Partners of “The journey”

Predict CSD Consulting

Predict CSD Consultancy is a company which was set up in 2006 and it specialises in delivering training courses and consultancy in different fields, such as:

• Youth work;
  
• Recruitment and selection of personnel –simulation exercises;
  
• Organising events in tourism;
  
• Stakeholders engagement;
  
• Corporate Social Responsibility;
  
• Project Management;
  
• E-learning.
  

We are an authorised training provider for the occupational standard ”Youth Worker” in Romania, with the first authorised course delivered in April 2017.

Some of the main contract/projects in which the company has been involved in recent years:

1_) The project ‘‘The suitcase, the map and the voyage of a youth worker” had the following relevant outcomes and results:  

• one e-learning portal hosting 8 active modules/courses http://thevoyage.eu;
  
• more than 30 000 unique visitors to the website;
  
• 2920 people from 61 countries registered on the platform;
  
• 18 follow–up initiatives;
  
• more than 4000 organisations informed about the results of the project;
  
• 23 certified youth workers on the Romanian Occupational Standard;
  
• one authorised organisation to deliver youth worker courses for 4 years;
  
• 57 persons from 22 countries participated in the multiplier event;
  
• 2 networks created: Learning to Learn hanse/ Youth Worker hanse;
  
• one FB page of the project;
  
• one Youtube channel prepared;
  
• 1100 young people from high schools informed;
  
• 272 drawings/paintings especially made for this project;
  
• 3 manuals in 2 languages, 1 manual for the Romanian course of Youth worker;
  
• 265 usage confirmation of the 4 products available on the website;
  
• 330 personal development plans realised during the project;
  
• Youth worker online course was explored by 940 users and 241 certificates were issued;
  
• Learning to learn, the online training course and assessment tool was explored by 1168 users, 218 certificates were issued;
  
• The Simulation Box of Jobs was explored by 526 persons;
  
• The Career Box was explored by 1115 users;
  
• a package of 28 badges used for the online modules plus another set of 14 prepared for the final event;
  
• a gamified world was created on the e-learning portal: progress bar, course completion status, ranking, experience points, badges, e-games, videos, challenges, treasure hunt, secret areas, reflection zone, portfolios, feedback system etc.
  

The e-learning platform is structured around a story about a journeyman (the user) who travels in different areas (the countries of the partners) in order to become a master. Enjoy the ride on http://thevoyage.eu! 

Some testimonials about the courses can be found here: http://thevoyage.eu/mod/page/view.php?id=1437. You can try out, without registration, a preview unit available here: http://thevoyage.eu/course/view.php?id=24

 

THE AWARD

The work in "The suitcase, the map and the voyage of a youth worker" was very much appreciated both at national and European level and the project has been selected as a "success story" and ”good practice example” by a panel of experts from the Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture of the European Commission. "Success stories" are finalised projects that have distinguished themselves by their impact, contribution to policy-making, innovative results and/or creative approach and can be a source of inspiration for others. The selection of our project as a success story was made on the basis of rigorous criteria regarding its quality, relevance and results.   

 

Some other relevant projects included: creating a manual for a training course – ABCs in tourism; making a design for training in tourism; consultancy for a pharmaceutical company in the fields of: general management, how to choose an efficient place for a local branch, realising marketing strategy, preparing the plans for recruitment, selection, orientation, motivation and rewarding of personnel; making interview guides; simulation exercises for potential employers, business plan etc.; building a community centre: Inform, Consult, Involve, Collaborate, Empower the local community. 

 

 

Millenium Center 

Millennium Center is a non-profit organisation from Arad, western Romania, active in youth field with special emphasis on European Voluntary Service (EVS). It was founded in April 2000 out of the desire to offer a legal and organised environment for young people’s initiatives. Our AIM is to promote the interests of young people on a social, cultural, educational, sports and economical level. 

As Sending, Coordinating and Hosting organisation since 2007, we have been sending abroad hundreds of volunteers from Romania and hosting hundreds of volunteers from Partner countries of the Programme. 

MC is an organisation that puts the same emphasis on non-formal and informal methods of work with EVS volunteers and on training of own staff devoted to EVS projects.

The strong integration of local coordinating team of MC together with EVS volunteers makes each EVS project more and more successful, creating a friendly atmosphere between participants. Non-formal and informal methods applied since the award winning EVS project “Cultural Clusters to Be Discovered” in 2008, have evolved and got more reach within each new EVS project. Since 2013, MC has consecutively introduced into the learning process of EVS volunteers, elements of ICT and related techniques, to enhance non-formal and informal experiences on the one hand and keep itself updated of newest trends in education, on the other hand. In the next 5 years, MC will continue this inside trend, making EVS experience as rich and complete as possible for the volunteers. 

