Coconut Italia is hosting "United, Inclusive and Youth Oriented", an Erasmus+ KA153 training course for 24 youth workers in Liguria, Italy, from 26 October to 3 November 2026, with applications closing on 05 October 2026. At Youth Works Hub, we went through the infopack, the hour by hour programme and the live application form, because this is one of the most precisely documented calls we have covered this season, and the detail is worth knowing before you write a word.
Seven working days, six countries, four participants per organisation, a three month mentoring tail afterwards, and a participation agreement published in full so nothing arrives as a surprise.
The Problem the Course Starts From
The infopack opens with a paragraph that most youth workers will recognise immediately. Every youth worker can name the young people they are not reaching: the ones who stop coming when an activity costs money, the ones who get talked about rather than talked to, the ones who turn up once, sit at the edge of the room, and are not there the following week.
The barriers are described as ordinary and stubborn: money, a situation at home nobody asks about, a background that draws comment, a peer group that has already decided. None of them show up on an attendance sheet.
The organisers are careful about what the course is not. It does not set out to turn youth workers into social workers. It builds the practical steps that come before and after an activity: finding out what a group actually needs, designing something around that rather than around a timetable, and knowing afterwards whether it made any difference.
Eight Barriers the Course Names
The infopack lists eight things that keep young people out of youth work, and keep youth work from reaching them.
๐ธ Cost decides who comes. A fee, a bus fare, a piece of kit: an activity quietly selects its participants long before anyone applies, and the young people who need it most drop out first.
๐ค Difficulties nobody asks about. Money, a family situation, a status at home. Youth work is often the only place these could be named, and usually is not.
๐ฃ๏ธ Background draws comment. Origin, ethnicity, the neighbourhood someone comes from. Discrimination shows up as small exclusions inside the group, not as a formal complaint.
๐ช The peer group has decided. Rejection by other young people, and sometimes by family, is what keeps someone at the edge of the room. Trust has to be built before any method works.
๐ Activities built on assumptions. Most programmes start from what the organisation can run, not from what the group said it needed. Nobody asked, so nobody knows.
๐ Nobody measures the change. Attendance gets counted, impact does not. Without indicators set in advance there is no way to tell a good activity from a busy one.
๐ One method for everyone. Methods that work with confident, experienced participants fall flat with a group that is not sure it belongs. The repertoire is too narrow.
๐ง Youth workers learn alone. Skills sit unevenly inside a team, and there is rarely the time or the structure to pass them on.
The Aim and the Five Objectives
The stated aim is to equip 24 youth workers with the competences needed to engage young people with fewer opportunities, assess their needs, design and implement educational programmes, and follow up on them effectively.
๐ Knowledge: enhance the knowledge of 24 youth workers on the stages of engaging youth, meaning needs assessment, designing and implementing educational programmes for vulnerable groups, and understanding the barriers those groups face.
๐ ๏ธ Skills: develop youth workers' skills to engage young people facing fewer opportunities in a way that is tailored to specific needs, fosters trust and encourages growth, using non-formal education methods.
๐ Attitude: develop a positive, open minded attitude in youth workers, encouraging inclusivity, acceptance and understanding to support young people from diverse backgrounds.
๐ Reach: increase the number of young people with fewer opportunities each organisation reaches in the year after the course.
๐ Transfer: ensure transfer into daily practice, with each organisation running dissemination workshops and implementing at least three new activities after the mobility, supported by a three month mentoring period.
That last objective is the one that makes this different from a week away. The commitment does not end when you fly home.
How the Week Is Built
Seven working days of non-formal education, with nothing arriving as a lecture. Every block is built so you can run it again yourself. Six method areas carry the week.
Needs Assessment, Experienced First Hand
You go through the Wheel of Life and 20-5-1 as a participant before you ever facilitate them. Both are methods that surface what a group needs even when it cannot name it.
Problem Tree, Solution Tree
Turning a pile of stated needs into a structure you can act on, and then into activities that answer it rather than sit beside it.
SMART Objectives and Impact
Writing objectives you can actually measure, and telling indicators, targets and evaluation methods apart. The infopack calls this the part most projects skip, which is a fair description of the sector.
