Our Association Comunities for Youth has mission to develop, implement and support youth developm…

Our Association Comunities for Youth has mission to develop, implement and support youth development programs built around the concepts of lifelong learning, mobility and associativity. The main purpose of our association is to identify the needs and opportunities for youth development, to promote and implement youth development programs and support the youth programs. Vision: To provide positive development programmes and opportunities for every young person in Oltenia region. ACT works to empower young people to participate actively in society to improve their own lives and, above all else, to be active rather than passive actors in their personal development/learning processes. The aim of this empowerment is to establish a wide-based community movement which encourages the positive involvement of young people in solving issues which affect them, treating them as resources and solutions rather than a part of the problem that needs to be addressed. The objects of our association are: -Vocational orientation and development of complementary skills necessary to access the labor market for young people; - Development of Community Initiatives; - Develop the institutional capacity of the youth associations to effectively manage activities programs / projects undertaken; - Stimulating Community involvement and active participation of young people in civic life; - Promoting European values, European citizenship and multiculturalism; - Support for the social integration of groups of people at risk; - Diversification of information and advice for citizens; - Develop training activities - non-formal education for autonomy and participation stimulating socioeconomic youth; - Ensure a stimulating framework for the development of youth associative life; - Develop international cooperation; - Developing human resources training system and support continuous professional development programs for continuing professional development and training; The core need upon which the organisation was founded is the generation of communities of interest (hence the name: "Communities for Youth Association") which aggregate young people's interest and passions and utilises these as the foundation for personal development generated through non-formal education activities. Participation in a community of interest can be compelling, entertaining and create a community where people return frequently and remain for extended periods. This core concern of the organisation has been formulated to answer to the local need for greater cohesion of young people and lack of structural mechanisms to aggregate young people around common interests. In our experience, having some members that have spent over 9 years dealing with non-formal youth work, we have observed that there are many young people who, despite having shared interests, do not ever meet up, connect, share ideas or further develop these interests in a structured way. We want to counteract this trend by revealing youth common interests/hobbies/passions, organise opportunities for them to connect and develop these while also structuring the activities in such a way as to generate learning outcomes using non-formal methods and tools. Main areas in which ACT has worked so far include social inclusion of youth with fewer opportunities such as young people with disabilities and those from disadvantaged backgrounds placed in social institutions, cultural awareness, active citizenship and European awareness, entrepreneurship and volunteering. The organisation has developed project for young people from both Craiova, the main city in the Oltenia Region, and Bailesti which is a much smaller city in the region which lacks almost any opportunities for young people. Using local and international volunteering (through Erasmus+ programme) ACT has focused on organising non-formal development programmes for young people that focused on: - Social inclusion of disabled and disadvantaged youth, active citizenship, culture an