National Training Event

National Training Events are organised for ESN Estonia's volunteers to gain improved knowledge and skillsets in different areas and for personal development. National Training event Skillbox is held once or twice a year and the event is designed on non-formal education principles. It is a 2-day training event which usually has a focus on one bigger topic. The event has a focus on networking and team building as well. The First Skillbox event was organised in 2014. The event has been growing from year to year and has switched direction from ESN-network-based training towards more professional development and everyday topics.

Participants of the event are volunteers of ESN from ESN Estonia and other countries. The event connects people from different cities. The aim of the event is to empower the ESN Estonia network through our members. Workshop tracks are designed and customised according to the applicants' wishes and expectations and delivered by a team of Trainers.

The event usually has 3-5 trainers from the ESN network, who have gone through ESN Training for Trainers program called Eduk8.

ESN Estonia invites Trainers from other ESN countries, to bring in more expertise on various topics and give quality content for our volunteers.

During the event trainers design the content, so volunteers would be able to:
- Share knowledge, and best practices and learn from each other.
- Feel motivated and encourage to share opinions and step up later on in the ESN network.
- You can use those skills outside ESN.

Participants about Skillbox - testimonials

• “I really liked Skillbox and took so much from it! Hope to participate again!”

• “Generally everything went very nicely, I am glad that I participated"

• “Thank you for the event. I really enjoyed it! I learned so many things. See you next time :) “

• “Really happy we had this event ^_^ Organising Committee and Trainers did a good job :) And it was awesome to have trainers and participants from abroad too!"

• "Interesting information, easily understandable, interactive workshops and great trainers make this event especially awesome!"

• "Amazing atmosphere, experience trainers and fun event."

• “Skillbox is like life lessons of a mindful life, but more concentrated and you go through them together with a bunch of wonderful people. Something you must attend.”

• “In only 2 days you can get and give so much that you don't even realise that.”

• “Everyone should come! Amazing experience and adventure! You will learn so much more than you already think! Great way to expand your horizon!”

• “Doesn't matter who you are and what is your background, @Skillbox you will learn something new and build up new friendships.”

• “Thank you for this amazing event. It gave me something to think about. OC and trainers were awesome, love you for your contribution and keep up good work organizing this event in the future :)”

• “Skillbox - days full of training which actually don't feel like training at all, instead could say that days full of active and fun, motivating and exciting games which actually make you learn deeply about yourself.”

• “Interesting and interactive workshops with relevant topics and good trainers were worth putting the whole weekend under it, also serves as a motivational event as I could meet many other ESNers from Estonia and from other Baltic countries. :)”

• “I loved the event! Let's make it even better next year! I never thought it will be so an awesome event with so many things to learn from it!”

Previous Skillbox events

2018 Skillbox VI "Self-empowerment"

The first day of the event focused on self-organising topics (time management, planning, productivity) and the second day on self-care (goal-setting, how to keep up with goals, energy management, stress management, empowerment of future self).

Topics of the 1st day:

• Delegating & teamwork

• Where does my time go?

• How much time do I have?

• How to be more efficent?

• How Productivite am I?

• How to be better at planning?

• What areas of life am I focusing on?

Topics of the 2nd day:

• How to manage my energy level?

• How to take care of my mental health?

• Stress relief

• What am I good at?

• How to set goals?

• How to follow up on my goals?

42 ESN members participated in the event, 11 of them were international guest from Latvia and Lithuania. Event had a content team from Baltic states (ESN Estonia, ESN Lativa, ESN Lithuania) - all together 4 people. Event focused on personal development of participants. Main aim was to focuse on better self-management. In the bigger picture it helps them to organise themselves better and bring better quality to the network.

2017 Skillbox IV "Section empowerment"

The local level expressed the need for a personal development training event, therefore in 2017, the training event didn't have one big common topic. The event had 15 participants from different sections and 4 trainers (one of them was from ESN Lithuania). Skillbox IV focused on passing knowledge about teamwork, how to develop strong teams and how to keep them. It touched upon topics like team dynamics and how they can influence working together. As a volunteer organisation, ESN is based on people skills and communication between different people and teams. Training provided participants with skills that could be used in their future projects and some tips they can always come back to. 

The event focused on the following topics:
- Leadership
- Problem Solving
- Motivation
- Group Dynamics
- Conflict Management
- Knowledge transfer

2016 Skillbox III "ESNcard and working with others

The aim of the training event was to understand the full scope of the ESNcard project and how to get the best out of it for the sections. The personal skills part focused on enhancing the image of the job market and negotiations in real-life situations. ESNcard project was a flagship project of the ESN network in 2016. We had around 15 participants (2 of them International guests) and 3 trainers (2 from Estonia, 1 from the Czech Republic).

The ESNcard is the membership card of the Erasmus Student Network. It is proof of membership in an ESN section and so indirectly of the ESN network. The ESNcard is also used as a discount card in many cities and countries around Europe. The aim of the ESNcard is to support and give opportunities to international students during and after their exchange period.

Topics that training focused on:
-Promotion of ESNcard to students
-Promotion of International Partners
-Preparation of Partnerships and presenting them to potential Partners
-Preparing yourself for the job market and ESN volunteering experience in CV
-Fundamentals of Partnership negotiation
-Signals of Intercultural communication and negotiation

2015 Skillbox II "Mov'in Europe"

The aim of the training event was to introduce Mov'in Europe and how to get the best out of it for the sections. Mov'in Europe project was a flagship project of the ESN network in 2015. We had around 20 participants and 4 trainers (2 from Estonia, 1 from Sweden and 1 from Belgium).

Mov'in Europe is an international project of ESN started in 2014, running a multi-format campaign promoting various mobility opportunities to young people, students, and young graduates (volunteering, travelling, learning, studying, internships, and working).

The event focused on the following topics:

-Communication Channels
-Art of Argumentation
-Mov'in Europe
-Project Management - Make your own Mov'in Europe event
-Action Plan and evaluation.

2014 Skillbox I "Sponsorships"

The event focused on writing and analysing projects, sponsorships, finding Partners, writing sponsorship letters, negotiations, evaluation and feedback. It had 13 participants from different sections. At that point, training was carried out by an external trainer who had expertise in these topics and formed the content based on network needs.