From Participant to Facilitator: How One Lithuanian Young Leader Carried NextGen Forward
After returning home from NextGen, the youth exchange held in Wojnicz, Poland, one Lithuanian participant decided to take her experience a step further. The project had sparked her interest in youth participation and the power of non-formal learning — and when she later joined another Erasmus+ youth exchange in Portugal, she found the perfect opportunity to put that learning into practice.
During that project, which focused on the psychological aspects of participation, she prepared and led her own two-hour session to share the results and good practices from NextGen as an example of how meaningful participation can be cultivated through creative, youth-led methods.
Her session began with a short presentation introducing the goals, structure, and learning outcomes of the Wojnicz exchange. She spoke about how young people from four countries had explored the concept of civic engagement through teamwork, intercultural dialogue, and practical activities like youth campaigns and debate simulations.
Then, stepping fully into the role of facilitator, she led a series of interactive workshops inspired by the methods used in Poland. Participants took part in energizers, reflection tasks, and group discussions that connected emotional awareness with participation. They explored how motivation, confidence, and empathy influence leadership and teamwork — linking the psychological focus of the Portuguese exchange with the civic themes of NextGen.
Her initiative was met with enthusiasm from both peers and facilitators. It served as a model of how participants can multiply the impact of Erasmus+ projects — transforming personal experience into collective learning.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
