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TOGETHER FOR OUR YOUTH
Project's priority: promoting active citizenship, young people’s sense of initiative and youth entrepreneurship including social entrepreneurship.
KA2 - SMALL-SCALE PARTNERSHIP
"Eesti & España - together for our youth"
Objectives:
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To create the working definition of “diversity”, “inclusion” and “intercultural communication” through multicultural dialogue;
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To learn how to overcome intercultural, geographical and social barriers;
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To focus on such problems as lack of youth initiative and ignorance of how to develop it;
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Use entrepreneurship as a model of developing soft skills and civic engagement;
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To promote active citizenship among project participants and create opportunities for the dissemination of these skills;
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To value the material and intangible heritage of our regions and its heritage;
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To improve skills and develop different competencies in the process of non-formal education;
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To develop a strong partnership with a long-term perspective;
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Strengthen relations between Estonia and Spain and its youth.
Ist stage of the project - Expert team meeting I
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A few days before the first meeting of experts, in the mayor's office of the capital of the region, the city of Ponferrada, a presentation of the project was held for the media with the Delegate Councilor for Rural Affairs - Iván Alonso Rodríguez.
It was a short but very intense exchange of twelve youth in total: half of them from Estonia and the other half from Valdeorras and El Bierzo (Spain). Let's see how it was:
From the first day we wanted to dive into the topic and local history. We talked about rural and social entrepreneurship and for this we wanted to do it firmly, drawing on real examples and knowing the territory well, as well as the problems and opportunities of such a special place as Tebaida Berciana. It was time for workshops to get to know each other, guided tours of the village and its Mozarabic church, presentations, debates and a memorable intercultural night in Bierzo.
Despite the rain, the project was full of outdoor activities. The second day we made the traditional route to the Cave of San Genadio, and the same day in the afternoon we went to Montes de Valdueza, where we visited the Monastery of San Pedro de Montes: an exceptional environment to learn about the complex history of this region, but also to discuss the abandonment and recovery of heritage. Back in Peñalba, we continued with day's workshops. We learned about new skills and techniques for group work, with practical preparation based on the example of a potential project for the restoration of the monastery of San Pedro de Montes. The highlight of the day came with the Estonian intercultural evening, with a variety of traditional dishes, snacks and drinks, accompanied by Estonian music.
The third day of the project started with a workshop to talk about the skills an entrepreneur should have, as well as leadership styles. We brought out the creativity of our participants during a theatrical performance (one of the non-formal learning methods we use) and had a lot of laughs!
Later the Estonian team prepared a workshop on argumentation and debate, we built our "house-shaped arguments". Some of the members of Estonian team came from a debate club of Estonia, and it was a real luck to have such an active group!
The surprises are not over! To continue the day, we headed to... Canedo Palace! We promised to learn from local examples, but how could it be otherwise! We were well received, learned about the personal history of Prada, took a ride with the mythical carroviñas, learned the difference between Rosé and Clarete and tasted local products. It's really inspiring to see the amount of jams, wines and other Bierzo products that are made there in an artisanal way. To clarify the context a bit, this place is by far one of the most important examples of entrepreneurship in the entire region.
Time flew by and on the last day we started the morning with "Six Thinking Hats", a very practical workshop on communication styles and future planning. After the coffee break, we came up with local activities and dissemination of everything we had learned and contributed during the stay. The afternoon was the most emotional moment with the farewells, the evaluation activity, the ceremony of YouthPasses... And of course the moment to say goodbye with a very special magosto. It has been our first rural Erasmus+ experience in Peñalba, but we are sure that soon we will be back. Thanks to all of you who made it possible!
IIst stage of the project - Local Activities
We understand the importance of developing meaningful partnerships, and that is why we are proud to have implemented local activities in Estonia and Spain as part of our strategic partnership project. These activities were designed to strengthen relations between Estonia and Spain, particularly youth from our two countries, and to develop a strong partnership with a long-term perspective.
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In December, as proposed in the expert meeting in Spain (stage I of the project) we organized an art workshop in Estonia, where participants painted Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia. The workshop was an opportunity to showcase local talent and creativity, with two local girls leading the workshop. These two girls are just in the beginning of their entrepreneurial path and they dream about opening their own art studio. Perfect match for us! The result was a series of beautiful canvases that we scanned and turned into postcards, which we can use as meaningful dissemination material and in all our future projects, or just as souvenir for our participants. This activity was a great example of using entrepreneurship as a model of developing soft skills and civic engagement.
In addition to the art workshop, we organized a Spanish (Galician) cultural evening, where a representative from Valdeorras Vive, a Spanish organization, presented the region where they are based to Estonian youth. This event was open to anyone who wanted to join, and it was an excellent opportunity to learn about the rich cultural heritage of Spain. After the presentation, we had a board games night where people could make more questions about Spain in an informal environment. This activity was designed to create the working definition of "diversity", "inclusion", and "intercultural communication" through multicultural dialogue.
