Make a Difference • Youth Exchange • May 1-10 • Chester, UK

“Make a Difference” was an Erasmus + Youth Exchange project focusing on the topic of Social Entrepreneurship.

Dates: May 1 – 10, 2022

Place: Chester, United Kingdom

Participating countries: Romania, Georgia, Lithuania, Armenia and United Kingdom.

Project Description

“Make a Difference” was focuesed on developing the competences of young people in social entrepreneurship and empowering their potential to identify problems in their communities, tackle challenges and contribute to the development of society. Based on partner organizations research, their local target groups have motivation to be social entrepreneurs/ change-makers but they face issues when taking initiatives – they have fear of failure, lack of knowledge in social entrepreneurship and poor entrepreneurial competences.

The project was based on non formal education methodology and was loaded by of workshops, games and energizers with the aim to discover concepts of Social Entrepreneurship. Participants were working individually as well as in pairs and mixed groups. They improved teamwork and leadership skills that helped them to get to know each other better and learn more about the topics.

Project Outcome

Local impact – project involved local participants and a local organization (Internativa CIC) as main parts of the project. Participants got an opportunity to improve competencies and satisfy their needs. Internativa CIC increased its expertise, impact, reputation, connections. The activities provided in Chester engaged other interested youth. During the phase of dissemination different activities were provided for local communities. Youngsters get shared with the results; they got motivated, got informed and grew.

Regional and national – Dissemination activities included sharing discoveries, outputs, guides that were encountered during “Make a Difference”. These materials are available on the social media pages of partners. Regional and national organizations got familiar with them, got engaged with participating organizations and went deeper into details.

European – the project promoted European values. During the mobility, intercultural evenings were organized. Participants shared different habits and traditions and appreciated diversity. As a result, participants are more tolerant towards other nations. Participants became multipliers and they transmited values of respect, no-discrimination, and equality. The involvement of participants with fewer opportunities was another indicator of equality. Participants discovered that they all have equal rights.

International – “Make a Difference” was an example of international cooperation. Their partnership was established during another international project. It showed how sustainability can be assured on an international level. Partner organizations had a chance to improve the quality they cooperate with and work on follow-up activities. But not only partners, participants were also challenged to be initiators. The implementation phase stimulated them to structure new ideas and develop initiatives.