For the past 18 months, we have been working on the Erasmus+ Project Coolture among young people. This project is focussed on promoting cultural heritage among young people and giving youth workers the tools and resources to implement cultural activities in their organisations.

Here is what we have been up to in the project so far:

Podcasts

Each country  (Romania, Italy, Poland, UK, and Bulgaria) have created a series of podcasts on various topics related to culture in their countries!

The podcasts include food, theatre, journalism, tour guides, and more!

Check out our interview with Cargo Collective here!

Online Transnational experts meetings

We met with our partners to discuss and launch the COOLplatform. The platform contains information about all the partners and the local areas where they are based. On the platform, you can engage with other young people and youth workers interested in cultural heritage. There are resources and toolkits that can be used to implement cultural activities and for youtube people to learn about cultural management and entrepreneurship. 

Cultural management online course

The Cultural manager course took place from the 6th -9th of April, online, and it was addressed to young people from the 5 partner communities in the project (Romania,

Italy, Poland, UK, and Bulgaria), aged between 15 and 26, who wanted to develop social non-social businesses in the cultural field. On the first day, AXA B.B.C. youth worker/expert started the session with a brief presentation of “COOLture among young people” project.

On day two, the session was held by Young Effect who presented 3 topics 

1. What are the creative industries 
2. What is a project, the usefulness of working on projects, laws of project management
3. Project tree: problem, purpose, objectives, Work Breakdown Structure

On day three, the session was held by ABS and was related to Strategic Partnerships. The session started with an energiser, as participants were asked to present their name and country and to give a stereotype about their country.

At the end of the session, AXA BBC youth worker gave a short presentation using Jamboard, of the SWOT analyses, detailing each of the 4 concepts – strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities

Cultural entrepreneur online training course

The Cultural Entrepreneur course took place from the 13th and 16th of April, and it was addressed to young people from the 5 partner communities in the project (Romania, Italy, Poland, UK, and Bulgaria), aged between 15 and 26, who wanted to develop social or non-social businesses in the cultural field. 

AXA B.B.C. representative started the session with a brief presentation of “COOLture among young people” project. The presentation was followed by discussions on the concept of Cultural Entrepreneur. Also, AXA B.B.C. gave a brief presentation of the CoolPlatform followed by a presentation on key features of a cultural entrepreneur

On day two, the session was held by YOUNG EFFECT ASSOCIATION in Italy and they presented 3 topics:

1. What is cultural entrepreneurship and what are the main personal skills that a youngster must develop to become an entrepreneur?
2. Who is cultural entrepreneurship for?
3. Starting a business – Case study/project

On day three, the session started with a brief video presentation on the concept of Cultural Entrepreneurship, followed by a PowerPoint presentation on the main topic with a focus on Marketing, especially Digital Marketing and its instruments (Social media platforms & apps).

All resources from these two courses can be accessed here!

International meeting on the Romanian coast, Costinesti

Almost 30 young people, youth workers, and volunteer partners arrived at the Costinesti resort to take part in the first “Short-Term Staff Event” (June 24-July 2). Participants analysed the completed intellectual products such as the COOLPlatform . We also worked on the completion of a manual with innovative methods for the educational support and professional development of young people in terms of cultural heritage, as well as the Discover your region mobile application, In addition to the activities and materials carried out and created the young people also enjoyed the beauty of the Romanian seaside, visited the Costinesti resort, learned information about the history of the places and also had stories less known by foreigners, about the buildings and heritage objectives in Constanta, from the mouth of the only tour guide of the city, Diana Slav, who offered them an interactive tour.

A new course, a new cultural experience in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria

We share with you the experience we have lived in Blagoevgrad (Bulgaria), within the course “Training on Cultural Patrimony – based on Non-Formal Education”, held between August 23rd and 27th, 2021. 15 young volunteers from Romania, Poland, Italy, and Bulgaria, supported online by partners from the UK, took part in various activities that had in the foreground the awareness of the importance of the cultural heritage, its preservation, and promotion in the community.

In the first 2 days, participants used team-building activities, ice-breakers, presentation of the Youth Pass evaluation process, discussion on the objectives and contents of the training course. Also, will be presenting the major themes Cultural Heritage and Non-Formal Education – general aspects – and in the second part getting deeper with sharing best practices/ methods. In the next 2 days, participants presented and experienced the methods/instruments created and integrated inside the Booklet and Toolkit – making proposals to improve 1 add methods shared. The last day was dedicated to the follow-up plans: planning the pilot workshops at the local level, identifying what else they need in order to efficiently hold the workshops.

Feelings and emotions among traditions, culture, and story buildings, in the heart of Bucharest

How many of us know the stories of the city where we live, how many of us were curious to find them, to discover them, to pass them on to our loved ones?

A group of young people from Bucharest volunteers at the European Cultural and Youth Center for UNESCO “Nicolae Bălcescu”, a partner in the project “COOLture among young people” lived a unique experience, in which they discovered another side of Bucharest. The young people formed three groups and, under the guidance of coordinators from the center, embarked on a cultural route to discover the history, stories, and culture behind monuments, iconic buildings, and famous houses in important areas of Bucharest – Carol IPark, Metropolitan Hill and the Romanian Athenaeum. And because we are talking about a treasure hunt in every way, each team chose a name, a motto, and had to follow exactly the rules of the game, to identify and discover as much information as possible about the monuments and buildings identified along the way. Said and done! The young people learned the story of Carol I Park and the existing monuments in the park, the significance of the name of Metropolitan Hill and the history of this area with an important religious influence, as well as interesting stories related to the Romanian Athenaeum and the House of Targoviste.

Transnational Partner Meetings

We have recently returned from the 3rd TPM. for this project, in Olsztyn, Poland. The main aim of this meeting was to present the toolkit for youth workers (available to download soon!) and develop the Discover your region App.

The app gives you up-to-date information about local events, and cultural and sports tours of the local regions!

It can be downloaded on Google Play and the App store. Check it out!

Interested in getting involved in this Project?

We have a number of opportunities to get involved! This includes the opportunity to travel abroad for free! Fully funded by Erasmus.

Here are the upcoming opportunities:

Youth Exchange to Brasov, Romania – February 2022

We are looking for 6 people to travel to Romania for 7 days, for a cultural youth exchange.

Youth Exchange to Olsztyn, Poland – April 2022

We are looking for 6 people to travel to Poland for 7 days, for a cultural youth exchange.

For more information, get in touch! Or sign up to be notified of all our Erasmus+ opportunities here!