'Special Effects for Youth Work' is an innovative 8-day training course for youth workers to develop training and facilitation competence with a focus on skills that will make your inner „tool box“ richer, special, sparkle. This is a training course for trainers, facilitators and youth workers who are interested in improving their skills, competences or know-how, or acquiring new ones, in order to be more effective in their work and in the field of non formal education. The focus will be put on hands-on activities and practical applications to improve skills and competences based on: communication, creativity and artistic expression, how to deliver information, facilitation techniques, coaching, training, how to work with groups, nature based methods and outdoor education - with a few theoretical inputs used mainly to frame the activities and give a backbone to the course. We want to boost the quality of youth work and non formal education across Europe, we are involving a very wide network of organisations including well established partners from previous cooperations as well as new ones, and our activities will also aim to inspire reflection on topics like sustainability, personal development, sense of initiative, inspiration to change. We aim to host 30 participants from 10 countries and partner organisations, plus 3 trainers and 2 support staff (total number of participants: 35 people). The partner organisations work in different contexts and with different target groups: social inclusion aspects for young adults, social excluded areas , un-educated, street youth, but also other partner organisations working with university students, self-employed (freelancers, entrepreneurs) and unemployed youngsters. We will pay special attention to reach those facing situations that make their participation in such activities more difficult. All partners are committed to give priority to participants facing economic obstacles and/or social obstacles. The main objectives of our training course are: - to establish an international platform, to discuss and share knowledge, experience and good practices related to training and non-formal education in Europe today; with special emphasis on nature-based and community-based approaches in youth work and education; - to deepen participants’ understanding of key concepts in non-formal education such as: training, learning, facilitation and coaching both on theoretical and practical level; to define formal and non formal education, and to create a bridge between these two worlds through a practical experience of non-formal activities; - Reflect on issues central to the work of educators in Europe, such as motivation to start this route or the common European framework of reference, and deepen their understanding individual and common; - to provide participants with experience of topics relevant to the course in a variety of interactive methods and participants-centered learning processes, such as parallel workshops (e.g. different activities for beginner / advanced level...), Open Space, Way of Council, threshold walk, reflection time and guided time in nature; - Develop self-awareness and the capacity for reflection of the participants, useful as tools for individual growth and also work by sharing daily practice groups for reflection and introspection. The course will be fully based on the methods of non-formal education, that will feed and encourage the active participation and an atmosphere of acceptance, trust, openness and non-judgment within the working group. We will work very often in small working groups, which will encourage more reflection, feedback and self-directed learning, as well as the inclusion and the free expression of all participants while still trying to minimize the problems due to the lack of a common language. The course will have a strong component based on the sharing of experiences, best practices, opinions; and this will allow participants to learn from themselves and from others through the dynamics of cooperative learning, to know each other and to create a strong network of contacts between organizations and groups involved in working with young people. This strong social dimension will allow a personal and emotional growth always present in the process, both in personal and group dimension.