General rules for trips to training events

You must discuss your participation in the training with your employer. Follow your organisation's travel practices and agree on the trip with your superior.

Participation in the training event does not oblige you to commit yourself to any partnerships or projects. However, after the training, you will be more likely to understand how international youth projects may support the activities of your own organisation. It is also easier to create partnerships when you have met the people face-to-face. You should discuss the role of international projects and the direction in which the organisation wishes to proceed in your home organisation in advance.

You do not need to pay a participation fee or book accommodation for the duration of the training. The National Agency hosting the training will book accommodation for all the participants and organise the meals unless expressly stated otherwise in their accouncement.

We reimburse the participant’s travel as whole from their front door to the training location and back. If the journey is complicated, we may reimburse an overnight stay in a hotel on the way.

Your employer will cover a part of your costs

You must agree on the travel arrangements for the trip with your organisation. Some of the costs remain to be paid by you or your employer. Such costs include

  • your per diem allowances during the work-related trip
  • travel insurance that will compensate for unused parts of the trip if you fall ill
  • passport or identity card for travelling.

If your employer has insured you and the insurance is comprehensive enough, you do not need to take out extra insurance.

Agree on the working hours arrangements with your employer according to normal practices or agree on local arrangements that are satisfactory to both parties.

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You must purchase the tickets and get the possible visa yourself. It is advisable to agree on the trip with your background organisation and follow the instructions given by your employer.  You can also use your employer’s travel agency for booking the trip if you have one.

Claim for the travel expenses you have paid yourself during the trip from your employer. Your employer can then send us an invoice in which they claim for all the travel expenses.

If you participate in the training event in your free time and pay the trip yourself, claim for the travel expenses yourself.

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Do not book the flights and make other travel arrangements until after you have received an official confirmation of having been accepted to participate. You will receive one both from us and from the organiser of the training.

Registering is binding. Unnecessary costs always follow from cancelling a trip, so do not register if you are not sure about your participation.

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You may travel to the country in which the training event is organised in advance or stay there after the end of the training if your employer approves this. We are fine with this, if the price of the international tickets is not higher than the costs of tickets booked for the arrival and departure dates given by the organiser.

It you extend your trip, you must cover the accommodation, meal and travel costs and any other costs you incur in your free time yourself, just like when you are on holiday.

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The granted travel support covers the travel expenses from your front door to the training location and back using the most affordable mode of transport.

What does the most affordable mode of transport mean?

In the State Travel Regulations, the most affordable mode of transport means trains and buses. However, it is sensible to come to training well rested and with a good functional capacity. Therefore, it is entirely possible to fly if

  • you travel abroad
  • the journey lasts for longer than 5 hours
  • you have to travel at night.

If the travel time is long, the journey is complicated or the timetables are unsuitable, we may also reimburse accommodation on the way. It is possible to take a taxi if you cannot use public transport and you do not have a car of your own at your disposal.

If you need a visa for the trip to the training event, we may also cover the costs of obtaining the visa. The travel expenses related to obtaining the visa may also be reimbursed.

Use of own car

Using your own car is an exception, but it may sometimes be the only option. You may use your own car if there are no public transport connections or the timetables are not suitable. We may then pay a kilometre allowance for the use of your own car.

If sensible connections exist but you still use your own car, we will reimburse the expenses according to the presumed ticket prices in public transport.

Parking fees will only be reimbursed in connection with airports, railway stations or hotel accommodation. Parking fees will be reimbursed for a maximum of three days.

Travelling in a more environmentally friendly way

You should also reflect on whether you could travel to the event in a way that would produce less emissions affecting the environment. You can travel to the event by road and sea if it is convenient for you. You may also consider travelling by train one way and flying the other if is it better from the point of view of timetables. We will cover the travel expenses regardless of your mode of transport.

It may be difficult for you to decide which mode of transport is more environmentally friendly. As a rule of thumb, trains beat buses, but buses beat ships and aeroplanes. A propeller plane is always better than a jet plane. There are many views on the difference between a ship and a propeller plane. Read one participant’s blog post about her trip to a training event. The blog post also contains travel tips.

 

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You can ask us for help with planning the trip. Contact us if

  • you are unsure about the regulations on more environmentally friendly travelling and its costs
  • you have to stay the night in a hotel on your way to or from the training event because of difficult travel connections
  • your organisation or you cannot afford buying the tickets
  • any of the regulations related to travelling is unclear to you.

In difficult situations, we may give you the possibility to order the tickets through our own travel agency, in which case the invoice will be sent directly to us.

Send a message to the following address: youthevents [at] oph.fi (youthevents[at]oph[dot]fi)

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You must fill in an electronic participant report within 30 days of the trip. The report is short and simple. In it, you will be asked to reflect on your experiences and plan how you intend to transfer to practical work what you learned during the trip.

Fill in the form before invoicing for your travel expenses. After the training, you must return an electronic participant report. We will reimburse the travel expenses after you have returned the report.

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See the instructions for invoicing on a separate website.

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