Youth For Understanding

🌍 What does your Global Competence look like? ✨ 🎤 YFU volunteers and representatives—Sanni, Siret, and Yasin—shared the invaluable skills, attitudes, and perspectives they’ve gained through their YFU experiences. Can you relate to their journey? 🌐 In today’s interconnected world, Global Competence is more important than ever. It’s the unique blend of skills, knowledge, values, and attitudes that empower us to thrive in intercultural settings and address global challenges. 💬 Share your own story—how has your journey with YFU shaped your global competence? #YFU #YFUSpirit #InterculturalLearning #GlobalCompetence

👀 Are you ready for the theme of YES 2025? 😎 🚨 "Mission 2030: Dream Big, Act Now" brings us together, as a community of young change makers from around the world to explore how the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can become achievable, looking at how even the largest problems can be broken down into manageable steps. 👣 👉 You’ll discover inspiring projects and creative solutions, meet fascinating personalities, and find allies to support you in making meaningful change. 🌱 😮 Secure your spot at the YES 2025 now! Registrations for Global Participants and sign-up information for all participants is now up on our website: https://lnkd.in/dEazKPzr #YFU #youthempowerment #SDGs #sustainability

🎓 This week marks the #GlobalEducationWeek and the #Lifelonglearningweek organized by Lifelong Learning Platform - European Civil Society for Education. At YFU we've been happy to join the celebration of education: 🗣 Together with fellow youth organizations we've had the pleasure to raise awareness on the importance of intercultural education, non-formal learning and the role of Civil Society Organizations in collaborating with schools for internationalization and quality mobility programs – and the recognition of studies abroad. ✅ 💬 In a panel discussion organized by the Organising Bureau of European School Student Unions we discussed the future of education under the title "Education 2040", a project by OBESSU that shows that school students today want 1. more opportunities for active citizenship education 🌐 2. more intercultural learning 🙌 3. more non-formal learning methods brought to schools 📚 💜 💙 With our colleagues at European Federation for Intercultural Learning - EFIL / AFS Intercultural Programs who brought together civil society experts, education policymakers from different member states and the European institutions, we explored the power of internationalisation in education to transform both schools and the teaching profession, under the event "The International Dimension of Secondary Schools: The Potential for Teachers”. 🤝 In our collaboration with schools, YFU brings over seven decades of experience in supporting students, their parents and host parents in all the ups and downs of an exchange year – which in return supports the students' wellbeing and success in their school environment as well. 💌 A warm thank you to our dear friends at EFIL & OBESSU for the collaboration. We look forward to continuing advocating for intercultural education with you! #YFU #YFUspirit #youthexchange #advocacy

👋Meet the newly re-established Pool of Representatives of YFU in Europe! 💜 The team, consisting of YFU volunteers from Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary and Türkiye had their kick-off meeting in the beautiful Nendaz, Switzerland (13.-17.11. 2024.) 🙋♀️ 🙋♂️ The Reps are ready to take on their 2 year #advocacy mandates to leverage the role of intercultural learning and secondary school exchanges on the educational and youth policy agenda. 📚 👉 With portfolios ranging from recognition of studies abroad to engagement in platforms such as the European Youth Forum, this team will ensure that YFU's engagement with its stakeholders and advocacy campaigns are strengthened. 💪 ✨ Over four days of collaboration, brainstorming, and strategic planning with the guidance from senior PoR members and trainers Riikka, Sebastian and Taru, the Reps shaped the future of YFU’s advocacy efforts with the core mission of YFU in mind: empowering citizens of one world. 🌐 📸 Not pictured but equally vital to the team are PoR members Ronja Hildebrandt and Felix Vosse. 📢 We’re just getting started! Follow us for updates on the team's efforts. Read more about the Pool of Representatives on our website: https://lnkd.in/dMwxiZbV #YFU #advocacy #youth #youthexchange #volunteers

👋 🇦🇹Greetings from Austria! Last week, National Directors of YFU member organizations from 35 countries came together in Vienna for the annual National Director Meeting. This event offers the leaders of national YFU offices the chance to share best practices, reflect on the past year and look toward the future together. This year, the theme of the meeting was focused on sustainability – what it means for YFU, where we can contribute more and how we can implement sustainability guidelines throughout our global network. 💜 The successful meeting, hosted by YFU Austria, left us all with a lot of food for thought, gave the opportunity to connect and reconnect, and most importantly, reminded us of the mission we all share at YFU: to build bridges and empower citizens of one world. 🌐 #YFU #sustainability #youthexchange

👀 What happens when 70 YFU professionals from 23 countries meet in Denmark? 💜 You get a whirlwind of idea-sharing, collaboration, and plenty of memorable moments!  👉Check out the highlights of the International Staff Workshop 2024!

🔥Let’s kick it off for YES 2025! It will be THE place for you to engage, exchange and get creative on the topic of sustainability (in all its forms!) 🙌This week the YES Core Team team came together to discuss the theme and other prepararions for the event. We are filled with excitement — stay tuned for more news on the theme soon! #YFU #yfuyes #youthempowerment

👋 🇩🇰 Greetings from Denmark! This week, 70 YFU staff members from over 20 countries have come together in Tommerup at YFU Denmark's house for the International Staff Workshop 2024! It’s a great opportunity for our staff from all over the world to connect, share knowledge, and inspire one another as we strengthen our professional and personal bonds across borders. 🌍 The workshop aims to: 🌱 Integrate staff into a broader, face-to-face international YFU community 🤝 Strengthen relationships to enhance collaboration in daily work 💡 Provide fresh ideas, best practices, and inspiration for each staff member’s field 💪 Create a supportive environment where we realize we are all in this together, facing and overcoming challenges 💜 🤝 Together, we are working to improve our impact globally. The energy here is incredible, and we are excited to bring new insights and stronger connections back to our teams and communities. 🚀 #YFU #GlobalCommunity #Collaboration

👀 Are you passionate about spreading YFU’s message and advocating for intercultural learning? 📝 Do you enjoy writing, editing, and online content creation? 🌍 Join Us! YFU’s Global Office in Brussels, Belgium is looking for an Advocacy and Communications Assistant (European Solidarity Corps Programme) starting in January 2025! 🇧🇪 👉 Based in Brussels, this 6-month European Solidarity Corps volunteer program is open to 18-30-year-olds from EU countries + Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein. 🚀Send in your applications by 20th October 2024. 🌐 Join our amazing team – apply now: https://lnkd.in/dRfdqN7k #Internship #Advocacy #Communications #YFU #YFUSpirit #youthexchange #ESC #europeansolidaritycorps

Today on #internationalteachersday we celebrate the extraordinary role that teachers play in intercultural education. Not only do they inspire curiosity and growth in the classroom, but they also serve as supporters of educational exchange programs, like YFU. 🙌 Teachers welcome exchange students from all over the world, creating a safe and inclusive environment where they can thrive. They provide guidance, understanding, and support to help students adjust to new cultures and learning environments. ✨📚 And their role doesn’t stop there! Teachers also encourage their students to explore the world, sparking their interest in study abroad opportunities that can change their lives forever. 🌏✈️ To all the teachers who support, welcome, and guide YFU exchange students — you are truly shaping a more connected and compassionate world. Thank you for being the heartbeat of global understanding! 💙 #WorldTeachersDay #CulturalExchange #YFU #GlobalEducation #ThankATeacher #WelcomingTheWorld #SendingStudentsAbroad