What is a youth exchange?
Youth-exchange is the word used by Erasmus+ program (as well as previous ”Youth in Action”) for an international youthcamp, international mobility, according to the rules of these EU-programs.
In our context it is an international, artbased on-campus project, at which 40-50 young people of same age from 3-5 different countries live, eat and work together during a week according to an approved program.
Schedule
This is an example of a schedule for a week of Youth-exchange.
There are specific elements in this schedule that are very important to the development of the project and that make a youth exchange as we know it:
Morning warm-up
Morning Circle
Artistic workshops
Intercultural evening
Sight-Seeing
Performance
Reflection and Evaluation
The young participants learn among other by:
- being away from Mum & Dad
- living and working, during a week, together with 40-50 young people of same age from 3-4 other countries.
- speaking English for a week
- living in another country and culture
- speaking in front of the other 40-50 participants at the morning-circles.
- from the artistic workshops.
- being on stage and showing the results of the workshops.
Background for ”Exchanges for All”
2010-11 ”Youth culture & Learning” got national, Danish support for making 1, 2 or 3-days workshops with artists from other countries at 18 schools in Guldborgsund-, Vordingborg- & Lolland Municipalities.
2012-13 ”CreatLearn” EU-Interreg ”South-Baltic” project about aestethic learning processes. An international cooperation coordinated by Kalmar (SE) with partners from Klaipeda Region / Garzdai (LT), Rostock & Guldborgsund.