The overall aim is to introduce and enhance an innovative model of learning based on exchanges between Program (Slovakia and Serbia) and Partner Countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania), learning mobility and cooperation between youth CSOs and non-formal education providers. This will be achieved through piloting new toolkit for Media literacy and Critical thinking, piloting and up scaling the toolkit for social and financial education of teenagers and through sharing the experience in mobilising and empowering youth to become peer educators, thus strengthening non formal education in Roma community of the project countries. The action is based on non-formal learning delivered by CSOs offering young people, especially Roma, educational content supporting their active engagement, equal opportunities in both labour market and society. The most important distinctive feature of this program is the synergy of social and entrepreneurial competencies, applying innovative and active pedagogies, including open and digital learning tools. In its implementation, the action will promote civic, inter-cultural, social and relational competences, mutual understanding and respect, critical thinking and ownership of democratic values and fundamental rights, enhancing media, financial and Media literacy. Addressing the increasing diversity of learners and lower access to good quality inclusive mainstream education and training for all, especially Roma, while tackling discrimination, bullying, violence and stereotypes will be the basis for promotion of active citizenship in learning. This makes the proposed action unique in its effort to promote/implement integrative peer learning model for supporting individual entrepreneurial initiatives with increased awareness of their social impact on the community and society. The specific objectives are:O1. To design relevant innovative and flexible models of learning aimed at acquiring/improving employability skills of young people, especially Roma O2. To raise capacities of youth CSOs and provide them with tools necessary for delivery of a new form of training based on non-formal flexible learning methods, learning mobility, virtual cooperation and OER O3. To launch, test and implement new practical training schemes based on learning mobility aimed at improving participants' level of competences and fostering their active participation in societyO4. To strengthen the influence of youth CSOs in advocating for validation and recognition of competences acquired through non-formal learning These objectives will be reached combining capacity building, learning mobility and advocacy actions, stimulating networking and exchange among its main target groups: youth CSOs, education providers and local/national policy-makers.

The goal of the project is to develop the capacities of our organisations to improve the effectiveness of civic engagement of youth and youth’s capacity to champion social inclusion in service-learning (SL) projects. Our specific objectives are to:O1. enhance the skills of 191 youth workers to use SL with youth. O2. boost leadership skills of 104 youth aged 13-17 years old to do SL projects in their communities.O3. improve the toolkits of 4 partner organisations to effectively support civic engagement of youth in SL with a focus on championing social inclusion in their communities; Our countries share common challenges with youth’s civic engagement, participation in non-formal learning and social inclusion. Results of the 'Youth Study Southeast Europe' showed similar trends accross the region: 79 % of young people in the region, on average, have not engaged in any unpaid voluntary activity in the last year; furthermore, compared to the FES 2015 survey, the trend is in decline (Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), Youth Study Southeast Europe, 2018-9). FES concludes 'these results are upsetting considering the importance of civic engagement for building social trust, reproducing civic values or contributing to a society’s democratic fabric.' Other international organisations (World Bank, UNICEF) also call for creating opportunities to enhance adolescents’ participation and meaningful contributions (BiH, UNICEF), increasing the percentage of time youth spend in civic activities (KS, World Bank), the need to change the value system of young people to enhance their civic engagement (MN, UNICEF). The project objectives are aligned with European policies in the field of Youth, especially with EU Council recommendations for actions that 'maintain and acquire skills that allow full participation in society and successful transitions in the labor market...[where] entrepreneurial, social and civic competences [are] becoming more relevant in order to ensure resilience and ability to adapt to change. From our direct experience with youth, we know their need to be engaged in meaningful actions whereby they not only develop their competences, but also contribute to making their community a better place. This gives them a feeling of accomplishment and boosts their self-worth and sense of belonging to their local communities. Service Learning (SL) is the approach that we intend to employ to support the development of these competences and attitudes in youth. Such type of involvement calls for highly skilled youth workers and effective toolkits. We will therefore increase our organisations’ capacities to address civic engagement of youth more effectively and to support the youth in championing social inclusion.