YOUTH EXCHANGE: Uniting Abilities in Outdoor Activities

Straja Resort, Charpatian Mountains, Romania, July 3 – July 09, 2023

42 participants of whom 30 youngsters, 5 youth leaders, 5 accompanying persons and 2 facilitators, will be given the opportunity to experience adapted and inclusive outdoor activities and sport workshops and low rope practice in a mixed-ability group. Together with visually impaired participants will discover and develop skills for more independent living, healthy lifestyle and social inclusion.

The youth exchange aims to develop and improve participants’ soft skills while promoting a healthy lifestyle through outdoor activities and sports used as tools for inclusion. It also focuses on fostering inclusivity by engaging with visually impaired/blind youngsters. Activities include workshops on soft skills, outdoor adventures, inclusive sports sessions, low rope challenges, empathy exercises, healthy lifestyle workshops, cultural exchange, and reflection sessions. The objective is to provide a transformative experience that equips young participants with essential skills, promotes inclusivity, and encourages intercultural understanding.

Participants’ profile:

• Citizens or legal residents of Croatia, Serbia, Romania and Albania;
• Youngsters between 17-30 years old;
• Youth leaders and accompanying persons, age 18+;
• Ready to interact with their disabled/non-disabled peers in an active and supportive way;
• Committed to attend for the full duration of the youth exchange;
• Youth workers, stuff or volunteers connected to their sending organization;
• To be able to use English language as the working language is mandatory!

The candidates will fill it out and the sending partners will evaluate and make the final selection, based on the following criteria:

• Status of the participant: fewer opportunities/visually impaired/typical youngster/accompanying person;
• Motivation;
• Potential and availability to multiply and disseminate the project’s results, by:

o Writing stories/posts/articles about their experiences in the project and then post these on their websites, social media platforms and in the project Facebook group and page;

o Participating to the preparatory meetings (on-line or face-to-face) and the dissemination events organized by the sending organizations on local level;

o Preparing, inside their country team.

• Committed to attend for the full duration of the youth exchange;

Since there will be some participants facing visual impairment, each partner will also select an accompanying person, citizen or legal resident of the country of the sending organization, that will support the participants with disabilities during the journey and during the activities. These accompanying persons should be:

• Age 18+;
• Experienced in guiding a person with disability;
• Ready to support the visually impaired youngsters 24/7 during the journey to Romania and back, and during all the activities;
• Able to use English as working language.

At the end of the youth exchange, each participant will receive a Youth-pass certificate. Accommodation and food for all participants are covered by the project budget.

Link to the application form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSewWxZEdCKuLbdDredZmq53sepZUGlO_cwsRTwxB4KPSBG3kA/viewform?usp=sf_link