Background

In Petto is organizing a European Seminar “Exploring Online Peer-to-Peer support “to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the young advisors project in Flanders. Our partners in this project are Youth in Action Program and Antwerp European Youth Capital 2011.

Main theme of the conference will be peer-to-peer support, which means that young people provide experience, emotional, social or practical help to their peers. We will focus on “emotional wellbeing and support” and on the social and psychological support ( listening , empathy, friendship) that young people give to each other starting from their  needs, question, challenge, problem.

Aims:

We want to explore the conditions that should be taken into account when organising an online peer-to-peer support project, especially when young participants are involved. 

Objectives:

• To bring together young people and their leaders from all over Europe who are involved as volunteers into peer-to-peer support projects; to exchange ideas and experiences and create mutual understanding

• To show the European dimension and relevance of being active as a volunteer

• To promote the possibilities of Youth in Action to exchange, cooperate and learn

• To combine theoretical and research input with the practical experiences and visions of young voluntary peer workers, to explore and discuss online possibilities of peer-to-peer support projects

• To produce clear guidelines, quality criteria and points of attention to take into consideration when developing a quality online peer-to-peer support project

• To establish a permanent European network of organisations or structures involved in peer-to-peer projects

• To collect materials (evaluations, papers, research, testimonies,…) to demonstrate the effects and possibilities of online peer-to-peer support

• To show society and local communities that young people all over Europe are engaged and take responsibility in supporting their peers as volunteers

Format and methodology:

This international event will bring together around 150 participants (policy makers, youth organisation representatives, researchers and young peers) on one platform. They will explore the possibilities to organise such an online project thanks to experiences of existing peer-to-peer support projects and good practices. The meeting is designed as a mutual learning situation where participants can share their experiences and ideas related to the topic of the seminar. The programme will provide space for individual as well as group reflection, debates, encourage exchange of best practices, workshops, theorical inputs. Moreover, it is not just a seminar with only adults , but their is also input from and discussion with young volunteers (aged 18-20), active as a peer-to-peer worker. Therefor, youngsters from the UK, Slovenia, Malta and Spain (Baleares) will come to Antwerp on the 31th of October to meet and exchange with the Antwerp Young Advisors and prepare input from the young people’s view and experiences for the Seminar. 

Working language:

The working language of the Seminar is English, although there might be some (choice) workshops or discussion groups in Dutch, as we also will invite all kinds off Flemish and Belgian stakeholders.

Programme:

The programme of the seminar will be developed by In Petto’s team and will be communicated to participants at a later stage.

About the young advisors project

A specific project is the “Young advisors” project wich is coordinated by In Petto in cooperation with local Youth Information and Counseling Centres. In Petto organises train-the-trainers, intervision and exchange meetings, international contacs and an anual Young advisors meeting week end. In Petto is member of the Flemish Youth Council and active member of ERYICA (European Youth Information and Counseling Agency).  By coincidence the 20th anniversary of the Young Advisors project coincides with Antwerp Youth Capital 2011 (where we are based) and the European Year of Volunteering. This coincidence gives us extra motivation to go for a big International Event. With the support of the whole team (6 persons), the Antwerp EYC team, and volunteers (young advisors and others) and Youth In Action program we are albe to realise this ambition. Both for the international dimension and the importance of Youth participation an EVS volunteer is a crucial and important contribution