Youth Exchanges
Objectives
Youth Exchanges allow one or more groups of young people to be hosted by a group from another country in order to participate together in a joint programme of activities. These projects involve the active participation of young people and are designed to allow them to discover and become aware of different social and cultural realities, to learn from each other, to develop the entrepreneurial spirit and reinforce their feeling of being European citizens.
Youth Exchanges enable young people to go abroad, to meet peers from different countries with different social and cultural backgrounds and to learn from each other through an active participation in joint activities of common interest. Youth Exchanges allow young people to experience Europe and so to feel more European citizens.
What is a Youth Exchange?
A Youth Exchange is a project which brings together groups of young people from two or more countries, providing them with an opportunity to discuss and confront various themes, whilst learning about each other’s countries and cultures. A Youth Exchange is based on a trans-national partnership between two or more promoters from different countries. According to the number of countries involved, a Youth Exchange can be bilateral, trilateral or multilateral. A Bilateral Youth Exchange is justified especially when the promoters are at their first European project, or when the participants are small-scale or local groups without experience at European level.
A Youth Exchange can be itinerant, implying the movement of all participants at the same time, throughout one or more countries participating in the Exchange.
A Youth Exchange project has three phases:
- planning and preparation
- implementation of the Activity
- evaluation (including reflection on a possible follow-up).
Non-formal learning principles and practice are reflected throughout the project.
For detailed information about the criteria of a Youth Exchange, take a look at the Youth in Action Programme Guideother languages.
