New Erasmus partnership to start in autumn

 

18.6.2024

The Erasmus partnership project applied for YMCA Finland together with the YMCAs of Lebanon, Romania and Thessaloniki was approved. The new 250 000 euro entity will start in September. 

 

Building Bridges for Inclusion focuses on supporting vulnerable young people through youth work tools. The aim is to make youth work in Europe more effective by building its capacity and promoting learning between organisations to support young people in difficulty, such as refugee youth. In this project, each partner will organise a development workshop to share knowledge through peer learning.

 

Sharing best practices

Young people’s vulnerabilities are diverse, and YMCAs encounter young people in very different situations. The project aims to increase YMCAs’ skills and capacity to better support young people, including refugees and newly arrived young people, both along the way and in building a new life.

As part of the two-year cooperation, a digital platform will be created to serve as a toolbox of methodologies. The project’s lessons and best practises will also be shared with stakeholders and other organisations working with vulnerable young people nationally and internationally, and meetings will be organised between youth organisations and other organisations working with refugees in Thessaloniki and Brussels. These joint meetings will share experiences on the project’s progress and results and will engage in a dialogue on the holistic encounter of young people.

 

Continued cooperation between YMCA partners

The project builds on a previous partnership between the YMCAs of Lebanon and Thessaloniki. The Romanian YMCA is involved as a new national movement, in particular, because its staff has strong expertise and experience in supporting Ukrainian refugees in the border area.

YMCA Finland is implementing the project together with local associations.