GROW – the nationwide youth development program represents a long term non-formal educational engagement designed to improve the quality of education in Romania. Organized in partnership with AIESEC, the GROW program addresses the population of high-school students in Romania (age 14-18). Through the GROW program the high-school students of some of the largest 15 cities in Romania (University centres) (Arad, Brasov, Bucuresti, Cluj, Craiova, Constanta, Iasi, Galati, Oradea, Pitesti, Ploiesti, Sibiu, Suceava, Targu Mures, Timisoara) can follow a complementary four-year educational cycle. For each year of their non-formal “studies” (GROW experiences) the curriculum is designed to address key needs of the development of the teenager participants. The organizing concepts were heavily tested for the last 6 years by the organizers, whilst 2010 being the mega-pilot year focused on Project Product Development. This process concluded with: - 80 hours of educational content and session outlines were created, implemented and evaluated for 4 different development phases of participants: grade IX, grade X, grade XI, grade XII. - 8 national conferences were organized for preparing the local project managers and the international trainers taking part in the program. - We tested the organization of the project at national level running simultaneously in 12 cities of Romania. - More than 60 international trainers were selected and trained from more than 15 countries to train the youth of Romania The results were astonishing. GROW had its logistical challenges but the demand for such a project is massive. The feedback received from participants, international trainers, parents and teachers gives us all the reasons to continue organizing the project for a minimum of next 5 years (as initially envisioned).



(Der vorstehende Text gibt die von den Projektträgern selbst erstellte Zusammenfassung ihres Wettbewerbsbeitrags zum Europäischen Jugendkarlspreis 2011 wieder.)