February 13-18, 2026 | Orvieto, Italy

We are excited to invite youth workers and educators to participate in an inspiring professional development experience rooted in Paulo Freire’s transformative philosophy: “No one liberates anyone else, no one liberates themselves: we liberate each other.”

About the Project

This Erasmus+ KA151 Professional Development Activity (Project n. 2024-1-IT03-KA151-YOU-000218670 – A11) brings together passionate professionals from across Europe for an intensive week of learning, sharing, and personal growth in the heart of Italy’s Umbrian countryside.

The training aims to:

• Be more aware of the oppressive mechanisms of the different social reality. 
• Transform the audience from passive observers to active participants capable of changing their own reality: from Spectators to Spect-actors
• Share information through theatre about the respect of human rights in each Country involved in the training
• Staging a story of conflict and/or oppression, inviting the spect-actors outside the project to enter the scene, replacing the oppressed characters and trying alternative strategies to change the outcome, creating a practical and collective discussion 
• Share and live the tool,  in order to provide new methodologies to the social workers in their social contest, to effectively implement competences, civil rights and strategies about 

What to Expect

Participants will engage in:

• Theatre of the Oppressed workshops – Using drama and performance as tools for social transformation
• Intercultural dialogue – Sharing traditions, songs, poetry, and perspectives from diverse communities
• Case study exploration – Examining real situations of conflict and oppression from participants’ professional experiences
• Sustainable living practices – Experiencing community life in an eco-village setting

The Venue

The program takes place at Il Cerquosino, a beautiful stone farmhouse nestled in the Elmo Melonta Natural Park near Orvieto. Managed by Artemide Association, this unique house laboratory embodies principles of green building, community living, and environmental responsibility. The space features:

• Activity rooms for workshops and creative sessions
• Shared dormitory-style accommodation
• Communal spaces for informal learning and connection
• Limited internet access to foster deeper human connection
• Friendly therapy dogs as part of the team

Practical Information

Dates: Arrival February 13, 2026 | Departure February 18, 2026

Financial Support:

• Food and lodging: 100% covered
• Travel costs: Reimbursed according to European Distance Calculator rates
• Sustainable transport options encouraged (green travel bonus available)

What to Bring:

• White clothing for theatre activities
• Traditional items from your culture (food, music, stories)
• Case studies or experiences related to conflict and oppression
• Personal poems, lullabies, or songs to share
• Comfortable outdoor clothing (we’re in the woods!)

Why Participate

This is more than a training course – it’s an opportunity to:

• Develop practical skills in participatory education methods
• Build international networks with fellow youth workers
• Experience sustainable community living
• Deepen your understanding of social justice pedagogy
• Return home inspired and equipped with new tools for transformation

Join us in exploring how we liberate each other through education, dialogue, and collective action.

Limited spaces available – Apply now!

How to apply

Please check the Technical Info and the Infosheet and if this is your training send us the filled in Application form by 2nd February to cvs.katerina@gmail.com. Let us know if you have

The selected participants will be notified by 3rd February and asked to fill in the Declaration of Participation and the Information on Data Processing files.

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This project is funded by the European Commission through the Erasmus+ Programme (Key Action 1: Learning Mobility of Individuals).

Youth exchanges often leave traces that are hard to describe in words – people, places, and emotions that change you and remain part of you forever. This is exactly how three Bulgarian participants describe their experiences from the youth exchange “It always seems impossible until it’s done,” which took place from September 18-29 in Orvieto, Italy. Besides the Italian hosts and the Bulgarian group sent by CVS – Bulgaria, the exchange included youth groups from Greece, Spain, and Serbia.

Below, Presi, Moni, and Geri share some unforgettable moments from their time in Orvieto along with some of their favorite photos.

Preslava, 20: “My experience at the youth exchange was unique. The atmosphere in the house was warm and welcoming, and I very quickly felt close to the others. The surrounding nature also contributed to a feeling of calm and separation from our rushed daily lives, giving me the opportunity to truly immerse myself in the experience, to meet and share time with amazing young people from many different places, and to better understand our different cultures and opportunities in society. The project really opened my eyes to our different challenges and the ways we can be more tolerant toward people who face more of them. The more serious parts of the project were beautifully intertwined with fun ones. I learned a lot, but I also laughed enough to add at least five years to my life!”

Simona, 21: “The youth exchange in Orvieto, Italy, was an experience I can hardly describe in words. We were surrounded by incredible nature, people, and art. We visited the ancient town of Orvieto, walked along the river, sang, danced, and had genuine fun. We also had a national evening where we prepared banica and mish-mash over a fire – everyone tried them, and it was super fun. Our hosts welcomed us with so much warmth that we quickly felt like family. We created a group song, participated in art workshops, and spoke openly about important topics like discrimination and equality. This was an experience that filled me with inspiration, love, and a sense of community – a place I would always return to.”

