Tag Archives: Youth Exchange

YE “Sport A Language We All Speak” in Bulgaria

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Young people from Turkey had a chance to participate in a project in Bulgaria. Between 25 – 31 May, they gathered with other young people from Europe in a Lozen, a village located in the Stolichna Municipality of Sofia.

The project dealt with the importance of sport as an educational tool for intercultural learning, fighting discrimination and promoting social inclusion. Imece network was represented by 4 participants and 1 leader. One of them was Efe, who shares: “For me this project was incredible. Before the project, I always had a question mark about its subject, but they told us the subject in a very good way with the workshops they prepared meticulously.”

The moment he remembers the most is when they took on the roles they gave them and tried to play them for 1 hour.“This left a good impression on me. We cannot prevent discrimination in sports, even if we do not want it due to the media. While everyone knows very famous male actors, we may not even be aware of the existence of female athletes with the same degree. This is true for all sports and athletes.”

The project in Sofia left an impact on all participants. Efe adds: “I have removed one more obstacle in my mind”.

Testimonials From Youth Exchange in London

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Hello, I’m Âsûde.

I was a participant from Turkey in the Resolve: Peace Camps project in London on May 17-22. This project has participants from Cyprus, Hungary, Spain and Bosnia.

The Resolve: Peace Camps project consisted of many events emphasizing peace on a global axis. It was a full-blown session where we discussed what we can prioritize from the past conflicts with the guest speakers, visited the war museum about Britain and talked about the conflicts on the artefacts here, information has be given about the European Union and Brexit in the Europe House, and discussed the issues that occupy the agenda in international relations specific to various identities.

In addition, being involved in a project in London, one of the world’s leading metropolises, is enough to have unique experiences in many ways. You can encounter a different celebration every season. It was also enjoyable to explore the streets and talk to the people you met there.

There are many parameters that ensure the healthy development of communication on platforms where people from different cultures come together. I had no difficulty in communicating and establishing relationships with the participants in this project. All of them were people I was very happy to meet, had a great time with and would like to meet again in the future.

Finally, I believe that such projects support development in many areas. I am very happy to be with İmece Network in this project and I would like to thank İmece Network for this.

Âsûde Özkal

YE “Digital Transformation” in Greece

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6 participants from Turkey took part in a Youth Exchange in Thessaloniki from 31st March to 9th April. This time helped young people to gain hard and soft skills important for the digital era and the labor market but also made it an unforgettable experience for them.

This youth project aimed to encourage young people to use more effectively digital tools and resources, through non-formal education activities. The project included 2 activities: the APV and the Youth Exchange, which the second one was the main activity. In Nea Kallikratia, Halkidiki young people from 9 countries came to improve and strengthen the knowledge, skills and behaviors regarding digital transformation and its connection with the current labor market.

During the project young people could take part in workshops like: introduction to Digital Transformation, getting a job vs. creating a job, Digital Tools for Project/ Time Management, Debate (pros & cons of Digital Transformation), role play theater and many more. Cansu, participant from Turkey, says that she really liked the debate: “It was a very nice experience, it definitely changed my perspective”.

Not only non-formal education and workshops were part of the project. People coming from different countries had a chance to share their culture and values. It was a time to make new friendships and discover new cultures. “Culture nights were the most entertaining activities for me. Because it is very nice to learn about different cultures and taste their food”, says Furkan, the other participant. “What I liked most was that as all the participants, it felt like we were family, not from different countries, it felt like we shared the same cultures”, adds Cansu.

This Youth Exchange gave the opportunity for young people to spend time in intercultural environment, get connected and be active on local, national and international level as well as become more aware of Digital Transformation and its connection with the current labor market. And as the Furkan is saying: “It was a beautiful project. I learned a lot of new digital tool usage. And it was an experience I will never forget in my life”.

Youth Exchange “Erasmus + Matrix”

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Erasmus + Matrix event took place in Sarajevo on February 22-28. Many startup ideas emerged at the event. In the name of entrepreneurship, so many good ideas have emerged with different approaches of different countries that we would like to tell you about them.

The goal that we have to achieve: Changing the world by solving problems. Yes, you heard right, we brought the country’s problems to the agenda at the event, and we both developed ourselves in the name of entrepreneurship and thought about how countries should develop more. Now you should consider an enterprise. You should also bring new horizons to entrepreneurship ideas by thinking about the problems of different countries with your country; we have revealed these ideas, now we are working on our projects to realize them, you can do this too. Many ideas might be showed up in your mind, yes, think about them now and take part in the world as an entrepreneur. This is never difficult, not impossible.

