STAR – Story Tours Alternative Routes project brings together six organisations from Italy, Spain, Albania, North Macedonia, Serbia and Jordan, combining different experiences, cultural contexts and approaches to youth work, non-formal education and community engagement:
Coordinator organization
Servizio Civile Internazionale APS (SCI Italia)
SCI Italia is a non-profit organisation working to promote peace, nonviolence, international solidarity, intercultural dialogue and active citizenship. Through international volunteering, youth work, non-formal education and community-based activities, SCI Italia creates opportunities for young people to participate actively in their communities and develop new skills and perspectives.
As coordinator of the STAR project, SCI Italia was responsible for the overall coordination of the partnership and supported the implementation of the different Work Packages. It coordinated project management, communication and cooperation among partners, while also contributing to the development and testing of the Educational Walking Tour methodology and hosting project activities in Rome.
Project Partners
Space for Sustainable Development – Jordan
Space for Sustainable Development (SSD) is a Jordanian organisation working to promote sustainable development, youth participation and community engagement. Within STAR, SSD contributed to the development and implementation of the project’s educational activities, bringing the perspective and experience of youth work in the Jordanian context into the transnational partnership.
Projekte Vullnetare Ndërkombëtare – Albania
Projekte Vullnetare Ndërkombëtare (PVN) is an Albanian organisation working in the field of international volunteering and youth participation. Through STAR, PVN contributed to the exchange of practices among partner organisations and supported the adaptation of the project methodology to local communities and youth work contexts in Albania.
Center for Intercultural Dialogue – North Macedonia
Center for Intercultural Dialogue (CID) is a North Macedonian organisation focused on intercultural dialogue, youth participation, social inclusion and community development. Within STAR, CID played an important role in research and advocacy, coordinating activities and campaigns aimed at collecting evidence, developing recommendations and strengthening the recognition of innovative youth work methodologies.
Volonterski Centar Vojvodine – Serbia
Volonterski Centar Vojvodine (VCV) is a Serbian organisation promoting international volunteering, youth participation and intercultural learning. In STAR, VCV contributed to the development and quality assurance of the Educational Walking Tour methodology and was involved in the implementation and monitoring of the project’s pilot activities, supporting the exchange of experiences between partner organisations.
Servei Civil Internacional de Catalunya
Servei Civil Internacional (SCI Catalunya) is a Spanish organisation with extensive experience in international volunteering, community-based education and youth work. Within STAR, SCI Catalunya contributed its experience in community-based education and urban educational tours, particularly through the Barcelona activities, where participants explored themes including social inclusion, migration, sustainability and participatory storytelling.
Erasmus+ Programme
STAR – Story Tours Alternative Routes (2023-1-IT03-KA220-YOU-000161553) is a Cooperation Partnership in the field of Youth, co-funded by the European Union through the Erasmus+ programme.
Erasmus+ is the European Union programme supporting education, training, youth and sport for the 2021–2027 period. In the youth field, the programme supports cooperation, mobility, non-formal learning, participation and the development of new approaches to youth work.
As a Cooperation Partnership, STAR brought together organisations from different countries to exchange practices, strengthen their capacity to work transnationally and jointly develop and test innovative educational methodologies. Cooperation Partnerships are specifically designed to support the development, transfer and implementation of new practices while promoting peer learning and the sharing of experiences at European level.
Through STAR, Erasmus+ cooperation was used to connect youth participation, non-formal education, storytelling, digital innovation and community engagement, resulting in Educational Walking Tours, 360° digital experiences, a toolkit, guidelines, research and advocacy outputs.
Italian National Agency -Agenzia Italiana per la Gioventù
The STAR project was supported in Italy by the Agenzia Italiana per la Gioventù (AIG), the Italian public agency responsible for managing the youth and sport sectors of the Erasmus+ programme in Italy. The Agency manages Erasmus+|Youth and Sport as well as the European Solidarity Corps and promotes youth participation, active European citizenship, non-formal education, solidarity and social inclusion.
The Italian National Agency plays a key role in supporting organisations involved in Erasmus+ projects, providing information and guidance and managing the relevant funding and project processes in the youth sector. In the case of STAR, its support enabled the Italian coordinating organisation and the international partnership to implement a transnational cooperation project focused on innovative approaches to youth work and non-formal education.