The Austrian Association for Cultural Relations is recruiting youth workers for "Cohesive Youth Work", a two phased Erasmus+ training course running across two Austrian towns, fully covered and open now on a rolling basis. At Youth Works Hub, we asked the organisers directly about the closing date, and their answer changes how you should treat this call.
There is no fixed deadline. Applications are reviewed as they arrive and the call stays open until the places are filled. That makes this a first come opportunity rather than a wait until the last week opportunity, and with only a handful of seats per country the maths is not in favour of hesitating.
What Makes This Call Different
Most training courses are one week, one place, one goodbye. This one is built as a single journey with four stages spread over five months, and you commit to all of it in one application.
🤝 It is an Erasmus+ Mobility of Youth Workers project under KA153, coordinated in Austria.
🌊 The organisers use the Danube as the image for the structure: the river connects the two host towns, and each stage builds on the one before it.
👥 The same group attends both courses. You are not applying to a course, you are joining a cohort.
📍 Both phases take place in Austria, the first in Tulln an der Donau and the second in Vienna.
Who Is Running It
The Austrian Association for Cultural Relations, known as AACR, is a non profit organisation based in Austria.
🏛️ It was founded in 2022 by two sisters, Claudia and Michaela Almer.
🎯 Its stated aim is to enrich the lives of those eager to learn and improve, above all on a cultural and educational level.
🗣️ It works to offer a space for people from different backgrounds, cultures and opinions to exchange ideas, and to spread information about Erasmus+, the European Solidarity Corps, volunteering and going abroad.
🧩 Its youth work focuses on sharing experience of working with NEET young people and those at risk of social exclusion, developing practical materials for youth workers, and strengthening organisations' competences in international cooperation.
The project is co-funded by the European Union.
One Application, Two Activities
This is the part people misread, so it is worth stating plainly. You submit one application. If you are selected, you are selected for the whole thing.
📅 Activity 1 runs 26 to 31 October 2026 in Tulln an der Donau.
📅 Activity 2 runs 22 to 27 February 2027 in Vienna.
🔗 Between them sits a structured integration phase that you complete at home.
🌱 After the second course, from March 2027, you run a local Cohesion Action in your own community.
The infopack puts it in one sentence: the same group attends both courses, and your commitment covers the full journey. Applying for only one phase is not an option, and the application form asks you to declare that you will take part in the full duration of both courses.
The Learning Journey, Stage by Stage
Stage One: Building the Conceptual Foundation
At the Tulln course you build the shared vocabulary: cohesion, violence, power and conflict, explored through simulations and dialogue circles rather than lectures. This is the theory half, done experientially.
Stage Two: The Integration Phase at Home
Between November and February you run a needs and assets assessment with young people in your own setting, join online mentoring, and take part in a project lab to draft your first ideas. This is the stage that separates this project from a standalone course: you arrive at the second phase carrying real local data rather than a memory of the first week.
Stage Three: Turning Analysis Into Action
The Vienna course moves from understanding to design: participatory project design, stakeholder mapping, and labs where you actually build your Cohesion Action rather than talk about building one.
Stage Four: The Cohesion Action
From March 2027 you implement your local initiative, which might be dialogue circles, workshops, participatory mapping or youth led projects, and you share the results. This is a stated commitment, not an optional extra.
The Four Objectives
🧭 Understand cohesion and conflict: build a shared understanding of community cohesion, power, violence and conflict dynamics from a youth work perspective.
🛠️ Learn practical methods: dialogue facilitation, participatory approaches and grassroots project design for everyday youth work settings.
🌱 Act locally: design and implement a local Cohesion Action involving young people in building trust, cooperation and participation.
🇪🇺 Connect across Europe: strengthen European cooperation between youth organisations and build a peer network that lasts beyond the project.
How the Training Days Are Structured
⏰ Four working sessions per day, with regular meals and breaks, supplemented by occasional evening activities.
