Compassion Circle (2023 – 2025)

At the spring application deadline for the Erasmus+ program Key Action 2 we successfully applied for a small collaborative partnership project. With the support of the Erasmus+ program, we will develop a program to promote compassion in the youth field and launch an Embassy of Compassion – a training model for young people and youth workers who, as Ambassadors of Compassion, support their role in the youth sector. The project started on 1 November 2023 and will last until 31 January 2025. From December 13 to 16, 2023, an international kick-off meeting took place in Belgrade, where all partners in the project gathered, connected with each other and outlined the next steps of the project.

Erasmus+ accreditation for key measure 1

At the October application deadline, we successfully submitted an application for accreditation for key measure 1 of the Erasmus+ program in the field of youth. In 2024 we plan to conduct a study visit of good practices of participatory management of public spaces by young people and a youth exchange with the sister municipality of Wiesbaden on the topic of urban camping and sports activities.

E-volunteering (2023-)

In 2023, Mladi zmaji has been a partner of the consortium for cooperation in the field of youth in the E-volunteering project, led by Connect International. The aim of the project is to increase the quality of the work of youth organizations in the field of e-volunteering, by increasing the capacity to attract, integrate, manage and coordinate e-volunteers at the transnational level through a structured and multifunctional e-volunteer ecosystem.

Re (In)innovating online youth work

As partners (the leading organization Libero from Serbia) we participate in the Re(In)innovating online youth work project. The main goal of the Re (In)innovating online youth work project is to develop and strengthen a sustainable ecosystem of online youth work with the high-quality involvement of all stakeholders. The goals are to analyze existing efforts, policies, standards and practices of online youth work, develop new proposals for standards for and their implementation, create programs for training stakeholders to effectively engage in online youth work, and establish a community of online youth workers.

Diversity in cinema (2023)

In March 2023 we took part in the training for youth workers “Diversity in cinema: Filmmaking for inclusive educational contexts” in Spain. It took place in the form of a 7-day activity that brought together 20 youth workers. The main purpose of the training organized by ASPAYM Castilla y León was to learn about innovative educational tools for achieving inclusion through filmmaking and conversations about diversity in the contexts of cinema and education.

Erasmus+ projects before 2023

In 2023, we hosted nine Erasmus + interns in six different units: ČMC Zalog, ČMC Črnuče, Mobile Youth Center Ljuba and Dragi, Community Center Borc, ČMC Šiška and ČMC Bežigrad. You can find interview with Yousra Gassa, one of our international volunteers here.

In 2022, we hosted 4 students from France and Belgium in our district youth centres in support of the mobile youth centre.

In 2021, we hosted 6 students from Belgium, France, and the Czech Republic in support of the programmes in the district youth centres. Preparation and implementation of various activities for young people, socialising with young people, connecting with the local community, assisting coordinators, and strengthening language competencies were all part of the work.

In 2020, we hosted 2 students and 1 social work student from Germany, as well as a social work student from Belgium, in all district youth centres and as field team support.

In 2019, we hosted two students (social work students) from Belgium and one student from Poland (psychology student).

Volunteering project (ESC)

In ČMC Šiška, we included in our activities the ESE volunteer Deriya from Turkey, who otherwise performed the ESE volunteering project at the Voluntariat Institute.

In September, Adnan Nemri, a volunteer of the European Solidarity Corps, joined us with the support of the Voluntariat Institute. Volunteer is hosted in the Youth Center Golovec and Community Center Borc. The volunteer actively participates in the implementation of the program in both centers and in the design and implementation of their own projects. You can find his blog post here.

In 2022, we hosted 2 international volunteers from Poland, who co-created the programme in the district youth centres Šiška and Zalog and at the digital youth centre Digi MC. We also hosted an international volunteer from Belgium, who co-created the programme of the district youth centre Črnuče.

Solidarity project in the community center Borc (ESE) (2021–2022)

In May 2023, we completed the “Borc živi” project. Through the project, young people gained work and learning experience, and brought innovative, modern management models of (temporary and community) spaces to the neighbourhood along the Cesta španskih borcev. After the submission of the final report, the “Borc živi” project was recognized as a good practice by the National Agency and published on the ESC project results platform. This further confirmed the success of the project and its impact on the local community.

Acquisition of the Quality Label (2021 ) – we applied for the European Solidarity Corps Quality Label for the field of hosting and supporting volunteers within the European Solidarity Unit at the end of 2020, and we received approval at the start of the following year.

BITE of Art 2.0 – Training to strengthen the competences of cultural operators

The purpose of the BITE of Art 2.0 project is the continuation of the 1.0 project, with which we want to increase competitiveness and contribute to the economic sustainability of European cultural operators in the field of socially engaged contemporary visual art. By developing, disseminating and using the free BITE CABM 2.0 business model based on innovative and digital management and marketing practices, practitioners will be able to modernize their ways of working and develop a new, socially and politically engaged young audience.

Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing (2022) – participation in a meeting in Finland aimed at bringing together mental health professionals and representatives of national agencies from 12 countries: Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, Poland, Hungary, Norway, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, Belgium (3 national agencies) and Luxembourg. In the meeting’s framework, we highlighted three crucial facets of the work that will aid young people and youth workers in the upcoming years: promoting and de-stigmatizing mental health; enhancing youth workers’ expertise and knowledge in the area of young people’s mental health; enhancing the work that young people do with young people.

InterCity Youth Conference (2022) – participation in the international conference of the InterCity Youth network with a workshop and study visits. On the first day of the conference, the participants were introduced to the creation and operation of the Digi MC digital youth centre. On the second day of the conference, we went on a study visit to Ljuba & Drago, as well as the Borc community centre, where we presented participatory methods for addressing neighbourhood challenges.

European Academy on Youth Work (2022) –we attended the European Academy on Youth Work in 2022 as part of an international collaboration, and we presented the conversion of an old bus into a mobile youth centre Ljuba & Drago during the panel discussion “The role of young people in innovation.”

Bite of Art 1.0 (2019–2021) – through the Creative Europe programme, the project combined modern market, business, and communication expertise with innovative artistic events to create a package aimed at redefining the market approach to contemporary art. It was intended for young people as a new audience for contemporary art. It also contributed to ensuring the financial stability of cultural and artistic operators. As part of the Bite of Art project, we have been developing an innovative business model that uses new tools to attract new and young audiences to contemporary art. It represented a common vision of cultural and artistic organisations from Spain, Slovenia, and Serbia. We organised a moderated discussion at the Ljubljana Castle in September 2020 on audience understanding, content delivery to young people, and the use of information and communication technologies in young audiences. Together with the Kresija Gallery, we supported the exhibition of Jošt Frank with digitization and an evening programme for young people (Art night).

European Living Library for Young Citizens (2021) – participation in the organisation of an international living library (within the framework of the Europe for Citizens programme, the Urban Network) organised by partners in Greece. We compiled a list of living books or people with personal stories who visitors could borrow for free. The Living Books represented four distinct target groups: young people under 30 years old, people over 65 years old, women, and migrants. In October 2022, the Living Library will also be held in Ljubljana.

Emerging Europe Awards (2019) – City Incubator has been nominated for the Innovation Award in the field of youth empowerment initiatives in order to better identify their opportunities, gain self-confidence, raise awareness of the world around them, and actively participate in society.

Symposium on innovative forms of citizen participation in shaping better policies and services (2019) – presentation by the City Incubator at the meeting of the OECD Public Management Committee in Paris (France) focused on public institutions that should be able to formulate and implement policies that reflect the needs of citizens, provide the necessary services to meet these needs, and make a real impact on people’s lives.

InterCity Youth Conference (2019) – presentation of the City Incubator as an excellent example of the mechanism of connecting the city with young people and non-formal learning at the 8th International Conference held in Helsinki (Finland).

European Academy on Youth Work (2019) – presentation of successful and innovative practices in the field of local youth work at the Academy, with a contribution to the City Incubator and youth work on youth work. It was held in Kranjska Gora and was attended by 160 people from 32 countries. The City Incubator was one of 36 good practices presented in the three-day training.

Europe Talking (2018) – participation of a group of 20 participants in Vršac (Serbia) in order to promote European citizenship and European values. Over 200 young people, youth workers, and municipal representatives from Serbia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, and Belgium attended the event. At the workshops, everyone involved discussed life in the European Union. The aim of the project was to involve young people in the debate on European citizenship, European values, and Euroscepticism.

InterCity Youth (2017) – the seminar “Youth work with young refugees”, on the topic of working with young migrants, was held in Munich (Germany) and focused on various aspects of youth work such as housing issues, cultural education, community art, open youth work, and non-formal education.

Ready for World – tools to guide young people in their life (2017) – participation in a seminar in Helsinki (Finland) on the topic of good practices in working with young people.

Share and link (2017) – participation and partnership in a seminar in Lithuania on the topic of greater involvement of young people in out-of-school activities in the local community (targeted seminar for participants working mainly in the school system).

Key to Inclusion (2017) – participation and contribution at the national consultation, where we assisted less experienced organisations in presenting the priorities of the programme, providing support for learning effects, and specific work in geographically weak areas.

Town twinning (2017) – as part of the Network of Cities programme, 8 people attended a meeting in Vršac (Serbia), with the aim of intercultural learning and diversity research.