"The ""PopulismMustNotTriumph"" project aims generally to increase political and civil awareness of young people and respectively improve their personal competencies. Based on the European values of developing unity in Europe, a total of six international seminars will be held throughout the project and their main focus will be on eliminating lack of awareness among young people about populist tendencies in Bulgaria and the European community. During the course of the seminars, participants will have the opportunity to exchange good practices on increasing their political and civil culture. The results in the form of videos and lectures, event analysis, publications and experts' opinions will be published in an accessible and understandable way on a special online platform. This will be of key importance so that as many young people as possible have access to information and thus help them develop themselves as a part of an active civil community. International partners ""Idee in Movimento"" and ""PROJUVEN"" were carefully selected based on their capability to organize educational events focused on exchanging good practices. Both partners have organized and participated in various youth projects and initiatives aiming to improve awareness and educate young people. Furthermore, both organizations acknowledge the seriousness of the issue the project aims to resolve and agree to fully engage as partners. Seminars will involve students and young people with different professional qualifications. The target group of the project are young people between the age of 18 and 29. Participants will be selected in advance and their achievements as well as their personal qualities will be thoroughly assessed. The selection itself will be in two stages: all candidates will first be selected based on their CV and previous experience in participating in youth projects and then they will have to attend an interview. The project will work on informing participants about populist tendencies in an accessible and understandable way through providing them with with thorough analysis of significant political events as well as proposing solutions to current challenges the EU deals with. During the first part of the seminars experts in the field will present an academic overview of the topic. The second part will be dedicated to informal education and activities. Participants will have the opportunity to expand their knowledge and develop their critical thinking by taking part in various interactive training sessions. They will be divided into teams and will have to defend their thesis in a debate. The uncontrollably spreading populist tendencies lead to destruction of statehood and interfere with building a long-term plan of political progress. Developing active civil self-awareness among participants in the seminars will establish a well-informed youth community able to attract supporters and benefit the civil community."

The project “Legal Education Academy” is mainly aimed at increasing legal knowledge among young people, thus improving their personal competences and political positions. Guided by the European values for the development of a united Europe, six (6) international seminars will be held within the project, which will focus on filling young people's lack of awareness of their fundamental rights and obligations and providing them with easy access to research by leading experts.During the seminars, lectures by University teachers and other speakers as well as videos, analysis of events, publications and expert opinions will be published in an accessible and comprehensible manner on a specially designed online platform. This will be crucial in order for information to reach as many young people as possible and help develop young people as members of an active, aware and legally competent civil society. Our main objective is that the knowledge and skills acquired during the activities organized by the Law Education Academy have a practical value for each participant.The international partners Idee in Movimento and PROJUVEN have been carefully selected. They have extensive experience in creating events for educational purposes and sharing good practices. They have organized and participated in numerous youth projects and initiatives aimed at raising awareness and educating young people, allowing them access to an objective and informed overview of the most important legal and political developments in Europe. Both organizations are fully aware of the responsible task the project aims to accomplish and are ready to invest a huge amount of time led by the idea that young people in Europe should have access to an objective overview of the fundamental legal rules that build us as societies, states and as a union with common legal values and foundations.Students and young people with different professional qualifications will participate in the seminars. The project is aimed at young people aged 18-29. Participants will be required to provide a personal biography as well as a cover letter motivating their choice of events they are interested in participating in. The selection of participants will be based on a precise system that aims beyond simply finding active participants in the project. Various mechanisms will be activated to ensure that what is learned during the seminar is multiplied by the participants back in their own community, and that it reaches as many people as possible.During the seminars, participants will be able to actively engage in in-depth discussions that involve informing them of all current and major developments occurring within the European Union from the perspective of law and policy. The safety and security of the participants will be a top priority for the organizers. During the transnational meetings, all possible measures will be taken to ensure the safety of the participants, to gather information on their specific needs and to identify measures to avoid conflict situations.The methodology for working with participants will be based on learning in a simple and accessible way the legal trends and providing a thorough analysis of major political events, as well as proposing solutions to the challenges facing the European Union. This will be realized as the first part of the seminars will be attended by experts in the field who will provide an academic overview of the topic. The second part of the seminars will be devoted to non-formal education and the activities of the participants themselves. Through a series of interactive trainings, participants will have the opportunity to deepen their legal knowledge, develop their critical thinking and thus be able to be an active partner in the dialogue on the future of Europe. The seminar will also include a debate to encourage all those involved to enter into disputes allowing them to defend their views through political, social and legal arguments.

