FOREWORD

The overall aim of the project "ORA: Capacity Building to Generate Innovative Approaches in Youth Work" is to achieve a long term non-formal
education process able to empower the youth work members of ORA
Network are realizing in the field with young people coming from disadvantaged backgrounds and/or vulnerable groups. Through this project
ORA members are able to increase their capacities to better perform and
provide more useful services (educational, cultural, social, etc.) for the
young people with which they work, to increase the competences of
their youth/social workers to better include the different target groups in
the social, cultural, and economic life of their communities. First Activity
of the project was a Study Visit which took place in Liege (Belgium) between 16 and 23 October 2016.
The specific objective of the Study Visit was to explore and analyze
examples of good practices in the Province of Liege in terms of methodologies, challenges, approaches, activities and policies realized by institutions, public bodies, NGO networks, associations, Youth Centers and
youth organizations on the theme of youth work and non-formal education. Belgium has a very long tradition in the development of youth work
strategies and innovative non-formal education approaches and represents an interesting and fruitful playground to work, learn and practice
the relationship and the interaction between youth work and inclusion of
young people in the community development. Thanks to interactive field
visits, meeting with stakeholders, working sessions and planning activities, it was possible to discover efficient and innovative models in youth
work that generated positive experiences of inclusion and participation.
The present document collects all the reports realized by participants for
each filed visit carried during our stay in Belgium. In this way, we hope
that our experience will be fruitful and useful for other organizations,
youth centers and groups interested in these fields of action.

By combining different non-formal education methodologies (methods

of non-formal/informal learning, intercultural learning, experiential and
active pedagogy, mentoring and/or peer support and relationship-based
activities), and using several elements related to sustainable living, ORA
Network has created positive local impact in the community and encouraged wider engagement from young people thanks to an interdisciplinary set of competences in different fields of youth work (education, environment, social promotion, art and culture, etc.).
For further information, feel free to visit the website of our project
(http://oracapacitybuilding.weebly.com/) or contact us at zdravodaste@oranetwork.eu and arcichieti@oranetwork.eu

Enjoy!

ECO-CENTRE LIEGE
LA CIT SINVENTE
https://www.facebook.com/pagelacitesinvente
https://lacitesinvente.bev
https://www.youtube.com/user/lacitesinvente
https://vimeo.com/lacitesinvente

The eco-centre of Liege is on the hill behind the city, and was created on the
site of an old coal mine, using a house that was part of this structure. The
eco-centre initiative started officially in 2006/07 when the land it now stands
on was granted to the organisation la cit sinvente, which at that time was
a group of four people working in development and culture. The building
work on the centre itself was not able to start before 2009 through volunteer
work and collaboration with different technical schools offering experience
in innovative methods in return for work on the eco-centre and hosting.
Instead of destroying the original building and creating ecological building
from zero they chose to renovate the building instead.
The eco-centre has four main themes: the home, energy, nutrition, and
nature and biodiversity. For example in terms of the home and construction
they are producing a panel to demonstrate all the different kinds of wood
that are in Belgium, as well as how they can be used. They would like to
always provide some of their activities for free in order to be able to reach
people who are not environmentally aware. The eco-centre also works on
having a strong link with the neighbourhood, working with them and trying
to provide an example (learning-by-doing) of ecological living.

The eco-centre has chosen very strict principles in relation to sustainability

and the local environment:
All building materials come from the local area, and the centre provides education on these
They attempt provide workshops for free as much as possible
They provide energy saving advice to citizens
Provide a model of sustainable living to the neighbourhood - for
example they have an air source heat pump, and a heating system
that consumes little energy
Activites for people with disabilities
Dry toilet service (past activity)
Photo exhibitions and video making

MAISON DE JEUNES DE HODIMONT

mjhodi@skynet.be
Rue de la Montagne 83 - 4800 VERVIERS

Target group

youth from 12 to 36

Profile of visitors

youth, half female half male, mainly with

migration background

Neighbourhood

deprived urban area, multi ethnic, mainly

split in ethnic communities which are
closed

Opening hours

free space / open space is open Monday

to Friday from 4pm to 8 pm (Friday till
9pm) additional openings for special
offers outside this time, also on weekend