The Methods' Fair
Two sessions where everyone brings the method that works best in their own practice and leaves with twenty three others, half of them built for groups that are hard to reach.
Mentoring, Coaching and Non-Violent Communication
An experiential journey that shows you your own way of supporting someone, then the four steps of non-violent communication, practised in role play until they are usable.
Facilitation Practice
You design a session with people from other countries and facilitate it in front of the group, then debrief it properly: specific, constructive, action oriented.
If this way of working is new to you, it is worth understanding how non-formal education differs from a taught course before you arrive, because the week asks you to produce rather than absorb.
The Week, Hour by Hour
The organisers publish a full daily programme. The frame is the same every working day: breakfast at 09:00, a session from 10:00 to 11:30, tea break, a session from 12:00 to 13:30, lunch until 15:00, a session from 15:00 to 16:30, tea break, a final session from 17:00 to 18:30, reflection time until 19:00, dinner, then an evening activity. The organisers note that the schedule and session timeframes are provisional and subject to change.
Arrival, Monday 26 October
Arrival from 14:00, dinner at 19:00, then a welcome evening built around getting to know each other.
Day 1, Tuesday 27 October
Team building, then creating a safe space, then youth in our communities, then quality youth activities from A to Z. The evening is the intercultural night.
Day 2, Wednesday 28 October
Assessing the needs of our target group, needs assessment from the facilitator's side, practising needs assessment in teams, then the problem and solution tree. Free evening.
Day 3, Thursday 29 October
SMART objectives, then the Methods' Fair, then the Methods' Fair with a focus on inclusion, then from needs to sessions. The evening is a storytelling night.
Day 4, Friday 30 October
Fewer opportunities and what it stands for, then The River, an exercise on influences in a young person's life, then making our activities more inclusive, then impact assessment covering indicators, targets and evaluation. Board games night.
Day 5, Saturday 31 October
Mentoring and coaching, active listening and trust building, non-violent communication, then non-violent communication role plays. Free evening.
Day 6, Sunday 1 November
Preparing our workshops, facilitation practice through participant led workshops, debriefing and feedback, then exploring the local area. Musical games night.
Day 7, Monday 2 November
Our results, dissemination tasks, a session on Erasmus+ opportunities that await, then final evaluation and Youthpass. Farewell party.
Departure, Tuesday 3 November
Departure after breakfast.
What You Leave With
๐ฆ A repository of non-formal methods, tested with the other twenty three participants.
๐ A page in the project brochure on non-formal education methods for inclusive youth work.
๐บ๏ธ A transfer plan for the activities your organisation runs after the course.
๐ A Youthpass certificate, drafted during the course from your own evidence.
That last one deserves a note. The certificate is drafted during the week rather than emailed months later, which is how Youthpass is supposed to work and rarely does.
Who Is in the Room
๐ฅ 24 participants in total.
๐ข 4 per organisation.
๐ 18 and over, with no upper age limit.
The organisers add that places are not fixed in stone: where a partner cannot fill theirs, they are redistributed across the rest of the group.
Who They Are Looking For
๐ท Youth workers in direct, regular contact with young people, in youth centres, outreach and community work, school based projects, arts and sport, active in your organisation on a weekly basis.
๐ฏ Facilitators, mentors, project coordinators and trainers.
๐ค People who work inside a youth organisation without daily contact with young people are welcome too, because much of what the week produces is meant to be handed to colleagues as much as run yourself.
๐ No previous Erasmus+ experience is needed. What matters is that you work with young people and want sharper tools for doing it.
๐ฃ๏ธ English at B1 to B2. The infopack puts the bar in plain terms: you need to be able to argue, disagree and ask a question in a group, and nothing more formal than that.
That openness to first timers is worth taking seriously. Plenty of people filter themselves out of youth worker mobility projects because they assume a track record is required, and here it explicitly is not.
What They Ask of You
๐งโ๐คโ๐ง Bring one group you actually work with in mind, because you will be designing for them all week.
๐ค Be ready to facilitate in front of your peers.
