THE VALE COURSE 2025
The Value-driven Advanced LEadership (VALE) Course 2025 was a training course for 23 young leaders in the nonprofit sector to focus on developing their leadership skills.
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The course was made possible with support from Erasmus+ and Youth For Understanding Norway.
The Idea
Advanced leadership training -
By Youth for Youth
The VALE Course 2025 was a transformative six-week leadership programme designed for 23 young international leaders in the non-profit sector. This unique journey featured two immersive in-person modules – Module 1 in the serene landscapes of France and Module 2 in the vibrant settings of Estonia – taking place in early 2025, with a pivotal one-month long virtual component connecting these experiences.
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We aimed to bring our participants with us on a profound learning journey to better understand and develop their leadership skills, to help them become more aware, skilled, and value-driven leaders ready to tackle the challenges of tomorrow.
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We were breaking the mould of traditional leadership training by focusing on immersive, impactful learning. This course was designed to challenge you, pushing you out of your comfort zone to not only refine your leadership skills but also to gain a profound understanding of the values that drive you. Ultimately, we sook to empower you to lead with a larger confidence and purpose, both in your volunteer work and in shaping the broader world around you.​
The Activities
The VALE 2025 consisted of two leadership retreat modules in Estonia and France.
Preparatory tasks
We engaged participants with mandatory preparatory tasks in the months leading up to the first module to reflect on ideas of leadership and values to kickstart the process.
The first in-person module
Wednesday–Sunday (4 days)
19–23 February 2025
We met in France for an intensive and immersive leadership experience that challenged participants to re-examine the way they see themselves and the world.
Experimential module
To reinforce learnings, we sent the participants to experiment: trying out newly acquired skills at studies, work, and volunteering commitments.
The second in-person module
Monday–Saturday (5 days)
24–29 March 2025
We met in Estonia to continue our journey together, having gained valuable insights while experimenting.
The follow-up period
Becoming a part of the alumni network and following up on individual action plans for continuous learning.
The Participants
23 young people ready to level up their leadership skills
The target group of The VALE is 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 Team
By young people,
for young people
In addition to being experienced youth workers and leaders in their own right, all trainers (aged 26-32) will be experienced NFE (non-formal education) trainers and facilitators:
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Elisabeth Markert (DE)
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Riikka Pasanen (FI)
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Konstantin Pelz (DE)
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Louisa Richter (DE)
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Ieva Silickaite (LT)
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Erik Sundberg (SE)
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Talk to us at: contact (at) thevale.eu
The Funder
The VALE Course 2025 is financially supported by
Erasmus+. Thank you, European Union!
