Generally about our projects

The projects we offer are for young people who want to learn or experience something new, meet young people from different countries, improve their English. There is a certain age limit for each project; most projects are for young people from the age of 18, but we have sometimes offers also for young people from the age of 13 (in that case we require parents to sign a consent to participate). For each project, we publish for whom the project is primarily intended and who can apply. At least a slightly advanced knowledge of English is required.

All projects are conducted in the form of non-formal education. This means that there is no teacher or professor on the project and the participants only listen passively, but it is focused on the active involvement of the participants in the educational process. Each project has a specific topic and they are really diverse, for example: sport, healthy lifestyle, business development, environmental protection, project management, active participation, human rights, marketing etc. There are really countless of topics. During the project, participants focus on the topic through various workshops, discussions, excursions, role-plays, group assignments under the supervision of a facilitator, trainer or leaders. If you want to know even more what is being done during the project, check some articles from the participants themselves here – https://www.adelslovakia.org/en/news/stories-of-participants/

Youth Exchanges are open to all young people who are interested in the topic and would like to know more about it. At the same time, youth exchanges are focused on intercultural learning, understanding, learning about new cultures, countries and breaking down prejudices, so they are ideal for those who have no international experience and at the same time we try to give such young people the opportunity to participate in exchanges. The age of the participants varies and depends on the specific exchange - sometimes the exchanges for participants are from 18 years, sometimes from 15 years.

If you are over 18 and have some previous work or volunteer experience and would like to deepen your knowledge of a certain topic and share your experience with others, trainings are for you! Training topics are various, for example: project management, marketing, new methods of education, business development and many others. If e.g. the topic of the training is education, training is intended primarily for youth leaders and youth workers – those who work either full-time or as volunteers in youth organizations, or in other way work with children or young people (as animators in camps, teachers in primary, secondary, language schools, as doctoral students, etc.). ). Thus, its expected, that participants have already some knowledge about the topic and would like to deepen knowledge through training or share their knowledge and experience with people with a similar profile. If the topics are e.g. business development or project management, the training can be attended by those who are interested in starting a business or otherwise want to use the acquired knowledge in their work.

The European Solidarity Corps is a program for young people aged between 18-30 and lasts longer (1-12 months). Program takes place in various European countries and sometimes outside of the Europe too. This program is for those who would like to help those who need it, to do something beneficial and meaningful, to contribute to solution of a certain problem, but at the same time to gain new experiences. More information here: < span style = "color: # 0000ff;"> https://www.adelslovakia.org/en/opportunities/volunteering-programs-abroad

All opportunities are regularly published on our website. In the menu section, go to Projects and select the one you're interested in. Opportunities are also published on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/ADELSlovakia or instagram - https: // www .instagram.com / adelslovakia /

Almost all our projects are co-funded by the European Union,Erasmus + program or Europe for Citizens program. The EU supports such youth exchanges, trainings and volunteering programs in the same way as it supports and gives students a grant to go abroad for a semester. In principle it is similar, as the EU wants young people to improve their English, learn something new,get know new cultures and become "Europeans". There is only a fee between 10-50 euros, depending on the project in order to cover costs not covered by the grant (sometimes requested directly by the host organization and sometimes by us in order to cover the administrative tasks related with sending and preparation of the participants (office, post or phone costs, promotion, etc.) and to ensure sustainability, quality but also the development of other interesting projects and activities). However, some projects are completely for free in order to allow all young people, even from socially disadvantaged backgrounds, to participate in such projects.

Although our projects are financially supported by EU grants, in the case of travel costs it still works by the procedure, that participants buy the tickets in advance (or in some cases parents) and after the project, the travel costs are reimbursed. This procedure actually guarantee your participation in the project. It could happen, and it happened that, when organization buys tickets and eventually the participant will not participate, the organization will lose hundreds of euros, since the EU grant covers travel costs only for those who participate in the project. Therefore, after returning back to Slovakia, the hosting organization usually require sending all boarding passes and bus / train tickets by post - and after, money are sent to your bank account. As you may have noticed, in the last 7 years, around 3,000 young people have taken part in our projects and their travel costs have still been reimbursed, so there is nothing to worry about. There is always a limit (e.g. 80, 170, 275 or 360 euros based on the distance) what means that this is the maximum possible amount that will be reimbursed to participants. You can usually fit within these limits, so eventually travel will not cost you anything.Travel costs are reimbursed directly by the hosting organization that received the grant to organize the project, not our organization. There is no exact date until when exactly travel costs will be reimbursed, depends on each organization. It takes usually between 2 weeks and 3 months after the end of the exchange. Some organizations, such as ours, if we host exchanges in Slovakia, we reimburse travel costs to participants within 2 weeks of delivery of all tickets. However, for some organizations, the process takes longer, also because the European Commission provide organizations at the beginning with 80% of the grant to cover accommodation, meals, program for participants. After the end of the project, sending the final report, photos, attendance list, etc. the organization receives the remaining 20%, from which the organizations reimburse the travel costs.

Before traveling, participants must apply for a European Health Insurance Card if they do not have it already. Card is free of charge and can be arranged online on the website of your health insurance company. You will also need the card for other trips abroad. In addition, we recommend that you arrange also commercial travel insurance, as the European Health Insurance Card does not guarantee reimbursement of all costs if you would need to get a medical care. Travel insurance is not reimbursed from the grant, but we recommend that you arrange it before the trip, because no one ever knows what may happen. It can also be arranged online and purchased even the day before leaving for the project. Many insurance companies also provide discounts for ISIC card holders, so a week of insurance usually costs around 7 euros. If you travel more often, it is good to arrange a travel insurance for a whole year, that costs around 20-30 euros, depending on the insurance company.

Your English does not have to be perfect, but it is important that you understand at least most of what is said during the project, otherwise of course your participation would not be beneficial for you at all. However, during the youth exchanges, usually no one speaks English perfectly or in a very complicated way, therefore when you learned English at school, you will get into it quickly and after a few days you can see improvements. Here you can read and try a few tips on how to improve English before participation in a project: https://www.adelslovakia.org/rozne/rady- how-to-improve-in-english

It depends on the country where the project is implemented. You dont need a passport if you travel to the countries of the European Union, the Balkans and some others (you can see the full list on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs here: http://www.minv.sk/? administrative-fees However, most of our projects are implemented in countries where a passport is not required, we used to have only few projects in Turkey per year or one or two projects around the world.

There is no official restriction, as in case of study mobilities and traineeships within the Erasmus+ program. However, as already mentioned in "who can participate" section, we giver priority, especially in the case of youth exchanges, to young people who have not participated in a similar project in the past or have no or small international experience in order to provide them with the opportunity to to get new intercultural experiences, knowledge and contacts.

No, you have to travel from the country that you represent - Slovakia.

No - it is not possible due to the ban of the double funding. This is a rule of the European Commission that finances Erasmus + projects. However, you can apply for our projects after you return back to Slovakia.

Yes, of course, we would like to come. However, earlier you invite us, the more likely it is that one of us will be able to come.

Yes, we will contact everyone, both selected and unselected participants. We work hard to get back to you as soon as possible, and you should usually receive a response within a week after submitting your application.