Category Archive : trainingcourses

Desire To Inspire – Leadership training

Some week ago, from 15th until 22nd of September 23 people from Austria, Italy, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland, Lithuania, Estonia, Macedonia and Malta gathered in Klagenfurt for the training course under the title “Desire To Inspire”. This training course was based on the importance of leadership in everyday life situations and even more on those appearing in youth work. The focus was put on methods and aspects for and about leading groups, but also on how to present oneself and behave in order to be respected.

In order to make this week as great as possible and a secure learning environment the first one and a half days were dedicated to the topic of getting-to-know each other and building a team out of this group of people. Having been blind-folded, for example, was part of a trust- and team building activity and from the trainer’s perspective definitely made those 20 participants an amazingly strong team for the upcoming days.

Each day had a different topic such as group dynamics, live action role play, myself as superhero and overall leadership. Aside from theory we tried to give the stage to participants and let them learn by putting into action their new knowledge and receiving feedback for further improvement. Everyone was so into the topic that even offered free time was used to keep on doing workshops and discussing topics of the sessions.

Together we all got new perspectives and a bigger understanding of leadership and its importance in youthwork. Having had the chance to discuss about and work on this topic intensively I can definitely say I’ve improved my skills and learnt from everyone of the 22 other people there.

Besides working there was also time for cultural exchange, game nights and story telling in the evenings.


And here are some impressions about Desire To Inspire:

Aleksandra, Macedonia

„The DTI was an unforgettable experience for me. Things that I have learned there about leadership, team work, trust and friendship were surprisingly amazing. The organization was perfect, the group was like one big hearted family and I can honestly and truly say that I had the time of my life, time filled with lots of fun,crazy games, laughter and inspiration. We were many deferences connected together in one perfectly big puzzle.“ 

Kristina, Slovakia

„Desire To Inspire was the first training course I participated in but given my previous experience with youth exchanges, I kept my expectations low. The projects I’ve been to before were great but their organisation was rather disappointing. That’s why I was so amazed when I saw all the effort wEUnite made to make sure everything is prepared and on point. We had all we needed (or even more) and we got the opportunity to improve our soft skills & leadership skills. The activities we did were always innovative and enriching so I really enjoyed each one of them. Besides that, I’ve also made many new friends and got to know myself better. Thank you for everything !“

Krzysztof B., Poland

„Desire to Inspire was quite a special training. Each activity and workshop managed to help the participants in learning something new about working with groups, about being a leader as well as what happens when there is no leader. IT was an amazing privilege to take part in it.“

Manuel G., Austria

„The training gave me a lot of opportunities to practice leadership, as well as being a follower and possibilities to support others. I put my focus also on communication with people in terms of helping them to see their potentials and how they can enable it. Furthermore, I took special opportunities from the organizers to facilitate and lead workshops which gave me the confidence to be able to perform on different stages in front of people in future and to create and facilitate activities and workshops for other people to help them to improve themselves. During this training I improved my skills to be in lead by being authentic, pro-active, open-minded, team-oriented and a role-model in order to successfully achieve goals. Thanks a lot to all organizers for realizing this great training! It was a pleasure to be part of it!“

Lucy, Czech Republic

„The training course DTI influenced my personality a lot. We were busy but as I am retrospecting, I am appreciating it at the same time. Now I believe in myself much more but what is more important, I met people who are like me and they are my friends now.“

Triinu, Estonia

„I went to training course with high hopes, and I was pretty surprised at the end of the week – my expectations weren’t just fulfilled, but exceeded. I learned so much in such a short period of time and I experienced so many things and feelings. All this thanks to the team and magical group of people that we had. <3 blockquote="">




A very big, big thank you from the whole team behind this training course! It was great to work together and we hope to see you soon in one place or another 🙂

What happened meanwhile..

In case you have been wondering why it was so unusually quiet on our blog as well as our Facebookpage … we worked on new projects and travelled to create new partnerships and get even more ideas to apply for even more projects for you 🙂

Right after our KeepCalm! training course in February we wrote the final report for it, worked on the budget and last but not least – made this amazing video. As you can see we had a great time!


As we got so much energy from the project we decided „Hey! Let’s write some more projects and apply!“ – once said, we directly started working on them. The first training course – that hopefully will be approved – is called „DesireToInspire“ and will be all about leadership. Why leadership? Well, in youth work it is a highly relevant to work with groups and in order to be even better at what we all do, we want to give you some more tools. Doesn’t that sound great?

