Hey! Nice seeing you here. Let me ask you – have you ever:
- Wondered what are Erasmus+ Training Courses & Youth Exchanges and how could they benefit you?
- Searched for great opportunities & activities on self-development, self-awareness, and coaching?
- Looked at how you can find such programs as an EU citizen?
If yes, then stick around. This blog post that unpacks my PoV from the “Navigating Chaos 2.0” Erasmus+ Training Course might be what you seek – it’s even suitable for complete beginners in Erasmus+ projects!
While gathering my reflections after two years abroad in a single blog post, I was already looking for answers and planning ahead.
Yet, it quickly hit me that everything around me was far too chaotic. This chaos found me doubting my career choices, searching for what life chapter would follow next. Agonizing, contemplating, questioning, disproving, maddening.
It would have led me nowhere to keep such a tempo.
As it can be, periodically in life, when pressure for the next step immerses you, the answer appears counterintuitive.
- How could you decide to take a step back when your whole body screams for action?
- What can convince your lungs to breathe while they are already panting?
- Who could convince my overclocked brain to hit the reset button?
It takes a lot to take a step back from everything and re-evaluate.
I was seeking an environment that would help me do this – an opportunity to self-reflect about all these years of mine.
And that’s when I found, while aimlessly scrolling down on Facebook, an Erasmus+ Training Course called “Navigating Chaos 2.0”.
I applied, packed my stuff, and went to Lozen, on the outskirts of Sofia, Bulgaria, for an experience I knew little about just weeks before.
Turning out to be an adventure I might look back at as a life-altering moment.
Let’s unpack each element of that last week of May 2024, one by one.
Table of Contents
What is Erasmus+?
You are encouraged to skip this and the next two parts if you have a grasp of the subject.
Yet, lots of people don’t. Thus, allow me to start from the basics.
In short, Erasmus+ contains a wide range of European Union-funded activities promoting mobility and cooperation opportunities.
The most well-known branch of Erasmus has to be related to studies. You get to apply through your university, and if accepted, you’re off for a semester (or two) to another university abroad.
But the story does not end here.
There are Youth Exchanges, the European Solidarity Corps for long-term volunteering, and many others. Here’s the Erasmus+ official EU page for more information.
What are Erasmus+ Training Courses? (From a Beginner’s/Participant’s PoV)
Navigating Chaos 2.0 was an Erasmus+ Training Course in particular, so stick with me to know more about them.
Erasmus+ Training Courses usually last 7 to 12 days, but that varies with each project. They have a non-formal educational approach – you should still expect to learn a lot, but not in a “classroom taking notes” format.
Instead, you will face many practical, valuable activities and workshops, learning by doing in a safe, welcoming space with (hopefully) other hungry-for-knowledge participants.
If you fear the financials of such workshops, well, fear not. Your accommodation and food costs are covered & catered by the program. Your travel costs may be fully or partially covered, as there is a calculated max sum of budget depending on your covered distance. Apart from a participation fee that some sending or receiving organizations request, plus your personal expenses, there is nothing else to worry about.
Let me note one thing: while the experience varies depending on the topic, the organizers, the other participants, etc., they are far from “being a holiday to another country” affairs. Participation is required to receive back the funds, plus the YouthPass certificate confirming your participation and experience.
So, simply put, don’t apply if you crave some holiday scheme – instead, focus on Erasmus+ Youth Exchanges, which generally have a more leisure-like spirit.
Where to find Erasmus+ Training Courses or Erasmus+ Youth Exchanges?
Well, that depends on your country of residence.
The mechanics of these Erasmus+ Training Courses and Youth Exchanges are that an organization, or a person cooperating with one, will write the program, submit it to the EU for funding, and then proceed with all administrative parts to make it a reality for you and me, future participants. From now on, this will be called the hosting/receiving organization.
At some point in the process, the hosting organization will look for organizations in other countries (within the EU or the EU sphere of influence), who from now on will be called the sending organizations.
It’s the role of the sending organization to find participants from their nations that match the experience’s requirements – and each organization disseminates these differently.
Do you see where I am going with this?
One way is, indeed, to be in contact with/follow the organizations. For example, mine was Roes Cooperativa, so I can always check their website or social media for what opportunities are available.
But, of course, this is limiting your horizons. One good way to check is for any Facebook groups on the subject. Luckily for Greek residents, the Erasmus+ Youth Facebook Group is active and well-moderated. For other EU countries residents, I wish you all the best in your Facebook group research.
