Mr. Rafat Shantir, co-founder of the Excellence Center in Europe, has participated in the training course“ “Powering Entrepreneurship Education For Disadvantaged Youth“ that took place in Antalya, Turkey in November of 2018. Thirty participants from five different countries, Bulgaria, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Republic of North Macedonia, and Turkey, took part in educational, cultural, community, and social activities for ten days.

The course program sought to promote the self-employment and entrepreneurial cultures of youth workers and youth leaders by  training and equipping participants with essential entrepreneurial and business tools, methods, and skills that will enable them to contribute to tackling the problem of unemployment among disadvantaged youth and young unemployed people from the migrant, refugee, and asylum seeker communities. The training course taught skills that focused on techniques of intercultural dialogue and communication by means of group discussions, interactive presentations, workshops led by the participants themselves, and team work.

The participants‘ initiative was achieved through their active participation in the training course. Participants were taught to create learning spaces which would foster self-awareness and the awareness of the needs and goals of those with whom they work. This strategy, it is hoped, will enhance the learning process and give birth to high quality future projects led by the participants.

The entrepreneurial training course sought to highlight the value of the Erasmus+ Programme as a tool for youth empowerment, in addition to raising awareness of the Youthpass tool  as a means for supporting young people as they harness skills and personal growth through self-reflection and learning documentation.

During the training course Mr. Rafat Shantir presented the Excellence Center in Europe business project; he explained to participants the situation of the refugees and immigrants in Germany, and specifically their plight in the city of Halle (Saale), Germany.

“The course enhanced my understanding of inclusion, and the challenges to achieving inclusion that exist for refugees and young people with migration histories, particularly in Germany. Additionally, I learned methods and techniques to improve the quality of youth services”, said Mr. Shantir.

Mr. Shantir concluded that he was able to network with the many new people he met who work in the same field of youth work.

This course in Turkey was organized by Lucky Punch Jugendhilfe gGmbH (Youth NGO) which is located in the city of Leipzig, Germany.