๐ Run at least one new activity in your organisation after the course.
๐ Publish one recap post within 14 days of the course ending.
๐๏ธ Take part in the three months of mentoring that follow.
The Consortium: Six Organisations, Six Countries
๐ฎ๐น Coconut Italia, Italy, host and coordinator, 4 places.
๐ท๐ด Asociaลฃia Culturalฤ Atelierul European de Artฤ, Romania, 4 places.
๐ต๐ฑ Fundacja 108, Poland, 4 places.
๐ช๐ธ Asociaciรณn Maricuir Xarxa Cuir del Marรญtim, Spain, 4 places.
๐ซ๐ท En Root, France, 4 places.
๐จ๐พ Idryma Ergodotisis Ekpedefsis Neoleas, known as IEEN, Cyprus, 4 places.
Each partner nominates four participants. The application form's country of residence field lists exactly these six countries, so residence in one of them is the practical gate on this call.
Where You Would Stay
๐ก Villa Zaveria, Via Vittorio Veneto 31, 17022 Borgio Verezzi, in the province of Savona.
๐ณ It is described as a casa per ferie in its own walled park a few minutes from the sea, with four buildings, fifty five rooms, wide common rooms and a dining room. The group has its own part of it for the week.
๐๏ธ Shared twin and triple rooms, each with a private bathroom. Rooms are allocated by the organisers before arrival and mixed by nationality, and the allocation cannot be changed on site.
๐งด Bed linen and towels are provided. Toiletries are not, so bring those plus any medication you need in its original packaging.
๐ฝ๏ธ Full board, cooked for the group by the organisers' own chef, covered from dinner on 26 October to breakfast on 3 November. Dietary requirements go in the registration form.
๐ฟ Work happens in indoor meeting rooms and in outdoor space in the park, and the organisers state plainly that the evenings are part of the programme, not an optional extra.
One practical note from the infopack: for anything about the course, write to the organisers rather than to the venue.
Getting to Borgio Verezzi
Borgio Verezzi sits on the Genova to Ventimiglia coastal line, so once you are in Italy the rest of the journey is a train along the sea. The infopack breaks it into three steps.
โ๏ธ Step one, get to Milan. Fly to Malpensa or Bergamo Orio al Serio. Where a train or coach from your country is realistic, the organisers ask you to weigh it up first, because it is usually the lower carbon route and often the more comfortable one. Any route needs their approval before you book.
๐ Step two, Milan to Finale Ligure Marina. From Malpensa the Malpensa Express reaches Milano Centrale in about 51 minutes, and from Bergamo the airport coach takes about 50. From Milano Centrale there are around 16 trains a day to Finale Ligure Marina, 7 of them direct, the fastest 2 hours 31 minutes. Indirect connections change at Genova.
๐ Step three, Finale Ligure Marina to Villa Zaveria, about 3 km. A local train to Borgio Verezzi takes 4 minutes, the TPL Linea bus 40 takes about 8, and a taxi is around โฌ10 to โฌ13. Send the organisers your itinerary and they will group arrivals and meet you.
๐ซ Tickets: book Intercity or Regionale in advance at trenitalia.com or in the app. Contactless cards work at the gates. Keep every ticket and boarding pass, and screenshot the mobile ones.
๐ Arrival window: reach Villa Zaveria from 14:00 on Monday 26 October. Dinner is from 19:00, and if you arrive later the organisers can keep something for you until 23:00, provided you tell them in advance.
What Is Covered and What Is Not
๐ถ There is no participation fee.
๐จ Accommodation and all meals are covered for selected participants.
๐ Travel is reimbursed within the Erasmus+ limits for your route.
๐ฉน Insurance is not a reimbursable cost, which is the one line people miss.
๐งผ Toiletries, and anything you spend on the extra days if you arrive early or stay on, are yours.
Anyone budgeting for a European project should read that list carefully rather than stopping at the words fully funded. We have written elsewhere about the hidden costs of a fully funded project, and insurance plus toiletries is exactly the kind of gap that catches people out.
The Travel Reimbursement Rules
The organisers publish seven rules, and the phrasing is firm rather than advisory.
