IDEA! Training Course open space for European networking 10th-16th of December 2015, Birmingham UK In order to be recognised, resourced and celebrated, youth work projects need to be able to clearly define what it is that they do, the methodologies that they use, with whom they work, and most critically, why they do what they do. To facilitate this, participants will be taken through the results of the 2nd European Youth Work Convention, and asked to relate this to their own national realities. They will be introduced to the newly re-launched European Youth Work Portfolio; once participants are registered onto the EYWP website, time will be allocated during the Training Course for self-assessment and reflection upon practice which will be used as evidence to build up their own portfolio. Youth Work Europe, and our partners, strongly believe that visibility of youth work projects and the effective dissemination of the project results matters, and this is why we need IDEA! The IDEA! Training Course will create a supportive learning environment in which participants can develop a deeper understanding of youth work from a variety of national realities. Participants will formulate a self-reflexive and peer-supported set of statements which they can use as evidence of competence. Additionally, by the end of the TC all participants will have developed a communications strategy to make their youth work and further training needs visible. The opportunity of collaborating and cooperating with youth work organisations from across Europe is of itself an important objective of this Training Course. Firstly, it means that we will spend part of the Programme enabling the development of strong partnerships with a view to supporting further small international project work. Secondly, it will contribute to a shared international understanding of the benefits of the European Youth Work Portfolio. And thirdly, it will provide an important opportunity for participant organisations to actively consider the development of a larger, longer and more ambitious Strategic Partnership bid in the future; this TC is conceived as the start of potentially a bigger project IDEA! will bring together 36 participants from Bulgaria, Romania, Italy, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Ireland, Georgia, Armenia and Lithuania. This Training Course is designed for youth workers, volunteers, trainers, project managers, community activists. The objectives are quite simple: to examine and understand the significance of the 2nd European Youth Work Convention in the context of their national realities; to explore the concepts and benefits of working with the European Youth Work Portfolio; to develop skills and knowledge in order to create greater visibility and dissemination of (European) youth work; and to understand the significance and practicalities of developing a well thought through communication strategy to promote their work. Finally, participants will be enabled to build strong networks between their participating organisations. At the end of this Training Course it is expected that participants will be able to enhance their contribution to their organisations through the following: • Be confident in defining youth work • Know how to advocate and disseminate the role of youth work • Be acquainted with the European Youth Work Portfolio • Explore different tools and methodologies of youth work • Develop a communication strategy that will improve the quality, impact and foundation of their (European) youth organisation • Explore the potential for developing new collaboration and cooperation with youth work organizations throughout Europe. The training programme consists of different types of activities: 1. Programme activities: introduction of the day, evaluations, reflections and main lectures on the topic 2. Team building, energizers and networking activities 3. Visits and guests workshops/lectures 4. Communication plan workshop : to set up communication strategies in an ERASMUS+ project and/or youth organisation 5. Practical workshops on European Youth Work Portfolio and the 2nd European Youth Work Convention 6. Communication LAB: to arrange visibility and dissemination of the TC in real time or using “traditional media” or Internet.