"Основната идея на проект ""Иновативни подходи и неформални методи за насърчаване на творческия потенциал и предприемачески умения сред младите хора"" е насочена към стимулиране на младите хора за развитие на новаторско мислене, кариерно ориентиране и намиране на възможности за реализиране на собствените им идеи и потенциал. По време на изпълнение на дейностите по проекта се включиха представители на различни НПО, експерти, специалисти, учители и ученици, представители на местната власт в регионите на участниците. Осъществиха се голям брой инициативи - неформални обучения и семинари, кръгли маси, презентации, интервюта, благотворителни събития и онлайн тренинги, като се акцентира върху обучението по предприемачество и развитието на предприемачески нагласи и умения.Специфичните цели на проекта включват стратегически обмен на добри практики на равнище ЕС, между три партньорски организации – България, Испания и Италия и насърчаване на предприемаческото поведение сред младите хора. Развитието на предприемачески умения се благоприятства от съвместното създаване и използване на дигитален One Note бележник с „Модули по предприемачество“ и дисково пространство в Google Drive, което създаде подходящи условия за получаване на нови знания, онлайн сътрудничество и работа в екип. Имайки предвид факта, че средствата на информационните и комуникационни технологии се използват навсякъде в нашата дигитална ера и експертите в тази област със сигурност са увеличили възможностите си за намиране на работа, проектът предостави много информация и практически умения в това отношение. Чрез участието си младежите бяха насърчавани да развиват своите комуникационни умения, с използване на английски език в мултикултурна среда, да споделят идеи и знания, когато участват в краткосрочно съвместно обучение на международно ниво. Проектът се изпълни в два основни етапа - подготвителен и практичен. По време на първия етап младежите-участници проведоха проучване на пазара на труда в своите региони, срещнаха се с представители на различни местни компании, научиха се да събират и анализират данни. В проекта се включиха ученици, младежки работници, експерти и представители на бизнеса, както и местните власти. Проведените инициативи дадоха възможност те да работят заедно и на практика да получат знания как може да се развива и насърчава предприемаческия подход сред младите хора.Дейностите, които планирахме, организирахме и проведохме, следваха модела на разбиране на същността на предприемачеството, като обединиха теоретичния принос и експерименталното обучение. Младежите от различните държави сформираха екипи, ръботиха върху съвместни задачи онлайн, обмениха идеи и създадоха международна младежка „Креативна Агенция“, където споделиха визуални материали и концепции по разгледаните теми, имайки предвид спецификата на техните регион и държави. Опитни ментори обучаваха и координираха младежите – участници в проекта през цялото време на неговото изпълнение. В блога, сайта и фейсбук групата на проекта бяха публикувани различни материали, които да ги подпомагат в тяхната ефективна работа. Иновативни практики бяха интегрирани и във формалното обучение на учениците. Младежите взеха участия в организирането на социални инициативи с различни благотворителни каузи.По време на втория етап от изпълнението на проекта младежите от всяка партньорска страна работиха върху идеята, свързана със създаването на „Креативна Агенция“. Основните дейности на Агенцията бяха насочени към провеждането на маркетингови проучвания. Младежите успяха да разпределят ролите си в младежката компания: за търсене на информация, обобщение и анализ, обмен на информация с партньорите, създаване на мултимедийни материали, администриране на облачни платформи, организиране на събития и връзки със заинтересувани лица. По този начин участниците успяха да развият индивидуалните си способности и умения. Те приложиха на практика своето предприемаческо знание и креативно мислене, докато управляваха младежката компания. „Креативната агенция“ получи лого, което съвпада с логото на проекта. На платформата, специално създадена, за да демонстрира младежкито предприемачество в този проект има публикувана разнообразна информация – рекламни клипове, презентации и хипервръзки към съответни места в глобалната мрежа и споделеното дисково пространство. Това ни помогна от своя страна да се популяризираме и позиционираме по-добре и да установим контакти с местния бизнес. По време на проекта се проведоха две мобилности – в Испания и България, като знанията бяха валидирани с YouthPass сертификати. Всички експерти и ментори, които се включиха в проекта дадоха насоки и подкрепа на сформираните младежки екипи, повишавайки нивото на техните компетенции, самостоятелност и увереност."

