The project “Rur.IT.A.N.I.A.-Rural IT Alliance for Networking, Inclusion and Activism” involved 10 partners from Serbia, Greece, Albania, Bosnia&Herzegovina, Germany, France, Spain, Poland, Estonia and Belgium, all members of the Alliance of European Voluntary Service organisations and South East European Youth Network. The project was delivered in the period of 1/1/2017 and 15/3/2018. The applicant is Young Researchers of Serbia. It aimed at fostering international mobility, IT (information technology) and IC (intercultural communication) skills development in a non-formal setting of 100 young people with geographical obstacles in 10 participating countries.There are 3 groups of activities:Group 1: information campaign in rural and remote areas – outreach activities with the OBJECTIVE to reach and sustain 100 young people from rural and remote areas willing to invest in their basic IT and IC skills development (skills of using the computer and internet, social media and youth information search; expressing oneself in a foreign language, English, in an international environment) Group 2: Four Youth Exchanges in Serbia, Belgium and Germany, with the objective of fostering an international/intercultural supportive environment for practicing and improving these basic IT and IC skills/competencies and many others (solidarity to others, teamwork, independent travelling).In 4 International Youth Exchanges 100 young participants studied, practiced their skills and gained valuable life experience in a non-formal setting of different sessions and informally during volunteer work of public interest to local hosting communities, along their peers from different countries.Group 3: evaluation and follow-up meetings and dissemination activities, with the objective of facilitating pre and post skills assessment, peer reflection of gained skills of participants and their recognition and sharing of good practices on the national and international levelsGroup 4: Kick-off and Evaluation meeting of partners, with the objective of supporting and facilitating strong and clear partnership and agreements among 10 organisations involved.The motivation behind was to give an impulse, by proactively involving 100 young people from rural and remote areas, to a multiplying effect of participation of other young people close to this direct target group. The impact on a personal level of participants was in the advancement of their skills, knowledge and attitudes. We witnessed their growth in being able to communicate in basic English; mastering the basics of using the computer, internet and social media, browsing for information related to youth participation and further projects; becoming more flexible and open-minded towards people from different countries and backgrounds, open for new traveling and exploring experiences.

The common denominator to project partners is International Voluntary Service (IVS), particularly workcamps as tools for youth active participation and local sustainable development. The consortium organises more than 200 international short-term voluntary projects –workcamps, which host 3000+ international volunteers and involve 400+ youth leaders.11 partners are members of Alliance of European Voluntary Service organisations and one (Croma, Italy) brings an added value to the project with its specific profile of members – documentary film makers / youth workers. The involvement of the Alliance as a formal promoter assured wider visibility but also certified trainers in non-formal education with expertise in trainings of youth leaders in IVS projects.This consortium explored a new trend in IVS movement: exchange of youth leaders, as a response to a common challenge of decrease in number of youth leaders in the movement.Target group: Youth leaders of international volunteer groups gathered in workcampsGENERAL AIM: Innovate, support and give recognition to youth leadership in the field of international voluntary service within the network of 13 involved project partners from 9 countries and 100+ local stakeholders from Serbia, Germany, Czech Republic, Italy, France, Spain, Turkey, Estonia, Finland.OBJECTIVE 1: improve the level of key competences and skills of 23 youth leaders (10 from Serbia and 13 from Germany, Czech Republic, Italy, France, Spain, Turkey, Estonia, Finland)OBJECTIVE 2: Foster an international/intercultural supportive environment and mentorship system for practicing youth leadership in IVS movementOBJECTIVE 3: Raise awareness of the importance of specialised youth workers in the IVS field – workcamp leadersThere are three groups of residential activities:• Act 1: International training of youth leaders (05/2017)• Act 2 - 12: Practice Phase: Exchange of youth leaders in International Voluntary Service projects among the applicant and the partners – coordination of 20 workcamps in Serbia, Spain, Turkey, Finland, France, Estonia, Germany, Czech Republic and Italy (summer 2017)• Act 13: Evaluation meeting (10/2017)The project also includes non-residential activities:• Production and promotion of a web documentary for raising awareness on the International Voluntary Service movement and the impact it has on young people, local and international communities, www.youthleaders.online • Mentoring system of youth leaders during their practice phase• Assessment of gained competencies of youth leadership and formal recognition with YouthPass and I’VE tool

