"Title of the project , the "" Boomerang Action "", says about the benefits gained by the young people because of their involvement. As in the case of the thrown boomerang, it returns to the owner. In the project, giving the energy for each other, comes back in the form of interest in local government, the local community and local businesses. Entrepreneurship demonstrated by youth in the project - in the future may come back to them in the form of their own companies .Our project, the "" Boomerang Action "" was organized with 4 institutions: Association ANAWOJ (Poland), Sächsische Jugendstiftung (Germany) , SocLab Foundation (Poland) , The High School Complex in Dabrowa Bialostocka (Poland). Together, we wanted to raise the quality of learning through the introduction of new approaches and to develop key competencies in young people. To achieve this goal we worked inspired by activities taking place in Saxony - ""Genialsocial"". In Poland, the project was implemented at the municipal level. The main idea was that the young people prepare the projects by themselves and also youth decide which projects are getting the financial support. They were also responsible for collecting funds to achieve their aim. However, collecting funds was not based on raising money in the "" cans "". It was organized by replacing school benches for light work for the community, local businesses, associations and individuals. For his work the young person didn't take the salary, but only asked for financial support for the project, for which they collect the funds. Money was collected to the common account and then transferred to the chosen projects to support . Activities of young people we supported by trainings, meetings with a partner in Germany and lesson plans for teachers. At the end we organized international conference where the achievements of our work were presented.The project involved more than 500 young people from 13 municipalities in the province of Podlasie . Through the project we teached them entrepreneurship and to look at their local environment as a potential place to realize their passions and interests. We intended to make these activities have become a constant in the calendar of events in our region."

The EVS Realm: Masters of the learning path project was a Strategic Partnership aiming to increase the quality of EVS/ESC experiences and learning processes of EVS/ESC volunteers and hosting organizations.The project objectives were: 1.Build capacity of beginner EVS/ESC hosting organizations to design meaningful projects that respond to community needs while providing valuable learning experiences for the volunteers 2.Increase quality of the learning experience of the EVS/ESC volunteers by developing training and resources for the mentors engaged in EVS/ESC 3.Increase awareness of relevant stakeholders about the challenges faced by organizations in ensuring the quality of the EVS/ESC experiences and the key role of mentors in enhancing the quality of the EVS/ESC experience for the volunteer,the organizations & the communityThe partnership was made up of 4 organizations experienced in EVS and having had contact with the program from all the different angles and perspectives, coming also from very different corners of Europe:Politistiko Ergastiri Cultural Workshop from Cyprus, ANAWOJ from Poland, European Volunteer Center in Belgium and the applicant organization–Pro Vobis–National Resource Center for Volunteering from Romania. In the context of the EVS 20-year anniversary in 2016,the partner organizations analyzed the need for an increased quality in the management of EVS learning process,placing in the middle of this process the key actors who can influence and impact the way the learning journey goes.Besides the project coordinator and the volunteer him/herself,the most important role lies in the hands of the mentor.Thus,a vast part of the present project focuses on improving and creating mentoring tools and a framework for development for mentors&project coordinators in different organizations across Europe. Main project activities: -Transnational partner meetings–for planning, implementing and evaluating project activities and creating content&tools -Research on the status of mentoring in EVS,tools that already exist and needs still to be fulfilled -Creating an online professional community for ESC practitioners (mentors&project coordinators) to support and motivate each other,exchange tools,dillemmas and learn innovatively -Creating a set of 4 intellectual outputs to reach project objectives:a Training Design for hosting organizations focused on Quality in EVS/ESC project implementation (O1),a Training Design for Mentors in EVS/ESC (O2),containing a training curriculum,topics to be addressed,methodology & activities to be implemented in training,that can be then transferred to other organizations or institutions interested in training their own mentors, ToolBox for Mentors in EVS (O3),meant to support their concrete activities with the volunteers, and a Policy Paper on Improved EVS/ESC Quality (O5) to communicate project conclusions to European volunteering policy-makers. -Promoting EVS/ESC in smaller communities which do not have access to it -Delivering 2 training activities to test,consolidate and use the outputs produced: a Training for Mentors in EVS/ESC (C2),for 28 participants, as a test phase of the intellectual outputs developed and a Training for Hosting Organizations (C1)- participants who are beginners in EVS/ESC,have implemented none or 1 project and feel the need to understand how to properly structure a project to reach aims of both the hosting community,the volunteer and the hosting organization. -Involving training beneficiaries into a piloting phase of output 3,meant to test their suitability and utility before launching them in the wider EVS community -Organizing Multiplying Events locally in each partner country,to disseminate the project outputs and results,aiming to reach more than 90 local stakeholders -Large international Multiplying event,hosted by CEV in Brussels and which gathered over 90 participants interested/involved in the EVS/ESC movement,to share and exchange expertise,good practices,stories and tools that can push the ESC movement forward–60 international&30 national participants,using the opportunity to bring into the discussions European-level stakeholders and policymakers. -General project management activities planning,monitoring,evaluation,promotion,communication and dissemination) With all the activities we implemented, we believe we managed to reach an increase in the number of skilled,motivated mentors in ESC projects,more profound learning experiences for ESC volunteers, reduced risks of volunteers leaving their projects early,better chances for generating genuine community impact in the hosting communities as well as an increased quality in the general management of ESC Volunteering projects.The 4 project partners are now more able to manage complex European projects and will extend their services to other NGOs in their countries, and now there are concrete and attractive tools for mentors to create meaningful mentoring processes.