<< Background >>The COVID pandemic, while challenging to so many, has had a disproportionate impact on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), bringing the rate of SME bankruptcy and closure to skyrocket and changed consumer behaviour forever, having more consumers now ordering goods online. For this reason, SMEs need to stop expecting business to return to “normal.” There’s no going back to how it was anytime soon. Even before the pandemic and economic crisis, SMEs had been fighting a fierce battle against Amazon and other e-commerce players. Those challenges have now accelerated at staggering speed. The latest data from McKinsey (2021) shows that consumers are likely to keep the behaviours they’ve adopted amid stay-at-home orders, such as always more online shopping. Undoubtedly, as COVID-19 continues to be out of control, setting up a new company in these current times has its share of challenges and this is especially true for young people. Following, Entrepreneurship is Online (EIO) will tackle the challenges that COVID-19 brought to young people-aspiring entrepreneurs, namely, the pandemic has accelerated the process of digital transformation across almost all sectors of businesses, creating opportunities but also new barriers for young people. EIO will help young people to better leverage on digital tools and set an online presence to run their future business and create solutions to solve the problems of their communities so that they can have a chance to survive the crisis and even thrive in the long term. The future envisioned post-COVID is one where young people are prepared and enabled through technology to run their business in order to operate across the EU common market. However, even though young people of today are surrounded by digital technology, they are not equally equipped for their technology rich future: various kinds of digital divides still prevail in the society. In this sense, it is possible to find young people, who want to develop their own business, but lack completely online presence skills.<< Objectives >>Following, “Entrepreneurship is Online (EIO)” aims to promote entrepreneurial education by boosting key competences in digital marketing, online presence and branding among youth workers and young people in order to improve their entrepreneurial capacity to teach and learn about how to start new businesses and how to reach current markets online. EIO specific objectives:•To create educational tools and open educational resources (OERs) about entrepreneurship and online presence for youth workers and young people and so boosting their key competences•To upgrade pedagogical skills and qualifications of youth workers in the areas covered by the project (entrepreneurship and online presence)•To provide a pedagogical strategy for youth workers that will support them to facilitate learning processes on entrepreneurship through online presence and e-learning.EIO direct target groups:-youth workers which need support to upgrade their pedagogic approach and knowledge to deliver entrepreneurial programmes which include online presence education.-Young people, including the fewer opportunities one, which need more appropriate entrepreneurial education to develop their skills for opening a business.<< Implementation >>EIO partners will realize the following activities:• Kickoff Meeting (Denmark)• EIO Handbook (project result one)• First intermediate meeting (Italy)• E-learning programme (project result two)• First training event (C1, Cyprus)• Blended mobility of young people (C2, Denmark)• Second intermediate meeting (Cyprus)• Toolkit for youth workers (project result 3)• Second training event (C3, Italy)• Methodology Pack (project result 4)• Final conference (E1, Cyprus)• Final conference (E2, Denmark)• Final conference (E3, Spain)• Final conference (E4, Denmark)• Final meeting (Spain)• Dissemination and Communication activities.The following methodology will be applied: Plan, Do, Check, Act. This aims to constantly monitor the project advancement and to ensure permanent quality improvement. This methodology also mean that steps must be realized in time bound manner as any lateness or missing parts can have direct influence on other partner work. Feedbacks will be used for the continuous improvement of the project, using the PDCA method (plan, do, check, act).<< Results >>At local level and regional level:-Partner organisations will bring the good practices and knowledge acquired to life through the implementation of new activities and programme fostering the entrepreneurial and digital skills of young people.-Improved quality and access to youth entrepreneurial training for young people with fewer opportunities. Young people will improve their digital skills and so will be able to set an online presence for their business and create value for all their community. -Inclusion of the EIO Handbook (PR1) and of the two competences frameworks for youth workers and young people, E-learning programme (PR2), Toolkit for youth workers (PR3), Methodology Pack (PR4) into the existing curricula of local and regional youth entities and other interested stakeholders, for starting offering support to young people – aspiring entrepreneurs.At national level:-The e-learning programme (PR2) and the Moodle online platform will engage relevant stakeholders in the process and introducing them to the benefits of the open learning and specifically with respect to entrepreneurship and online business presence. -To raise the discussion on the necessity to add on the mission of youth education also the duty to support young people – aspiring entrepreneurs not just in acquiring entrepreneurial skills but also digital skills that will help them once open their business to survive and success.