National LV EuroPeers – newcommers meeting

At the end of February, the Agency for International Youth Programs invited young people with experience in non-formal education projects of the European Union (EU) programs “Erasmus+” or “European Solidarity Corps” to apply for the “EuroPeers” network of Latvian youth-messengers or peer educators.

During three days of training in Turkalne, in the recreation complex “Turbas”, young people in an informal environment:

• learned to share their personal experience in youth field projects;
• developed leadership and event organization skills;
• planned how to inspire other young people in their school, city or region to use the opportunities offered by EU programs;
• strengthened knowledge about the opportunities offered by EU programs for young people;
• got acquainted with support tools for promoting non-formal education;
• will meet with the already existing “EuroPeers” ambassadors.

Normund’s experience and thoughts after the training course:

In the training of the EuroPeers ambassador network, I learned new nuances that allowed me to change my perspective on non-formal education and organizing events.

Earlier, I faced the need to organize an event, but thanks to the newly acquired knowledge, I began to notice and realize the things that needed to be worked on.

I am very grateful for the opportunity to join the network of active young people, and it was also beneficial to step out of the usual, everyday comfort zone, as a result of which I met many cool peers with whom I could share experiences with each others, discussing what they have experienced in EU projects and seeing opportunities for joint cooperation.

I believe that choosing to join the EuroPeers team is a great opportunity to improve my skills and gain experience working in the youth field.