Youth in Action is the Programme the European Union has set up for young people. It aims to inspire a sense of active European citizenship, solidarity and tolerance among young Europeans and to involve them in shaping the Union's future. It promotes mobility within and beyond the EU's borders, non-formal learning and intercultural dialogue, and encourages the inclusion of all young people, regardless of their educational, social and cultural background: Youth in Action is a Programme for all.
Every year, thousands of projects are submitted by promoters in order to get financial support from the Programme; a selection process aims at granting the best projects.
http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/youth/programme/about_youth_en.php
If a young person wants to participate in this program as a volunteer in another European country, he/she needs a sending organization from her home country. In my case Experiment e.V. I had to fill out a couple of application forms stating my motivation, aims and personal details. The next step was to find projects abroad which appealed to me and to send a CV and motivation letter to the organizations that offered them.
There is a database of the European Commission with all the projects, but not all of it is up to date. The projects are categorized in themes such as Art and Culture, Youth leisure, Environment, Gender equality and many more. I also used YouthNetworks where vacancies are listed. After applying for projects in Iceland, Italy and Spain I received a positive answer from OMIX here in Ribadavia. Now I had a sending as well as a hosting organization. They got in contact and sent an inquiry to the National Agency to receive promotion for the project.
About one month before the beginning of the project we received the final approval. Transport, insurance and other organizational things were done by the organizations, so for me there was nothing more to do than saying goodbye to everyone and packing my belongings. Oh, and I also participated in a seminar of Experiment e.V. in Bonn that functioned as a preparation for the stay abroad.
There is a database of the European Commission with all the projects, but not all of it is up to date. The projects are categorized in themes such as Art and Culture, Youth leisure, Environment, Gender equality and many more. I also used YouthNetworks where vacancies are listed. After applying for projects in Iceland, Italy and Spain I received a positive answer from OMIX here in Ribadavia. Now I had a sending as well as a hosting organization. They got in contact and sent an inquiry to the National Agency to receive promotion for the project.
About one month before the beginning of the project we received the final approval. Transport, insurance and other organizational things were done by the organizations, so for me there was nothing more to do than saying goodbye to everyone and packing my belongings. Oh, and I also participated in a seminar of Experiment e.V. in Bonn that functioned as a preparation for the stay abroad.