Staff

3 full time employees, 4 half-time, education is diverse: teachers, social workers

educators, facilitator/animateur

FACILITIES
5 big rooms (free space with kitchen, 2 gym, room for home works)

PARTICULARITIES
The MJ tries to develop special offers, which guarantee gender mix
(oriental dance, female self defence etc). Selection of the activities is
realised also by the initiative of the youth and to motivate them to be
actively involved in the process.
150 registered annual members, which pay 5 Euro per year; member
card is not obligatory, it tries to make closer connection between YC
and visitors.
Some offers are developed by youth or with them, some are provided
by staff. They are selecting subjects of activities related with the local
reality, the life in the neighbourhood, social subjects.

OFFICIAL REGULATIONS
4 year plan need to be done based on evaluation of past 4 years
Director and basic stuff of youth centre is paid directly by French community, other cofundings from region and other sources.

MORE
The youth centre was found 35 years ago by young people. After several
years it was accepted by the government as official youth centre.

BIJ BUREAU INTERNATIONAL JEUNESSE

BIJ is a service of the Federation of Wallonia and Brussels (French speaking
parts of Belgium) for managing different international programmes of
non-formal education for young people from the Wallonia and Brussels
region who dont have possibilities to travel.
18 rue du commerce 1000 Bruxelles
https://www.facebook.com/LEBIJ/
https://www.lebij.be/
https://www.youtube.com/user/bijfwb/
bij@cfwb.be

EXAMPLES OF BIJ
PROGRAMMES
NATIONAL
AXES SUD

FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

Between 13 and 35 years-old
Residents of Wallonia and Brussels
Who are involved in the projects

common projects with francophone

African countries

QUEBEC

individual or common projects with Canada

TREMPLIN JEUNES

financial support for learning a foreign

language or make an internship in Europe

ARTICHOK

WHY?
Linguistic immersion
Professional experience
Volunteering
Group projects
Exchange of good practices
Other ideas

aid for allowing young artists to participate

to festivals, exploration missions or trainings
abroad

ENTRECHOK
aid for supporting young people who have
an entrepreneurial project to develop or
promote her activity abroad

CITOYEN DEUROPE
supporting projects (meetings or trainings)
on the future of Europe

INTERNATIONAL
EURODYSE
supporting projects (meetings or trainings)
on the future of Europe

ERASMUS+

financial aid for individual projects (EVS)

HOW TO APPLY?
Have a project idea
Discuss it with BIJ, who will direct and guide you to an adequate
programme for your idea
Make the application
Apply to BIJ

Your file gets to a commission

Your application is assesed based on formal criteria
Your application is accepted or rejected. In case it is rejected,
the BIJ team can help you reassess the application

Your application is selected

You receive the terms of payment of the grant
The adventure begins!
Detailed report at the end

LA BARAKA
https://www.labaraka.be/
https://www.facebook.com/barakaasbl/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBYBVGm50b4LABKKFChSd5w

Wednesday morning we visited La Baraka. During our visit which included a tour through the house we had the opportunity to speak to the (social) workers in order to get an insight into their daily work.
La Baraka is a youth centre focussed on the work with (young) migrants.
It was opened 54 years ago as a church charity centre. The organisation
owns the house, so they don't have to pay any money for rent and it is
funded mostly by the state. La Baraka counts as a category 1 facility
which means they offer more than 17 different activities a year and have
regular opening times. They also get money by writing requests for projects. At the moment around 13 people are working in the youth centre.
Their activities are targeted towards different (social) groups. They work
mostly with youngsters but also with unemployed adults in order to help
them to develop some skills. They're trying to keep the gender balance.
Their weekly projects contain a homework school, a variety of creative
activities (e.g. art graphics), computer (science) lessons, sportive activities
(e.g. dancing, boxing, mini foot), teaching of the French language and
music workshops (e.g. guitar lessons, percussion) in the youth centre.
Apart from that they help unemployed people to find a job for example by
supporting them in writing their CV or helping by writing contracts. For this
they have many contacts to employer. The offers are aimed at different age
groups as well. For example they offer a weekly boxing-workshop for kids
aged 8 to 14 years and a second workshop for kids older than 14 years.
The workshops are tailored to the needs of the youngsters and the
resources the workers have in the centre. People can be members of the
youth centre. They have to pay a membership fee (for example 30 a year
for the boxing workshop, 10 a year for the homework school and 5 for
a regular membership). At the moment they have around 300 members.

