Asociatia Imago Mundi

Imago Mundi Association unfolds projects on various topics with the purpose of supporting the personal development of the youths and contributes to the development of the local communities! We unfolded projects financed through the Youth in Action program, but also through other programes, as well as partnerships with local authorities and institutions. Youths and adults both from rural and urban areas join our activities, and our office is located in the commune of Mălureni, in the Argeș county. With a 10 years experience in the field of non-formal education and youth projects, the Imago Mundi Association gained the reputation of being one of the most active non-profit organization in the field of youth from the county of Argeș! Between 2008 and 2018 we implemented20 European projects, with funding from the European Union, through the Youth in Action and Erasmus+ programs, but also a number of local activities and partnerships. We collaborate with schools and high schools, both from rural and urban areas, with cultural institutions and local authorities. Today, we are a group of 25 volunteers coordinated by six youth workers: Dedu Constantin, Bulea Mihai, Teo Constantinescu, Aura Constantinescu, Roxana Bărbulescu and a psychologist, Sanda Bâtan. In 2015 we started unfolding new types of projects, funded through programs of the European Union or through the Corporate Social Responsibility policy of large companies. We are, starting from November 2014, members of the European network Volunteurope - http://www.volonteurope.eu/, a European level network of 57 organizations from 20 countries. The Board of the network consists of 10 members from 8 countries, and Romania is represented in the Board by Iuliana Dinu from the Chance for Life organization and by Dedu Constantin, President of the Imago Mundi Association, elected as a Board member in March 2015. Between February – July 2015 we unfolded the project Digital Opportunities for youths of the future! financed by Renault Romania and ”Ateliere fără Frontiere”. The purpose of the project was to develop digital competences among young people from the commune of Mălureni. More information about the project is available on our website, imagomundiconects.eu/oportunitati-digitale-2015/ and on our Facebook page. The educational project 3D Communities!, on the topic of prevention of violence was unfolded during March – November 2015, being funded by OMV Petrom. Beneficiaries of this project were young people from the rural communities of Micești, Mălureni, Merișani from the county of Argeș. We organized campaigns of prevention of violence in schools in the 3 rural communities involved, a prevention of violence course, career counselling and team-building personal development activities. Also, we facilitated trainings for teachers from the county of Argeș on the topic of non-formal methods of preventing violence among pupils and ecological education activities. 2015 brought a new premiere for the Imago Mundi Association. We became partners in the T-Bridges project, a Capacity Building Project funded by the European Commission, through the Erasmus+ programe with partners from Africa: Ghana and Cape Verde, and Europe: Greece, Romania, Italy. The project has the purpose of promoting sustainable tourism as a way of increasing youth employability. The project started in March 2015 and was unfolded until October 2016. Other than local activities, there were 2 international seminars, one in Athens in July 2015, and another in Cape Verde in January 2016, the last one being in Ghana in September 2016. There is also an e-learning platform developed as a part of this project, that can be accessed by registering on the online platform. The UP Art! project is an initiative of 5 volunteers from the Imago Mundi Association and students at the Dinu Lipatti Arts High School from Pitești. Between May – December 2015, the volunteers unfolded a series of visual arts workshops in schools from the county of Argeș, in which talented pupils participated. More information on the project is available on the dedicated page, Facebook. UP Art. Volunteers that worked on this project had the chance to participate in an art-themed Youth Exchange that took place in Lipovac, Serbia, between 22 – 31 May 2016, entitled ARTilicious and funded through the Erasmus+ program. Starting from December 2015 we were partners in a Strategic Partnership Project funded by the European Commission through the Erasmus+ program, entitled “Let’s Learn Differently”. The project, coordinated by the Matei Basarab School from Pitești, Argeș, Romania, gathers partners from Romania, Greece, Spain, and Turkey. The purpose of the project was to promote the use of non-formal education methods and principles in schools in formal education contexts. There were a large number of local activities unfolded through this project that engaged students and teachers from the county of Argeș, but also a transnational meeting that took place in Pitești, and a Training Course that took place in Granada, Spain. More information on this project is available on the project’s Facebook page! As a follow-up of our collaboration with OMV Petrom in 2015, in 2016 we were unfolding two projects funded by this company, 3D Communities and Safety in my community projects that involved youths and teachers from rural communities from Argeș, like Micești, Săpata, Poiana Lacului, Merișani, Vedea, Cungrea, Spineni and Poboru. The two projects ended in the last mounth of 2016. Another initiative appeared as a result of our collaboration with the Volonteurope network, entitled Youth Ambassadors by Volonteurope. In the autumn of 2015, two Imago Mundi volunteers took part in a first meeting of this project, in Spain. That year, not only have they participated in the second meeting in Nantes, France, in October 2016, but also they have organized non-formal education activities on a local level on the topic of active citizenship, raising awareness on the importance of youths’ involvement in the community life. 2017 was sprinkled with international activities through the Erasmus + program, founded by the European Commission, as part of projects in which Imago Mundi was a partner. The first was the Digital Illustration Skills course, coordinated by Ifjúsági Nomád Klub Nonprofit kft. which took place between 02 - 12 October 2017, in Balaton, Hungary. After that, two youth exchanges were held: Responsible Together, 6- 17 November 2017, Balan, Harghita, coordinated by Youth for Youth Czech Republic and One Europe, one Culture, between 18-29 November 2017, Bălan, Harghita, coordonatied by BRKV Austria. Also, November 2017 was important for Imago Mundi because two new concepts of activities were launched: Board Games and Language Coffee (language skills development workshops through non-formal activities done in order to encourage conversation and dialogue, starting from various topics). And since then they are held monthly. What is more, 2017 brought another collaboration with OMV Petrom which was materialized in two projects Safety in my community! and Volunteering, nonformal education and career guidance for young people of the future. They were implemented in 7 rural communities in Argeș and Olt counties and tackled themes such as community safety, first aid, counseling and career guidance. The activities have created a true community of teachers and students, who struggle to change step by step in the good, the way in which education is done. In may 2018, both projects summed up 500 participants attending either one of the 16 workshops or the 2 training courses. Moreover, in 2018, Imago Mundi became partner in a new technical assistance program, coordinated by Alianza Por at Solidaridad, with GVC, Volonteurope, Action Aid Italy, LVIA, Action Aid Hellas and Imago Mundi as partners. The + Care project aims to increase the number of organizations in Europe that apply and get certification to deploy referral organizations within the EU Aid Volunteers initiative and run from February 2018 to January 2020. In May 2018, Imago Mundi, in collaboration with 10 schools from the county of Arges, Romania, launched ”Bridges for Education” a project that aims to bring together students, teachers and parents for a better cooperation in the educational process.