The CSEE SL Network members implement joint projects with the aim of empowering teachers, youth, and the community by using the Service-Learning Methodology.
Read more about our joint work
The firs joint project was Boosting HEARts and Minds of youth with Service-Learning – HEARMi a three year project implemented in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro and Romania. The goal of the HEARMi project was to develop the capacities of four organizations of Central and Eastern Europe of Service-Learning Network and to improve the effectiveness of civic engagement of youth and youth’s capacity to champion social inclusion in service-learning projects.
The main results of the project are as follows:
– 410 youth workers used S-L in their local youth work.
– 1 toolkit for effective youth engagement in S-L was developed in four languages.
– 273 youth were engaged in S-L.
– 15 S-L projects were implemented in 15 communities.
– 4 partner organizations have deepened their expertise in S-L through joint activities.
The HEARMi project was being implemented by Organizata Kosovare per Talent dhe Arsim – TOKA (Kosovo) with partner organizations: Fundatia Noi Orizonturi – NHF (Romania), Međunarodno udruženje „Interaktivne otvorene škole“- MIOS (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Forum mladi i neformalna edukacija – Forum MNE (Montenegro) and is supported by European Education and Culture Executive Agency (Capacity Building in the Field of Youth).
Duration: 2023 – 2024
Donor: SMART Balkans – Civil society for shared society in the Western Balkans
Implementing organizations:
- Međunarodno udruženje “Interaktivne otvorene škole”, Lead applicant, Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Organizata Kosovare për Talent dhe Arsim – TOKA, Partner, Kosovo*
- Forum mladi i neformalna edukacija – Forum MNE, Partner, Montenegro
Geographical scope: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia.
Summary of the project
The main project goal is to expand the platform for active engagement of young people in key societal developments that affect them, by building stronger links between the youth and public authorities who should support them. The project will leverage the experience and best practices regionally from partner CSOs in the project, to improve the grassroots civil society participation in decision-making at local, national and/or regional forums. The stakeholders involved will include government authorities, but also other authorities that play a crucial role in community mobilization – such as schools, youth centers, and universities. It will focus on two thematic topics digital literacy and the fight against fake news, which affect young people greatly due to their high exposure to social media, as well as facilitate peace-building regionally through exchanges at multiple levels of stakeholders. Last but not least, the Network will specifically focus on advocating the use of the Service-Learning approach for mobilizing vulnerable youth, since its combination of learning and doing has proved by be very effective with such stakeholders.
Overall goal (impact): Boost the local and regional partnerships between CSO and local governments (administrations) for good governance with youth participating in decision-making processes and strengthening participatory democracies in the Western Balkans.
Beneficiaries
- WB6 CSO partners – Regional partnerships will be developed and strengthened between CSOs from WB6, with a specific focus on increasing citizen influencing public authorities
- Youth Leaders from WB6 countries -teachers and youth workers from the six countries will increase their capacity in developing and implementing civic activism projects in the fields of digital literacy and fake news, as well as in building partnerships between vulnerable youth and public authorities.
- Public officials from WB6 countries – in addition to being engaged at the local level, public officials will also be invited as speakers and advisors at the key regional capacity building events of the project.
- Vulnerable adolescent youth from WB6 countries – will directly benefit from improving skills in digital literacy and fake news, and how to engage more effectively with public authorities.
- Community beneficiaries in the WB6 countries – where the youth projects are implemented
Activities
Partner Inception Workshop; Youth Leader Workshop on advocacy & partnership building; Youth summer training camp on digital literacy/fake news and project management; Regional Service-Learning Award; Regional Activism Conference; Impact measurement.
The project SLipstream was conceived through a partnership of 7 organizations from 7 countries aiming to foster youth volunteerism education. The project aims to enhance the quality of youth participation in democratic life and social and civic engagement in communities by linking formal and non-formal education to develop a strategy for service learning in Central and Eastern European countries (CEE region). The project seeks to create tools and conditions for implementing service learning and make it more exclusive. Partners will develop tools for implementing national awards for service learning projects and enhance international recognition. Institutional recognition strengthens the promotion of this pedagogical strategy. Partners experienced in training service learning strategies will create a toolkit and materials for customized training schedules, conducting training for youth workers. Defining quality standards for service learning projects and creating a learning reflection app will enhance the quality of youth-led projects, motivating and engaging them in communities. All outcomes, along with an advocacy plan and trained service-learning ambassadors in each participating country, will create a better environment for disseminating the SL strategy, enabling organizations to successfully implement the service-learning method.
Project Period:
November 1, 2023 – January 31, 2026
Project Coordinator:
Platform of Volunteer Centers and Organizations, Slovakia
Project Partners:
Centre Europeen du Volontariat, Belgium
International Association “Interactive Open Schools”, Bosnia and Herzegovina
SMART Association for Civil Society Development, Croatia
National Volunteer Association, Czech Republic
TOKA, Kosovo
Noi Orizonturi Lupeni Foundation, Romania