02/02/2020
Spain
participants
The main aim of the event is to train ESN volunteers about how to create social impact using the framework of the Causes of ESN as well as contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals. This includes learning more about the Causes and about how to actually create this impact. Therefore, we can say that the objectives were:
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Improve the capacity of the members to cooperate with external entities who are active in fields related to our Causes and who share our values.
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Share best practices in terms of social impact, student engagement and inclusion.
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Get to know the different projects carried out by ESN in the fields of social impact and social inclusion, such as SocialErasmus+, Inclusive Mobility Alliance, Social Inclusion and Engagement in Mobility
The Social Impact Training event of ESN Spain aims to train ESN volunteers into how to create an impact on society within the framework of the Causes of ESN. This event gathered 80 volunteers from sections of ESN Spain who are involved in social impact-related positions, who spent a full weekend learning from different institutions, associations, and NGOs. In this event, the vast majority of the training content was external. The CT, composed by the Social Impact Team of ESN Spain, created an agenda taking into account the needs and preferences of ESN volunteers. Besides the external training, there were also sessions facilitated by ESNers (the Social Impact team, Local Coordinators and International Guests), many debates and a big component of best-practice sharing. The event had 3 international guests from Italy and Croatia. During this event, we had sessions both in English and Spanish.
The event took place on the last weekend of January. It was organized in cooperation with the University of Cartagena and with the support of the municipality and the Europe Direct office of Murcia Region.
The topics covered during the event were related to the Sustainable Development Goals, inclusive mobility for people with disabilities, internationalization and social inclusion gender and LGBTI equality, European policies related to education, sustainability and the EU Green deal, student engagement and participation, and other related topics. Moreover, the event had a strong component of health, well-being, and sport, with a practical sport session during Saturday.
The event served as well to kick off several working groups which will work to create useful materials for sections. It was also a space for debate and self-reflection about how to improve as an organization in terms of sustainability, equality, and inclusion.
For the first time in an ESN Spain event, we did not only had sessions facilitated by external institutions, but we also invited them to participate in the whole event. Ludàlia Foundation, an entity that works with people with intellectual disabilities, attended the whole event. This foundation has a great cooperation project with ESN Barcelona. All the social workers of the entity were present, enriching the discussions and facilitating future contacts of ESN sections to similar entities in other parts of Spain. Besides, a representative of ONCE Foundation also attended the whole event. This foundation is one of the main stakeholders in the field of inclusion of people with disabilities in Spain.
The event had a huge impact on participants. For many of them, it was their first training event. Considering the feedback, we can clearly see how participants have developed their competences related to social impact, and their awareness about the causes of ESN. They went back to their local sections full of motivation and new ideas to implement as soon as possible.
Apart from the specific learning during the training sessions, it is important to highlight how the participants learned in their free time, talking with each other and sharing their best practices.