In the month of June, EU TACSO 3 project organised a comprehensive training programme: “Digital and ICT Tools in the Work of Civil Society Organisations” for the CSOs in the Western Balkan and Turkey, including both basic and advanced skills needed.

The first training started on 11 June and took place in Turkish language with the participation of CSOs in Turkey and the last one was completed on 1 July, a three-day course in English with the participation of CSOs from the entire region.

A total of 4 training sessions have been organised in each of the local languages, taking place in two-days sessions from 10:00 to 13:00 hrs CET each and 1 advanced training session organized throughout three-day sessions in English.

The first training session was delivered in Turkish language from 11-12 June and 35 participants per day took place in the two-day event. The second training session was held in Bosnian/ Croatian/Montenegrin/Serbian language with a total of 28 participants in both days. The third session was conducted in Albanian language and 21 participants took part in the event during both days. The fourth session was held in Macedonian language with a total of 37 participants taking part. The last session was conducted in English. This training lasted for three days and 53 CSO representatives participated in total.

The objectives of the training programme were:

-To inform CSOs about existing online tools and how to access them;

-To provide practical knowledge and skills on the use of digital and ICT tools;

-To offer hands-on experience in the use of digital and ICT tools.

During all the sessions, the trainers used interactive and practical methods, participants learned how to use several interactive tools related to various aspects of their work in areas such as organisational management, project management, COVID-19 response, social distancing and other. According to initial feedback from participants, they appreciated the relevance and the timing of such trainings for their work and they expressed the need for EU TACSO 3 to organise further such activities in the future as well.

The video presentations for each day training sessions will be available for download on our website.

As the training segment of the support has been finalized, the participants will continue to be provided with practical support in order to be able to apply their digital and ICT skills in their work with:

-Follow-up support in the form of mentorship;

-Free of charge use of Zoom platform;

-Manuals on the use of basic digital and ICT tools in local languages.

Do follow our website and social media for the publication of the manuals in each language.

This training programme was implemented within the EU TACSO 3 Capacity Development and People to People Programme. It was organised by the EU TACSO 3 and delivered by highly experienced team of trainers of the South East European Youth Network (SEEYN).