The youth centre is located in a really good position of the town because
there are 10 schools around. They don't need to advertise themselves very
much because the people around know the youth centre really well. It's
size is about 300 squaremeters. They have a creative room, a computer
room, a sportroom and a big room with a blackboard, a kicker, billard, a
table, chairs and couches.
It is a youth and culture centre. Their philosophy is strongly focussed on
encouraging diversity as a set of ideas as well as a lived reality. Another
important aspect of their work is the empowerment of youngsters to
manage their life by themselves.

LEZARTS URBAINE

http://www.lezarts-urbains.be/
https://www.facebook.com/lezartsurbains/

HISTORY
The history of Lezart Urbains started in 1977, when a group of artists created the Foundation Jacques Gueux, named after an artist engaged in the
artistic life in the 1900. The objective of the foundation at the time was to
valorize urban culture. In the 90s, popular forms of expression through
multiple artistic forms have evolved considerably. Many social fractures
generated the Hip Hop movement, composed by rap, graffiti, break dance
and d.jaying.
Throughout the years, the organization has developed towards a
well-structured working group. In 2004, the foundation adopted its name
to the new social and cultural reality and called itself LEZARTS URBAINS.
Recognized by the Federation Wallonia-Brussels, the structure is a cultural
association and permanent center of education in urban culture and cultural practices.

FINANCES/FUNDS
After getting recognized by the Ministry of Culture, in the coming years, a
branch of Urban Arts was defined inside the sructure of the this main
body,being the main and the only finacial support source for the association.

ACTIONS AND ACTIVITIES

Lezart Urbains is a very active organization that operates and organizes
activities inside the social-artistic scene of the urban culture. They organize
activities such as workshops, trainings and many others, in the following
structure:
schools (no limit age): working with youth form the school. Creating
an atmosphere for interaction between teacher and pupils. Discovering the human behind the teacher.
maisons de jeunes or youths home
cultural centres: festivals through the year for the artists to express
themselves. Good technical conditions for that.
theatres
prisons PROJECT JAIL HOUSE RAP provides opportunity for the prisoners to rap. Good options to get to know the minisociety and how it
functions inside the jail.
libraries and any other cultural structures in the place.
During these educational programs, the facilitator tries to also involve
teachers and educators and make them a part of the process. This method
has been proven to have positive results in creating a link between different
levels of the education process. In the meantime, they have the opportunity
to identify and encourage youth and in which they see great potential to
become future artists.

WORKING WITH URBAN ART

Lezarts tries to stay flexible and free in its approach of urban art, understanding that urban art is not necessarily the art of the city but that of
the rejected suburban culture the culture born in the marginalized
parts of the city. The association exists since 2000, having started in a
basement. The interests generated by their events was so big that it
generated a natural drive for a better stage.
The Associations main goal is to stimulate the young people to work for
progress, to look at hip hop as an option to get out of the ghetto and to
be able to express themselves. Lezarts organizes a lot of workshops for
young people, as well as festivals throughout the year, giving artists a
chance to express themselves. Facilitators are people with a background
in Hip Hop. The Center organizes a Hip Hop dance festival for professionals, semiprofessionals as well as amateurs, and a Hip Hop jam. Lezarts
considers hip hop to be a professional art and not a subculture. They
also organize projects for people with disabilities.

HERRMUTT LOBBY

https://herrmuttlobby.com/
https://www.facebook.com/pg/herrmuttlobby/about/
https://soundcloud.com/herrmutt-lobby
https://twitter.com/herrmutt?lang=en

Herrmutt Lobby is a collective of electronic musicians and programmers.

