Online Partnership Building Activity “North-South Cooperation for Local Participation”

Online Partnership Building Activity “North-South Cooperation for Local Participation” was organised by DYPALL Network on 16th-17th September 2020.

The activity brought together 26 youth workers and local representatives from 14 countries, both from inside and outside of the Network, to build strong and sustainable partnerships centred on local participation and Erasmus+ programme under the framework of the EU Youth Strategy: Engaging, Connecting and Empowering young people.

The first day of the activity was dedicated to learning about Erasmus+ funding opportunities, networking and mapping local needs and common areas of interests. The second day allowed participants to learn about the new EU Youth Strategy, shape ideas into concrete projects and match with partners with similar interests. The project development process will be continued in the following weeks by the participants, to submit well-developed applications in the upcoming deadline for Erasmus+ projects (1st October 2020).

The current pandemic has forced youth organisations to cancel many of their international activities and mobilities. On the other hand, these experiences made organisers test different formats of training, workshops and meetings. This was the first Partnership Building Activity developed fully online in DYPALL Network.

According to the evaluation, it met the expectations of the participants, keeping them engaged and networking for two full days of the activity. Its online form created an added value in terms of participation (easy access for organisations from remote areas), environmental sustainability (low carbon footprint) and minimising the organisational costs.