From October 23rd to October 29th, 2026, Sabrina Pavlov took part in the Erasmus+ Training Course “ToT Level 3: From Youth Trainer to Youth Strategist“. The training was organized by NECI Cyprus in Protaras, Cyprus, and co-funded by the European Union.
The course brought together 15 youth workers and trainers from 8 countries: Germany, Cyprus, Romania, North Macedonia, Greece, Italy, Estonia, and the Netherlands, who are already quite experienced in non-formal education and were ready for the next step:
Many of the participants knew how to deliver a session. It is harder though, to stop and ask why a training is needed, who it is for, and what it should change in the long term. This shift, from delivering activities to designing learning, from youth trainer to youth strategist, was the main topic of the week.
For participants in this training course, the aim was to learn how to plan trainings that start from real needs, and how to turn those needs into competences, objectives and a complete workshop plan that we could then deliver ourselves.
The week was full of hands-on learning:
From Needs to Objectives: We started by looking at the importance of needs, and at learning and social needs in youth work. Then we learned how to identify the needs of an organization or a community, turn them into competences, and then into clear objectives. It is a simple chain, but it changes the way you plan a training.
Non-Formal Methodology: We went through non-formal education methods and the competences that youth workers need to develop, as the base for designing our own sessions.
Preparing Our Workshops: In teams, we prepared a timetable, objectives, competences and a workshop plan. The trainers checked our progress at set times during the day, so we could adjust along the way.
Training FROM Trainers: Each team presented its plan to the group and received feedback. After that, seven teams delivered their workshops over two days, with feedback and time to reflect after each one.
The week also included a cultural evening, and the whole training ended with an evaluation, a discussion on how to share what we learned at home, and the closing of the programme with a festive dinner.
Sabrina’s Experience:
“I saw myself growing from a youth worker to a trainer and a youth strategist.
The workshop presentation session was life-changing for me because I could assess my progress between ToT 2 and ToT 3. Learning through practice is the best way to make all your mistakes during the exercise and then eliminate them in your real work. The feedback was very helpful, but after my workshop I also had time for self-reflection, and I realized many things by myself, even things that were not mentioned in the feedback.
I now understand how the chain of needs, competences and objectives works, which helps me plan a 5-day training course and lead and grow other trainers. This path opened my eyes to things I was doing wrong.“
The ToT Level 3 project was financed by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union (KA151, Professional development activities in the field of Youth, project number 2026-1-CY01-KA151-YOU-000389957) and organized by NECI Cyprus (Network for European Citizenship and Identity).
Interested in participating in upcoming international exchanges and training courses? Check out our open calls on our website here.