Romania’s Tourist Guides Association
Str. Agricultori, No. 109, Apt. 1, Sector 2, postal code 021485, Bucharest, Romania
 Phone: 0040 727 420 109/ 0040 744 935 537
E-mail: proiecte@ghiziiromaniei.ro/ office@ghiziiromaniei.ro
Web: www.ghiziiromaniei.ro/ www.montaniada.ro

INFO PACK

Multilateral Youth Exchange Project
“Respect the nature…respect yourself!”

07/13 November 2011
National Park “Piatra Craiului”, Romania

       Dear partners and friends,
We have the pleasure to announce you that our project “Respect the nature…respect yourself!” has been approved. The purpose of the project is to reveal the importance of environmental protection for the sustainable development. Nowadays, people have created a life style which became a burden for nature. We all enjoy the confort of the modern life without thinking of its pressure on the environment so that the nature has to pay now the price of our facts.
The participants will have the chance to learn the significance of the biodiversity concept, how to respect and experience the nature together, while discussing environmental issues, doing outdoor activities and learning in an intercultural environment. The project will stimulate young people to learn from each other, to be active together, to work as a team and having to rely on each other, creating a consciousness of intercultural differences and similarities.
The project has the following objectives:
•	Create environmental awareness among youth, by involving them in ecological activities;
•	Empower the environmental capacity of youth through activating and acquainting them with their natural environment and methods to protect it;
•	Create environmental leaders who can pass on their knowledge and behavior to others in their countries; 
•	Promote a healthy life style through sport and outdoor activities as an alternative of spending free time, ecouraging interaction between youngsters;
•	Promote active citinzenship amoung young people in the local activity regarding environmental issues;
•	Create a friendly ambiance so as the young will understand and respect the multicultural dimension and will contribute to the social unity of Europe; spending time together and forming mixed teams will give the the participants the opportunity to  understand diffrent way and learn to be tolerant with persons of different cultures and needs.

We look forward to meet you in Romania in order to experience the nature together !

For any other details and information don’t hesitate to contact us at the coordinates above!

Romania’s Tourist Guides Association (ATGR)

The project can be described as it follows:

Title: “Respect the nature…respect yourself!”
Duration: 07/13 November 2011 (7 days without the arrival and the departure day)
Place: National Park “Piatra Craiului” – Gura Raului Chalet
We selected this site not just because it is an important wildlife area, but it also serves as an ecological corridor linking different parts of the Carpathians, while allowing wild animals to migrate unhindered by almost along the southern mountain range. National Park is a natural bridge, long and narrow limestone ridge, dense forests and clean. The outstanding rich flora, including the species Dianthus callizonus - unique in the world, the wild fauna including the chamois and the large carnivores - the symbol of unaltered nature - which have disappeared from most of the European countries, the traditional lifestyle in the areas neighbouring the massif, all of these and much more form the complex diversity of the Piatra Craiului National Park.

***

For the accommodation the host team, ATGR will book the chalet Gura Raului, which is located at the base of Piatra Craiului Mountain. With a capacity of 60 places in rooms with 2, 3 or 4 beds and a restaurant with 100 places, this chalet represent the departure point for several mountain trails. The staff from the chalet will assure full board for all the participants (breakfast, lunch and dinner) and also they will prepare sandwiches and cold food for the days when we will have outdoor activities. The transport from Bucharest to the chalet will be made by coaches rented from Bucharest by ATGR.

Who are we?
Romania’s Tourist Guides Association (ATGR) was founded in 2007 and its main objectives are environmental protection, promotion of ecotourism and eco culture, sports as healthy lifestyle. Members are young persons, who have that desire to create a better future in a clean environment.

Projects:
•	planting trees;
•	waste collection in different mountain ranges and green spaces in major cities;
•	Mountain School - an educational program for young people to the fifth edition, designed to inspire them a civic and environmental conduct;
•	Montaniada - mobilizing youth! - an event which brings together young lovers of the mountain and of nature, and gives them the chance to exchange experience by participating at team mountain games. This year the event gathered more than 1,000 young people, and the number of participants is increasing year by year;
•	sport and outdoor activities for young people in Bucharest’s park and green spaces. The scope of the project was to promote amoung teenagers outdoor activities even if they are done in urban space. 

We have experience in managing large groups of people, especially youngsters, knowing psycho-pedagogical characteristics and age specific issue which the young people nowadays are facing with.

We want to host an intercultural exchange in which the youngsters participate. We believe this experience of making contact with other cultures will be beneficial for all the participants and association members, offering them an enhanced perspective on the future.

We are very motivated to complete the project proposed because ATGR has experience in environmental issues and is actively implicated in promoting among young people an eco-civic attitude, ecotourism, sustainable development and at the same time a healthy condition through outdoor activities. Our strategy is to take part at youth programs in order to upgrade our experience and to put together youngsters from different countries. Thus, this project could be the first one from a long series of this kind that we would like to implement in the future to reach our long-term strategy.