Making tunes since 2003, playing live since 2005, their first EPs were
released in 2006. Separately, the members of the Herrmutt Lobby have
had numerous releases on various labels [DUB, Studio !K7, PuZZling, La
Madame Avec Le Chien, Thin Consolation] since 1997.
With Herrmutt Lobby there are no loops, no sequences, no backing tracks,
no groove machines. Their primary objective is to develop both hardware
and software aimed at performing live. Their devices are intended for
direct interpretation, producing movement-driven music in real time. Their
live sets have gained them a solid reputation everywhere theyve played:
France, Belgium, Germany, Scotland, Estonia, Lithuania, Croatia, Hungary,
Austria and the Netherlands.
Their patches and devices - known to do more with less - have been
widely acclaimed by the musical community at large. Their Beat Fader
was recommended by the Ableton Sound Design team for Max for Lives
Featured Devices, and was covered in an article in Sound & Recording
Japan. A famous distortion pedal simulator and a circular percussion
patch for PS2 joystick are planned for the end of 2011.
Herrmutt Lobby does mastering for artists like 1000 Names, Yoggy One,
Cupp Cave, Back & Forth, and Squeaky Lobster, and labels such as Eklektik
Records, Thin Consolation, Vlek, Meakusma, Error Broadcast, or Akamusic.

An EP with MC Gajah [Acid Reign] is currently in the works, as is the follow-up album to their Hunter album with Non Genetics [Shadow Huntaz]
released in 2009. A live take of their Spacefunk for two joysticks will
also be released shortly on a split 7 on Vlek, the video of which is already
available on YouTube.
Since 2003 Herrmutt Lobby runs workshops. In 2011 they will once again
team up with Meakusma to propose workshops focusing on live electronic
interpretation and the conception of personalised midi controllers. Herrmutt Lobby are also a part of the Bretzel Zoo collective, along with Cupp
Cave, Richard Colvaen, Chantal Goret and Dalcym.

MJ "Thier in Lige"
https://www.facebook.com/mj.thier
302 Boulevard ERNEST SALVOY 4000, Lige

MJ Thier has three concrete axes:

Welcome/Reception
Activity
Project

The philosophy of the youth center is based around pluralism, as the

center welcomes young people without social, political, cultural, economic, gender or religious discrimination. The center brings rules, a
framework (supervision) in order to bring a sense of community better
to live together , focused on the neighborhood. The activities offered by
the center aim at fostering a maximum of participation of the young
people and are designed to encourage the doing of thungs in a commited
way.
The building in which MJ Thier functions belongs to the municipality of
Lige. The MJ was created in 1980 as a "community center", and only
later became a MJ. The district is a popular, multicultural district and
"green" as a small village. It has (more or less) 4000 inhabitants. One of
the In the set up projects, the MJ requires some commitment.
To summarize it, the general idea of MJ Thier is:

The youth center applies its philosophy for the purpose of young people
becoming CRACS (citizen, person in charge, asset (active person), critical
and united) and also having continuity in mind, so young people can in a
near or distant future also contribute to the improvement of society.

MISSION
MJ: studios (workshops), welcome (reception), activities, give box
SAM: structure musical (musical service (department) of action
(share)), connected to the network of infrstrucure and musical activities in MJ (www.mj-music.be).
COEDUCATION (MIXING): The project began 8 years ago. The head of
this project is Laura. The project is a collective which involves 9 MJ of
the region Ligeoise. In the first stage, the objective of this project is
to ensure that the girls from the district find their place in the MJ and
are encouraged to actively participate in the projects of the various
MJ, which is not the case now because boys appropriate a significant
part of these activities. In order to achieve this, once a week, reception in the MJ is exclusively reserved for girls. Having in mind a long
lasting project, the objectives are chrnologically planned to first
achieve coeducation (mixing of boys and girls in youth centers activities) and secondly to ensure the constant presence of female facilitators in youth centers.
RADIO WEB: this project is based on a podcast on subjects chosen by
young people, which serves a double purpose: to reach as many
people as possible, and to give young people the opportunity of
expressing themselves.
In MJ Thier, the musical infrastructure holds an important place with a
control room, two rehearsal rooms, a recording studio and a big ammount
of musical equippment giving young people the opportunity to express
themselves through music.
The MJ is also involved in the life of the district with diverse annual parties
(holidays) such as the Soup Festival, the parking day, the big fire (light).
The regulation of internal order embodies the spirit of the MJ. Based on a
model Qubecquoi where rules are clearly described in order to avoid any
ban.

