Webinar «EFFY – Erasmus+ Future Focused Youth – Ukraine» (28-29.06.2023, hybrid format)
National Erasmus+ Agency in Portugal together with the National Erasmus+ Office in Ukraine and co-organisrs on 28-29 June 2023 organised a webinar “EFFY – Erasmus+ Future Focused Youth – Ukraine” (as TCA event). Two-day webinar was held in close cooperation with the Ministry of Youth and Sport of Ukraine, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, Salto-Youth Resource Centre, Information Center Erasmus+ Youth and European Solidarity Corps in Ukraine, Erasmus Student Network Ukraine, EU Neighbour East, Young European Ambassadors, Ukraine Youth Council Association.
Focused on the values of the European Union (EU) and the sense of belonging to the EU project, this Webinar aimed to:
- Explore Erasmus+ Projects as a powerful tool to promote Solidarity, Social Inclusion, Active Participation, Democracy, Tolerance, Peace and Human Rights.
- Strengthen partnership between EU and Ukrainian youth organisations to contribute to the Recovery Plan of Ukraine in Youth sector.
- Increase knowledge about the Erasmus+ Programme and to encourage participants to use youth and volunteering projects as a tool to develop, promote and implement projects within their contexts, with strong focus on young people arriving from difficult backgrounds or contexts to new countries and to new local communities.
The Webinar also focused on Erasmus+ KA1, KA2 and European Solidarity Corps empowerment and foster Network capacity within all participants.
About 700 participants of 63 nationalities from 69 countries of the world registered to participate in the event, including 329 participants from Ukraine: organisations and authorities working with Youth, Youth Leaders, Youth workers, Municipal youth workers and Trainers from Erasmus+ Youth Programme countries and from Ukraine. The hosts of the event were Filomena KAUTELA and Iryna SHEV.
The webinar was held in a television studio with a broadcast to the online platform of the event under a professional team of producers and editors to ensure the best quality of broadcast and interaction with participants.
The event consisted of several parts:
- welcome speech session;
- presentations of KA1, KA2 and the European Solidarity Corps;
- flash interviews with participants of Erasmus+ projects in the field of youth and the European Solidarity Corps (ESC) in Portugal;
- live interviews with Ukrainian youth and representatives of youth organizations from Ukraine;
- video of ESC volunteers of Ukraine in Portugal;
- work in groups.
VIDEORECORDINGS of the Webinar
MATERIALS of the Webinar
During the first day of the webinar, Luis ALVÉS, Head of the National Erasmus+ Agency of Portugal for Youth, Sports and the European Solidarity Corps, addressed the participants with a welcome speech and spoke about priority support for Ukrainian youth and organizations working capacity building of youth on the way to the recovery of Ukraine. Speaker also talked about his own trip to Ukraine on June 19-22, meetings with the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine, Kyiv Regional State Administration, Zhytomyr City Council, Lviv City Council, Ukrainian Catholic University, as well as round tables with representatives of more than 50 youth organizations from Kyiv , Zhytomyr and Lviv.
Georgiana PLESU, International Cooperation Unit, Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sports and Culture of the European Commission, joined the event in online format, emphasizing the unfailing support of Ukrainian organizations and the high priority of Ukraine’s participation in youth call for 2024, in particular – Capacity Building of Youth.
Andrii CHESNOKOV, Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports of Ukraine for European Integration, in his interview emphasized the special attention to young people who are in European countries and local communities during the war in Ukraine, as well as the importance of strengthening partnerships between EU youth organizations and of Ukraine in order to promote the Recovery Plan of Ukraine in the youth dimension.
Oleksandra HUSAK, Head of the Expert Group, Directorate of European Integration, Budgeting and Policy Coordination, Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, spoke about the education system of Ukraine at the time of the full-scale invasion, displacement of students and staff, damage and destruction of educational and scientific infrastructure. The speaker emphasized that, nevertheless, safety and continuity of teaching and learning, as well as ensuring access to education for Ukrainian youth, remain the government’s top priority.
João Paulo CORREÍA, State Secretary for Youth and Sports of Portugal, expressed his support for Ukrainian youth and emphasized the continuation of strong cooperation with youth organizations working with Ukrainians in Portugal.
During the next session, Iryna NOVAK, Erasmus+ Information Center and the Euroepic Solidarity Corps in Ukraine, gave a presentation of Erasmus+ opportunities in the KA1 Action. Speaker explained in details the possibilities of exchanges for youth and youth workers, drawing attention to mixed mobility and virtual exchanges, technical requirements and first steps for successful participation in calls with new partners.
Sarah ANDRADE, trainer of the National Erasmus+ Agency of Portugal, presented the European Solidarity Corps opportunities, requirements for partnerships, filling out project applications and activities within future joint projects with Ukraine.
The following day, everyone present joined the presentation of KA2 by Heik VIJSIMAA, National Erasmus+ Agency in Estonia, Laimonas RAGAUSKAS and Nerius KRAUTSYUN. Speakers presented the areas of cooperation and CBY projects and their key features.
During 2nd days, all participants of the platform had the opportunity to participate in group work in various online rooms, accompanied by the facilitation of international trainers in order to find potential projects for the next Erasmus+ calls in 2024.
In addition, during both days of the webinar, the participants had the opportunity to meet during live interviews with Ukrainian youth and representatives of youth organizations from Ukraine: Darya BELYAEVA, Erasmus Student Network Ukraine; Nadiya KASIANCHUK, Young European Ambassadors; Yana HEDERIM, Ukrainian Association of Youth Councils.
In order to get acquainted with the cultural heritage of Ukraine, the webinar was accompanied by musical performances by a quartet from the National Music Academy of Ukraine named after P.I. Tchaikovsky and Lita Folk Band.
As a result the contacts, trust and ideas for cooperation were promoted widely among participants and the specific platform provided possibility for the fiollow up to make cooperation in youth sector more proactive!
The event contributed to the capacity building of youth organisations to participate in the new calls for proposals open for Ukraine!
We appreciate a lot the National Erasmus+ Agency in Portugal responsible for Youth for the cooperation and support!