Our names are Alberto, Naomi and Samuele and we had the chance to participate in the Youth Ambassadors training course, funded by Erasmus+, KA1 Mobility of youth workers, and organised by ERYICA in the framework of the EU inFORM project. 

The training took place in Mollina, Spain, from September 17th to September 24th. The main goal of the project was to spread information among young people about the 2024 EU elections, and to raise awareness on the important issue of participation. That’s why, together with young ambassadors from Belgium, Croatia, Estonia, Finland, Malta, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia and Spain, we went to Mollina and spent a wonderful week with the other participants and with the trainers. 

During this week, not only did we learn a lot about the EU, how it works and the importance of youth participation, but we also had the opportunity to know lots of awesome people from other countries of Europe and the world. Yes, the world, because our training course took place in the wider framework of the University of Youth and Development: hundreds of young people from dozens of countries joined together to participate in different projects about Youngsters, Climate Change and Peace. 
At first it was a little difficult to set in, but then in a few days, thanks to all the other participants we had no difficulties in making friendship and everyone left us a precious memory. Recording the videos for the social campaign pushed us to get involved and to spread the important message of citizens participation.

It was definitely a wonderful experience, that we highly recommend to everyone who want to know other cultures and new great people with whom forging deep friendships.

Updated on Tuesday, 17/02/2026

Being there for the second time after EYE2021, this was an even more incredible experience at the European Youth Event - EYE2023 in Strasbourg! As the leader of a group of 20 awesome young people representing the “GO Alive” organization from Kozani, I want to express my gratitude to the European Parliament, to GO Alive, and to the Municipality of Kozani for securing our participation. The discussions on AI in education and businesses, along with the focus on the Year of Skills 2023, were captivating and eye-opening. It was an honor to be part of this event, connecting with passionate young individuals from across Europe. 

Let's continue working together to create a brighter future!

Updated on Tuesday, 17/02/2026

My first Youth Exchange came as a surprise! I was chosen for a project on traditional dances after being rejected for many others that were closer to the causes I supported and for which I thought I could contribute insights.

As some of you may know, traditional dances are a cornerstone of Greek culture; kind of our pride and joy and the type of “medicine” that makes us heal and celebrate through hard times. The main issue was that I hadn't danced anything traditional in almost a decade...

To make things even more complicated, I was chosen to be the Group Leader for this project and I - unaware of what a group leader and youth work is - had through trial and error to see how I can offer my fellow participants the best experience possible.

To make a very long story short, in the end, I realised that I didn’t have to know about traditional dances but actually, I had to enter into a such participative experience. I learned about the traditional dances of an endless number of countries and met so many amazing, kind-hearted, and supportive people who made this experience more life-changing and intriguing than I could have imagined.

As I could not just say “goodbye” to such an experience, it was at this moment in my life that I knew I wanted to work with young people and help establish a more inclusive and happy youth community in Europe through active participation and involvement, as well as through the use of fun. 

I could write a very long list of all the things that happened after but let’s just say that in a very short period, I became a volunteer at two youth organisations, attended a variety of training courses that helped me grow professionally and personally (honorable mention for EQuip!, a training course for emotional intelligence in Hungary), enrolled in my university’s Teachers Training Program, and very recently founded my own youth organisation in Greece. 

I am also currently co-writing, with some curious young people, a Youth Exchange named Glow which is a project near and dear to my heart that aims to help young adults learn the basics of gender identity, and sexual orientation and research on the challenges that LGBTQI+ persons face in their countries and beyond.

It has been one and a half years since my first Youth Exchange, and if someone asked me to look back at where it all started, I wouldn’t believe that through such an experience I managed to get a ticket to a holistically better quality of life and a career change! If you are reading this and wondering if you should join in your first project, I only have two words for you: Do it!

Updated on Tuesday, 17/02/2026

Even when I was still at school, I knew that I wanted to go abroad after my A-levels. I always dreamed of Scandinavia but after many rejections from various sending organisations, I had to rethink my plans. At relatively short notice, I applied to the Protestant volunteer services in Hanover, Germany and was invited to an interview. I was told that I would fit in very well at the multi-ethnic youth centre run by Diakonie Kosova in the town of Mitrovica.

I thought about it for a few days, talked to my family about the opportunity and did some research. My grandparents in particular had doubts and were afraid that I would be going to a country characterised by poverty and the Kosovo war around 25 years ago. But my parents encouraged me to discover a new foreign country. So I decided to go to Kosovo with the Protestant Volunteer Services.

Before I left at the end of August 2019, my organisations organised preparatory seminars. I got to know my fellow volunteer Max, other current and former volunteers and was given lots of information about the country of assignment, the field of work, medical precautions, funding, etc.