MC is implementing KA2 projects and started to create new ones  focusing on online training courses, online tools for career guidance, for competence development, with focus on youth, for Youth Worker and Trainer professions and roles in EVS. 

You can find below some examples of projects implemented in the last 17 years:

• Youth exchanges in Europe: more than 60;
  
• EVS host each month since 2007 and sending over 150 EVS; training courses, implementing large scale EVS projects in Romania;
  
• EVS - group projects: 'Youth for Youth II' with 3 volunteers and 'Cultural Clusters to be discovered' with 52 volunteers (2007 - 2008); "Youth for Youth I" during 2006 - 2007; -"Stakeholders in action" with 81 volunteers (2009 - 2010) , "EVS Express" (2009 - 2011) etc;
  
• AMICUS - group projects: "Action-Reaction-Interaction" (25 young volunteers were sent in French Guyana during 1 month) in the autumn of 2009 and "AGORA" project, currently implemented in Marseille (France) involving 50 volunteers for 1 month;
  
• Training Courses on the following themes: "Project Management", "Writing Financing Application Forms", "European Youth Programs", "Volunteerism", "Institutions and Values of European Union", "Creativity", "Civil Participation", "Communication", "Strategic Planning", "Conflict Management", "Human Rights", "Team-building", "Interculturality", "Free Access to Public Information", "Structural Funds";
  
• Creating youth councils, for example Local Youth Council from Arad, 2007-2009;
  
• Projects dedicated to social responsibility of the corporations, in collaboration with different companies;
  
• Projects for promoting European values in high schools, Project called "Europe in High school", during 2005-2007, in 2007 being the coordinators in the West region;
  

  

CESIE

CESIE is a European Centre for Studies and Initiatives based in Palermo, Sicily. It is a non-profit, apolitical, and non-governmental organization with member organizations in more than eight European countries. It was founded in 2001 in Palermo, based on experiences of our inspirer: sociologist Danilo Dolci. We work in promotion of community development through capacity building and empowerment of individuals with educational initiatives for various target groups with particular focus on vulnerable groups.

Our objectives:

•           To improve lifelong education in Europe through transnational projects involving local communities;

•           To promote sustainable development of neighboring regions and beyond through training and education;

•           To foster progress and innovation in Higher Education and Research;

•           To support learning mobility for people at all ages, across borders and sectors;

•           To stimulate local growth by adapting international good practices and methods.

The organisation is divided into six units that work together in synergy on: Youth, Higher Education and Research, Adult, Migration, School, Rights and Justice.

CESIE is accredited by the Region of Sicily for Orientation of Vocational Education and Training, with macro-typology of Higher Education and lifelong learning (LLL) for “development, introduction and implementation of reforms in education and training to increase integration and develop employability”, and therefore eligible as accreditation, certification and/or qualification body.

The head office can be found in the city centre of Palermo with other offices in India, Nepal and Senegal. Moreover, CESIE benefits from a broad network of partners with more than 3000 civil society organisations, universities, schools, research centres, public authorities and private entities, youth centres, companies and entrepreneurs in the world.

Along with other institutions and organisations, CESIE is currently implementing over 100 projects in more than 80 countries.

CESIE staff is composed of 70 people at the coordinating office, located in Palermo, and a staff person for each international seat. The team has an international character being composed not only by Italians, but also from the UK, Germany, France, Serbia, Lithuania, Spain, etc. CESIE is therefore considered to be a very concrete and positive example of European values. Moreover, the staff is characterized by a great diversity of profiles, skills and qualifications but united by a deep sharing of ideals that lead our activities.

At the same time, CESIE relies on about 150 External Experts (researchers, social workers, trainers, etc.) that collaborate for specific activities in our offices. Equally important is the contribution of interns and volunteers engaged in internships at our organization, each year we host at least 100 young people from all over the world.

 

 

MUNDUS

Asociación Mundus - Un Mundo a Tus Pies, has been established in 2013 with main headquarters in the city of Badalona (Barcelona), Spain. It is a not-for-profit association created by people passionate about learning mobility and cultural exchange, largely interested in supporting youth development through non-formal education, as well as into support of educational policies for contributing to fight youth unemployment levels in Spain and Europe.

