YOUTHFULLY YOURS SK

Slovakia

Youthfully Yours SK is a Non-governmental organization located in the Eastern part of Slovakia. We would like to see AMBITIOUS & COMPETENT young people eager to benefit their community in our region. To achieve that, we feel determined to advance young people’s competences, empower a SENSE OF INITIATIVE & SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, and promote ACTIVE CITIZENSHIP, SOCIAL INCLUSION & INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUE among young people from Eastern Slovakia. At the LOCAL LEVEL, we focus on YOUTH EMPOWERMENT and the Youth’s ability to PARTICIPATE ACTIVELY in society. We strongly believe in the value of Non-formal education and experiential learning. For these reasons, YY regularly organizes various seminars, educational and training activities, cooperates with local schools, educational centers, universities, and introduces innovative educational approaches to young people, youth leaders, and youth workers. We increase young people’s awareness about available learning, volunteering, and work opportunities on the local, national or international level, empower them to apply for various educational programs, training courses, conferences, volunteering activities, and internships. As a sending and an intermediary institution, we enable young people to use all of these opportunities, moreover provide them with appropriate mentoring and assistance. YY is a member of the umbrella organization – RMKK – regional youth council of Košice, gathering the majority of youth councils, youth parliaments, and 15 active NGOs operating in Kosice region.

We have signed a MEMORANDUM of COOPERATION with RCM – Regional Youth Centre, University of Pavel Jozef Safarik, Technical University of Kosice,
and more than 28 high schools located in our region. At the INTERNATIONAL LEVEL, we are part of numerous well-built partnerships and networks supported by different programs and initiatives e.g. Erasmus+, Europe For Citizens, International Visegrad Fund, European Youth Foundation, European Solidarity Corps. PRISMA – https://www.prisma-network.eu/members YEU – observer http://www.yeu-international.org/ In May 2021, YY TEAM comprises 16 ACTIVE MEMBERS, youth workers, social workers, professional facilitators, trainers, youth leaders, and active young people interested in non-formal education. This project will actively benefit the whole team. In YY COMMUNITY, we have 630 registered members actively participating in our activities. Our Social networks have 3980 (FB) 740 (IG) followers. In 2019 we signed a MEMORANDUM of COOPERATION with KOSICE SELF-GOVERNING REGION (Regional government) involving our organization in collecting needs among young people from our region and the creation of the CONCEPTION for YOUTH WORK at the REGIONAL LEVEL. In 2018 our core members became part of the operational group Youth Creativity and Entrepreneurship, led by the Slovak National Agency for Erasmus+. Its mission is to support the elaboration of the Action plan for STRATEGY OF THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC FOR YOUTH in Youth Entrepreneurship, Creativity, and Employability.

In particular, the group aims to identify priorities in these fields that should be supported on the national level, specify demanding goals and propose strategies for reaching them. The group comprises experts in the field of Youth work, successful and experienced entrepreneurs, representatives of the private sector, NGOs, public institutions, and local authorities all connected with the topic of Youth entrepreneurial skills and their development. In the same year, our core members took part in Strategic partnership activities among the National Agencies of the Erasmus+ named Europe goes local to raise the QUALITY of LOCAL YOUTH WORK in particular through enhanced cooperation between various stakeholders that are active at the municipal level. Thanks to this initiative, we have started a collaboration with the CITY COUNCIL and REGIONAL EXPERTS in the field of youth work with the aim to elaborate YOUTH WORK STRATEGY for What are the activities and experience of the organization in the areas relevant for this project? What are the skills and/or expertise of key persons involved in this project?

Youth Empowerment is one of the core focuses of our organization. With local and international activities, we are developing young people’s competencies, increasing their sense of initiative, enhancing their self-confidence. In 2021 we enter a strategic partnership: Overcoming Fear of Failure, which aims to solve the most significant issues that prevent young people from starting any endeavor – fear of failure, which has roots in a shame culture. The project will equip youth workers, leaders, and young adults with methods, tools, and guidance to plan their future and apply it into reality without fear of failure. In 2020 we started a strategic partnership: Stop cyberbullying among you(th). It aims to empower young people and professionals in the field of Youth to fight cyberbullying by using visual storytelling. In the frame of this partnership, we create non-formal education methods on how to use visual storytelling to fight cyberbullying, raise awareness of the dangers of cyberbullying and increase anti-bullying attitudes among young people. The project strongly meets our core focus as it will improve self-efficacy and self-defending behavior among young people raising their awareness of the personal and shared responsibility for the safe atmosphere among Youth and the protection of (online) boundaries. In 2018 we developed a strategic partnership supported by IVF: Let’s superhero ourselves. The main concept was to use comic books as an empowering and capacity-building tool for teenagers to address social problems in their communities.

