Virtual Exchange Strengthens International Youth Work

Pathways to Youth Leadership was an Erasmus+: Youth in Action long term training involving 24 youngsters from 12 countries. Grant cuts required squeezing the residential programme, originally planned to last three weeks, into two. That is why, after taking part in the Erasmus+ Virtual Exchange (E+VE) training, we successfully added five VE sessions to the project. Youth work relies on personal interaction, experiential learning, and non-formal education. Transferring that into online interaction has been our greatest innovation and challenge. In our field, there is resistance to online activities, but the Covid-19 pandemic is changing this. We need to practise online facilitation, develop the required skills, and define the role E+VE can play in youth work. [For the complete volume, "Designing and Implementing Virtual Exchange -- A Collection of Case Studies," see ED609252.]