Mediation and Advocacy Competences and Tactics for Sustainable Futures is an Erasmus+ training course for youth workers, coordinated and hosted by AOD – Arab Organisation of Diplomacy with the support of EMOTiC, and funded through the Austrian National Agency OeAD. It brings together youth workers from Austria, Croatia, France, Italy and Latvia with colleagues from Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon and Tunisia in Vienna from 10 to 17 November 2026.
Young people on both shores of the Mediterranean grow up with conflicts over resources, climate, inequality and belonging, and many of them want to take part in shaping a more sustainable future but do not know how to make themselves heard. Youth workers are often the ones who open that door. To do so they need two sets of competences that are rarely taught together: mediation, to facilitate dialogue and handle conflict within and between groups, and advocacy, to bring young people’s needs and proposals to decision-makers in a structured, convincing way.
The course sets out to build both. It continues the cooperation of AOD and EMOTiC with partners from the Southern Mediterranean, following training courses such as Community Conflict Transformation Through Youth Work and Participatory and Emancipatory Approaches for Youth Work, and it contributes to the Erasmus+ priorities on participation in democratic life and on the environment and the fight against climate change.
Learning experience
Learning is experiential, in line with EMOTiC’s approach to non-formal education: participants meet each method by using it. The week moves from the foundations of mediation (understanding conflict, active listening, questioning and facilitating dialogue) to advocacy (analysing a problem, mapping stakeholders, building a message and planning a campaign), and participants practise in simulations, role-plays and peer coaching before applying the tools to their own contexts. The programme includes a study visit to the United Nations headquarters in Vienna (Vienna International Centre), with a focus on UNIDO, subject to security clearance.
The course is led by trainer Mohamed Sakr, with Hajer Hechmi and Ana Stipanović as support team. Every day closes with reflection, and the final day is spent on transfer: each country team plans a local follow-up that reaches at least 15 young people and is implemented by 30 January 2027 at the latest. Learning is recognised through Youthpass.
Profile of participants
You live in one of the participating countries: Austria, Croatia, France, Italy, Latvia, Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon or Tunisia.
You are aged 24 to 35.
You work actively with young people, as a youth worker, trainer, facilitator, youth leader, educator or volunteer.
You want to strengthen your competences in mediation, dialogue facilitation and advocacy, and to use them with young people at home.
You commit to full participation for the whole activity and all sessions.
You can work in English (at least B2 level).
Participants from Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt and Lebanon must already hold a valid Schengen visa, or another valid right to enter Austria, covering 10–17 November 2026. For administrative reasons we cannot provide visa support or invitation letters.
You can cooperate and work with others in a team.
You are ready to deliver a local follow-up with your country team that reaches at least 15 young people by 30 January 2027.
You are ready to support dissemination and visibility activities online and offline.
You are curious to learn and you appreciate diversity in every sense.
Costs
There is no participation fee. The activity is co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union.
Accommodation, the programme, materials and meals during the activity are covered directly by the host. Participants from Vienna take part without accommodation; meals during the programme days are included.
Travel to and from Vienna is reimbursed on actual costs up to a fixed ceiling per country: Croatia €285 (green travel); France, Italy and Latvia €309; Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt and Lebanon €400. Anything above the ceiling is your own or your organisation’s contribution: the Erasmus+ grant is a contribution towards participation costs, not full funding of the activity.
Participants book their own transport to and from Vienna, and we refund the eligible costs under the conditions below.
Book nothing before AOD has approved your travel plan. Tickets bought without prior written approval may not be reimbursed.
The refund is paid after you have delivered your local follow-up and submitted all original travel documents.
Only travel to and from Vienna is refunded. Public transport in Vienna, transfers between the airport and the venue and other local transport are the participants’ own contribution.
Costs are paid in advance: if you cancel, drop out or miss the activity after signing the participation agreement, a compensation fee of €500 (€300 for participants from Vienna) applies.
Participation rules and conditions
You should attend the entire activity from 10 to 17 November 2026.
You should engage in all preparation and follow-up activities.
You should apply as soon as possible, at the latest by 28 October 2026. Applications are reviewed as they arrive and you will hear from us within two days.
Once selected, you should sign the participation agreement and send a copy of your passport or ID card within 24 hours.
You should send your proposed route and its cost within 24 hours of selection, and buy your tickets only after AOD has approved them – within 48 hours, by 31 October 2026 at the latest.
You should send all tickets, boarding passes, invoices and proof of payment by 1 December 2026.
AOD insures all participants during the activity. In addition, you need your own travel health insurance for the whole stay (and your European Health Insurance Card if you come from an EU country).
You respect the house rules of the venue: no smoking inside the building (the hostel charges a €700 penalty for smoking in the rooms), quiet hours from 22:00, and no alcohol or drugs during the activity at the venue.
Timeframe
Preparation: from selection until the training (preparatory tasks and travel arrangements).
Participation: 10 to 17 November 2026 in Vienna, Austria, travel days included.
Follow-up: an online follow-up meeting on 10 December 2026, and local follow-up activities implemented by 30 January 2027 at the latest, each reaching at least 15 young people.
Other important remarks
Applications are reviewed and accepted based on motivation and eligibility.
Places per country: Austria 4, Croatia 4, France 4, Italy 3, Latvia 4, Tunisia 4, Algeria 2, Egypt 4, Lebanon 3. Places are confirmed by the partner organisation of each country together with AOD; the last results are sent on 29 October 2026.
More details, such as preparatory tasks and the final programme, are shared after selection by email.
You receive a Youthpass certificate on the final day of the activity in Vienna.
The visit to the United Nations headquarters in Vienna (Vienna International Centre) on 13 November depends on security clearance. Bring your passport or ID card; lunch on that day is not covered.
The venue
Training sessions, accommodation and meals all take place at the Jugendgästehaus Wien Brigittenau: seminar rooms for the sessions, buffet meals in the dining hall and shared rooms with bunk beds.
The Jugendgästehaus Wien BrigittenauSeminar roomSeminar roomBuffetBreakfast buffetDining hallRoom with bunk bedsRoom with bunk bedsRoom with washbasin
Apply as soon as possible, at the latest by 28 October 2026. Applications are reviewed as they arrive; selected participants sign a participation agreement and receive the preparatory tasks by email.
Co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union through the Austrian National Agency OeAD. Participation is free of charge; accommodation, meals and the programme are covered and travel is reimbursed up to a ceiling.
Venue and accommodation
Jugendgästehaus Wien Brigittenau, Adalbert-Stifter-Strasse 73, 1200 Vienna. Participants stay, eat and work in the same place; arrival instructions are in the info pack. The welcome dinner is at a restaurant near the venue, 18:30–20:30, for those who have arrived by then – it cannot be arranged for later arrivals.
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