As part of our commitment to building strong partnerships, we also organized an Estonian cultural evening in Spain, where we presented Estonian culture to the local youth. This event was an excellent opportunity to connect with the local community, and it was open to anyone who wanted to join as well. A representative from Ethos traveled to Spain and brought Estonian products to try, giving the locals a taste of Estonian cuisine and culture.
One of our objectives of the project was also to focus on such problems as lack of youth initiative and ignorance of how to develop it, so, inspired by the art workshop in Tallinn, we of course turned to local examples in the rural zone of Galicia, where Valdeorras Vive is based. To be honest, there are not many of these initiatives here (which is exactly why we decided to implement this project), but those that exist are clearly inspiring! In collaboration with Spoombini, we organized a wood crafting workshop for local interested youth.
During the workshop, Christian Pombo (@spoombini) shared with us what difficulties he faced and still faces in developing his entrepreneurial initiative. Participants could ask any questions and try out some of the woodworking elements that Christian had prepared for us. Also, of course, we presented the project itself and how it is going, as well as the opportunities of Erasmus+, which in fact almost no one in the room knew about.
Local newspapers even wrote about our event!
Let's find your Ikigai.
Another very important part of the local activities stage is the creation of a card deck called "Let's find your Ikigai". From the 1st Expert meeting where this idea was first discussed, then shaping it and finally understanding exactly how we would like this tool to be seen, both partner organizations put their efforts into creating a unique product. We sincerely believe that in order to qualitatively develop entrepreneurial abilities and ideas, you first need to conduct a quality reflection on yourself and what goals are pursued at a certain stage in life. The Ikigai concept can be used in various fields of activity: personal development, mental health and mindfulness, entrepreneurship and turning ideas into reality. The cards can also be used in a variety of occasions, from mentoring to ice breaking games and conversation starters.
Ikigai helps discover which goals and passions should be pursued. The focus is taken out of the virtual world, and prioritises you in the here and now. We also held a Zoom webinar for everyone from our communities to share the created tool and an update on how the project is going. You can download a .pdf version of the cards in three different languages (English, Estonian, Spanish) or write us to get a physical version of the game (ethosmtu@gmail.com).
Thanks to the webinar, as well as cooperation at the local and international level, our cards are already used in the work of other organizations (for example, IZUM Club from Estonia or Go Alive from Greece), and we have also received an offer from new partners from Hungary, Germany, Ukraine and Armenia to translate cards to more languages! Some photos of how our game is already used:
In addition to that, and the mentoring we offered to youth throughout the project, we also held a second and final meeting of experts, this time in Estonia.
IIIrd stage of the project - Expert team meeting II
The second meeting of experts consisted of the same four days as the first meeting in Spain, and this meeting was one more of a strategic step and contained the summarizing of the rest of the activities and development of a plan for future action on the results sharing, reporting of the project and long-term partnership creating.
On the first day, of course, we started by breaking the ice by being in a park in the city center with beautiful weather (what an atmosphere!) and discussing the plan for the program that lay ahead of us. Right after the team was formed, we went to meet Tallinn's first entrepreneurial example - on a guided tour, which was given to us by a wonderful couple who had just opened their company @eestisonhaa. It was unusual and educational, and most importantly - on the topic of the project!
After lunch at our favorite pancake house Kompressor, we went to Draper Startup House Tallinn - our new local partner, which we acquired thanks to this project, and which became the ideal accommodation location for our project. Their combined vision and mission is one million entrepreneurs by 2030. And we became part of this project! There we discussed what an ideal entrepreneur should be and what is needed for this. It was a real brainstorm!
Day 2 started with breakfast in La Boulangerie, but for a reason, because right after a delicious breakfast we met one of the founders of this wonderful place! Anna and her husband Vasily started by baking bread at home for various restaurants, and now they already have several of their own bakeries/cafes in different parts of Tallinn, and the whole city knows about them! The meeting was clearly inspiring, thank you!
Our day continued and ended with a discussion of the results of the project, testing of the Ikigai card game and plans for how we can disseminate the results.
We really wanted to show the Spaniards all the diversity of our Estonia, and its less developed regions as well, and therefore on the third day we went to Narva to visit the Krenholm Manufacture, Vitatiim and creative hub OBJEKT. We traveled back in time, learned about the difficulties of working in remote regions and the methods they use, met international ESC volunteers and even learned about the Spinner internship. We don't really like to talk about a specific topic, just being in the activity room, we always try to learn from real examples and try to reasonably cover as much as possible!
So, taking this into account, on the last 4th day we also managed to visit Europa Experience, coworking hub and network of startup founders Lift99 and even parliament thanks to the wonderful Hanah Lahe, with whom fate accidentally brought us together a few days earlier. Returning back in the evening, tired and filled with information, we summed up our meeting and went to the final dinner. We must say that this year definitely helped our two organizations, Ethos MTÜ and Valdeorras Vive, to reach a completely new level of our work. Thank you all for being with us on this journey!
