ESC: Mission Europe

Asociación Juvenil Almenaras is an organization created to provide opportunities for personal and professional development to the youth of the rural area of “Málaga province”. Mainly we have worked in Erasmus + program and other programs based on international mobility. With this main objective, Almenaras is appeared in 2016 to impact the need we detected about the lack of opportunities and entities that promote and create opportunities for international mobility in our small and rural regions. In the beginning, we dedicated our time to developing partnerships with other European entities and creating synergies with youth groups and other local entities to search these groups of youngsters to participate in the mobility projects offered. On the other hand, we started to contact youth groups, professionals, and institutions to create projects and synergies focused on Erasmus plus program (and other local opportunities). Since then we have been evolving and growing, being part of different collaboration and movements. ✔ Co-worker association in the EVS project “Let’s gardening with the elders!” in Malaga, since August 2015. ✔ We are part of the coworking of social innovation of Málaga. ✔ We are part of the TOCA group of Málaga, group which is searching accessibility of the city of Málaga. ✔ We are part of sending NGO of Federación Andaluza Arcoiris, a Rainbow federation which is an all of Andalusian’s regions. ✔ We are part of Fridays for Future Rincón de la Victoria (our town). During all this process and collaborations we get the accreditations as a sending and coordinating association, being able to send a huge number of volunteers to other countries in EVS and ESC programs, developing a lot of connection to send participants to Erasmus plus and ESC projects. Also, we coordinate our own Erasmus plus projects with the help of professionals and groups of young people. We organized: ✔ Organizers of the Youth Exchange “Let’s EVS” about the management of an EVS process in Malaga, in September 2017 ✔ Organizers of the training course “Intersectionality, educating in diversity” in 2018. ✔ Organizers of the YE “Together with Feminism” in 2019. ✔ Organizers of the TC “In their shoes, becoming inclusive”. ✔ Organizers of the YE “artist in action” in 2019. ✔ Organizers of the YE “Educating in diversity and vice versa” Also, we have three postponed projects due to the coronavirus pandemic, being a training course about nutrition, a seminar about the inclusion of people with functional diversity, and a youth exchange about art as a tool of social inclusion. In addition, we have been part of projects of other entities in their own projects in Erasmus plus and ESC programs. Thanks to all the work mentioned before our goals have been evolving, impacting, and increasing our target to young people with fewer opportunities and other rural areas of Málaga province, and collaborating with other entities. Our daily work consists in: -To create projects in collaboration and synergies with the young people of Málaa province that want to take part in actions that can improve their environments, with professionals that want to contribute with benefits to youth work or with other entities in our region that want to develop some actions using European tools and mobility projects. - To search for partnerships with other European organizations to create sending opportunities for our young people. - To disseminate our actions and programs on social networks. - Organizing local workshops promoting our actions, results, and tools for young people. - Promoting and creating workshops about European values and interculturalism. - Dynamics in the youth center of our city about Erasmus +. Making activities similar to the ones usually developed in YE and Training Courses financed by Erasmus +, to make our youngsters aware of the opportunities that Erasmus + can bring them. - Collaborating with the Youth City Council of different towns in our region. - Making activities together with the Youth Area of our town in the project “alternative leisure” - Going to high schools, municipalities, and youth areas of our region to promote Erasmus+. - Involving public bodies and others NGOs in Erasmus+ activities to bring people from other countries to our region and spread the European values. - Encouraging the youngsters of our region to develop and participate in Erasmus+ projects. - We are part of the coworking of social innovation of Málaga. - We are creating the network of youth mobility information for rural areas of Málaga city, including two towns per project we organize.