Isidora Janeva – Contact Making Event CME: Connecting People, Organizations, Communities, Europe

From the 02-08.09.2019, I had the wonderful opportunity to take part in the Contact Making Event CME: Connecting People, Organizations, Communities, Europe, which was held in Turku, Finland. The goal of this event was to provide a space for fellow youth workers, trainers, project managers and organization presidents to get in touch with each other, exchange good practices, talk about their overall experiences connected to Erasmus+ which included some good experiences and some bad ones as well.

The discussions were structured to give participants insight into the “bottom of the well” of Erasmus+ projects. The depth of conversations increased daily while participants were talking about past faced issues and their daily struggles when it comes to youth work in different parts of Europe. Some very serious questions were asked and answered by the experiences professionals who provided ideas for possible solutions. 

Staying in Finland gave us the wonderful possibility to have a look into a different culture and a different way of life. From the food to their unique custom that requires taking off your shoes when you enter any office space or learning space. Their punctuality had impressed me from day 1 and that continued to be the case throughout the event. All the sessions started exactly on time and that was also thanks to the phenomenal trainers from Shokkin Group Estonia.

Overall, I am grateful to have had the chance to learn from the absolutely phenomenal participants and organizers at this contact making event. The goal was met: contacts were established and some collaborations have also been set in motion.