On site, I worked in a multi-ethnic youth centre with young people aged between 13 and 21. From Tuesdays to Sundays they came to play table football, pool, table tennis or just to chat :). On certain occasions, the team and I also organised parties, discussion groups, concerts or film evenings. I also had contact with journalists, donors, soldiers, student groups and politicians from various countries who visited the Diakonie and therefore also the youth centre.

In my free time, I did a lot with Max but over time I also got to know more and more friends with whom I travelled to more distant cities in Kosovo and neighbouring countries. I was invited to traditional meals on various public holidays, to Albanian concerts and to engagement parties. However, my everyday life was mainly characterised by walks together and visits to cafés. Hospitality is clearly a top priority in Kosovo!

Most of my friends spoke English, some also German, but many only spoke Albanian. I took two Albanian courses organised by Diakonie so that I could get involved better at work and in friendships. I was able to learn the language particularly well in everyday interactions.

Updated on Tuesday, 17/02/2026

Just before Christmas, the Hungarian FIRE association had the opportunity to take part in the Youth Coaching for Entrepreneurship training in Spain. 

The training was a good opportunity to discuss different issues due to youth work. One of the fundamental questions was whether to mentor young people or be there for them as a coach. Finally, we agreed it depends on the situation and the young person which technique is used. Mentoring is a helpful, supportive form of coaching, where we "hold" the young person's hand and transfer knowledge almost throughout the whole process. While coaching works with questions, it uses questions to try to guide the young person to find the right path for him or her.

During the week we learned about different methods for asking the right questions, which can be used in individual and group coaching. We had the opportunity to try them out and give each other feedback on their appropriate use. Part of the project is to put these methods into practice, so we are planning to implement more programmes next spring. 

Finally, I think we had a great and useful training, I personally can use the knowledge in my work with young people I have acquired during the training. 

Updated on Tuesday, 17/02/2026

Mehdi is 22 years old and a student at Sciences Po Paris studying for a Masters in Public Affairs. Passionate about the public sector, he is professionally and personally committed to serving the public interest. Convinced of the vital importance of social cohesion, he has been involved in a number of community projects, particularly in Saint-Denis, the town where he comes from and to which he is very attached.

Through a number of professional experiences in the field of children and young people, notably in the office of the Secretary of State for Children, Mehdi has become familiar with the technicalities of youth policies. While keeping a firm eye on the ground, in the leisure centres in Saint-Denis where he works as a youth worker, he has become aware of the need to strengthen social cohesion and take ambitious public action for young people.

Very sensitive to issues of poverty and exclusion, his civic commitment began early in this field. A member of secours populaire and co-founder of the association's branch at Sciences Po Paris, he sees the association's motto “everything human is ours” as a principle that should be applied across the board.

Convinced that tomorrow's inclusive societies can best be built at European level, with and for young Europeans, Mehdi wants to bring together the points of view of a wide range of players on the subject and thus help to break down the barriers between public policy-making by bringing it closer to the people most affected.

Updated on Tuesday, 17/02/2026

Mélissa is 24 and a student at Sciences Po Lyon. Full of enthusiasm, she began her commitment at the age of 17 as a municipal youth delegate, because she believes that consultation and citizen participation are the keys to enlightened governance. She was able to work on an application that listed all the good deals for students, because in her view, there is a need for information to be accessible, particularly for young people who are, or feel, marginalised. During an internship in the Department of Peace Operations at the UN, she confirmed her desire to work for the protection of vulnerable people, particularly children.

Mélissa is interested in public affairs because she is convinced that political decisions at national and European level are everybody's business! Passionate about theatre, she sees the stage as an outlet for self-assertion, an essential exercise in making your voice heard as a citizen.

As a member of an association that promotes the place of women in society, she remains very attentive to inequality between women and men. She believes that this 10th cycle of conferences is a further step towards systematically involving young people in the decisions that affect them, and a great opportunity to discuss and work together for greater inclusion. She believes that "young people, despite the climatic, political and economic context, aspire to better things and are brimming over with ideas".

For this campaign, she would like the time for discussion and reflection to be a time for sharing and solidarity!

Updated on Tuesday, 17/02/2026

With a suitcase full to the brim without so much as room for an extra sock I traveled from my everyday life at the University of Southern Denmark to Turkey's capital Istanbul to take a semester as an exchange student. My knowledge about Turkey was limited to charter holidays and youth trips on the country's south coast, but I had never before visited the 'real' Turkey.

I arrived a few days before I was to start the introduction week that the university had planned for all of the new exchange students. Before I left Denmark, the other students had already started to message everyone in a joint WhatsApp group chat that the university had set up for us. They wrote about when they would arrive and if anyone were interested in meeting. 