It was so enjoyable to talk about the business life of different countries with the participants from many countries. The most important building blocks of successful organizations are professionalism, working knowledge and talent. Thank you for your support in our adventure as of being the best by always putting +1 on it. Some of the things definitely deserve more than one thanks. Thank you very much IMECE NETWORK!

Gizem Kara

Testimonials from Youth Exchange in Budapest

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In October, I had the pleasure of participating “Life after Brexit” dialogue program in Budapest, among people from the United Kingdom, Cyprus, Hungary, Turkey, and Slovakia.


The RESOLVE: Life after Brexit is a dialogue-focused, network-based, and social action project that allows young people to connect with, debate, and influence decision-makers in the Europe. We held activities for three days that made us realize how important it is to voice our thoughts.


Because we were going to complete our project in a major metropolitan area like Budapest, I had high hopes. Our experience, however, has been far more beautiful than I could have expected. All of the participants were thoughtful, open-minded, and friendly.

We spent the evenings in gorgeous Budapest while working on our project through non-formal education throughout the day. Thanks to this project we were able to make friends from different countries, get to know about their culture and make memories for a lifetime. I would gladly recommend everyone to join such a programme because it is very fun and educative at the same time!


Our memories, I believe, are our most valuable collection. I’d like to express my gratitude to Imece Network for providing me with this opportunity.

İrem Çetin

Life After Brexit was my first youth project. So, while I can’t draw a direct comparison, I believe this initiative is among the greatest.

Budapest has been a dream city for us from day one. Walking through its streets made us happy. It was impossible not to be impressed by its historical landmarks. We could spend hours watching the parliament building:)

People from various countries and cultures collaborated in the project. The fact that we shared so much in common with folks thousands of kilometers away struck me the most. In a globalizing society, it’s no surprise that understanding and respecting cultures, but when I first met foreigners for the first time, I never imagined I’d be able to connect so easily.

It was a five-day period during which we did not waste a single minute of training or sightseeing in Budapest.

The Turkish team is one of the factors that contribute to this event being unforgettable. I’d want to express my gratitude to IMECE NETWORK for bringing together people who are compatible and energetic.

In my first project, I took my steps with more fear and tension, yet it left me with wonderful memories. I am confident that I will be ecstatic about the upcoming projects. Our young friends who aspire to get into project world should not waste any time. I’m confident it will provide you with numerous advantages in every way.

I’d want to express my gratitude to ASFAR and IMECE NETWORK for this chance.

“Some ships are wooden ships, but those ships may sink. The best ships are friendships, and to those ships, we drink.”

Saliha Kartal

Kick-off Meeting for RESOLVE: Peace Camps

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Meeting summary with Asfar & Partners

Imece Network participated in the meeting that took place on the 26th of January. The agenda was about the Erasmus+ Resolve: Peace Camps project which has since been launched and will last for 12 months.

The Resolve: Peace camps 2020, the focus is on the dialogue that will bring ideas and ways that will bring about youth empowerment therefore as result, youth will be able to voice their opinions together with their respectable decision-makers.

The meeting was held via the Zoom meetings platform and was fruitful as participants were left satisfied with the outcome. Partners came from seven countries which include UK, Turkey, Georgia, Spain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Cyprus. All partners were given the opportunity to decide on how the youth camps should be handled. No stone was left unturned as all the topics were included in the dialogue, from the profile of the potential participants to how best, travelling can be made possible during the deadly pandemic of COVID-19.

Imece Network will work together with all the partners to find and implement ways that will see, young people, dialogue with decision-makers, be it on a national, regionally, and international basis. The goal is to advocate for the youth to be heard and participate in democratic practices.

Tanaka Takunda Munyoro

Youth Exchange “RESOLVE: Play”

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Imece Network participated to the Erasmus+ “RESOLVE: Play” programme, organised by Asfar, a dynamic international NGO and social enterprise.

RESOLVE is a reconciliation youth exchange & network programme, which aims to use the power of Conflict Resolution tools such as Theatre, Simulation Games, Sport for peace and wider reconciliation tools and learning to resolve local and community level conflicts which especially affects young people today.

The youth exchange reunited 7 groups of young people from 7 countries and took place in October 2019 at London. Thanks to Imece Network; Mert Biçer, Aysun Molla and Ege Şentürk had the opportunity to represent the Turkey Youth Community in United Kingdom.

Fanny Teoule

Sarajevo Youth Exchange is Over

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Imece Network was represented by 7 Turkish participants in Sarajevo / BiH.

Erasmus+ RESOLVE: East programme develops the skills of 18 to 30 year olds from UK, Turkey, Bosnia & Herzagovina and Georgia in reconciliation activities, leadership, peacebuilding, network management and intercultural communication to become the future leaders of tomorrow, while connected with peers from other cultures and countries.