UNITED SOCIETIES OF BALKANS (USB)
United Societies of Balkans (U.S.B.) is a non-profit, non-governmental organisation based in Thessaloniki, Greece working in the field of youth, human rights and intercultural dialogue. It was founded in 2008 by the inception of a group of active young people who wanted to address the social issues which affect the youngsters in the Balkans and Eastern Europe. The vision and aim of the organisation is the promotion of youth empowerment, participation in the economic and political life, youth mobility, voluntarism and human rights.
Key areas of the organisation’s activities concern the defence of human rights and the intercultural dialogue, the organisation of youth related projects such as youth exchanges and training courses, which can bring young people from Balkans and Europe together, and the organisation of local interventions, campaigns, researches, seminars and multimedia productions. It envisions a global and inclusive society, where citizens are equally empowered to contribute in the shaping of a world with less prejudice, discrimination and other forms of injustice.
ALBANIA - TOGETHER FOR LIFE (TFL)
Together For Life (TFL) association is a non-profit organization, established in December 2009, by a well-known group of journalists. TFL focuses on increasing the awareness and capacities of vulnerable people and communities, helping to build alliances and networks to exercise pressure on governments and other society agents and demand their rights. Our efforts seek enable more interaction between citizens and accountable governments. We help strengthen the capacities and improve livelihood prospects of communities; while also engaging directly with duty-bearers – such as state institutions, through providing advice and helping build their capacities. We achieve this through a combination of public awareness campaign, media communication and policy advocacy.
BULGARIA – INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR DEVELOPMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING (ICDET)
International Center for Development of Education and Training (ICDET) is one of the most popular, powerful and active youth organizations in Bulgaria. It promotes the European values through local projects and participating in projects abroad. ICDET has been working in mobility programs since 2013. With more than four years of experience and more than 600 participants hosted and sent, ICDET is one of the largest hosting organizations for European Projects in Bulgaria. The aims of ICDET are to promote the personal development and citizenship, volunteering and youth mobility; to promote sport and a healthy lifestyle; to support the development of the abilities and potential of young people from different social and ethnic groups, and young people with. They also focus on topics such as migration, youth entrepreneurship, computer literacy, developing professions that support tourism, topics connected with the FGM, etc.
CYPRUS – SOCIAL POLICY AND ACTION ORGANIZATION (S.P.A.O.)
The Social Policy and Action Organization is a voluntary, non-profit organization (No.4146) established in in August 2014 in Cyprus. The aim of the Organization is to enhance the quality of life of people through the development, implementation and promotion of social policies and good practices aimed at inclusion, social integration, active citizenship, and solving social needs and problems. The Organization's programmes and actions are related to social welfare, health, employment, family, protection of human rights, education, socialisation, culture, environment, sports, and social protection.
France - AGIS, NOTE et INNOVE (ANI International)
AGIS, NOTE et INNOVE (ANI International) is a non-profit association founded by international Science- Po Students in 2002 in Paris goals oriented towards education of citizenship and social inclusion, promotion of diversity and interculturality, affirmation of all citizen’s own identities, socio professional integration, international cooperation and solidarity. It’s our mission to mobilize and support citizens from different backgrounds; especially those from under privileged urban areas (classified as “under priority territories” by the French Urban Affairs Ministry), and to support and work with other minorities groups, especially with women, migrants, and habitants of other social districts in Paris, France, Europe and in Africa. With those populations, we work promoting reflection and empowering them to act on the social issues around them.
ITALY – AMAITA INTERCULTURA APS
Amaita Intercultura APS is an italian non-profit organization active in Rome and surrounding areas. It was founded by a group of young people with the aim of building a global citizenship by promoting the respect for the other cultures, people and human rights. Among its main activities there is the promotion of language learning as a key for intercultural dialogue and integration and the support of education for children and youth as a pillar to build a more inclusive society. Within its actions there are local volunteering initiatives, youth-led activities and projects, promotion of international mobility and dialogue and the protection of the environment.
