Youth Exchanges

Leading partner: Federación Nacional de la Mujer Rural – FEMUR

Participating countries: Spain, Romania, Estonia, Italy, Cyprus

The project took place in Spain, where we sent a group of five young people from Velenje.

The main objectives were to encourage entrepreneurship among young people, especially women, the employability of young people and women, the development of digital skills linked to entrepreneurship, combating depopulation and promoting the European Green Deal and the New European Bauhaus.

The point of various activities was to encourage young people to think more deeply about the ecological crisis, but also about their own daily habits that have a negative impact on the environment. We organised a fashion show of clothes made from waste materials, and raised awareness about environmental issues and more sustainable lifestyles through various guerrilla and pop-up actions.

Participating organisations:

• Youth Centre Velenje, Velenje, Slovenia
• Saglam Dusunce Gencler Teskilati Ictimai Birliyi, Azerbaijan
• Universitatea De Arte Din Targu Mures, Romania
• Ayuntamiento De Altea, Spain
• Podobri, Bulgaria
• Sopro – Solidariedade E Promoção Ongd, Portugal
• Vullnetare Nderkombetare, Albania
• Kasif Genclik Ve Spor Kulubu Dernegi, Turkey

In cooperation with Velenje Theatre, we created a theatre performance on the topic of peer violence, sexual and physical abuse, its consequences and (dis)power.

Participating organisations:

• Youth Centre Velenje, Velenje, Slovenia
• Saglam Dusunce Gencler Teskilati Ictimai Birliyi, Sumgait, Azerbaijan
• International Center For Peace And Integration Non-Entrepreneurial, Tbilisi, Georgia
• Universitatea De Arte Din Targu Mures, Targu Mures, Romania
• Stará Pazova, Stará Pazova, Serbia
• Association For Volunteerism Volonterski Centar, Skopje, Macedonia
• Ayuntamiento De Altea, Altea, Spain

The theme of the exchange programme was volunteering. We carried out 12 different field work actions with young people, a total of 1080 hours of volunteer work, cooperated with organisations and individuals from our local environment such as the Centre for Education and Training Velenje, Hiša – Centre for Homeless Persons, Youth Cultural Club eMCe plac, stonemasonry, etc.), and also participated in the Indicamp children's camp.

Participating organisations:

• Instituto Pace Sviluppo Innovazione Acli Di Forli-Cesena, Forli, Italy
• Youth With An International Vision, Tbilisi, Georgia
• Common Sense Youth Organisation, Sumagit, Azerbaijan
• Youth Centre Velenje, Velenje, Slovenia
• Association For Volunteerism Skopje, Skopje, Macedonia
• Ayuntamiento De Santa Pola, Santa Pola, Spain
• Municipality Of Stara Pazova, Stara Pazova, Serbia
• Danube Volunteer Centre, Perisoru, Romania

The exchange took place in two countries, Slovenia and Georgia, and focused on promoting healthy lifestyles and sport, a positive outlook on the world, finding cultural diversity and imaginative ideas on how to start living healthier, not only by the young people, but also by the older population in the local community.

Participatingorganisations:

• Youth Centre Velenje, Velenje, Slovenia
• International Center For Peace And Integration, Tbilisi, Georgia
• “Common Sense” Youth organisation, Sumgait, Azerbaijan
• Asociatia Synergy, Dobrovat, Iasi, Romania
• Youth breath, Yerevan, Armenia
• Uluslararasi Surdurulebilir Kalkinma Dernegi, Artuklu, Turkey
• La Vibria Intercultural, Terrassa, Spain
• Ukrainian Association of Student's Self Government, Kiev, Ukraine

Music always brings people together, so we joined forces with one of the most famous guitar makers, Davorin Sever, who also made the guitar for the famous U2. The guitar-making process made us strengthen our teamwork, we organised various workshops and intercultural evenings, and discussed different prejudices and the impact music on them. The final product was the guitars and the final concert at the eMCe plac club.

Participating organisations:

• Youth Centre Velenje, Slovenia
• Vicolocorto, Ancona, Italy
• Eesti People For People, Tallinn, Estonia
• Servicio Comarcal de Juventud de la Comarca de la Ribera Baja del Ebro, Quinto, Spain

We looked for ways to improve mutual understanding and respect through interaction and socialisation and various activities.

Participating organisations:

• Youth Centre Velenje, Slovenia
• House Of Children And Youth Of Capital Of Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
• Associacion France – Slovene, Saint-Etienne, France
• Ayuntamiento de San Sebastian, San Sebastian, Spain
• Commune di Udine, Udine, Italy
• Andeget – Antalya Genclik ve egitim Dernegi, Antalya, Turkey

Kinder und Jugendzcentrum Meschenich, Cologne, Germany and Velenje Youth Centre

The exchange took place in Cologne, Germany. We explored the links between different religions and cultures, and visited their youth centre on the outskirts of the city, in a more dangerous area where the more “street”, socially excluded youth congregate.

Kinder und Jugendzentrum Meschenich Köln, Germany and Velenje Youth Centre

Young Germans from very different cultural backgrounds (Iranians, Afghans, Turks) came to Velenje and during the exchange they broke down prejudices, explored concepts such as anti-Semitism and xenophobia, interviewed local residents and analysed the state of intolerance in our city.

Fégsmiöstödin bruman, Grindavik, Iceland and Youth Centre Velenje

The bilateral exchange took place first in Iceland and then in Slovenia. It dealt with the differences and similarities found in nature and in the geography of each country, as well as how young people spend their time, the difference between two school systems and the topics that occupy young minds.