Olde Vechte Foundation was founded as an initiative of a group of people, who in 1966 identified a great need for learning that is not provided by the established educational system. Society keeps on changing over the years, becoming more and more intercultural. Still, the need of an “out of the school system” education stays around.
The Foundation’s mission is to be a living, working and learning space for young people and those supporting them; especially for people whose needs cannot be met by formal education methods. Modern approaches of non-formal learning are used in all the activities of the Foundation. Kinaesthetic, auditory and visual senses are involved, bringing about learning by experiencing and enabling the full participation of the trainees.
The foundation is active in a wide range of fields, on local, national, European and international level and:
- organizes and implements open call educational projects, the content of which is developed according to the needs of the trainees;
- cooperating with Erasmus+ in order to realize Trainings, Youth Exchanges and ESC projects, in line with the needs as they are stated in their guidelines;
- applies for Dutch National Funds for labor market reintegration projects, which are available for long-term unemployed Dutch youngsters;
- collaborates with other organizations from the Netherlands and around the world. Thus, the participants can experience indoor and outdoor activities in the frame of non-formal education and live together in the group accommodation;
- offers its facilities to national and international schools that want to organize educational and creative activities outside the established formal system and experience living in a group setting;
- rents its buildings as group accommodation to other organizations and informal groups when the place is not needed for other purposes. This provides the Foundation with the financial capability to maintain the buildings.
The Foundation is legally represented by a 3-members board which functions as the decision-making body. Marko Vlaming, youth worker and director of Olde Vechte facilitates the operational part of the Foundation. Olde Vechte Foundation is officially recognized as Public Welfare Institution (ANBI).
Olde Vechte Foundation has become a project organization, by creating a space and supporting people to implement their own initiatives. In detail, all its projects are derived from specialists with great interest and concern on the subject. These people are experienced project managers, facilitators, trainers and mentors, hired by the Foundation on a temporary basis. Also frequently, the former and current volunteers of the organization are inspired to organize and implement projects. The Foundation’s leading Youth Worker is there to support them in their learning process in order to implement their ideas. In this way, everyone mentioned above is shaping the organization.
Marko Vlaming
Youth worker, Head Trainer and Director
Marko started 40 years ago as a youth worker after obtaining his university degree in social and cultural work. Besides doing youth work and trainings, he uses coaching approaches in his daily work. In the last 18 years he developed into an all-round coach.
Learning by experience as a method in coaching created a coaching approach that is very focused on working in the here and now. In his practice he works a lot with on-the-job coaching, supporting people to build up their life dream in the way they create fulfillment in their lives, using a wide spectrum of coaching methods and techniques that are currently available.
Anna Marija Bērziņa
Operations manager and trainer
Anna combines her passion for education and entrepreneurship with a hands-on approach to leadership. As a trainer and manager, she oversees day-to-day operations at Olde Vechte, while designing and delivering impactful training programs. Her work combines business strategies with context-based learning and outdoor education, creating dynamic, engaging, and highly practical opportunities for growth.
Over the past eight years, Anna has co-founded two NGOs—re:view and ImpACT. These organizations focus on personal & professional skill development, encouraging participants to step out of their comfort zones and gain fresh perspectives.
Cristina Pavel
Project manager & Learning Designer
Cristina is deeply committed to social change through education, focusing on research, program design, and facilitation. With a background in psychology, she works with young adults to collaborative learn in large groups, combining academic and nonformal approaches to support their development.
She leads with confidence and vulnerability, always striving to learn and grow. Outside of work, she enjoys cooking, reading, theater, dancing, and playing chess—activities that inspire her creativity and joy.
In 2022, she co-founded the Synchro Foundation in the Netherlands, aiming to create inclusive organizational cultures and programs that empower communities.
Our open call trainers
Yassar Markos
Trainer & Coach
Yassar started to work with Olde Vechte Foundation since 2010. He has been delivering trainings and workshops on different topics (personal development, coaching, NLP, communication, presentation skills, training for trainers, negotiation, productivity) in the last 8 years. He was formed as a medical doctor and is presently doing his masters in psychology.
Demian Burgenik
Systemic coach & consultant
Demian is a star in creating profound experiences to empower and enlighten people in their life. With his Patagonian roots and more than a decade of training and coaching in the private and public sectors, he dives into your systems and dynamics to create new perspective for you.
With his expertise on Systemic-approach and Family constellations essential dynamics will unfold to liberate and let you discover yourself in this time and matter. He center his work in essence to re-meet your total connection and completeness in this life. He is assertive, funny and highly sensitive.
