Associação Liláz

Associação Liláz is a non-profit organization established in Pêra, Silves, Portugal, founded in May 2006 by a group of motivated young people who wanted to promote cooperation with the local citizens to develop and boost a better society. The aims of Associação Liláz are: - the dynamization of the community through the organization and promotion of sports, cultural and social activities on a local, regional, national and international level; - usage of events to increment the motivation of youngsters in the local community, and increase the cooperation between them and elderly generations, fomenting the intergenerational learning; - promotion of the usage of non-formal education methods and its recognition, as a tool for fostering youth employment. Specifically the international projects department aims to raise awareness towards the intercultural sensibilization, using international projects as a mean to create opportunities for the youngsters, allowing them to access new experiences, broaden horizons, acquire knowledge and develop competencies, facilitating their adaptation and improving their chances of success. Besides the local and national activities promoted by Associação Liláz, since 2011, the organization has been active in international activities, using the former Youth in Action and now Erasmus+ programmes, organizing, hosting and promoting different opportunities for youngsters, developing and acting as partners in youth exchanges such as "Discovering New Cultures", "S.O.C.I.A.L Entrepreneurship", "Creativity in Peace Building", "Mind the Gap", "Winter Outdoor Experience", "Different Point of View", "Europe Through All Senses", "Re-Musit", "Forum Theater – Gender Equality", "Be the Change" and "Body Karma" and training courses "Sporty-VT", "Observe, Reshape, Act", "Inspire, Engage, Empower", "Employ European Youth Creatively", "Ideas in Action", "Be Part of World's Future", "NoHate.mp4", "IT-ing my Network", "I'm Part of It", "Look Closer", "You and M&E", "genero.arte", "Speak Their Language" and "Free Like a Bird". Also, since then, it has been actively promoting and recognizing non-formal education within the local and regional community, creating bridges between non-formal and formal education actors. One of the goals of Associação Liláz is to bring the Erasmus+ programme and the potential of Non-Formal Education to the youngsters of our region, where there is a considerable lack of knowledge about this programme and opportunities in life in general. All the projects we organized and took part in have strengthened the relationship with the local community, raising their knowledge towards the Erasmus+ programme, arousing the curiosity of the locals and leading them to search for information regarding these and other possibilities in a region affected by a high unemployment rate and huge seasonality.