EKO is happy to announce that one more training course has been successfully completed. The project took place in Brussels, Belgium. In this medieval environment youth 32 workers from different countries gathered to learn about Positive Leadership and Sustainability. The project was implemented from 3rd till 8th of July by the host organization YouthProAktiv and participants from 10 more countries including: Belgium, Greece, Georgia, Armenia, Hungary, France Turkey, North Macedonia and Romania. A working week of active learning, discussions, exchange of best practices, presentations, working in teams and using creative thinking to deepen into the subject. 

The main objectives of the project:

– To equip youth workers with competencies and methods needed to effectively understand the needs, reach, and communicate with the youngsters they are working with.

– To put a focus on the most disadvantaged groups ensuring their inclusive empowerment through, social and civic activation, critical thinking, ecological awareness, a sense of initiative, and respect for human rights and EU values, through effective communication.

– Boost youth workers’ professional and personal competencies and leadership skills as the most effective way to reach and empower the youth, especially the most disadvantaged youth.

– Boost youth workers’ leadership skills by deepening into self & others awareness methods and activities as the best way to effectively map and understand the needs of youngsters and especially the most disadvantaged youth.

Activities of the project:

The first day of the training was meant to introduce each of the other organizations and get an introduction to positive leadership and discuss its applications in inclusion and sustainability-related projects. Finally, they also learned how to compensate for the carbon footprint of our plane tickets. 

On the second day, participants learned about the importance of EQ, and the Big Five personality traits, and discussed how our traits affect our leadership and how we can work on our self-awareness. 

During the third day, they started creatively, but later they focused on the DISC personality types, working extensively on misperceptions, our communication, our strengths, and how we are perceived. They also worked on how we should communicate with others and what our natural tendencies are: especially regarding persuasion. 

On the fourth day, participants worked in multicultural teams, discussing main topics and they worked together expressing their ideas. 

The fifth day of the training marked the end of the week in which participants had the opportunity to deeply reflect on the learning outcomes gained over the four previous days. At the same time, they filled out the post-evaluation feedback survey which provided a lot of useful insights into the work done during the week. Lastly, participants attended the YouthPass Award Ceremony whose diploma certifies the full participation of participants in all the activities. This was followed by an emotional goodbye. 

The project was an unforgettable experience that enabled Greek participants to develop themselves, both individually and collectively, and helped them to establish themselves as active participants in public life. Emmanouela, Konstantina, and Eleni were the members of the Greek team whom we really wanna thank for all their contribution and collaboration throughout the project! Our project manager, George Fligkos, was also invited as a jury guest for the training. 

As EKO, we are also very grateful for that amazing opportunity given to the Greek team and we thank our partner Paloma Cantero, as well as Elena de la Fuente and all the rest members of the hosting organization YouthProActiv, for all their hard work and for creating such an impactful project!