Partnerships for Youth: Learning mobilities in Italy

About the project

Partnerships for Youth: Learning mobilities in Italy is a consolidated EMOTiC project that brings together several Erasmus+ opportunities in Italy for young people who are citizens or residents of Austria. EMOTiC cooperates with Italian NGOs to design youth exchanges and training courses where a group from Austria meets peers from other countries, develops competences, becomes aware of socially relevant topics, discovers new cultures and strengthens values such as solidarity and democracy.

A learning mobility is a short international meeting of youth groups around one topic, lasting between 7 and 23 days including travel, with an average of about nine days. At least two countries always take part. Each programme mixes workshops, debates, role-plays, simulations, outdoor activities, field visits, guest speakers and reflection, so that participants learn by doing and by exchanging with each other. Youth exchanges aim to foster intercultural dialogue, strengthen diversity and inclusion and break down prejudices and stereotypes, while training courses support high-quality youth work and build a community of youth workers.

The Italian strand has had a strong creative and environmental focus. The youth exchange Environmentalism through Art and Heritage took place in Faenza from 25 April to 2 May 2022, hosted by Associazione SEMI, Seeds for More Interculture. It gathered 25 young people from Austria, Portugal, Italy, Hungary and Spain to discuss Europe's main environmental risks and to share sustainability messages through art inspired by the town's rich heritage of ceramics.

From 7 to 14 June 2022, the youth exchange Green And Tech For Youth was held in Magliano Sabina, hosted by Project XX1. Its 25 participants from Austria, Poland, Lithuania, Italy and Spain explored immersive theatre, storytelling and audio techniques, and combined them to develop an audio guide on environmental issues, reflecting on how these creative tools can be adapted to their own local contexts.

The training course Snap In Youth Empowerment followed in Padua from 2 to 10 August 2022, hosted by Associazione di Promozione Sociale RILABO. It brought together 28 young people from Austria, Italy, Armenia, Portugal, Georgia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Ukraine to learn the essentials of youth work, project management and community development, strengthen their youth leadership skills and design their own community project ideas, with action plans to implement at home as follow-up activities.

In each project EMOTiC acted as partner and co-beneficiary, running the call in Austria, selecting participants and coordinating the group's travel. Thanks to Erasmus+ funding from the European Commission, accommodation, meals and travel are covered, and some programmes ask for a small administration fee of 30 to 50 euros for extra logistics. The group usually travels together from Austria, and travel costs are refunded after return. Participants can also receive a Youthpass certificate that recognises what they have learned.