โ Get every travel purchase approved before you book. Unapproved purchases are not reimbursed.
๐บ๏ธ The organisers will go through the route options with you and agree the most efficient and affordable one together.
๐ธ Use the cheapest reasonable option. First class tickets, taxis and private transfers are not reimbursed.
๐ฅ๏ธ Book directly on the airline's or operator's own website, not through agencies or third party sites.
๐ Travel light. Checked baggage is reimbursed only where the route is direct, and it has to be agreed in advance.
๐ซ Keep every ticket and boarding pass, and screenshot mobile passes. The infopack states it bluntly: no boarding pass, no reimbursement.
โณ Reimbursement is made after the course, can take up to two months, and depends on full participation and on your dissemination post.
The pre-approval rule is the one that costs people money. Booking a cheap flight before checking with the organisers does not make it reimbursable, and how travel reimbursement and distance bands work in Erasmus+ is worth understanding before you start comparing prices.
Insurance, Arriving Early and Staying On
๐ฉบ Health insurance valid in Italy is mandatory for your whole stay. If you live in the EU, bring your European Health Insurance Card.
๐ You may arrive up to two days before and stay up to two days after the course at your own expense, as long as the travel price is not substantially higher than on the set dates.
๐ซ You cannot stay at the venue on those extra days.
๐ Tell the organisers in the registration form and make sure your insurance covers the full period.
On the Ground
๐ก๏ธ October on the Savona coast averages 17 ยฐC by day and 12 ยฐC at night, with around 164 mm of rain across ten wet days, and November turns cooler and wetter still. Expect a bright morning and a heavy afternoon in the same week, and pack for both.
๐ Bring layers and a waterproof jacket, comfortable shoes for wet ground, toiletries, a reusable bottle, an external charger, any medication you need, and your passport or ID.
๐ Useful extras: a notebook if you think better on paper than on a screen, earplugs if you sleep lightly in a shared room, and swimwear if you are braver than most about the Ligurian sea in October.
๐ฐ๏ธ European summer time ends at 03:00 on Sunday 25 October, the day before arrival. Sunday 1 November is All Saints' Day, when shops close and buses run a reduced service.
๐ช Intercultural evening: bring something small from home to share, whether food, drink, music, a game or a story. Nothing elaborate, because it has to fit in hand luggage.
๐ณ Money: euro. Cards are accepted almost everywhere, but small bars and the market may want cash. ATMs are in Borgio Verezzi and in Finale Ligure.
โน๏ธ Good to know: tap water is safe and good, English is not widely spoken outside the venue so a few words of Italian go a long way, smoking is not permitted indoors anywhere in Italy, and the emergency number is 112.
What the Application Form Asks
The application is an online form and takes about 15 minutes. The organisers ask you to read the infopack before applying, and they confirm that your application will be forwarded to the partner organisation in your country, so there is no need to contact that organisation yourself.
๐ค Your name, email address, phone number with the country code on a number where you are reachable on WhatsApp, age, gender, country of residence, city of residence, sending organisation and current role.
๐ Your background and experience in youth work, in particular with young people facing fewer opportunities.
๐ฅ Your motivation for taking part in this training course.
๐งฐ The non-formal education methods, tools or best practices you could share during the training, since some sessions are led by participants.
๐ฑ What you have in mind for the small follow up activity each participant runs with young people in their own context after the training.
โ๏ธ A confirmation that the information is accurate and that you have read the infopack.
โ๏ธ Consent to your personal data being processed by Coconut Italia and the partner organisation in your country for the purpose of selecting participants.
Two of those questions are doing the real filtering. The method you would share and the follow up activity you have in mind are both asking whether you arrive with something, and a vague answer to either is the easiest way to lose a place. The general advice in our guide to a strong application applies here: specifics beat enthusiasm.
What Happens After You Apply
๐จ If selected, the organisers contact you to seek confirmation and to go through your travel options with you.
๐ You complete the registration form, covering dietary requirements, accessibility needs, emergency contact and travel plans. It also opens access to the participants' WhatsApp group.
โ The organisers approve your travel before you book. They describe this as always, without exception: send the route and the price first.
