Written Evaluation of Engaging with Youth and the World Seminar
Introduction
37 written evaluation sheets were received. The evaluations consisted of six questions
to ascertain participants experience of the seminar and to provide information that can
be used for future events. The following includes a summary of the evaluation forms.
Q1. How would you rate the following (on a scale of 1-5 with 5 being high):
Panel discussions 70% of participants rated the panel discussion as good or very
good
Workshops
81% of participants rated the workshops as good or very good
Round tables
83% of participants rated the round table discussions good or very
good
Comments:
 More interaction with panels during presentations perhaps
 Really good space to share ideas and best practices. Mixture of inputs and
interactive programme was good. Good facilitation.
 [Facilitator] made it a great experience for me. I have taken in a lot of information.
 Really enjoyed this seminar and enjoyed taking part.
 [in] the first panel, I only found practical and helpful answers from Hans [Zomer]. The
others seemed irrelevant. Second panel was better.
 Very interesting seminar
 Everything was right and well organised
 Learnt an abundance about youth and global issues
 The work felt very long
 Everything we learned was great
 Lots of new ideas. Very fast pace for people with less experience.
 [Roundtable] facilitator was great but hard to get thinking in short space of time.
Tiring!
 Great
 Really informative, relaxed atmosphere
 Well balanced between information and the correct people to answer the questions
 Day one panel discussion was not as informative. Speakers didn’t really know any
answers.
 Roundtables were very effective
 Creative workshop was great because it was different to all the discussion type stuff.
The first panel was less interesting than the second
 Workshops worked effectively because of the smaller number of people
 Panel discussion on Friday was excellent. Discussion on Thursday not so good.
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Felt round tables could achieve more. More structured, more sharing, more ideas
and ideally where all tables get to share ideas and open up to whole group
discussion for greater strategies moving forward
Good [roundtable] facilitation, sometimes dominated by a few. [funding and
participation] workshops not well planned – all useful information crammed into last
10 minutes. Panels were good. First day, first 2 panellists weren’t very
knowledgeable! Good day 2 panel.
Very high level of discussion and involvement
The first panel discussion was a bit abstract except Dóchas
Round tables excellent and helped open communication links and make friends
They were all to the expected level
Roundtables not productive – long, unfocused, stronger facilitation needed, more
multi-method would be good
Q2. Were the venue and facilities suitable?
All participants thought the venue and facilities were suitable.
Suggestions:
 The hotel was a bit out of the way. In the city centre would be better.
 Ideally healthier food
 More food options
Q3. What did you find most useful?
 The information given and the ability to ask questions
 Meeting others and sharing experiences was the most useful part of this event.
Great opportunity to share and develop ideas further.
 The wide range of speakers and panel participants and the topics they discussed
 How to address situations – I see globalisation from a different level
 Meeting and talking with other youth workers and finding out about their clubs and
organisations. Finding out about global work.
 The information, networking with others and the speakers. The interaction/ round
table was a brilliant idea, very helpful.
 That I know what you advocate for and who we should target
 Panel discussion and round table
 The information, guest speakers, handouts and presentations
 [to learn about] everyone’s background and their involvement in youth work
 Everything was really useful
 The workshop
 Lots of literature
 Diverse group of people and speakers from outside Ireland
 Clarifying the Youth in Action funding possibilities
 Funding
 Everything was necessary
 Policies, reflections, art workshop and information about youth in action
 Networking event, great for creative ideas
 Panel discussions/ speakers
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Hans Zomer [Dóchas] – would have loved to hear him tell more. Ideas on where to
go from here – how to make improvements in my work i.e. checklist on global
connections of my work.
Meeting new people
Workshops, round tables, networking with people of similar age and interests and
sitting with same group at round tables
Booklets and handouts, workshops and food
Discussion on development education on Friday. Presentation by EACEA was also
excellent.
Changing the mind of young people in Ireland and elsewhere
Everything – contacts, knowledge, broadening support structures
Networking, utilising participants’ knowledge and experiences, high level of
interaction and discussions
Round table discussions and debate
Speaking to other people in youth work
The discussions and the round table
The round table when everyone was talking to each other
Meeting other people working in youth work and deved. Discuss difficulties and
share information.
Michele [Grombeer’s] talk and information about action 3.2. Comments by Hans
Zomer and Matthias Fiedler.
Meet a lot of people with different experiences
Workshops and having the opportunity to share experience with people have done
youth exchanges etc.
Q4. What did you find least useful?
 The presentations
 Some information not very relevant from certain people
 The constant struggle against the clock interrupted much of the discussion – less
packed timetable needed
 Some of the speakers were a great help but I started to lose interest after a while
 [First panel speakers] weren’t practical enough, I felt. Youth work is very practical.