I quickly agreed to meet with other new students during the week before classes started. And although one could fear that misunderstandings and enmity could arise between people with different nationalities, it was very limited. The dominant mentality is that everyone should be involved and that we as a unit together should make experiences of a lifetime. 

The introduction week turned out to be a short affair. A massive earthquake had struck the southern part of Turkey, near the border to Syria, and it came to affect the rest of my stay in Istanbul. The day after the earthquake our classes at the University were postponed indefinitely. Therefore, I and a few fellow exchange students chose to spend the time traveling around Turkey. In total, I only ended up starting my classes at the university a month after I originally was supposed to. 

Everyday life begins

Fortunately, the semester was not cancelled, and the classes began in march. The semester was transformed into a hybrid solution in order for the student, from the earthquake affected areas could stay with their families. This made the classrooms less full, which was a pity when you come to Turkey as an exchange student and wanted to learn about a new culture. 

Most of my courses turned out to have incredibly committed teachers, and the workload was very similar, if not greater, than what I am used to back home in Denmark. 

My weeks were spend half the day studying, while the other half was spent socializing with the other students. We went to football matches at the stadium, exploring Istanbul as a tourist, eating at restaurants or meeting up at one of the countless bars in the city. The weekends were spent on trips around Turkey. During my stay I visited a large part Turkey from east to west. With various fellow students, we traveled with a night bus to Pamukkale, an area of white limestone terraces. We flew to Cappadocia, a valley in Turkey where hundreds of hot air balloons took off every morning at dawn. But we also visited ancient cities built by the Romans, the beaches I knew from my charter trips and other huge cities in Turkey. 

The journey home

Suddenly, my time in Istanbul were coming to an end. My time as a Erasmus+ student felt different than it does at home. Although 5 months had passed in no time, it was as if what had happened 2 weeks earlier was a lifetime ago. Sometimes I got the feeling that I had known my fellow students for a huge part of my life, even though we only met a few months ago. The hardest part was definitely saying goodbye to the other students with whom I had spent the most time with. But by saying that this is the hardest part, shows that it has been a completely unique thing to be an exchange student. And with a burning wish that it would continue a little longer, testifies that a semester at home can in no way measure up with the experiences of taking a semester abroad, regardless of the location. 

Updated on Tuesday, 17/02/2026

The planning started immediately when I got this amazing opportunity to go on a Interrail-experience through DiscoverEU. It was something that I had always dreamt about. 

I started my journey in Greece where I met up with one of my good friends. From there on we went to Sofia in Bulgaria. 

It was two unforgettable weeks filled with spontaneity and unforeseen experiences. One of the things that I remember the best is all of the times when we took a nap or slept a whole night on the train - such as on our 17-hour long train ride through Romania. 

To fall asleep to the sound of wheels on rails, in a rumbling train compartment, is almost like getting tucked to bed like a child. To then wake up in a new country, or a new city and feeling like the day is just like a fairytale in a dream, which ends and begins when you fall asleep on the next train. 

A journey from Sofia and Bucharest's Orthodox churches to the great rivers of Budapest and Prague, ending with museums and food experiences in Berlin. A wild adventure. 

Updated on Friday, 07/08/2026

I wanted to go abroad to learn a new language after my education for teaching assistant. My grandmother is from Austria, so the choice was easy. Through the European Solidarity Corps, I found a European Volunteer Project that allowed me to gain experience in care and welfare in a new area of work for me; with mentally disabled adults.

The project allowed me to work a lot outdoors and with people. That sounded perfect to me! I also followed a German language course through the European Solidarity Corps and many expenses were reimbursed. Besides lunch and dinner, we got accommodation, travel expenses, insurance and pocket money.

I found it very exciting in the beginning, because I could not yet speak German very well and hardly anyone there spoke English. This was quite tiring with all the new impressions, but it was more than worth it. I enjoyed nature and space, because the farm is beautifully situated in the Alps. I did not hear cars in the morning, but donkeys!

My German got better and better and I can now get by well in that language. The work itself was also very nice. I came to work in the kitchen and in the café. Outside of work, I also learnt a lot. I am more independent now, because I was living on my own for the first time. You learn to solve your own problems if something goes wrong. 

I also made international friends. I lived with three other volunteers: a boy from Scotland, two girls from Spain and one from Germany. We took trips together, including to Vienna, and we went snowboarding, climbing and hiking. How I miss that now that I'm back in the Netherlands! Now I work as a teaching assistant in the Netherlands. I'm having a great time and am saving up to travel again. It's so cool to get to know people from other backgrounds.

Updated on Tuesday, 17/02/2026