The profile of the participants

The participants in the project have been chosen considering the following criteria: 
•	aged between 18 and 25 years;
•	actively involved in the field of youth work;
•	to be prepared to present their own organisation to the other participants in the project;
•	to be highly motivated to actively participate in the whole project;
•	to contribute to the development of the future projects.
AT LEAST ONE PERSON FROM EACH GROUP SHOULD BE ABLE TO SPEAK ENGLISH IN A FLUENT WAY!!!

For the moment, the composition of the teams is the following:
Country of residence 	Total number of young people	Name of the promoter	Distribution by gender	Distribution by age group	
			M	F	13-14	15-17	18-25	26-30	
Hungary	5	“Uton” Ifjusagi – Kulturalis Egyesulet	2	3			X		
Poland	5	European Association of Young Regionalists	3	2			X		
Slovakia	5	People to People	2	3			X		
Lithuania	4	The Union of thePolish in Lithuania Youth group “Studium”	2	2			X		
Romania	6	Touristic Association “Romania Guides”	3	3			X		

*** The project involves 3 young people with fewer opportunities: 2 people from Poland who have economical problems and 1 people from Romania who faces social obstacles.

Advanced Planning Visit

The Advance Planning Visit, organized by ATGR, will take place in Bucharest in the period 07/09.10.2011. It will gather 1 person from each country involved in the project (the team leaders chosen individually by each country). First day is the arrival day, the second day is dedicated to discussions and in the third day, the group leaders will leave Romania. 
The participants will be picked-up from the airport by ATGR members; also ATGR will assure the accommodation and the meals for the participants at APV. 

During the visit, the group leaders will establish the responsabilities for each organization, travel details, will define the programme of the exchange activity, and common rules for the exchange activity. The agenda proposed for APV meeting is:
-	short presentation of ATGR and partners organization (5 minutes for each partner);
-	presentation of the project: objective, activities, learning opportunities for participants, tasks;
-	presentation of the project team;
-	presentation of each partner organization of their expectations from the project and the selection of the participants;
-	risk management;
-	discussions about visibility of the project, dissemination of the results and evaluation of the project;
-	activity agreement and budget;
-	questions and suggestions.

During the advanced planned visit an agreement between the pro-motor and the partners organizations will be signed. The agreement will include the objectives, activities, responsibilities of each organization involved and a commitment to the safety and welfare of the young people. Another result of this meeting will be a code of conduct regarding the promotion of the chance equality regardless race, sex, ethnicity, nationality, sustainable development, active aging.

Don’t forget to bring with you!
Personal stuff:
•	shoes for trekking;
•	clothes suitable for trekking;
•	raining coats;
•	backpack;
•	personal hygienically products and towels.

For the activities:
•	photos about flora, fauna, ecological damages, 
•	presentations about the traditional habits and symbols of your culture;
•	photo cameras;
•	laptops (1 per group);
•	flashlights;
•	documents, leaf-lets about your organization;
•	music from your country (on CDs);
•	traditional costumes;
•	national legends about natural elements (ex.: tree, flower, animal, place in the nature);
•	traditional food, local drinks;
•	traditional dances;
•	a flag and info about your culture and country.

Very important: don’t forget your airplane tickets, your return boarding cards and personal ID (passport, identity card).
The arrival day will be 06.11.2011 (in Bucharest) and the departure day is 14.11.2011. All the participants will be accompanied on their way from/to the airport by ATGR members.
*** You can take Euro or dollar with you and then you can change them into Romanian lei at Bucharest.  

Of course, the most important thing is not to forget at home your enthusiasm to learn and try new things and also to share your experience with the others!

Necessary information when traveling in Romania!
•	Romania is a democratic republic, member of European Union since 2007;
•	Climate is temperate-continental and the time zone is GMT+2;
•	The official language is Romanian (descendant of Latin), but most of the youngsters speak English also;
•	The main religion is Orthodox, followed by Protestant and Roman-Catholic; 
•	Sunday is officially free day in the entire country;
•	As currency, Romania has Leu, also known as RON; 1 Euro = ~ 4,2 RON;
•	In the cities, there are many ATMs and exchange centers; the main credit card types are accepted in most of the big hotels and restaurants from the country;
•	!!! Please note that at Gura Raului Chalet you cannot pay for your extra-services by credit card or Euro, only with Romanian Lei. 
About the transport:
•	Romania has a relatively dense road system, but not very advanced; 
•	Railway transport is quite cheap;
•	The biggest international airports are in Bucharest: ‘Henri Coanda’ and ‘Aurel Vlaicu’;
•	Bucharest has a very dense transport system (RATB) which includes: tramway, trolley and bus, and also the subway (metro); the program of transport means is permanently during the day (from 05:00 AM till 23:00 PM), and during the night there are buses which leave the center to every part of the city hourly;
•	The rate for 1 travel is less that 0,5 euro in the city, and about 1 euro from the airport to the city center.

Don’t forget!
•	Emergency number: 112
•	Mountain rescue: (004)0725826668 (press on the phone keybord the word 0SALVAMONT)

* * All the participants in “Respect the nature…respect yourself” exchange will have the chance to get their Youthpass Certificate provided by Youth in Action programme. You can get more information about that on the website: http://www.youthpass.eu/en/youthpass/