'}}

Building communities in Recanati, starting from Europe

The “Power Youth Up” project, financed by the National Agency of Portugal, within the Erasmus Plus project for KA2, has ended. Here, we reflect on it.

Contributed by Centro Fonti San Lorenzo.

The "Power Youth Up" project, financed by the National Agency of Portugal, within the Erasmus Plus project for KA2, has ended, which brought together partners from different corners of Europe.

The project aimed to encourage sharing experiences and knowledge of individual realities to generate materials (Intellectual Output—IO) that combine good practices and innovative proposals for involving young people in social centres and communities. This was a new experience for the Centro Fonti San Lorenzo, which, for the first time, participated in an international project of this kind, combining research and sharing practices.

The experience was very positive: 4 IOs were produced (guides and pocketbooks, in-depth studies and even online courses on the MOOC platform), which aim to return to the European community the materials generated in these two years (available here). 

Above all, it is interesting to reflect on the impact that the project has had "from below" for our community: in the meantime, our staff has been able to get to know realities that work differently, immersing themselves in different contexts and seeing very heterogeneous social and cultural realities; then it was stimulating to intertwine global reasoning and project "theory" with its practical implementation in context: we were able to invent new things, correct limitations, address a new target in a better way. 

Reading the needs has facilitated the creation of activities connected to them, modified communication strategies and stimulated new approaches, such as those linked to gamification techniques which are new for us.

Furthermore, this is a fundamental element: we have built relationships with people and partners, strengthened bonds, and qualified the value of our exchange even with time in person.