Gergana, 23: “The photo contains emotion, sharing, experience. It represents community, not just a group of people. It’s not just an activity, but a way to connect with others in a beautiful place that makes you want to return again. Only those who have been part of Cercusino [the local Italian organization] know what it means when they look at it. The youth exchange I had the opportunity to participate in was of enormous significance for my development. There I learned not only to create things with my hands but also to expand the possibilities of my consciousness. From showing even greater empathy toward everyone who is different from others to building on my creativity with every exercise. Cercusino and the people in it were filled with deep emotion and new hope for a better society. What is shown in the photo is not just one of the many interesting exercises we did there, but an entire experience that only people who were there know what it is. Cercusino and the people there are a metaphor, a place that stays with you and is worth returning to.”

Georgi 17: “During one of the workshops they were teaching us how to make pasta. Even if we spilled the eggs they helped us make the dough despite the mistake, showing that it was not fatal. This is an example of teamwork, patience and that there is no such thing as a real failure, just a step back.”

All three stories end the same way – with a desire to return. Because youth exchanges are not just projects. They are spaces where young people grow, connect, and discover new horizons.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

The theme of the project is social inclusion, the analysis of the situation of people with any kind of
disability and fewer opportunities, and fight against discrimination. We are going to analyse from
many different point of view the situations, the rights of people with disabilities and fewer
opportunities in every different Country. we will experience what it feels like to be in other
people’s shoes, and how the society faces their needs.
The objective we intend to provide new tools and new methodologies to the social workers and
volunteers, working on the integration of people with disabilities and fewer opportunities, to
effectively implement their competences in the help relationship and refine strategies for
inclusion of people with disabilities and fewer opportunities. Relating to disability presupposes the
orientation to experimentation, and the willingness to manage processes and changes of
perspective in a flexible way.
The goal is to experiment the encounter with dis-ability, contact and the search for commonalities
and the abatement of stereotypes and fears towards the “different from us”. The concept of
inclusion leads to the recognition of a right as a form of contrast to its opposite: exclusion
The training therefore aims to:
• Explore the cultural differences and explore how different Countries have addressed issues of
disabilities and fewer opportunities.
• Examine the issues from different perspectives with regard to disabilities, marginality and the
concept integration: stereotypes and prejudice
• Analyse how gender, male and female, can affect group dynamics and how it can contribute to
exclusion, with particular attention to the double discrimination of disabled women and LGBTQ
communities
• The dynamics of power, as people exercise power over others: how it is used consciously and
unconsciously in the groups and everyday life;
• Share and develop new tools in order to provide new methodologies to the social workers
working about integration with people with disabilities and with fewer opportunities, in their
social contest, to effectively implement competences in the help relation, civil rights and strategies
about inclusion of people with disabilities and fewer opportunities.
• Develop different communication styles, aiming to facilitate discussions and decisional
procedures.
• Develop personal knowledge’s about discrimination, stereotypes and prejudices: this work will
help a better understanding of dynamics that are behind discriminator behaviours

Expected skills: a better understanding of the dynamics behind discriminating behaviours, develop
listening and an attitude open to diversity, share the different working methods adopted in each
country to facilitate the balance between disabled people and not disabled once, value oneself,
face reality, know one’s limits, sense of responsibility, confront one another, understand the
fertility of error, learn from experience, do not be afraid to change, do not be afraid to try.
Particular attention will be paid to the issues of different abilities and fewer opportunities to the
processes of creation of prejudices and stereotypes and possible activities that contribute to their
deconstruction level both individually and collectively. We will go and explore the differences and
similarities between countries and through the direct testimony of the social workers, will deepen
the theme of being “in-between” between different social and cultural contexts and the
possibilities social inclusion.

METHODOLOGIES

We propose an interactive methodology using the tools promoted by non-formal education. The
workshops and the activities will be based on the active methodologies proposed by theatre,
storytelling and songwriting, photo/video linked to the tales that everyone will share… We believe
that all these tools are powerful to promote dialogue, to exchange experiences and good
practices, to analyse conflicts and address them in a non-violent way. In fact, contact with space,
with natural elements and with each other can be achieved through theatre, and the other tools
are ways to deal with human feelings and to reflect on different topics and are particularly suitable
for developing the themes of the project.

PLANNED ACTIVITIES / WORKSHOP PROGRAMME

During this 1 st step, the Training for trainer we will taste different kind of activities/tools: as we
mentioned before: theatre, songwriting, photo/video, non-formal game-exercises.
At the end of the first step, we will decide which tool we would like to explore more in the 2 nd
step.

