22nd-25th November, "Back to the Future" took place at Savio House in Bollington, UK. Although the weather was wet and a little cold the participants were full of life, energy and enthusiasm to explore the idea of taking their voluntary experiences and building the future.

25 Participants from 8 countries took part. We were pleased to welcome Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, Malta, Poland, Spain and UK. Together they had volunteered across Latin America, Europe, Africa and Asia.

With these experiences they shared, contemplated and expanded on how they can continue to remain active and helping those in need. They explored the challenges young people face in their own countries. They looked at examples of local initiatives that have been set up and what kind challenges young people face. Together they formed ideas for local initiatives they could get involved with and even set up.

Active citizenship and Volunteering challenged their ideals. What does it mean to volunteer? What is active citizenship? How are they different? Working in groups they discussed their views and opinions trying to create a universal and agreed definition. Using Youth in Action and local initiative as a focal point they developed projects and ideas that they could do.

Our DBYN expert trainers from Malta (James) and Austria (Eveline and Kathi) delivered the program. With their skills, expertise and energy they enabled the participants to use their own volunteering experiences and develop new ideas for future engagement through local initiatives and with the help of Youth in Action. A BIG THANK YOU TO THE EXPERT TRAINERS

The UK Hosting team (Sue, Patrick, Ste and Marie) enjoyed Back to the Future and providing a very British service of tea, biscuits and socialising. "It was jolly good fun old chap"- Sue

Now Back to the Future has ended and the participants have left. They can now begin to engage in their local communities with some of the challenges young people face.