But of course one project alone is never ever enough for us, and because of all the questions we got on our previous projects, we came up with „Project 101“, which will deal with project designing. Most of you have been on one or more youth exchanges or training courses or have heard about those cool things. The question you asked us was: how does it all work? What is going on behind the scenes? Does a project last for one week only? How do you prepare everything? Who actually pays for Erasmus+ projects and how can we get the money? The most important question for us, though, was „Can I do that as well?“ – yes, yes and yes! You all can – and this is why we applied with this project, to show and tell you everything you need to know about project designing in Erasmus+ – and of course many lovely new projects will be born on this training course 🙂


After we successfully submitted our applications, wEUnite went to Estonia!

Having applied for many different seminars, Nina got chosen to take part in a seminar/study visit/training course, called „Formal-Non-Formal“, in Tartu/Estonia. Being there she met friends from previous projects – always a cool side-effect! getting to know people from everywhere and meeting them again – and also new partners. Moreover, she experienced the culture a little as well as the education system in Estonia, which is very different from what she was used to from Austria. Having spent 6 days in Tartu, another projects was being born – ENTERpreneurship, which will be applied at the next deadline. Until then, wEUnite, will work with its new partners from Estonia, Portugal, Turkey and Scottland to make this idea something real.





„Estonia is a really nice country! I didn’t have too much time for sight-seeing, but it was definitely worth the trip. (and I can imagine going back there to see a little more of the country) I have learnt many new things for my youth-work but also for my studies in those days. Not only did I get new ideas for projects and more knowledge about different educational systems, but also did I meet people from different countries and learnt about their countries, cultures and languages. While reflecting the intense days and writing the youthpass, I realized how much I improved myself in

certain aspects. Also, I met great people that I am looking forward to work with in the future! What I nearly forgot to mention – it was a really cool idea to create t-shirts about our NGOs instead of posters, as we can keep those as memory and even use them again for further projects.“ (Nina) 

KeepCalm! – 10 days left :)

Wow, time passes really fast… Our next project, KeepCalm!, is starting in 10 days already! You surely want to know what kind of project it is and what it’s all about 🙂 
It’s going to be a  training course, based on conflict management in everyday life situations and even more on those appearing in youth work. The focus will be put on strategies and techniques for conflict resolution, but also on how to use language efficiently for mediation. Another part will focus on the roots of conflicts but also intercultural exchange. „KeepCalm!” has the goal to teach youth workers how to react to conflicts and how to resolve them in an efficient way. Moreover, the participants will learn how to pass on their new knowledge to their coworkers.

As the beginning of this great week comes closer, we are getting more and more excited. You are curious now who we are? Well, the team that worked the last months to make this possible… 


Alexander Tscharre, Austria, organizer
“I was introduced to the Erasmus+ projects by wEUnite and they gave me an amazing view over the field of youth work and all it varieties. I want to change something in this world, especially for the youth, all the young people who are forsaken by society should get another chance and I want to give it to them. All of the different tools I’ve learned on my TCs so far and the ones I’ll learn in future will support me and help me to do my work with youth. In addition I got a view behind the scenes of an Erasmus+ project and the opportunity to involve in the organization of projects and I love it, I always give 200% for and during a project so you can enjoy it and have a good time.”
Studies: Paedagogical and Educational Science
Hobbies: Spending leisure time with friends, Youth projects, making videos, Music, Reading, Traveling




Nina-Bianca Anranter, Austria, trainer and organizer
“Thanks to the possibility of witnessing the world through numerous youth exchanges and training courses that I took part in, I developed myself a lot and learnt things that no school or university could have offered. Two years ago my colleague Kerstin and I decided to pass on our knowledge and give young people the chance to become more active. Organizing projects and being a trainer makes me happy as I always see people having fun, learn and grow.”
Studies: Teacher training programme English/Catholic Religion
Hobbies: Reading, Sports, Youth projects






Krzysztof Bruzgul, Poland, trainer
“With formal education in the field of pedagogy and three years in the field of non-formal education as a project participant, group leader, trainer and coordinator, my passion lies in education.”
My studies directed towards language, English and its philology, I specialized towards teaching this language as a second language. So, I am an English teacher by my education.
         My hobbies are wide and broad, for I am interested in a lot of things, but above all I value great stories. Listening, watching, reading or living through them





Kerstin Ess, Austria, trainer

“Taking part in youth projects for five years now made me a better person who wants to share those experiences. I wish for everyone to create such memories and great mind opening happenings. Cultural exchange opens not only your perception of others but also takes a great part in self-development.”
Studies: Meadia and Convergence Management

My hobbies are various, but what I prefer to do is travelling as it usually combines all my favorite activities.