 I find everything was useful
 Workshops
 Time was an issue – needed more for round tables
 Everything useful
 Panel discussions
 Very large topics for round tables
 Nothing and all great speakers
 Round tables confusing
 Time
 When 3 people were on panel, it was a bit dragged out
 Religious imagery at the location
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Perhaps too focused on details of Youth in Action as all of the information is easily
available. More ideas on how to apply Youth in Action to project ideas would be
great.
Evening activities could have been more inspiring. Art, music, film, something about
global issues? A film screening about some youth work or global issue and a
discussion?
The power point presentation about Youth in Action on Friday
Q5. If you had to highlight one thing to take away, what would it be?
 The idea we came up with in the creative arts workshop
 The [European] Youth Strategy tree [diagram] and the whole teaching global issues
through fun mediums
 More knowledge and ideas from interaction with other youth workers
 Creative arts workshop generated some practical ideas, and good discussion, that I
will use again
 Funding. I will continue to look at funding for myself. Also I will introduce [my
organisation] to new connections I have met.
 Knowledge of interlinking with other organisations – ideas about helping youth with
knowledge of global issues. Exchange opportunities.
 Many relevant contacts in development education areas. More awareness of how to
access funding. A greater understanding of how to involve young people in global
issues.
 Practical and interactive discussions at round tables
 Know a few people/ organisations to go to for help with volunteering
 Better understanding of development education
 Round table of first day
 Development Education – how it is better needed to be involved more in schools
 Information! Access to funding ideas – and just as important, an idea/vision of a
broader EU strategy
 Only one?! Clarity of information from Michele [Grombeer] on action 3.1 etc.
 The support available to youth groups highlighted by the programme. Also the
contacts that were made.
 To have lots of discussions and workshops when organising a conference
 I liked the discussions but a bit more activity would have been useful
 The need to engage in Development Education
 How to raise awareness of young people
 Focus on policy and funding frameworks, more directive links for study and
research. Renewed faith in EU, new contacts and networks with like minded people.
More insight into supporting organisations.
 Info on European Youth Strategy, funding opportunities, project opportunities, new
resources
 Mainstreaming development education in all youth work
 Open discussion
 Information on exchange and volunteering abroad through EVS
 Raising awareness and promoting cooperation between youth workers globally
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The exchange when one or two children go to a different country
More knowledge about Youth in Action
4 contacts made to groups, especially new/migrant groups. Interesting to meet other
people who do lots of Development Education and facilitation.
Energy to get involved. A lot of ideas.
Q6. What could have been different?
 It is good at it is even though it didn’t fulfil my expectations. I loved things I didn’t
expect to which is great.
 Add more ice breaking games
 Give people a choice of what workshops they would like to attend and give them
some more information about the workshops prior to them to ensure relevant to
people
 Since this was a residential event, the evening activities could have been better
organised. I don’t feel I gained much from staying over.
 No. It was lovely.
 Maybe not have too many speakers at once. Try to let one speak, have discussion,
let another one speak, another discussion etc.
 I guess I would like to have specific practical ways to show how the developing world
can benefit from this, rather than just young people in Ireland
 Maybe an extra day to separate out the people with less experience from those with
lots. It’s rather difficult to process all this new information based on very little
experience.
 2 full days to allow more time for discussion
 Perhaps more time to explore the possibilities
 If any speaker/ conference is interesting and there is non-planned discussion going
on, let it go, don’t stop it.
 Perhaps more educational reps from schools etc. as a lot of people mentioned
schools as a way of [disseminating] information
 Longer – another day – allow more time for participants to share experiences of their
work. Use open space methodology.
 A list of contacts for other people attending the conference. Can we have a report/
evaluation of the conference please?
 Maybe the workshops could have been more focused on how to enhance the skills
of youth workers
 The change in life of young migrant, refugee and asylum seeking people. They
deserve better life.
 More knowledgeable panellists (no waffling politicians!). Better organised
workshops. Executive summaries of useful documents beforehand.
 Could have had an organised event for the night of the 29th
 More information beforehand
 Next time have seminar for 3-4 days
 They should break it down a bit more so young people can understand it
 More practical examples of past Youth in Action projects, what areas were
addressed, what were the outcomes?
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Workshops could be targeted at different levels of previous knowledge of Youth in
Action e.g. I gained nothing new from the funding workshop as it was too basic but
still need loads more information about action 3.2
Conclusions
Overall the seminar was a success with most participants enjoying the diverse
elements. Clearly there was a general feeling that the second panel discussion was
more useful than the first one. Also people had different experiences of the workshops
depending on which two of four they attended. As ever, there were a number of
requests for more time to be allocated to the seminar in future. The participants brought
different levels of experience to the seminar and enjoyed different aspects of it
depending on their preferred learning style – some liked to receive inputs and literature,
others wanted a more interactive discussion, while others again appreciated the
learning of new skills in the workshops. In future, more structured evening activities will
be offered. It is clear from the evaluation forms that over three quarters of the
participants felt the seminar was good or very good.