🗣️ Both courses are described as highly participatory, allowing youth workers to actively shape the programme to match their own needs and goals.
If you have never worked this way before, it is worth understanding what non formal education actually looks like in practice, because a week of simulations and dialogue circles asks something different from you than a week of presentations.
Who Can Take Part
The training gathers a fixed group of 30 participants who are actively engaged with young people, with 5 participants from each country. That is a small cohort, and it is the reason the rolling selection matters.
The requirements, as the infopack lists them:
🎂 18 or older, with an expected age range of 20 to 35, though open to more experienced practitioners.
🌍 Residents of Austria, Portugal, Romania, Italy, Hungary or Slovakia.
👷 Actively working with youth on a regular basis in youth centres, schools, NGOs or informal settings.
🔥 Highly motivated to develop skills in community cohesion, dialogue facilitation and participatory project design.
🧠 Open to reflective, experiential learning and willing to discuss sensitive topics like polarisation, power and conflict.
🌱 Committed to transferring learning by designing and running a local Cohesion Action in their community after the training.
🗣️ A good level of English to actively participate in and contribute to the programme.
✅ Full commitment to participate in both training courses and the online integration phase in between.
The Residence Detail That Decides Your Eligibility
Here the infopack and the live call do not say the same thing, and the live call wins.
📋 The infopack lists six countries of residence: Austria, Portugal, Romania, Italy, Hungary and Slovakia.
🔒 The open call and the application form are narrower. This round is the pre selection for aspiring participants from Austria and Slovakia, and the form's country of residence field offers only those two options.
📝 The form also asks you to declare that you have a legal right to reside in the country you represent, Austria or Slovakia.
So the six country list describes the project as a whole. The call that is open right now is for residents of Austria and Slovakia. If you are unsure how residence and nationality work across the programme, the full country eligibility guide covers the distinction.
What It Costs You: Nothing Up Front
💶 Participation, accommodation and full board are covered.
🚆 Travel is reimbursed within Erasmus+ limits.
The wording matters: travel is reimbursed after the activity, not paid in advance. That is standard for Erasmus+ funded projects, and it means you front the ticket cost and get it back later, up to the ceiling for your country.
The Travel Ceilings, Country by Country
You are reimbursed after the activity, up to the Erasmus+ maximum for your country and distance band. The infopack publishes the figures per person, per activity:
🇦🇹 Austria: green travel by train or bus, up to €285 for Tulln and €56 for Vienna.
🇸🇰 Slovakia: green travel by train or bus, up to €285 for Tulln and €56 for Vienna.
🇭🇺 Hungary: green travel by train or bus, up to €285 for each activity.
🇮🇹 Italy: standard band of 500 to 1999 km, up to €309 for each activity.
🇵🇹 Portugal: standard band of 2000 to 2999 km, up to €395 for each activity.
🇷🇴 Romania: standard band of 500 to 1999 km, up to €309 for each activity.
The €56 figure for the second activity is not a mistake. Vienna sits inside the shortest distance band for Austrian and Slovak participants, which is exactly how distance bands and travel reimbursement are designed to work.
📆 Arrival days are 26 October 2026 and 22 February 2027.
📆 Departure days are 31 October 2026 and 27 February 2027.
The Rules on Booking and Getting Paid Back
🧾 Keep every ticket, invoice and boarding pass.
✔️ Confirm your itinerary before booking. The organisers put an exclamation mark on this one.
💸 Always choose the most economical travel option.
⛔ First class and business class costs are not eligible, and neither are additional fees for premium services such as extra legroom, seat selection, taxi or extra luggage.
Going Green Is Built Into the Plan
🌳 The organisers ask participants to choose train or bus where possible, and both Austrian and Slovak participants are already listed under green travel.
🚉 Tulln is 30 minutes from Franz-Josefs-Bahnhof station in Vienna, and trains run very frequently.