ITALY – PER ESEMPIO ONLUS
Per Esempio Onlus is a non profit organization set up in Palermo in 2011 by a small group of young workers aiming to develop actions promoting social inclusion and community empowerment. Since then Per Esempio Onlus has implemented about forty projects focusing on the fight against educational deprivation, active participation, gender empowerment and on children, youth and adult education. Its overall objective is to support people with fewer opportunities to undertake a path of educational, cultural and economic development, in a context respectful of rights and diversities. Its staff is composed of workers with expertise in project design, educators, psychologists, communication and administration managers, who operate in four work units: local projects, international projects, communication and administration.
NORTH MACEDONIA – CET PLATFORM SKOPJE
CET platforma Skopje is a voluntary, non-profit, non-governmental association of citizens with mission to: strengthen civil society on local, national and European level, promote and protect the human rights, perform activities which encourage moral and civic values, strengthen inter-ethnic relations, empower youth in society, advocate for social inclusion of vulnerable groups, promote non-formal education and offer support, education, training and mobility opportunities to young people. CET platforma Skopje is established in January 2016 by young, motivated, competent and experienced youth workers, leaders, activists and experts who are active in the civil sector and youth work from 2008. The vision of CET platform is to fulfil a broader social interest, to act and achieve objectives in the areas of civil society, democratic order and institutions, civic values, human rights, media, non-formal education and vulnerable categories of citizens in society. We strive to stimulate and sustain the personal, professional and social development of the local youth and to foster their active and responsible participation in educational, social, cultural, political and economic life in the communities they live in.
ROMANIA – NEVO PARUDIMOS
Nevo Parudimos Association it’s a nonprofit apolitical organization which was founded by a group of teachers, Roma activists and Roma students from Caras-Severin county, in the south-west of Romania in 2008. The aim of the Nevo Parudimos association is to decrease the economic, social, educational and cultural differences in the society.
Objectives of the Nevo Parudimos association are:
- To develop activities which promote democracy;
- To promote tolerance, diversity and equal chances in the society;
- To create community development programs to fight against prejudices towards Roma people;
- To increase the organizational capacity of Roma people;
- To help Roma communities to develop their own competences and abilities to solve problems;
- To develop professional, social, cultural, economic activities and civic commitment.
SERBIA – DEVELOPMENT CENTER FOR YOUTH (DC YOUTH)
Development Center for Youth (DC Youth) is a citizens’ association established in 2014 with the intention to gather youth and other stakeholder groups of importance from all over the country and be active in the field of human rights education. It operates in the areas of youth policy, development of the civil society and activism, and it is aimed at:
- promotion of systematic and organized informal education for young people and general population about human rights and responsibilities and the importance of active - -participation in the society;
- work on programs of support to achieve and improve the mobility of young people (both internal and external);
- work on improvement of awareness, knowledge and information of young people about different social processes of importance (with a special focus on children and youth from rural areas and vulnerable groups);
- establishing communication and networking of young people from Serbia with their peers in the region and wider.
SLOVAKIA - Youth for Youth
Youth for Youth was established in the village of Svinica, a rural area of the Košice region, Slovakia focused on education, development of rural areas, and environmental issues. According to the status, we are a non-commercial organisation that can provide a number of educational services, some kind of training for students, language lessons, and young workers in the sphere of humanities, environment, and personal development. We are trying to attract the attention of active young people to create and implement youth projects, aimed at the development of multicultural communications, cultural diversity, and with sports activities.
SLOVENIA – DRUŠTVO ZA RAZVIJANJE PROSTOVOLJNEGA DELA NOVO MESTO (DRPDNM)
Društvo za razvijanje prostovoljnega dela Novo mesto (Association for Developing Voluntary Work Novo mesto) is Slovenian non-governmental and humanitarian organisation, working in the public interest in the area of social care, youth and culture. Their mission is to contribute to more inclusive and open society for all. Our two leading programs therefore deal with inclusion of socially excluded groups and with the stimulation of the NGO development and civil dialogue. Our activities within the programs are performed by expert and voluntary work. We promote the values of solidarity, tolerance, voluntarism, active living, clean environment, citizenship awareness and inter-cultural dialogue, citizens participation.
