Building the Balkans hosted a local training visit in Kosovo within the Erasmus+ project “Capacity Building in Youth Work for Social Entrepreneurship of Youngsters with Disabilities” (SocEntYwD). The programme brought together project partners from Croatia and Serbia with the BtB team and gave space for knowledge exchange with visits to institutions and civil society organisations in Mitrovica. The focus was on understanding the local context and exploring how youth work can support the inclusion of young people with disabilities in employment, self-employment and social entrepreneurship.

A meeting with the Building the Balkans team introduced the visiting partners to the organisation’s work and its local connections. It also provided space to discuss the aims of the visit and how the exchanges could contribute to the project’s activities.

At the Center for Social Work in Mitrovica, the delegation learned about available social support services and the needs and challenges of persons with disabilities. The meeting offered insight into the role of public institutions in providing support and the importance of coordination with organisations working directly with young people and their families.

The visit to the Employment Office added an employment perspective to these discussions. Participants explored available support measures, employment and self-employment opportunities, and the barriers that can affect access to them. The exchange connected the project’s focus on social entrepreneurship with practical questions about the support young people with disabilities need to pursue their ideas and participate in working life.

Civil society perspectives were central to the programme. Representatives of the Association of the Deaf in Mitrovica shared their experiences and discussed communication barriers, accessibility and participation in community life. The meeting with NGO REC complemented these insights through discussion of research, recommendations and the broader situation of persons with disabilities in the local context.

During each visit, the delegation also introduced SocEntYwD, presenting its objectives and project outputs to the institutions and organisations involved. These exchanges provided an opportunity to discuss how the resources could support their work with young people with disabilities.

Together, these visits gave the participants and delegation an opportunity to hear directly from organisations approaching inclusion from different perspectives. Discussions within the partnership connected these local insights with experiences from Croatia and Serbia, considering their relevance to inclusive workshops, advocacy campaigns and future project activities.

The insights gathered in Kosovo will inform the next stages of SocEntYwD, particularly its work to equip youth workers with practical tools for supporting young people with disabilities in social entrepreneurship. Connecting these resources with local needs and experiences will help partners develop activities that address barriers to participation and build on the support already available in their communities.