INSTITUT PROVINCIAL D'ENSEIGNEMENT DE PROMOTION SOCIALE

(IPES PROVINCIAL INSTITUTE OF TEACHING OF SOCIAL PROMOTION)

IPEPS is an adult public school which teaches technologies and socials.

The school has many specialties like computer, automatics, electrics, education, social work, etc. School uses Bologna frame work.For professors
they choose people who are really devoted, and who give their heart and
mind to their students.
Higher education organized by IPEPS Verviers result in obtaining the
bachelor title in electromechanical, IT management, and education specialized in psycho-educational support. In the field of computing, the
institute also organizes entry operator sections (lower secondary level)
and computer technician and office (upper secondary level), which constitute a complete computer science with the bachelor. The property also
offers quite a number of technical training.
First notions of this type of schooling date to 1964. School as an institution exists from 1991. Today, school hosts around 1000 students annually.
One of the bachelor titles is for educator but it is interesting that there is
no law background for an educator title. This problem is manifested in impairment in community work. As for the community service, school
doesnt explicate any conventions with institutions and employer but they
create many possibilities for students to find a job after school, using their
own connection, friend etc.

Age range differs from 21 to 60. The school opens an opportunity for students who didnt have their high school diploma. Fee costs are around
200 per year, but it depends on social situation. So its possible for student to get schooled for free if its unemployed. Foreign students pay biggest fee, but in school they dont know how much it costs because no one
applies. They dont follow exact statistic about how many students passes
exams.
School uses only French as a language. But for students who came from
abroad school organizes first alphabetization in French. Those students
usually are refugees (Syria, Afghanistan, etc.). Students spend around 8
hours a day in school and around 600 hours per year
IPEPS is not just formal school, its a place where students create connections, interactions, because a lot of students come from abroad, and they
have possibility to get to know each other better, respect each other, and
promote interculturality and non discrimination, respecting human rights.
Advantage of IPEPS approach is that its open for all students that show
great interest and motivation regardless of their formal schooling background. With this approach the school actually behaves as a community
service. Students of socials have opportunity to practice in community
while studying, to create and check new and innovative educational program under professors mentorship, and to try out different job possibilities in their field of study.
Adult education in day or evening in the fields:

IPEPS

Bachelor Programe

SOCIAL

TECHNIC
INDUSTRIAL

IT

electricity,
maintenance
worker in
electro-welding,
electro BA

data entry clerk,

office technician,
computer
technician,
computer BA

teacher secondary
school teacher
and BA

LA ZONE
http://www.lazone.be/
https://www.facebook.com/WelcomeToLaZone

La Zone is an experimental art youth center helping young people in

organizing activities they want to develop. La Zone is working for all the
young people that cant find their place in other youth centers, which
also helps in creating the opportunity for informal meetings between differecent young people, through activities. La Zone was started by a group
of punks and theatre company, and functions in a former clothes factory
in Liege. La Zone is an antifascist place that supports tolerance and acceptance as a sustainable approach, taking responsibility and keeping
communication on the topic, but without judgement and with respect.
The center also has an open and caring attitude towards young people
dealing with drug issues. The center is supported by the state.

