

THE VALE COURSE 2023
The Value-driven Advanced LEadership (VALE) Course 2023 was a training course for 20 youth workers and leaders aged 18-30 in the nonprofit sector to focus on developing their leadership skills and organised by youth for youth. The course was made possible with support from the Norwegian Children and Youth Council (LNU).
The course was conducted using non-formal education methodology as well as various activities and methods specifically developed by the VALE trainer team.
The Idea
Advanced leadership training -
By Youth for Youth
In today's world, leadership extends beyond the ability to guide others, it demands an understanding of personal values and self-leadership. This belief recognises that each individual possesses the potential to influence change, reaching beyond their immediate circle into broader communities and spheres of influence.
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In our mission to support this, we at The VALE are committed to equipping youth workers with the necessary tools and networks to harness their potential. This process hinges on developing the personal leadership, built on an individual’s understanding, abilities, and attitudes towards leading themselves and others. We aim to bring our participants with us on a profound learning journey to better understand and develop their leadership skills, to help them grow into the value-driven leaders of tomorrow.
The target group of the course were young volunteer leaders representing a youth organisation. The course strived to have a diverse applicant pool and to have a balanced group of participants in terms of gender, background, and experience.
The Participants
24 young leaders
from 11 countries
The target group of the VALE Course was young volunteer leaders, working in capacities such as regional volunteer coordinators, youth support persons, or educational leaders. The applications we received were of high quality providing a selection pool of motivated youth workers with leadership experience within a variety of groups or settings, both in their volunteer work and often within other communities or jobs.
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In total, the course had 24 participants. We had initially planned for 18 participants. However, once the project started, we received a large interest from both project partner organisations and other youth organisations to have some additional participants. Thus, in the end, we created six additional participant slots.
The Activities
Yes, it's a 9-day residential training course in a rural Norwegian forest - and much more!
Preparatory tasks
We engaged our participants with mandatory preparatory tasks to reflect on their ideas of leadership and values before the course to kickstart the process.
The VALE Symposium
We met in Norway to kick off the VALE Course with a bang - through participating in-person in the VALE Symposium taking place in Oslo.
The VALE Course
We met in Norway for an intensive and immersive leadership experience that challenged participants to re-examine the way they see themselves and the world.
The Follow-up Period & the Virtual Assembly
To reinforce learnings, it was time to experiment: try out newly acquired skills at studies, work, and volunteering commitments. We met for a virtual assembly 7 weeks after the end of the course to wrap up the course.
The Evaluations
Text to be added after the closing of the project and the processing of the Post-Course Assessment in late Spring / early Summer 2024.
A summary
TESTIMONIALS
The Team
By young people,
for young people
In addition to being experienced youth workers and leaders in their own right, all five trainers (aged 25-30) were experienced NFE (non-formal education) trainers and facilitators:
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Riikka Pasanen
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Erik Sundberg
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Trine Tamm
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Tulle Mouridsen
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Louisa Richter
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Additionally, the team enlisted the help Sanni Granqvist to support with social media.
Kista Kallavus, originally from Estonia but having lived in Norway for several years, participated as our chef for on-site in Hallingdal.
For the Symposium, multiple people from the leadership team of Global Shapers Oslo were also involved.
The Funder

The VALE Course 2023 was financially supported by the Norwegian Children and Youth Council (LNU).
They are an umbrella organisation for 102 different Norwegian children and youth organisations. Their member organisations are democratic and voluntary, and they represent a vast diversity of activities and interests.