-Inclusion of the EIO project results into the existing curricula of national youth organizations/institutions, as an additional training section focused on supporting entrepreneurs.-Better use of EU funding with an increased number of projects supporting young people – aspiring entrepreneurs etc.At European level:-Increased European competitiveness and contribution to the acceleration of economic growth through the improvement of tools linked to entrepreneurship and business creation support, helping young people in all stages of their business life cycle, avoiding that they will lost business opportunities because of the lack of an online presence and so supporting the capacity of young people to engage in growth in regional, national and international markets. -The two competence framework created for youth workers and young people (part of PR1), will provide a set of competences (knowledge, skills and personal abilities) needed in order to reach an adequate level of “command” in the online presence and entrepreneurship. -The developed multilingual PRs and e-learning programme (PR2) in English and partners languages will allow worldwide accessibility to EIO project results and so foster the use of project results a transnational level.-An increased awareness of the role that youth education can play in helping young people – aspiring entrepreneurs to face the economic crisis generated by COVID-19.

It is evident and clear that too many organisations around Europe have received funding for projects that end almost as soon as the funding stops. Although there might be a good reason for this and therefore there may be some exceptions to this, for our consortium these represent poor projects. Another common mistake is the poor definition of the role of the youth worker, usually organizations make the mistake to assign to any youth worker the tasks and activities designed for a project manager without a previous specific training. Quality Plus (QP) was a 13 months Strategic Partnership (SP) of non-profit organizations. QP focused on promoting high-quality youth work aiming to provide youth workers all the necessary knowledge and Project Management (PM) tools to prove the benefits of PM methodology and depict situation of the awareness and usage of different PM methodologies and tools in non-profit sector. The project foreseen one intellectual output, one survey analysis report, one training event, local workshops and dissemination activities. In the project training events participated 16 participants and indirectly more than 2,000 people which benefited from local workshops, local trainings, new projects, etc.. The training event was aimed to share best practices, methodologies and to empower youth workers to raise their projects impact and to produce a sustainable effect on young people. We expect to have several follow-up projects by using the knowledge acquired throughout the training activities. The project was managed in a collaborative way, based on collective intelligence and regular communication. The following methodology was applied: Plan, Do, Check, Act. This aimed to constantly monitor the project advancement and to ensure permanent quality improvement. This methodology also meant that steps were realized in time bound manner as any lateness or missing parts could have direct influence on other people work. Our impact was the following: -The project was directly aimed to youth workers and volunteer team in the field of PM methodology. They benefited from educational content to improve their management skills regarding to youth work. -The youth workers benefited in terms of motivation, commitment, tools and methods. They had greater satisfaction in their volunteer commitment and performed better quality of youth work. Their level of skills improved and these skills were also transferable to other volunteer engagements or even in the job market. -Youth workers and other organizations staff involved in learning activities benefited from improved youth work: more committed and motivated youth workers, more consistency between regardless of youth workers involved in learning activities. -Organizations involved benefited from improve processes, results and projects, therefore they optimised available resources for new activities in the social field. The project aimed to contribute to sustainability and capacity building of the organization. After the project implementation, the collaborative networks and cooperation consortiums of the partnering organisations will be an important channel to reach the target groups and disseminate the project further. Each partner is a member in various collaborating networks, which gather regularly to the network meetings to exchange ideas and experiences, review new project proposals and assess the initiative's progress. Annual and periodical international conferences, seminars, workshops and other meetings, which are based on active working methods with sessions, workshops and seminar presentations, will provide excellent forums for reaching the project target groups and disseminating the project results. Thus the results of the project benefit not only the consortium members, but also the organisations throughout Europe, even globally.