Our Erasmus+ trainers
Krisztina Erdélyi
Educator, Trainer, Learning designer, Youth worker
For Krisztina, learning is a constant flow, it is always in motion: has different shapes, offers continuous insights and is present all around as long as we welcome it. These thoughts inspire her while working as a freelance trainer and project designer, while creating playful and dynamic learning frames for groups and individuals.
Working from and with this movement has always been exciting for her... it is the essence of her professional practice and it keeps leading her towards new and impactful discoveries (whether she's facilitating a coaching conversation, delivering a training program or guiding a team of professionals).
Cathy Manousaki
Youth Worker - Trainer - Learning Designer
Their work focuses on offering celebratory, safer and braver spaces for vulnerable target groups to grow and realise their potential, and on increasing the quality of inclusive and intersectional youth work locally and internationally. In their practice they blend a variety of learning methodologies, that enrich creativity, playfulness, self-expression and queer joy. They are the founder of Active Rainbow platform, and co-founder of its organization in Latvia.
Trainers with whom we collaborated in the past
Lena Nasiakou
Trainer & Learning specialist
Lena believes that “play is our brain’s favourite way of learning”. She is designing, managing and delivering training courses about coaching, mathematics and personal development for youth, adults and teachers. Lena stimulates learning through body movement and theatre, which gives a dynamic and engaging aspect on the projects she is involved. Like this, her creative side comes together with her profession as a trainer and learning specialist.
Eimantas Didzbalis
Voice Coach
As a vocal coach Eimantas sees the importance of bringing awareness of how the voice works in order to impact people. He is working with artists combining coaching tools and Bel Canto approach in order to get the best out of their performances. He is passionate about working with people who aim to gain vocal courage in order to speak with clarity and to perform on stage.
Eddie Wolters
Youth worker & Reintegration Worker
Eddie studied social cultural worker and is currently a youth worker aiming at reintegrating youngsters back in society through the EVS programme of Erasmus+. Eddie has expertise and knowledge in project writing for exchanges, trainings and EVS for 10 years.
Anna Moro
Trainer & Coach
Anna considers conflicts a privileged place to create connection, and to express and receive vulnerability. She has been working on this topic since 2012 in the frame of non formal education with different targets, from youngsters from post-war countries to children and parents. She is a mediator, and works also as a trainer and coach.
Anna's work focuses on naming and expressing emotions, creating connection and communicating efficiently. She loves using storytelling as a tool to build bridges between personal experiences and desired learning, as well as creativity and systemic techniques to invite authentic self expression.
Joanna Nikolova
Facilitator & Coach
At Olde Vechte Foundation I work as a youth worker and a trainer. My daily job is to mentor the team of volunteers and support them in their personal development. In my private practice I give coaching sessions to people who are in a period of transition, changing country, job, city or a relationship, rethinking their identities, beliefs and path.
With a background in Theatre and Cultural Anthropology, my big passion is communication and movement.
I host vulnerable places for people to develop and training courses on topics of communication, learning and coaching.
Giedre Kaupaite
Trainer
Giedre Kaupaite has been working as a freelance trainer for 4 years now, has background in psychology, teaches the experiential methodology and working with groups at the IUSVE university of Venice. She has experience of trainership in national and international contexts on the topics of personal development, communication, conflict transformation. She has been working with psychologists and teachers of countries currently in conflict, promoting with the experiential training courses the win-win approach and non violent communication.
Martijn Meima
Business intuition specialist
Veronika Pavlová
Trainer
Veronika has an energetic and enthusiastic attitude towards life which is reflected in her approach as a trainer. When it comes to working with people, she uses her intuition, creativity and experiential learning techniques. She is mainly focused on personal development, coaching and team building in connection with body awareness and body movement.
In the past years, she has been delivering, assisting and facilitating trainings and workshops and managing projects. Veronika holds a Masters in Sociology and Lifelong Education of Adults and has an extensive experience in group dynamics across three continents.
Tihana Dragičević
EMCC Coach, Trainer, Mentor, NLP master
Afonso Bertolo
Trainer, youth worker and project manager
Panagiotis Mamouzakis
Trainer, youth worker and project manager
In his work he uses new media (social media, video, photography etc.), assignments, games, outdoor activities and other work forms. Nowadays he works as a freelance trainer & project manager and he is delivering trainings and workshops throughout Europe for training and non profit organizations.