Name of the project: “Past forward – transforming reality”
Date of Project (Projects duration): 14-23 December 2020
Hosting & Coordinating Organisation: “German Youth for European Unity (Youth NGO)”
Co-host Organisation: “Youth Power (Youth NGO)”
Sending organization: “BRAVO”
Place: Online, Germany
Participants: 3 participants per country (18+)
Working language: English
Deadline for applying: 07.12.2020.
This project is financed by the European Commission through the Erasmus Plus Program. This publication reflects the view only of the author, and the European Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. By Erasmus+ rules organizers have to cover travel costs, accommodation and food. As part of ESC you will have pocket money, paid local travel costs.
To increase knowledge and improve skills in the area of conflict transformation in order to increase the impact of youth work and its contribution to the social change.
The main goal of the project is to increase knowledge and improve skills in the area of conflict transformation in order to increase the impact of youth work and its contribution to the social change.
The project will be based on developing practical skills for youth activists in using various types of methods that are innovative and developing their creative potential and stimulate them in a high level to find solutions for different conflicts in youth work and educational settings and by extension for creating new innovative projects.
About the project
Social conflict is phenomenon of human creation located in relationships. That is people actively involved in creating situations and interactions that they experience as a conflict. These interactions are rooted in people history, experiences, perceptions, interpretations and expressions of their realities. This intern is deeply linked to the people’s common sense or understanding and accumulated experience, which allow them to react or respond to conflict.
Social conflict therefore is a socially constructed cultural event. It emerges through interactive process based on a search for and creation of shared meaning. Shared knowledge and a group ability to name the world and their reality are pivotal to its manifestation. In short, conflict leads to transforming and renaming of the world and its realities and thus not only is inevitable but necessary force for a dynamic society. If conflict leads to evolution of thought and action and it is positive and an inevitable force in the world, than what is needed is not mere reduction or conclusions of conflicts but innovative mechanism and interaction to transform conflict into positive force of social change, which non formal educational system can help build, as it is a tool which helps name our world.
In order to assure a quality youth educational work the facilitators, leaders and trainers should be equipped with different skills and abilities for detecting and analyzing a conflict in this setting, as well as using different methods for transforming it for the betterment and progress of society. We believe that acquiring alternative and effective instruments for dealing with these issues is necessary and represents a priority for youth workers in order to increase impact of their work and influence social changes in their respective communities.
The main goal of the project is to increase knowledge and improve skills in the area of conflict transformation in order to increase the impact of youth work and its contribution to the social change.
More specific objectives are:
• to increase the abilities of Conflict Analysis and introduce different methods for its execution;
• to develop skills in using approaches of Conflict Transformation, with the special emphasis on transforming relationships;
• to increase the awareness of non-violent approach in conflict transformation;
• to improve the negotiation and mediation skills of the participants;
• to improve the communication skills;
• to empower the participants to use conflict transformation methods in youth work
• to improve skills in using variety of non-formal education methods;
• to stimulate the participants to act as multipliers in their own organization and regions;
This training course is aimed at increasing the quality of youth work and work in educational settings, by equipping youth workers with understanding of different approaches to conflict and abilities to handle it properly, while preserving relationships of young people involved. Bearing that in mind, it promotes solidarity and tolerance among young people on many different levels. By approaching conflict in a serious and sustainable way, it allows young people to hear the other side(s), to understand their way of being, values and beliefs that keep them going. Once the conflict between them has
been dealt with and relationships transformed, those relationships represent true solidarity, and are going far beyond tolerance – into the zone of respect and appreciation, which in turn fosters social cohesion on the old continent.
The project will be based on developing practical skills for youth activists in using various types of methods that are innovative and developing their creative potential and stimulate them in a high level to find solutions for different conflicts in youth work and educational settings and by extension for creating new innovative projects.
Partners and Participants:
• German Youth for
• YELLOW- Kosovo *UN resolution
• BRAVO- Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Kristal– Ukraine
• LAMEK- Armenia
• CED – North Macedonia
• Youth Power- Cyprus
• EDUCATIONAL CENTER – KRUSEVAC- Serbia
• INSTITUT ZA POTICANJE MLADIHCroatia
• Demokrasi ve Hukuk Calismalari Dernegi- Turkey
• Society Bridge to the Future- Georgia
We are looking for participants with the following profile:
• NGO trainers, facilitators, mentors, coaches, project managers, coordinators and volunteers who are active in educational settings with young people: leading workshops, trainings, youth camps, etc
• have the basic knowledge of facilitation of educational activities;
• have a desire to apply their newly gained competences in developing new activities and non-formal education tools for young people
• are supported by their respective organisations in applying their competencies and newly developed tools in working with young people.
DEADLINE:
How to apply?
Coordinating organisation
“GYEU – German Youth for European Unity” started as a kind of youth initiative, motivated by participation in various Erasmus + projects, like this one. We felt the need to give something back to society and we now want to communicate this to many more motivated young people and youth workers across Europe. Active participation, youth initiatives and voluntary work are some of the fundamental pillars of our democratic European society and therefore we want to promote this. Of course, these fundamental pillars include also civil rights and liberty, which represent a true privilege within Europe. But especially these are facing many challenges today: In many European countries, nationalism and populism are growing, which in many cases is dividing the society. Many young people are also influenced by it. Therefore, it is incredibly important for more young people to work together for an open and free society. As the name of our group says, our goal is to contribute to a united Europe, and for that we need a strong and committed civil society. After all, such populist,
partly anti-democratic ideologies endanger not only our social values but also the further advancement of European integration.
We support many young people in providing various opportunities for their personal and professional development, we organize different gatherings where young people communicate and support eachothers and we are starting to implement educational activities such as youth exchanges and trainings on topics connected to youth participation, intercultural communication, conflict resolution and etc.
Host organisation
Youth Power is a bi-communal network (involving both Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot organizations) of youth organizations that promote or affiliate with youth activism. Youth Power’s mission is to inspire, energize and strengthen the youth’s efforts to shape a peaceful and sustainable future, for a multicultural Cyprus. We envision a peaceful,
sustainable, multicultural Cyprus, comprised of aware, empowered and active citizens. Since 2008, we have been active in training and supporting young people Youth Power is promoting a common message on peace activism coming directly from the younger generations. It has ultimately acting as a basis for local youth activism and envisions inspiring and motivating the youth in creating a peaceful, united and sustainable Cyprus.