Recent statistics of IVS (International Voluntary Service) networks such as Alliance and CCIVS illustrates that international projects for teenagers, such as exchanges, meetings and workcamps, are succesful and show a high rate of participation. However, the number of international activities for teenagers is still limited compared to international projects for young adults.One reason for this trend is related to the specificities associated with teenagers, regarding group dynamic, responsabilities and legislation. These specificities are sometimes considered as constraints which prevent the development of projects for teens. Still, there is a huge demand for this kind of project which are getting popular every year as teenagers want to be actively engaged and spend their vacations with purpose.Through numerous years, Solidarités Jeunesse has organized many youth exchanges for teenagers (15 to 17 years) with a high interest in sharing its experience with other organizations. We are certainly convinced that these experiences could create a trigger for the youth to feel more included in the process of emancipation and be a source of liberation and raising awareness. Therefore, in cooperation with our international partners we propose this project that will first of all train youth leaders to be able to work with teenagers in non-formal context and as a result, will contribute to the development of numerous teenager projects. In addition, we would like to create with our partners a common work ethic with the teenagers to move towards the same goal of strengthening the responsibility, empowerment and the intercultural spirit of the youth.Objectives of the seminar:- to reinforce the capacity of partner organisations to organise international projects for teenagers;- to provide youth workers with quality online and offline tools to lead international activities for teenagers;- to increase the number of international projects for teenagers and make them sustainable;- to valorise the impact of international projects for teenagers;- to create a network of youth organisations organising teenager projects.In order to reach the objectives of the project, it was decided to organise a Steering Committee meeting and a seminar on quality youth work and inclusion models for teenagers, a training on organising and leading international activities for teenagers followed by experimentations with teenagers in participating countries. These experimentations will be facilitated by two international youth workers in terms of job shadowing supported by the hosting organisation and a local youth worker. The results of the project and a toolkit on international teen activities produced by partners will be presented during the Final Evaluation.In order to reach the objectives in a more effective way, it was decided to invite 3 experts on teen intercultural pedagogy and impact measurement, intercultural learning and pedagogy of teenagers and impact assessment

The project “XCHANGE 2.0 - exchange of international youth leaders in International Voluntary Service” involves 13 partners from 8 countries and one European network where all are members – Alliance of European Voluntary Service Organisations. The coordinating organisation is Young Researchers of Serbia. Workcamps are their common denominator.Workcamp movement is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2020. It has always been avant-garde and innovative, so to exist this long. It used to involve women at the same level as men in times when most European countries didn’t allow women the right to vote. It declined to have any military or religious activities in workcamps, when it used to be the default. It has stood for solidarity in many times of crisis, precisely because of the dynamic nature of international youth volunteerism. Projects like XCHANGE help explore new innovative ways for the movement to address the needs of young people and youth organisations. XCHANGE is about the exchange of youth leaders, as a response to a common challenge of decrease in number of youth leaders in the movement.In the period between 4/12/2018 and 14/06/2020 the consortium provided a theoretical (training) and hands on experience (practice phase) to 15 youth leaders from Serbia and 20 from partners’ countries. The leaders coordinated 26 local community projects (workcamps) involving 350+ young volunteers from all over the world and later on continued to influence the volunteerism policies as active members of boards, working groups, pools of trainers, thus shaping the IVS movement as a peace movement.Objectives were:OBJ 1: raise the level of key competences and skills of youth leaders for the task of coordinating international volunteer projects (workcamps) abroadOBJ 2: Foster an international/intercultural supportive environment and mentorship system for practicing youth leadership abroad, deeply linked to local communities’ realities in countries other than one’s ownOBJ 3: raise awareness of the the practice and benefits of international mobility of youth workers for better social cohesion, intercultural understanding and more inclusive practices on local levelOBJ 4: support and facilitate strong and clear partnership and agreements among 14 organisations involvedActivities:• Kick-off meeting, January 2019, online• promotion campaign, recruitment of leaders, January-April 2019• two international trainings of youth leaders in IVS, April and May 2019, Serbia• practice phase: youth work abroad, 35 youth leaders exchanged between Serbia and other partners during the workcamps season of 2019• Support system for youth leaders by HOs during their practice phase, in all countries• promotional campaign -dissemination of results from the practice phase: upgrade of the web documentary www.youthleaders.online with a blog, translation, new stories from leaders, online among partners throughout the project• evaluation with leaders and SOs and certification September-december 2019, nationally• Evaluation meeting of partners, November 2019, online