The Association has been implementing various learning mobility projects under the Erasmus+ programme since 2013. Mundus regularly organises training courses for youth workers, manages projects for cultural exchanges of young people and is one of the biggest organisations working with volunteers in Spain, sending hundreds of Spanish volunteers abroad every year. 

All founding members of the association have wide experience in Youth programmes. They were EVS volunteers in different countries and participated in and organised Youth Exchanges and Training sessions/courses in which they played the roles of both participants and trainers. That is why we have a global vision of the European Mobility programmes, not superficial but profound in its possibilities, content and objectives. We believe we are a group motivated by our own experiences that aims to draw attention to the world that Europe offers us through our work in our Association Mundus.

Erasmus+ offers the chance to youngsters with (and without) fewer opportunities to overcome fears, prove themselves and become entrepreneurs of their destiny. And that is the base of Mundus’ work.

Mundus has introduced a new process to prepare the volunteers it is sending abroad. During preparation time we motivate volunteers to become the main character of the experience while being volunteer. We ensure our EVS volunteers are fully motivated and ready to learn and share the experience. A big part of being EVS volunteer is to spread the word about the project and related activities among the community.  Many times the volunteers we send decide to keep on cooperating with us at local level after their mobility.

We are often working with youngsters under the tuition of the Catalan government, due to their special risky situations connected with their families. Some of them  are migrants, others just didn’t have enough luck in life. We try to support them including them in our activities, inviting them to Training and Youth Exchanges and offering them educational opportunities. 

As for the hosting part, we usually host projects related to communication and youth work. As for the coordinating part, we act as network for local associations that don't have the expertise or the will to manage international projects.

Mundus team has experience managing EVS world projects (EACEA),  sending more than 200 EVS volunteers to European Countries, hosting EVS volunteers, tutoring and coordinating Leonardo Da Vinci/VET programmes and also Senior Volunteers. 

 

 

V2020

V2020, a registered charity organization (CC No:-1142264), adopts instructive ICT, social, leadership skills training, sports/exercise to strengthen communities, provide opportunities for the socially disadvantaged, hard to reach young people; with linguistic adaptations and socio cultural complexities/challenges, difficulties, and identifications; empowers these socially disadvantaged, hard to reach young people;  by providing opportunities and assisting them to find routes back into education, volunteering and employment.

Based in the Black Minority Ethnic and Asian communities of Gorton, Manchester UK; one of the most socially deprived neighbourhoods in UK; among 10% most deprived wards in Britain, 30% most deprived Lower Super Output Area.(Government Report ’08), V2020 enhances young people’s personal development through wider community involvement, train, empower, and skill them through coaching, mentoring; thereby improving their self-confidence and esteem through Youth Exchanges, Youth Initiatives; Training and Networking projects etc. 'RTS' Youths Reclaim The Streets, 'KIO' Kick it our Kick Racism Out was selected as a case study by the YiA/British Council in 2012 (see Youth in Action & SALTO website) aimed at building respect in the community, reduce levels of anti-social behaviour, intolerance, racism and xenophobia by excluded young people through reformative and participatory activities. 

Our organisation was accredited as EVS sending, hosting and co-ordinating organisation by the British Council for the next 7 years. (Accreditation of Youth Volunteering Organisations (ERAPLUS-EVS-CHARTER) 2014-1-UK01-KA110-012306)

AQA also registered V2020's Institute of Entrepreneurship/Leadership Studies and Development as an accreditation centre for all courses delivered in the centre and the local community. 

Following from our experiences and expertise in project delivery, adopting competency-based model used to assess participants' needs adopted in our previous projects to help assess learning, identify skills gaps and equip participants with marketable skills for a better chance at landing the opportunities available in the market place. We mentor and support participants on one on one basis to ensure that identified skills gaps and needs are filled.

We are experienced in delivering training courses, job shadowing, volunteering work; with this background we bring to bear on the project Communication, Planning and Organising, Judgment/Decision Making, Leadership, Team Building skills, learning to learn new skills and competencies, skills in allocation  of resources such as equipment, tools and materials to team members during practical volunteering roles, competitions, exercises and projects which teach  resources allocation without prejudice and favouring one participant over the other. 

 

 

Local partners

We had great support from our local partners in the efforts to implement our project:

• High Oak Youth Club Dudley West Midland and Manchester Youth Network Manchester, UK; 
  
• Elena Ghiba Birta National College, Arad, Romania;
  
• In Spain, Mundus is working closely with some youth centers;
  
• Centre for Creative Development “Danilo Dolci” - Italy;