Like our facebook page and follow our blog to stay up-to-date during the training course 🙂

Work hard, play hard!

wEUnite is a team of young Austrians that applies for projects and organizes them. Last year we managed to host one youth exchange and two training courses on which we had 90 participants. The main reason why we are able to make this work besides being a full-time student is because we are friends. When you spend your freetime with your friends all the work we have doesn’t feel like work anymore.
After our two training courses in August (SpeakUp!) and September (In ya face(book)) and writing another application for a TC in February (KeepCalm!) we celebrated a successful „wEUnite-year“ at our local christmas market 🙂 As you can see our group grew bigger and bigger as young people from Klagenfurt liked what we do so much that they decided to join this organization.

 As a pre-christmas present we got some letters from our team … read for yourself:

„I am happy to be part of wEUnite. Thanks to that I gained a lot of experience that I will never forget!“

„Great people and awesome trainings with really interesting topics, where you always meet new, amazing friends!“ 

„The founders of wEUnite, Tini and Nina, are always there for all 
members. On the projects they put a lot of effort in making the week great and memorable for the participants. You can feel that those two are passionate about wEUnite and stand up for it, which makes it something unique.“


„wEUnite – the chaotic group! We’re going into every project with lots of energy. Connecting cultures – open-minded – warm-hearted. Three strong characteristics to change the world into a better place!“

„Dear wEUnite-team, thanks a lot for letting me celebrate with you, nice people!“

„wEunite, unfortunately, due to various reasons, I couldn’t take part in the projects you hosted here in Austria. I had the chance to design the posters for them, though, and by doing that was part of wEUnite’s projects. I hope that this is going to change and I will be able to be a participants! Thanks for all the happiness & merry christmas!“

„A great year behind us. A new year full of new ideas and projects before us. wEUnite grows and it’s becoming something even more beautiful.“

„We are young, we are active, wEUnite!“

Those speak for themselves … and were the most beautiful present we could have ever dreamed about! A big,big thank you to every single one of you – we are happy that we can count on you 🙂 

wEUnite in Ireland!

Tini, Manuel, Sarah and Daniel went on a project to Ireland for 9 days (29.10.-07.11.2015). There they learnt something about social media, the Irish culture but also they made new friends and had the chance to see parts of the country. 
To give you an impression about their time there,
keep on scrolling and reading 🙂

The reason for going there was a training course organized by „the traveller voice magazine“ under the topic „in yer face(book)“. This TC aimed to work on the proper use of social media and to create awareness about cyber-bullying, racism and slander in the web as well as policies of the most common social media platforms. „As I am very interested in any kind of social media due to my studies I decided to apply to participate“, said Sarah who participated in an Erasmus+ Project for the first time.
Manuel, who recently joined wEUnite said „The reason why I wanted to join the project in Ireland – besides seeing this wonderful country – was to gain new perspectives concerning Social Media nowadays and also to learn new techniques to work with people in a team“ – and after the project he told us that his expectations were met.

„I got the chance to meet new people and got to know my friends even better“
  „the grass is so green it’s unbelieveable“ and „it looks like a golf court“ were sentences that were said quite often during their stay in this beautiful country.

Irish culture and traditions were explored during the 3 days-stay in Dublin and several excursions to famous ancient sights that are located in Meath and Lough, such as Newgrange, Drogheda and the seaside were made. „I got to know different kinds of cultural insights especially as some travellers joined our group and explained several aspects of their unique culture and traditions.“
They all say, that they’ve learnt a variety of new skills throughout this week. Daniel explained „the week in Newgrange met my expectations as I was able to develop new thoughts about inter-human exchange both online and offline in various discussions with peers from the other participating countries.“

The intercultural experiences they made included singing Irish songs about the “drunk lifestyle” as well as touching the boobs of the Molly Malone statue in the centre of Dublin for good luck. A whiskey tasting and twisting our tongues while trying to speak Polish were also parts of their trip and cultural exchange that they will definitely remember. „I enjoyed the intercultural night very much, as I learned various dances from other cultures“, stated Tini. The opportunity to try some new drinks from other cultures was also quite appreciated by our group.

All of them are keen on visiting Ireland again – for another project or to visit new-made friends.