TARGET GROUP: La Zone is open for people 18 and above. They currently have about 50 young people, who are also involved in helping
running the activities of the center
THE CENTER is open from September to June (in August, a renovation
is organized, together with volunteers)
THE TEAM: currently composed of 6 members; the organization
needs a boss, but all six members of the team deal with technical
aspects of: financial management, art management, bar management; the team always attempts to take demorcatic decisions; moreover, there is no official youth worker in the staff.
ACTIVITIES: The center has a space for concerts, there is a stage for
Slam Poetry, cabaret, theatre, coreography, etc. Since recently, the
center also has places for guest artists to sleep. They also have a
printing workshop (each month, a different volunteer is engaged in
creating the graphics for the events. The Center hosts about 220
events in a year. Every month, a big dinner is organized and anybody
can subscribe to be a volunteer.

COLLECTIF TU MINTEREST
Collectif tu m'inter'est works with 14 MJs from Liege region, made 10
years ago to respond to common problems related to smaller community issues of diversity, cooperation and oportunities in smaller towns,
to treat common problems
Territorially members are close, have meetings one per month and
have 4 to 5 joint activities per year with youth
Activities relate to intercultural exchange to achieve better mixity and
understanding, trough learning about various cultures trough sports
activities, intercultural evenings, cooking, music, visits to other MJs
etc....
Mobility of young people is important goal of this network
Network is also use to support staff of MJs
Collectif tu m'inter'est works with 14 MJs from Liege region, made 10 years
ago to respond to common problems related to smaller community issues
of diversity, cooperation and oportunities in smaller towns, to treat
common problems

INTERNATIONAL LEVEL OF FMJ ACTIVITY - Federation des Maisons

de Jeunes en Belgique francophone

www.fmjbf.org (international network section)

Valerie Hebrant, v.hebrant@fmjbf.org

Board members (coordinators of MJs) wanted to expand capacities

and resources for activity on international level.
Activity is directed to sharing information about possibilities for MJs
and staff (seminars, projects, calls, educational programs, finding
partners, consultations during development of publications, people to
people communication).

Second important direction is dissemination of project results

through social media and web sites, ways of finding partners, contacting external partners.
Support in administrative and logistical issues of international activities ( visas, travel information...).
Network projects with network members (activity to promote participation of youth in international issues such as European elections,
responding to the specific situations such as refugee crises, meaning that network is interested in international issues, not only international projects.
Current project is directed on refugee groups situated on "Cale"
jungle, on the border between Belgium and UK. This project has 3
elements: informingthe network members on the situation, encourage cooperation between refugee centres and MJs with the network
helping in "keeping the doors open form MJs", and concrete action
"Backpack operation" as an initiative that came from young people
themselves.
Network also organised political campaign to address the need of
youngsters from refugee centres to have access to MJs, summer
camps, excursions etc....
Network has regular meetings, with one person from FMJ
coordinating
External partners are selected based on the needs of network
activity
Trainings for Youth workers are organised by the network, along with
developed tools to expand on international activities
EVS is a potentially useful resource that hasn't been used enough
with possibility to be more promoted
Annual assembly meetings are held, and there is an estimation that
about 80% of members actively contributes to the work of the network.

MJ Music Network
This network is gathering 60 different MJs from French community of Belgium. Around 15 of it are constantly active. It is managed by 3 staff persons, one at full time contract other two at half time contracts.MJ music
have web page www.mj-music.be where are available many information
at it pages database (available at French only). Database contains information about MJs from network, music events, spaces description,
events lists from member in MJs.
As other activity MJ network implementing workshops for sound engineers with youngsters at different levels so they will be able to improve
themselves from amateurs to the professionals: introduction to equipment, using of the equipment, practice live with the bands but without
audience and as the final step event with the same band but this time
with the audience. Addition to it are new workshops for repairing of the
equipment. With young people staff of MJ music repairing and making
professional cables for music while staff only repairing broken professional equipment received as the donation and distribute it to the MJs
which are network members.
Work with MJs is also visible in the work with MJs animators by providing
them also with trainings for sound engineers so every MJ will have professional person who will work with MJ users.
From the schools of applied learning for sound engineers MJ sound also
hosting and educating practically students at internships.
MJ network is also developing affordable tools for young artists and
youth centres for professional usage of light at stage (both hardware and
software).