tackles topics such as inter-cultural exchange, non-formal education, ecology, climate change, sustainable development, European citizenship and international politics (geopolitics). All these are added to facilitate the accumulation of experience by young people, through voluntary activities, allowing them to put into practice the theory learned in school.
Facebook DGT: https://www.facebook.com/DoGreatThingsNetwork/
Contact
COVID 19
During this youth exchange we will respect all the safety and protection measures related to covid-19, according to the legislation of the Romanian government at that given time, in June.