Our Regular Activities:

Training of Communication skills and Self-development Training is taking place regularly (at least twice a month) at high schools in the Košice region. During one day activity (7 – 8 hours), a group of 25 youngsters is presented, with experiential learning and NFE, to develop communication skills, self-presentation, self-confidence, and teamwork.

What are the activities and experience of the organisation in the areas relevant for this project? What are the skills and/or expertise of key persons involved in this project?

YY SK strives to create a learning platform to empower and support young people with difficulties in getting proper education and qualified employment. Regularly, YY SK organizes seminars and workshops, using non-formal education and experiential learning to prepare young people for real-life situations and manage challenges that they might encounter in the 21st century. To empower young people from eastern Slovakia, increasing their employability and competitiveness in the labor market is one of the association’s main focuses. To achieve that, YY uses the wide network of high schools, educational centers from the Košice region, and cooperation with the Office of Labour, Social Affairs, and Family in Košice. YY SK works with long-term unemployed young people (NEETs), providing them with training for better communication and presentation skills, enhancing their self-confidence and helping them while making career choices.

YY SK will bring into this partnership its connection and networks as well as the support of Slovakian decision-makers and EU representatives. In 2021 we enter a strategic partnership: Overcoming Fear of Failure, which aims to solve the most significant issues that prevent young people from starting any endeavor – fear of failure. The project will equip youth workers, leaders, and young adults with methods, tools, and guidance to plan their future and apply it into reality without fear of failure. As part of YY’s long-term strategy, two of our core members registered themselves into the program EYE – Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs, with the aim to host new entrepreneurs from other EU countries and share their knowledge and experience with project management in the NGO field. As program EYE is not well known among Slovak Youth, we started extensive cooperation with Velmax N.O. Slovak Intermediator organization for EYE. As a contact point, we inform youngsters, high school and university students with a business idea about EYE opportunities, providing them with all necessary information. We have become part of the national operation team for the implementation of the National Strategy for Youth 2019-2020, particularly in the field of Youth Employability & Entrepreneurship

The main person responsible for coordination in YYSK:

Ivan Rosa, Project manager, Certified NFE trainer (ALKP); entering EYF (CoE) pool of trainers. As the external expert for IUVENTA, Ivan supports elaboration of the Action plan for the STRATEGY OF SR FOR YOUTH (operational group focusing on youth employability and entrepreneurship) identifying youth work priorities in these topics that should be supported on the national level, specifying goals and proposing strategies on how to reach them. He cooperates with KSK in the creation of the CONCEPTION for YOUTH WORK at the REGIONAL LEVEL and with Košice city in the creation of STRATEGY FOR YOUTH AND YOUTH WORK. Ivan is responsible for the coordination of the presented project

The person responsible for the research and educational outcomes in YYSK will be PhDr. Dana Rosová Ph.D. Dana has Ph.D. in social work, she is an expert on Bullying, Prevention in schools, Emotional intelligence, Communication training, Children’s behavioral disorders, Human trafficking, career counseling, and has profound experience in working with the Roma community. Author of publications related to bullying and prevention that gather best practices and complex programs on how to address bullying or how to support its prevention in schools:

Prevention in schools and educational centres – https://www.martinus.sk/?uItem=304447
Strategy for addressing bullying in schools https://www.martinus.sk/?uItem=309591
Prevention towards behavioral disorders https://www.martinus.sk/?uItem=304446

Dana was the main responsible person in the implementation of the project Prevention in schools I.-II. Supported by the Ministry of Education, Science, Research, and Sport of the Slovak Republic. Activities conducted with local Youth were focused on the prevention of bullying in elementary schools and grammar schools in Košice. During the project, a guide with complex methodology was created, gathering different methods of non-formal education supporting the empowerment of young people that were facing bullying or were at its risk