Youth Exchanges

Youth exchanges are opportunities for young people from different countries to travel abroad and work together for short periods of time on joint projects.

Exchanges take place outside of the school environment both because of the innovative learning methods that go beyond the classic classroom approach and because it is not tied to any institution or school. Activities include workshops, exercises, debates, role-plays, outdoor activities and more.

During a youth exchange, participants jointly complete a work program (a combination of seminars, exercises, debates, role-plays, simulations, outdoor activities, etc.) that they design and prepare themselves.

What do you do?

Youth Exchanges enable young people to: develop skills; learn about socially relevant topics/thematic areas; discover new cultures, habits and lifestyles, especially through peer learning; strengthen values such as solidarity, democracy, friendship, etc. The learning process in Youth Exchanges is determined by non-formal education methods. Youth Exchanges are based on transnational cooperation between two or more participating organisations from different countries within and outside the European Union.

What are the themes?

Each exchange has a main theme, and they are transversal and numerous such as interculturalism, the fight against social exclusion, racism and sexism, the promotion of environmental and social sustainability and active citizenship in a European and international dimension, art, music, theater, disabilities, youth entrepreneurship, startups and innovation, the management of emotions and conflicts, sustainable development, the use of media and means of communication, empowerment and teamwork, democracy and social inclusion and many others. The choice is vast and the opportunities are countless.

Duration

They are short-term projects from a minimum of 5 days to a maximum of 21 days and can be carried out at any time of the year, even several times a year.

Sometimes it can happen that before an exchange there is an:

Advanced Preparatory Visit (APV): this is a meeting in the country that will host the exchange, on average 2-3 days, in which the leaders of each national group together with one participant per country meet to get to know each other, to decide how to develop the exchange, talking about the activities, the program, the choice of participants and in general, all the important aspects for the success of the project.

Those who participate in the APV also participate in the exchange.

The economic conditions are the same as for an exchange.

Who can participate?

Each participant travels in a group and these are the characteristics and the target of the exchanges:

• Young people aged 13-30 years
• Minimum 4 participants per group (group leader not included).

Presence of a group leader

Each national group must have at least one leader. A group leader is an adult and therefore has no age limit, who accompanies the young people participating in the youth exchange to ensure their effective learning, protection and safety.

Where do they take place?

The activity must take place in the country of one of the participating organizations.

How to participate?

Participants can participate in exchanges through organizations or associations that promote exchanges. Exchanges can also be proposed by informal groups of young people.

What are the costs?

Participants are reimbursed for part of their travel costs, from their place of origin to the activity venue and back, based on travel distances.

Food and accommodation are covered by the project.

Certifications and Youthpass

Each participant is entitled to receive a “Youthpass” certificate, which describes and validates the non-formal and informal learning experience and the results acquired during the project (learning outcomes).