More information about the next steps of the project can be found here: Project infosheet

HOW TO APPLY for this TRAINING

Please download and fill in the Application form and send it asap and not later than 14 October 2025 to cvs.katerina@gmail.com

We will be happy to answer all your additional questions, please feel free to write to cvs.katerina@gmail.com

Additional information:

Technical Information about the training: accommodation

KEY ACTION KA151 /Project 2025-1-IT03-KA151-YOU-000298873 – A1 

We are happy to share with you the story of Gabriela who did her European Solidarity Corps project with akzente Salzburg in a free school for 10 months (from September 2024 until July 2025).

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My Volunteering Experience in Salzburg, Austria

Ever since I came to Salzburg for the first time eight years ago, I was sure that one day I would get the chance to live here.

I had the opportunity to do my voluntary service in a free school – a very special place where children can decide for themselves what, how, and at what pace they want to learn. They are actively involved in decision-making and help shape their school day – a concept that fascinated me from the very beginning.

At this school, I was allowed to accompany and support children on their individual learning paths. No day was like the other – I had to be flexible, attentive, and often very spontaneous. That taught me a lot: about balance, patience, communication – and above all, about how to stay creative and think ahead in challenging situations.

Working with the team and the daily interaction with the children helped me develop new perspectives – both personally and pedagogically. I learned how important it is to step back, to listen, and to approach others with openness.

Salzburg itself was a beautiful place to live – surrounded by mountains, culture, and history. These months in Austria were incredibly valuable for me. I returned home with an open heart, a wealth of new knowledge, and strengthened self-confidence. This experience showed me how much is possible when you’re brave and open to new things.

Gabriela Kulincheva

The project is funded and supported by European Solidarity Corps.

Is this call for me?

• Are you interested in emotional intelligence, social psychology and emotional awareness?
• Do you want to know more about Social and Emotional Learning (SEL)?
• Are you willing to practice nonviolent communication and conflict transformation techniques, understanding the relevance of assertiveness?
• Are you motivated to explore more about mental health, workplace well-being and resilience and  to improve the working atmosphere in your local office?
• Are you a resident of a EU Member State: Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland, Sweden or a third country associated to the Programme: North Macedonia, Serbia, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Turkiye?
• Are you committed to developing together a great practical output based on the topics of the training course which can be used later in your daily work life?
• Are you ready to meet amazing people from different SCI branches and other IVS organisations, start new friendships, and getinspired by their ideas and projects?
• Would you like to enjoy nature spending a week in a peaceful green environment and having the possibility to explore the picturesque Veliko Tarnovo town?

If your answers are “Yes, this is me!”, then… we have an offer for you!!

The project has 4 main components:

1.  90-minute preparatory online meeting and digital preparatory tasks (end of July/beginning of August 2025) to start getting to know one another, to share details on the project, the venue and the logistics, and to answer questions. Participants will be invited to perform creative preliminary tasks, using an online platform such as “Padlet”, which will help them understand the topics to be addressed during the training course.

2.  Y.D.E.A. 3 Training Course (19 – 26 August  2025, Emen, Bulgaria) which will be focused on emotional Intelligence, Social Emotional Learning, workplace wellbeing, mental health, nonviolent communication and conflict transformation.

3.  Participative development of the output (during and after the training course) During the last day of the training course, participants will start developing a practical tool which will help NGO practisioners boost their worklife, wellbeing and team cohesion. The development of the output will continue online through a participative effort of the whole group and under the coordination of CVS-Bulgaria.

4.  Final online meeting to present and disseminate the project results The Final Online Meeting will be a 1-hour online event planned for October 2025, to officially launch the tools and presenting the project results and impact.

During the training, participants will:

• Get to know and learn more about the other international participants and their organisations, through team-building and interactive sessions
• Increase their knowledge on Emotional Intelligence and Social Emotional Learning
• Practice nonviolent communication and conflict transformation techniques, understanding the relevance of assertiveness
• Debate on mental health, wellbeing and resilience
• Understand why workplace wellbeing is important and share ideas and inspirations on how to improve the wellbeing in your working environment
• Receive and develop together ideas to create a working environment that supports wellbeing and resilience
• Develop together a project output to be practically implemented in their daily work life.

Check out the Call for Participants for detailed information about the training course(participants profile, travel and financial conditions, venue, accommodation and food, trainers, working methods and program)!

To apply by 29th June 2025, please fill in the application, which you can find below:

Application form

If you have any questions, you can get in touch with us at trainings@cvs-bg.org. 

Good luck and hope to see you in Emen,

Mauro, Kat and Nat
The prep team

***The procedure for participants selection can be found here***