For anyone who has not used it before, green travel in Erasmus+ is not just an environmental preference, it is a funding category with its own rates.
Where You Would Stay and Eat
🏨 Venue one, Tulln: Junges Hotel Tulln, 1 Marc-Aurel-Park, 3430 Tulln an der Donau.
🏨 Venue two, Vienna: Jugendgästehaus Brigittenau, Adalbert-Stifter-Strasse 73, 1200 Vienna.
🛏️ Participants are accommodated in rooms of 4 to 6 people, mixed by nationality and separated by gender. Each room has its own bathroom and a wardrobe.
🍽️ Three meals a day, breakfast, lunch and dinner, plus two coffee breaks, are offered at the venue.
Shared rooms mixed by nationality are a deliberate choice in this kind of project rather than a cost saving. Half the learning in a youth worker mobility happens outside the sessions, which is something the role of youth workers in European projects depends on.
Practical Things Worth Knowing
🎪 Intercultural evening: each country group is invited to present their culture in a fun and creative way. Bring traditional food, snacks or drinks, and feel free to prepare music, dances, games or short presentations and quizzes that represent your country.
💳 Currency: the official currency is the euro. Most shops take credit cards, but it is good to have cash on you, as cafés and other small stores do not always take cards.
🩺 Insurance: an EHIC or equivalent health and travel insurance is mandatory.
🪪 Documents: bring a valid ID or passport and personal medication.
What the Application Form Asks
Applications go through an online pre selection form, and the questions are short but specific.
📝 Your first name, last name, country of residence, city or village, nationality, gender, age, telephone number with the country code, and email address.
✍️ Your motivation to participate in this training course, written in the form.
📊 Whether you have participated in Erasmus+ projects before, answered as once, two to four times, five or more times, or not at all.
☑️ A declaration that you have a legal right to reside in the country that you represent, Austria or Slovakia.
☑️ A declaration that you have read the infopack and are committed to participate in the full duration of both training courses and to organise a dissemination activity in your local community or organisation.
Participants are chosen based on the application, so the motivation box is the whole of your case. Because the group is built around local follow up, the strongest answers name the community you work with and the tension or gap you would take the Cohesion Action to.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there an application deadline?
No fixed date. The organisers confirmed that the call stays open until the places are filled and that applications are considered as they are received. They added that a fixed deadline could be set if it becomes necessary, so the current arrangement may change without notice.
Can I apply for just one of the two courses?
No. The same group attends both, and the form asks you to declare full commitment to both courses plus the integration phase between them.
Who can apply right now?
Residents of Austria and Slovakia. The infopack names six countries for the project overall, but the open call and the form's country of residence field are limited to those two.
How many places are there?
Thirty participants in total, five from each country.
What does it cost?
Participation, accommodation and full board are covered, and travel is reimbursed after the activity up to the Erasmus+ ceiling for your country.
Is there an upper age limit?
No. The requirement is 18 or older, with an expected range of 20 to 35, and the infopack states it is open to more experienced practitioners.
What level of English do I need?
A good level, enough to actively participate in and contribute to the programme. No certificate or specific level is named.
What happens between the two courses?
An integration phase at home: a needs and assets assessment with young people, online mentoring, and a project lab to draft your first ideas.
What is the Cohesion Action?
A local initiative you design during the training and run in your own community from March 2027, such as dialogue circles, workshops, participatory mapping or youth led projects, with the results shared afterwards.
What kind of room will I be in?
Rooms of 4 to 6 people, mixed by nationality and separated by gender, each with its own bathroom and wardrobe.
Deadline
⏳ As soon as possible!
There is no published closing date. The organisers review applications as they arrive and close the call once the seats are gone, and with five places per country those seats are not going to last long. Find more Erasmus+ training courses and youth worker projects on Youth Works Hub.
📄 Infopack: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YPiPdhtqMsSLqtGX4ggZi81vJNuam2LP/view
📧 Questions: culturalrelations.at@gmail.com
