Active participation in the field of youth policy and commitment to the improvement of young people’s situation, promotion of youth activism and mobility, youth education and other forms of work with and for young people.

MANAGING THE FORMULATION OF YOUTH ACTION PLANS

CDER offers support in drafting local youth action plans through a combination of mentoring guidance and formal trainings. Relevant local community representatives (members of working groups for the formulation of action plan) attend three 2-day training sessions: 1. Introduction to strategic planning and the overview of current situation; 2. Identifying priorities and setting up goals; 3. Making an action plan. In addition to this, mentoring expert conducts fieldwork individually with working group members, i.e. with individuals from each thematic section subsequently formed out of the working group. CDER team has so far been a leader in the process of making youth action plans in twenty local self-governments.

RESOURCE CENTRE

For the past 5 years, CDER has been a Resource Centre for the Ministry of Youth and Sports in order to provide incentives on activism and volunteering of the young in the Pomoravski District. In this capacity, CDER conducts the following activities on a yearly basis: 1. Overall project organization (launching a call, promotion, evaluation of applications, monitoring…) of the tender for financing youth projects (about 10 per year) in Pomoravski district, for formal and informal youth groups; 2. Implementing a three-day training for youth groups in writing project proposals; 3. Providing support to formal and informal youth groups in the implementation of approved projects; 4. Organizing central public event for youth. 5. Selection of the best youth project in the Pomoravski district.

MEDIA LITERACY & MEDIA ACTIVISM

3 CDER experts – one professional journalist, one new media and social networks expert and one exceptionally proficient youth policy expert – have created a Training Course in media literacy and media activism. The TC consists of two modules – a two-day youth TC, and a longer, adaptable TC for youth workers and trainers.

The participants develop a range of media skills: technical competences (the ability to access media), critical skills (understanding, interpreting and critical evaluation of media content) and practical skills (creating media messages – in particular writing texts for the media; developing and using ICT tools for activities through the media).

PROFESSIONAL ORIENTATION AND CAREER GUIDANCE  

CDER includes a team of five experienced professionals (education specialist, psychologist, form teacher, civil education teacher and adult education specialist), trained for provision of professional orientation and career guidance and counseling programs. The team trains future career guiders (TOT) and also works directly with youth.

YOUTH ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Multi-day training course educating young people how to promote youth entrepreneurship and to start their own business. The participants learn to nurture their own and other youth’s spirit of initiative, creativity and entrepreneurship, learn the basics of entrepreneurship, business skills and best practices of the EU in the field of youth entrepreneurship. Special attention during the training is given to business innovations. The training is based on the methods and techniques of informal learning.

PROMOTING INTERCUTURALITY THROUGH LITERATURE AND ART

Innovative training for youth and secondary school teachers that focuses on the role of arts and humanities (in particular on literature, film and music) for educative purposes. The participants are educated through examples of art and informal education methods to understand and promote basic intercultural values. The training aims at raising participants’ awareness of other cultures, improving their sense for tolerance and breaking prejudices and xenophobia. In addition, during the training the participants develop skills and learn methods that enable them to act as peer educators for the promotion of intercultural values and intercultural dialogue.

USING FILM FOR YOUTH ACTIVISM

Multi-day training course (5-10 days), during which the training participants are motivated, educated and encouraged through joint work to use film for youth activism, as a tool for attracting public attention and raising awareness about the problems of young people, as well as for solving young people’s problems and promoting youth policies. The participants learn how to make a short film, how to communicate a message through film, and also how to pass their film making knowledge to others. The training includes the basis of script writing, operating a video camera, directing and video editing.

PEER EDUCATION TRAINING THROUGH DRAMA

The training consists of educational part during which the young people are directly familiarized with the problem which will be addressed in the play (e.g. drug abuse, violence, discrimination etc.). The second part of the training includes mastering theatre play techniques; trainees create scenes which are subsequently merged into one whole – a theatre play. The final outcome is a play performed before the audience, conveying educational message.

PEER EDUCATORS TRAINING – MEDIATION ON PREVENTION AND MITIGATION OF RISKY SITUATIONS AMONG YOUTH

The purpose of peer education is to inform children and youth about the modes and manners of effective conflict resolution and to contribute to creation of positive attitudes on tolerance, non-violence and respect for differences. The training was developed based on the program of GIZ and Pedagogical Association of Serbia. It is a five-day training including training for adolescents and action plan development. Direct beneficiaries are pupils, professors and professionals from primary and high schools.

“ROLE PLAY” EDUCATION FOR PREVENTION OF RISKY SITUATIONS AMONG YOUTH

“Role play” is a one-day training for adolescent youth aimed at providing basic knowledge and raising awareness about violence. The priority is for youth to recognize and adequately react in situations which provoke violent behaviors.

TRAINING IN HIV/AIDS PREVENTION

Training in HIV/AIDS prevention includes the application of a range of health-educational methods which maximize individual and group engagement in acquisition of new knowledge and skills. CDER implements two types of training: training intended for end users (youth education) and training for trainers (TOT).