Here and now was a training course for 26 youth workers from 8 countries (Bulgaria, Italy, Macedonia, Malta, Portugal, Spain, Turkey and Romania). It was held from July 25 – August 1, 2018, in Maramures, Romania. A project organized by the association YMCA Baia Mare, financed by the Erasmus Plus Program, with participants aged 18+, youth workers, young leaders, active volunteers in their organizations, volunteer coordinators, staff, etc. they were the beneficiaries of this event. The development of social competences (e.g. critical thinking, sales, communication, trust, helpfulness, problem-solving skills, leadership, acceptance and tolerance, intercultural learning), by experimenting with different methods of non-formal education using “Going Outdoors” as a tool for social inclusion were the main goals of this training. The main goals were to support the participants in the creation and design of different and innovative open methods for inclusion in order to reach at-risk youth, as well as promoting the importance of non-formal education and social inclusion methods.

The first days of the training were indoor activities, brainstorming games and communication style discovery. The other days we had activities like energizers, teamwork, rope climbing techniques, reflections, we had an intercultural night, the World Coffee, etc. We had the opportunity to discuss with a group of participants about our ideas for creating our own activity, and to do this with other participants.

Any journey can profoundly change the way we experience our world, and this was unique and invaluable to my personal growth. It was a great opportunity to look at new cultures, to communicate with people, to share different impressions and thoughts. Achieving common goals with joint effort was present in all activities and this played an important role in building my skills. As an additional issue, it increased my desire to acquire new knowledge and develop myself, because only by self-improvement can we contribute to society and influence others.

The here and now is all we have, and if we play it right, it’s all we need!

“After some time away from such trainings, I renewed myself and allowed myself to become one with everything we were doing. I was curious about every activity and forced my mind to think “How do we do this now?” and we all came up with different ideas, gained trust in each other, challenged each other, learned and eventually met people who taught me how to care and loving myself, others who have inspired me to never stop dreaming and achieve my goals. I made friends and had wonderful moments that I will never forget. These trainings opened the curtains and offered me a chance to see a colorful multicultural world, take something from everyone’s uniqueness, learn new things and improve my professional skills. Youth has so much to give, the world can be a better place to live in and Erasmus Plus is all about that.