๐ฌ You arrive on 26 October from 14:00, with dinner from 19:00 and then the welcome evening, and dinner kept until 23:00 if you arrive late.
The Participation Agreement, in Summary
Selected participants sign a participation agreement before the course, and the organisers reproduce it in full in the infopack so there are no surprises. It runs to twelve clauses.
๐ Acceptance of terms: you confirm you have read, understood and agree with everything in the infopack.
๐ฉบ Insurance: health insurance valid in Italy for the whole stay, the European Health Insurance Card for EU residents, or mandatory private insurance covering health, accidents, emergencies, repatriation and civil liability for residents outside the EU, unless you are resident in Italy.
โฐ Participation, punctuality and dissemination: attend all sessions on time and participate fully, publish one recap post within 14 days after the course, take part in the dissemination activities agreed with your sending organisation, and accept that absence or repeated lateness may cancel your travel reimbursement. Unless you state otherwise on arrival or in advance, the organisers may take photos and videos of you during activities and publish them.
โ๏ธ Travel and reimbursement: all purchases pre-approved, you cover your own cost of reaching the destination if you miss transport, you contact the carrier and keep the organisers informed in case of disruption, you save tickets and boarding passes, and reimbursements may take up to two months.
๐ค Code of conduct: treat everyone with dignity and respect, follow the organisers' rules, the venue's policies and local laws. Serious or repeated breaches may end your participation early, in which case you cover your return travel and may forfeit any planned reimbursement.
๐ฅ Health and safety: declare medical conditions, allergies and dietary requirements in the registration form, inform the organisers before arrival of any physical or mental condition that might affect your participation or that of others, and provide accurate emergency contact information.
๐๏ธ Damage to the venue: where the venue charges the organisers for damage, the cost is passed on. Where the person responsible is identified, it is deducted from their travel reimbursement. Where it cannot be established, it is shared between the participants in that bedroom, or across the whole group if the damage is in a common space.
โ๏ธ Liability waiver: you are responsible for meeting entry requirements with your travel documents, you will not possess or use illegal substances, and you release the organisers from liability for losses during or outside official activity days.
๐ช๏ธ Force majeure, confidentiality, data protection under the GDPR, and dispute resolution under the laws of Italy complete the agreement.
โ๏ธ It is signed digitally as part of the registration form, once your place is confirmed.
The damage sharing clause is unusual enough to flag. Reading it before you sign rather than after is the whole reason the organisers published it.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is the application deadline?
05 October 2026, stated on the application form itself.
Who can apply?
Residents of the six consortium countries. The application form's country of residence field offers Italy, Romania, Poland, Spain, France and Cyprus.
Do I need to contact my national partner organisation myself?
No. The organisers forward your application to the partner organisation in your country.
Is there an upper age limit?
No. The requirement is 18 and over, with no upper limit stated.
Do I need previous Erasmus+ experience?
No. The infopack states plainly that none is needed.
What level of English is required?
B1 to B2, defined as being able to argue, disagree and ask a question in a group.
Is there a participation fee?
No. Accommodation and all meals are covered, and travel is reimbursed within Erasmus+ limits.
When will I get my travel money back?
After the course. It can take up to two months and depends on full participation and on your dissemination post.
Can I book my flight and claim it later?
No. Every travel purchase must be approved by the organisers before you book, otherwise it is not reimbursed.
What happens after the training ends?
You run at least one new activity in your organisation, publish a recap post within 14 days, and take part in three months of mentoring.
What kind of room will I be in?
A shared twin or triple room with a private bathroom, allocated before arrival and mixed by nationality, and the allocation cannot be changed on site.
Can I arrive early or stay longer?
Up to two days either side at your own expense, provided the travel price is not substantially higher, but not at the venue, and you must declare it in the registration form.
Deadline
โณ 05 October 2026
Applications close on 05 October 2026, with the course running from 26 October to 3 November, so selection, travel approval and booking all have to happen inside three weeks. Find more Erasmus+ training courses and youth worker projects on Youth Works Hub.
๐ง Questions: office@coconutwork.org
