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One of the mobility activities for non-formal learning purposes foreseen by Erasmus + are the Youth exchanges.
Organizations and informal groups of young people have the opportunity to carry out projects that bring together girls and boys from different countries to exchange and overcome the limitations of often rigid learning within formal education contexts.
The objective is twofold: on the one hand, youth exchanges want to involve and empower young people so that they become active citizens; on the other hand they push them to acquire and develop skills useful for life and for their professional future.
They are real opportunities for personal growth with important implications for the future of the young participants and for that of Europe; meanwhile, because youth exchanges encourage forms of dialogue and learning in an intercultural context. An intelligent way to break down prejudices and stereotypes, and overcome limiting visions. And then because the young participants are encouraged to strengthen and share the values of the EU, to actively engage in society and, last but not least, to develop those skills that could materialize in a profession in the future.
Youth exchanges are open to young people between 13 and 30 years old, with great attention to those with fewer opportunities. The possibility of developing projects on themes of inclusion and diversity helps promote understanding, tolerance and non-discrimination.
The projects can be proposed by: non-profit organizations, local authorities and informal groups of young people, companies active in corporate social responsibility, private entities, but not by individual young people. The duration of the projects goes from 3 to 24 months. The application must be submitted to the national agency of the "applicant's" country.
Participant groups must be made up of young people residing in at least two different countries among those participating in the Program. During the activities, which can only take place in Program Countries and which can last from 5 to 21 working days, young people carry out a non-formal learning program on topics of interest to them, through seminars, exercises, role-playing games, outdoor activities, simulations, debates.
To carry out an exchange they must participate at least 16 young people (with a maximum of 60); each participating national group is accompanied by a leader.
The amount of the financial contribution it is variable and depends on the planned activities, the number of participants and the place of implementation. In any case, the costs of food, accommodation, local transport and, based on mileage tables established by the European Commission, also the costs of international travel are covered.
To find out more about how to participate, carefully read the specific part of the Program Guide
Return to the general Help page on “Erasmus+” Program
Return to the opportunities page Erasmus+ for young people
This guide was created as part of the annual work plan of the European network IGNet, co-financed by the European Union. The content of this guide reflects the views only of the authors and neither the European Commission nor any of its agencies can be held responsible for its content or any use made of it. The content of this guide has no official value for the purposes of submitting applications and projects, for which only the official guides of the individual programmes and initiatives are valid.