Tag: #LeargasForum

Amy, Anna and Cara interviewed four members of the panel discussing “The role of educational exchange and cooperation programmes in shaping the future of Europe” at the Léargas Forum. The panel members were Senator Alice Mary Higgins, an independent Senator and leader of the Civil Engagement Group in Seanad Éireann, John McLoughlin, Deputy Principal at Galway Technical Institute, Mary Moynihan, writer, theatre and film-maker and artistic director of Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Human Rights and Samantha Ncube, a ‘No Hate Speech’ youth ambassador and a participant int he European Youth in Migration forum.

Each of the panel members spoke a little about themselves and the projects they were involved in before sharing their thoughts with us on the importance of connections in shaping our future. Finally they spoke about how involvement in Erasmus+ projects can help to broaden the horizons of young people like ourselves.

Amy, Anna and Cara
Youth Media Team

To find out more about
– the Erasmus journey of students in John’s school check out GTI EU Placement
– the ‘No Hate Speech’ movement check out No Hate Speech Movement in Ireland
– Smashing Times check out Smashing Times

Cara, Anna and Amy interviewed Social Innovator and Campaigner Ruairi McKiernan at the Léargas forum. Ruairi delivered a very thoguth provoking keynote address and we used our interview to get him to recap on some of the ideas he spoke about. Ruairi shared some insights into life in a direct provision centre as well as some reasons why we need to stand in solidarity with those who are marginalised in our society. He spoke about the need to find work with purpose and the need to re-energise ourselves in order to be able to continue standing in solidarity with others. Ruairi spoke about the very important work of youth organisations and how they can help so many young people. Finally he shared about the imprtance of Erasmus+ projects like ‘Building Walls, Breaking Walls’.

Cara, Anna and Amy
Youth Media Team

Anna, Cara and Amy interviewed Jim Mullin, Executive Director of Léargas. In the interview Jim shared his thoughts on the theme and the values underpinning today’s event “Looking Forward: The Future of Europe”. He also shared some insight into some of the Erasmus+ projects which have been supported by Léargas over the past year. Jim spoke about the European Solidarity Corps, an initiative being launched today. Finally, he shared his plans for the drum which was presented to him by Nigerian Carnival Ireland at the opening performance this morning. It sounds like the Léargas staff meetings will be a little bit different from now on … 🙂

Anna, Cara and Amy
Youth Media Team

 

One of the regular highlights of the Leargas Forum is the Project Showcase. This year, 14 projects in all were presented on work in progress or recently completed. These included some very detailed displays and demos.
Below is a quick walk-through of this part of the event. The Leargas project showcase gave a good insight into how groups and communities benefit from European supports. Here is a flavour of some of the projects showcasing on the day:

What’s Cooking in Europe?

This group from Our Lady of Fatima school in Wexford has an exciting cookbook of tradititional receipes from a number of European countries. The cookbook is the result of their Erasmus Plus partnership with France, Italy, Germany and Turkey and is planned to help everyone read the book with pictures and simple clear instructions. A great multicultural idea! Bon Appétit Our Lady Of Fatima!

Continuing on the food theme…..

Blanchardstown Common Training Centre: Fight the Beast Don’t Become Obese

The Blanchardstown Common Training Centre were demonstrating some of the recipes from their cookbook ‘Fight the beast, don’t become obese’ . In their project they worked in partnership with groups from Latvia and Malta. Their project has two aims -Firstly, to help young people understand food labels and nutritional value of food and secondly to develop cooking skills using fresh, local healthy ingredients…. Happy cooking everyone !

And now to the great outdoors…..

Low Tech, High Activity

Involve Youth set up this Youth Exchange project which aimed to look at how reliant we are on our phones, technology and social media. They formed a partnership with a group in Italy and focused on building social skills through outdoor activities. A lot of fun was had by everyone on the project and it was an opportunity to meet others and make new friends.

The student voice …

National Youth Council : #Young Voices

The National Youth Council told us all about the work they are doing with young people to give young people a voice in making Europe more inclusive and how to encourage young people to connect with each other to promote this inclusion. The NYC are working with countries across Europe for this project and recently held a think-in for young people in Dublin.

Supporting education in and out of school…..

EDGE: Limerick Clare ETB

The EDGE project is an Erasmus+ strategic partnership comprising of adult and further education providers in Ireland, Austria, Portugal, Greece and Wales. The EDGE Project aims to develop innovative approaches (career guidance, learner engagement strategies, self-evaluation tools, e-learning resources) in the provision of employability skills development.

And something from Leargas themselves…

EURODESK- for all things European 

http://www.eurodesk.ie/ is run by Leargas to provide free information on opportunities-such as travelling, working, studying and volunteering in Europe–for young people aged 13 – 30. You can check out any of the sections that you’re interested in (for example volunteering) but if there is information that you can’t find there, you can  get in contact with your local information point and they will help. Eurodesk is also part of a large network of European Eurodesk points, with over 1,200 offices throughout Europe, with headquarters in Brussels. You can check out the European-wide Eurodesk website: www.eurodesk.eu. Good to know!

 

Part of the Leargas forum this year was that five speakers gave talk about their lives and how they have contributed to the youth community. In this blog, we interviewed these five speakers and talked to them about how they have impacted youths across the world and what future goals they want to achieve.

The TED-talks followed a morning music session shown below.

Kay McGabe is a youth coordinator for youth project and county needs. She has been in the business for about 10 years and primarily works with young people to support them.

Alex O’Mahoney is a teacher at the Holy Spirit Boys National School.

Haaris Sheikh is Chief Executive of Interesource Group (Ireland) Limited. He is on the Board of Directors of the Deaf Community Centre Limerick, and the Citizens Information Centre, Limerick. He is currently Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Centre for Deaf Studies, Trinity College Dublin.

Jim Sheehan works on a project called The Social and Health Education Project. One of the things he works on in the project is a community education program involving adults. His job is to support families with the help they need so they can be well and sustained throughout Ireland.

Blaithin Macken Smith has won the European Language Label and was awarded the Language Learner of The Year in 2016. She got into languages in the fifth year and was an exchange student to Japan. She learned Japenese, Spanish, Irish, English, and Russian for her Leaving Cert.

Lorcan, Elena, Will, Ezra, Ben and Millie
Youth Media Team

Jim Mullin has been the executive director of Leargas for 25 years. Jim is from Belfast and has worked as a Youth Worker in the National Youth Federation, as well as supporting staff at a regional level and volunteers in many organizations throughout Europe. At Leargas, he works to fund projects and organizations across the world with the resources and connections they need to help the education of youths throughout communities. In this interview, we talk with Jim about his life, as well as going into detail to find out the main goal of the Leargas forum.

Youth Media Team
Will and Ezra

Lorcan and Elena interviewed Maurice Devlin at Léargas 2016 in Dublin Castle. Maurice is a Jean Monnet Professor and Director of the Centre for Youth Research and Development in the Department of Applied Social Studies at NUI Maynooth. He spoke about the insight in young people through exchange and how the Erasmus programme has an influence in their future endeavors.

Lorcan and Elena

Youth Media Team