Just kidding, come back! I have something for you. There is also Salto-Youth, which is a fantastic alternative to searching EU-wide.
But, that’s about it for the Erasmus+ Training Course intros. Moving on to the main inspiration of this article:
What was the Navigating Chaos 2.0 Erasmus+ Training Course?
Navigating Chaos 2.0 was life-changing for a reason.
Because life is chaos. Different forces come towards you from all sides, which can be too overwhelming to handle.
I know, since it was to me for the last few months. And it might occur to you, personally or professionally speaking.
So, I was seeking ways to try to untangle my situation, and that’s where I found this opportunity. And it delivered!
Topped with self-awareness techniques, tools, activities and workshops, life-coaching theories, and practical appliances, we had plenty of instances to learn by doing and do a lot of self-exploration. Everything was based on these three pillars:
- Embodiment, because a lot of the exercises included physical movement, creating a clear connection between the body and emotions.
- Coaching, since we learned a lot – and even practiced – basic coaching techniques with each other.
- Basic Synergy: We had to collaborate a lot with our co-travelers, even when the focus was on the individual.
The experience benefited participants in youth and social-working professions, such as psychologists, teachers, or life coaches, however, people from all stages of life could participate and learn from the activities.
Lots of simple yet highly effective tools and techniques were shared, such as:
- The Johari Window model focuses on raising self-awareness and the perception of others.
- Accountability & Victim Roles shed light on how we act in specific situations, and how this can stop us from realizing our goals.
- K. de Galan’s method of self-improvement conceptualizes goals into actions that drive the desired impact through desired behaviors.
As well as clustering peoples’ behaviors in a clever, easy-to-comprehend way, based on the four elements: Earth, Fire, Water & Air. But for that, I will allow my fellow Greek participant Evangelia to describe it much better, in her newly created LinkedIn Newsletter “Where is my mind” – go have a look at her first article about it!
But why don’t you have a look at the full infopack to get a better grasp of what is included?
Will there be a “Navigating Chaos 3.0”?
Hopefully, yes! Which is one of the reasons that I write this article.
Do follow BFree for any updates, as the hosting organization, since there is a will to make more editions in the years to come!
What was my participant’s PoV?
When I was thinking of applying, different thoughts were in my head.
Not going to lie – I was even debating if going to Sofia for a fourth time was even needed!
But, in the end, my biggest question was one:
“What would I hope to get from this?”
My answer was complicated, of course. And when we got asked to think of our motivations on our first day – the only spoiler I will make for the activities – I already had it in mind.
But I had to put it into words. And pin it to a bulletin board as a reminder of why I will be here for the next seven days.
This is what I came up with:
Yes, my handwriting is terrible. Apologies.
Glimpsing at what I wrote as I wrote these lines, I can only draw one conclusion: everything went even better than I wished for.
Throughout the process, I had the chance to meet 24 other participants, as well as the 4+1 moderators – Gumi, Yana, Ilze, Ray, + Rado.
In lots of cases, the people make up half of the experience. Maybe even more.
That’s why I feel so lucky to meet them all. People from different stages of life, bearing beautifully unique motivations, goals, and PoVs.
That everybody, at any life stage and moment, can go through hardships was one of the key outcomes of this path. People shared their stories and created a safe environment for everybody else to do so. Showing me how I am not alone in this.
We took an oath to not share internal activities as this will spoil the fun for future participants, and I am to keep such a promise. Yet, I can say one thing: through fire, wind, earth, and water, we underwent an experiential voyage toward our better selves.
To go out there, in our own lives, and face our own chaos, head-on.
Credits
This was a one-of-a-kind opportunity, and I can’t thank everybody enough for it.
For starters, thanks to both the hosting (BFree) and my sending (Roes Cooperativa) organizations – especially to Vasiliki for being our Greek contact point. I shared the organizations’ websites above, so do click on these links and follow them on Facebook this time!
To the diverse team of our four moderators, Yana, Gumi, Ilze & Ray, + Radi, who were amazingly talented guides towards an experiential journey.
And to my fellow companions, who made this a uniquely beautiful experience. Thank you for helping me so much and showing me your true, captivating colors. All your stories inspired me to be a better person – and I publicly promise, to you and everybody who still reads these lines, to complete the book I started writing while in the project. But, more on that for a future blog post.
Thank you all. So, so much!
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