LEVEL UP! Life after Mobility Erasmus Project

Project Title

LEVEL UP! Life after Mobility

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for youth

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2019

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Youth (Participation, Youth Work, Youth Policy) ; EU Citizenship, EU awareness and Democracy; ICT – new technologies – digital competences

Project Summary

The current Erasmus+ programme, running from 2014 to 2020, will provide opportunities for 3.7% of
young people (YP) in the EU to study, train, gain work experience and volunteer abroad. But what will
happen to these 3.3 millions of YP once they get back to their own communities and realities? When
we set our feet back into our daily lives after a learning mobility, we often end up asking ourselves:
“Have I changed, or them?” And sometimes the most difficult thing, then, is to stay hungry, to keep
this energy alive, this desire to say “yes” to the unknown, to diversity, to new opportunities and
challenges… and to share the knowledge we gained with our peers and communities, determining
what we can do with everything we have learnt. However, there is today a lack of social support and
effective and coordinated follow up strategies that could help them to give sense, a posteriori, to the
mobilities and that could ensure that this engagement can take place at the local level, above all
when this concerns YP with fewer opportunities. What we witness is a lack of connection between
mobilities and local impact and the consequent waste of human capital and potentials … like an
unfinished rite of passage. This is also partially due to the many challenges and difficulties connected
to the recognition of competences acquired during mobilities. That’s why “Level UP!” wants to ensure
that Erasmus+ mobilities have a strong impact at the local level, as this is a strong gap in the
Erasmus Plus program that also recently emerged from the midterm shadow report published by the
European Youth Forum (Feb 2018). As youth workers and youth org constantly dealing with
international mobilities, we see the incredible potential of strengthening and ensuring the local
engagement of YP involved in mobilities: their learnings, their new skills and expertise, their opened
minds, innovative ideas and committed souls can have an empowering and powerful effect on the
communities they live in, as well as on their peers and co-citizens. Thus, the aim of the project is to to
provide them with the tools and the opportunities to channel their engagement and their motivation
into the local realities, offering space and time for effective follow up and building up a continuum of
experiences that will allow YP to give back to the communities. And we will do so by creating specific
digital tools that will help us to “LEVEL UP!” the follow up of learning mobilities! The specific
objectives of the project are: – To support the capacity building of youth workers and youth org to
implement effective follow up strategies and to ensure local impact of international mobilities – To
foster engagement, volunteering and stronger participation of YP involved in international mobilities
in their own communities and local realities – To enable YP involved in international mobilities to
connect, to get in touch among themselves and with policymakers, public administrations, youth org,
civic society org, interest groups, etc. in order to increase youth engagement at the local level as a
result of international mobilities – To contribute to the recognition of competences and skills acquired
by YP through international mobilities, both in formal, non formal and informal settings – To contribute
to the creation of a community of European YP who’ve been part of mobilities abroad and are eager
to “give back” to their own local communities The project will last 25 months, from Sept 2018 till Sept
2020, and will target: – around 1400 YP (aged 14 to 30 – 1/3 are estimated to be disadvantaged) – up
to 24 youth workers – 4 youth org (ABS/Bulgaria, YEU International/Belgium, DYPALL/Portugal and
USB/Greece) – around 120 associated partners The project includes: – TC1 “Capacity building of youth workers and youth org”: how to ensure local impact and engagement of YP taking part in
European and international mobilities – TC2 “Capacity building of youth workers and youth org”:
learning how to use the “Level Up” app to engage YP who take part in international mobilities at the
local level – 12 multiplier events (8 focus groups within the research and testing phases + 4
dissemination events) – local testing activities in all countries and communities The outputs foreseen
are the following: – A thorough research and analysis of existing follow up practices in the youth field
and in the field of learning mobilities, including gaps and needs to be addressed both at the local and
at the european level -A platform/app “Linkedin-style” matching YP competencies with possibilities to
engage at the local level (“Shake your competencies” + Creating an “online community” + “Open
calls” to initiate local actions and foster civic engagement, etc) – A publication that will encompass
the results of the research phase (collection of good practices for follow up of learning mobilities) and
the step by step guide to the app/platform (including tips and tricks to use the tools, etc.).

Project Website

https://activebulgariansociety.org/stories/kick-off-meeting-of-level-up-life-after-mobility-erasmus-project-took-part-in-blagoevgrad-21-23-october-2019

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 78703,17 Eur

Project Coordinator

SDRUZENIE AKTIVNO BALGARSKO OBSHTESTVO & Country: BG

Project Partners

• UNITED SOCIETIES OF BALKANS
• YOUTH FOR EXCHANGE AND UNDERSTANDING INTERNATIONAL AISBL
• DYPALL NETWORK: ASSOCIACAO PARA O DESENVOLVIMENTO DA PARTICIPACAO CIDADA