Hiking trails for youngsters

Background Young people from Belgium, Germany, France and Luxembourg should be motivated, with the support of those responsible from the youth sector, to develop a greater awareness of their belonging to a common natural, cultural and social area across national borders. They should receive incentives by participating in the project content, implementation and support, to volunteer within the structures of the partner organizations, to take responsibility for non-profit projects and to actively participate in the strategic and operational orientation of the organizations in order to ensure their continued existence and further develop. The collaboration required in the joint project leads to a deeper understanding of the partner structures involved. This provides creative space for intensive exchange for the qualitative further development of international partnerships, especially in the youth sector. This corresponds to the desired project goals. Objectives The application for the project resulted from the positive experiences of an earlier European project (cycling media) run by EVEA. An important goal of the “Youth Hiking Trails” project was to bring the participating partner organizations closer together with a view to thematically oriented joint cooperation in the youth sector. Comparable experiences with youth hiking trails already exist on the German side, where the youth organization of the Eifel Association has been maintaining and further expanding a national youth hiking trail network on a voluntary basis for some time. Here, too, it becomes clear again and again that through their direct contact with nature, culture and the local population, the young hikers get a more lasting impression of what they have experienced on the left and right of the hiking route and thus gain a closer relationship with the region they hiked. In summary, the needs for the present EVEA project can be focused on the intention to intensify cooperation in the participating countries Belgium, Germany, France and Luxembourg and thus contribute to strengthening European awareness in the region.. Implementation The representatives of the partner organizations got to know each other more intensively through numerous meetings and exchanges. These meetings (online and face-to-face) are shown and explained in detail later in the report; the results of the joint collaboration are documented and therefore visible. The individual and professional competence of the volunteer participants in the project was significantly increased. There were various meetings between the partner organizations involved to achieve the project goals: • Project meeting of the working group • Meetings/discussions between representatives of the partner organizations • Cross-country project meetings - 8. and 9. September 2022 in Monschau (D) “Young people on new paths” - April 6, 2023 in Sedan (F) “Preparation Colloque JWW” - 9th-11th June 2023 in Attigny/Sedan, Colloque “Sentiers de randonnées pour jeunes” • Training, teaching and learning activities - 28th-30th January 2022 in Echternach (L) - 21st-24th May 2022 in Fünfbrunnen/Reimberg (L) - 25th-28th May 2022 in Odersbach/Neuerburg (D) - 21st-23rd April 2023 in Monschau (D) • Colloquia September 9, 2022 in Monschau (D) “Young people on new paths” June 10, 2023 in Sedan (F) “Sentiers transfrontaliers pour jeunes” Achievements Specific project results: • Getting to know the structures and people involved in the partner organizations better • More intensive exchange of working methods and contacts on both sides of the border • Shorter communication routes through knowledge of the direct contact persons in the individual countries • Greater appreciation of international youth work among internal and external partner organizations • Creation of a criteria catalog and a recording form • 25 suggestions for youth hiking trails • 6 of which are currently being developed; written in language suitable for young people: 10 ways • Cartographic representation overview map (in draft) • Creation of a flyer • Provision of documents in standardized formats (texts, PowerPoint presentations, etc.) • Presentation of the results at the DWJ conference of the Eifel Association on February 25, 2023 in Neuerburg • Presentation of results at the youth hiking guide training (seminar on April 21-23, 2023 in Monschau) • Publicly effective dissemination of the results at the EVEA congresses in Monschau in 2022 and in Sedan in 2023 Initial spark for new programmes such as youth hiking guides or youth trail wardens