How is the experience at the Exchange Forum in Leuven, Belgium? What are participants' perspectives on the whole event? What have they gained, and what are their key takeaways? We’ve launched a short blog from the Exchange Forum, giving voice to various participants to share their insights and reflections. Curious to learn more? Read our blog for highlights from the first day of the Exchange Forum!
Written by: Josipa Tukara Komljenović, Croatian Youth Network, Croatia
A new Exchange Forum on the European Youth Work Agenda was organized this November 2024 in the beautiful city of Leuven, Belgium. The first day of the event was organized around the arrival of all participants and an introduction to the event. The organizers organized a guided tour of Leuven to explore the sights and historical sites, which was amazing and a great opportunity to start getting to know each other.
But the focus of the first day was the evening - a joint dinner and a welcome evening, which was an opportunity to meet other excellent participants in an informal environment.
As a person who is participating in the Exchange Forum for the first time, this was a great opportunity for me to connect with other youth workers and learn. During the welcome evening session, the facilitators planned great icebreakers for us to get to know each other as much as possible through laughter and fun. Although the facilitator said to try to remember at least 15 names (out of approximately 40), I think I was unsuccessful in the task! There are so many interesting, funny, inspiring and lovely people, and I managed to remember their inspiring stories more than their names :) However, the European Youth Work Agenda (EYWA) was meaningfully integrated into the fun and through the introduction games.
The EYWA and this entire three-day event are presented through the metaphor of the Universe and the planets of the solar system. The Exchange Forum is a central resource hub around which the planets of the 8 thematic key areas of the Bonn Process and the participants as astronauts gravitate. We sailed into the Universe of youth work and I, as a participant, had the opportunity to hear information about why people engage in youth work, what is their drive and intrinsic motivation, but also information about the current state of youth work in their country. Listening to other people's experiences, challenges and obstacles that different youth workers face in their countries and communities are an excellent Northern star for the development of youth work in Croatia. Someone else's experience will greatly help my organization (Croatian Youth Network) and me in the process of promoting and building youth work. Why? Because youth work is something that attracts you very easily and with which you blend.
I am very much looking forward to the next two days and further absorbing experiences, learning new information and planning future steps for amazing youth work in Croatia! Stay tuned!