SPAIN – TALLER D’ART, CULTURA I CREACIO (TACC BCN)
TACC is a non-profit organization created in February 2010 by a group of youngsters as a non for profit platform aimed at the promotion of art, culture and design, and also with the aim of offering tools for the dissemination of young talent, supporting artists, designers and cultural agents at an international level with the main objective of helping them with their individual projects. Since our beginnings we have promoted the projects of our members, offering advice, coverage, financial assistance and a wide range of services designed in three lines of work: development of new projects, production and creation.
TURKEY – TURKISH EX-EVS VOLUNTEERS’ ASSOCIATION
Trex-Evs association was created in 2007 with the aim of providing common space for Turkish Ex-EVS volunteers. The association is based in İzmir city of Turkey which is the 3rd biggest metropolitan in Turkey. It mainly focuses on activities designed for youth mobility, inclusion of disadvantaged, democracy and youth mobility. As they are the most active on voluntary activities and mainly EVS since the very beginning of YIA programme, they continue to coordinate projects through Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps. Their basic mission is to be an information supplier between ex and future European volunteers and to help passing on the gained experiences, observations to the following volunteers by organizing various meetings and projects. Additionally, they want to promote the idea of taking initiative to young people and be active citizens in society.
CROATIA - Documenta
CROATIA - Documenta – Centre for Dealing with the Past / Centar za suočavanje s prošlošću is an NGO founded in 2004 in Zagreb (Croatia) to engage in the social process and dialogue on dealing with the past across different social structures. Documenta's work covers developing educational policies for youth involvement in social processes and dialogue about the past; developing non-formal and informal methods to involve youth in the practice of civic education and the study of history; cultivating the culture of memory among youth in Europe; promoting solidarity and nonviolence; contributing to the development of public policies on dialogue and dealing with the past; cooperating with European and regional organizations on promoting democratization and human rights; collecting, archiving, and publishing historical documents; collecting data and publishing studies about human rights issues; monitoring judicial processes at local and regional levels.
PORTUGAL - CONTEXTOS
CONTEXTOS is a cultural cooperative with its head office in Faro, Portugal. We are committed to tackling societal challenges through tailor-made projects and initiatives.
CONTEXTOS aims at fostering and promoting community development as the keystone of processes of change in society, using participatory tools to develop competencies and capabilities within individuals and organizations. Our projects focus on culture, media, education/training, participatory democracy, active citizenship, human rights, intercultural dialogue, non-formal learning, social entrepreneurship, and social inclusion. CONTEXTOS uses participatory approaches as much as possible. We follow non-formal education methodologies where we will be able to address the different learning styles and profiles of the participants in a way that will maximize their active participation during all programmed activities. We will also use a diversity of methods that can include focus group discussions, brainstorming, and experiential learning exercises. Furthermore, our approach is based on non-formal education for the development of a more inclusive and enhanced learning environment, where the participants can take an active role as actors of their own and in the group learning process.
IRELAND - REDIAL
Redial is an innovative and forward thinking voluntary and community sector organisation working in the field of social inclusion based in Dublin and working within different communities in Ireland. REDIAL’s vision is to create inclusive learning communities which empower learners from every background to develop skills, overcome barriers to inclusion, and realise their potential.
Our team shares their experience, uses their skills and collaborate together to develop, implement and evaluate innovative projects and methodologies within learning, employability, entrepreneurship, active citizenship, migration, community development and social cohesion. The aim of our projects is to empower and raise the voice of those who are often underrepresented in decision-making, and at risk of social exclusion.
POLAND Sempre a Frente
Sempre a Frente Foundation has been supporting mental health and wellbeing of youth, their participation in social life and promoting active citizenship since 2010. It is one of the most active organizations working with and for young people. Their scope of work is local, regional and international, also in frames of Erasmus+ and ESC programs. The Foundation's team conducts educational, informational and preventive activities for the development of young people; provides free consultations and psychological support, informs, educates and helps young residents of Lublin and the entire region in personal and vocational development in the frame of their Child Advocacy Centre, Youth Information and Development Centre and Regional Eurodesk Network Information Point. They are initiators and partners of Lublin Municipality in European Youth Capital 2023 actions.
