Youth Mobility Center-YMC

We are acting as a co-ordinating, sending and hosting organization for young volunteers who want to deliver a social project in another European country. We are providing guidance and assistance from the initial phase -finding an appropriate project for them- until the final stage, i.e. the spillover effect of using the experience they gained back in their local society. YMC's activities are centered around the tools of non-formal and informal learning in a European dimension. Non-formal learning refers to the learning which takes place outside formal educational curriculum. Informal learning refers to the learning in daily life activities, in work, family, leisure, etc. It is mainly learning by doing. Non-formal and informal learning enables young people to acquire essential competences and contributes to their personal development, social inclusion and active citizenship, thereby improving their employment prospects. Non-formal and informal learning activities are complementary to the formal education and training system. They have a participative and learner-centred approach, are carried out on a voluntary basis and are therefore closely linked to young people's needs, aspirations and interests. In this context, the main programmes we will be working with are: -Erasmus+ concerning non-formal education and volunteering. -Internships, concerning vocational training. -Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs, regarding small or medium sized enterprises. In the beggining of May 2015 we established our youth center in Nea Epidavros in collaboration with the municipality and with the contribution of the volunteers. The idea is that this place is going to host the cultural inquietude of the youngsters of the village and at the same time attract the attention of the youngsters of the surrounding villages and in this way hold the young people in their hometown and potentially lower the average age of the villagers. We believe that the creation of a strong youth community will facilitate the social inclusion of young migrants and will spread seeds of forbearance throughout the whole community. Furthermore, we aim to improve the linguistic skills of the youngsters through their regular contact with the European volunteers as well as keep them up to date concerning their mobility opportunities. We are confident that all of the above will promote the youth mobility and entrepreneurship and potentially create employment opportunities in a local, or even in a European level. Our objective when speaking about the project in terms of the Village of Nea Epidauros is to introduce a small, agricultural place to other cultures, thereby fighting xenophobia and creating a greater feeling of a common European heritage. Also we have organized and implemented several local youth actions in Attica and Argolis region on Theater as a tool of Non-Formal Education, Singing and Acting workshops, Sustainability, Handicraft (Soap Making, Shoe Making, Cooking, Wood carving), Alternative Currency Systems (ACT), Political Consumerism, Ethical Consumerism.