Project place: Mali Iđoš, Serbia
Project dates: 16th to 22nd October 2022,
Deadline for applying: 10.9.2022
The Project
Playful activities, games and energizers are very present in the activities of international Peace and Volunteering Organisations, such as SCI, VCV, and their partners. They are used in volunteer camps to bring the group together, and to work on contents during seminars and trainings. There is hardly any volunteering group that does not play games during their projects.
Games in educational work got institutionalised without considerably reflecting neither their use, their advantages,
nor their challenges. On the one hand, games can be very helpful and useful in the seminar context. On the other hand, they can be criticised regarding the reproduction of stereotypes or as violating the personal space of participants. To debate the role of playful activities and games in volunteering activities, SCI Germany together with VCV Serbia organise this project aimed at trainers, youth workers, group coordinators and volunteers. During the 1st Activity, the Play for Peace Training in April 2022, participants from different peace and volunteering organisations gathered in Sonthofen/Germany to learn about the use of playful activities and games in Non-Formal Education and their huge connection to discrimination. They discussed societal power structures and how these structures, as well as stereotypes and discrimination, can be present during playful activities and games. Participants are currently implementing the outcomes of the training in their local activities and try to use playful methods and games that are more inclusive and peaceful.Now we are looking for applications and participants for the 2nd Activity of the project, the Play for Peace Seminar in Mali Iđoš near Novi Sad/Serbia. During the seminar, we will have a more detailed look at playful methods and games. We will try out energizers, simulation games and board games that are useful for educational purposes. We will critically reflect on the pros and cons of these games. We intend to develop a Manual on inclusive and peaceful games and energizers for youth workers during the seminar. Therefore, a big part of the seminar will be to collect, to discuss and to gather more information for the Manual.This seminar also gives space to connect to other international organisations and to get information about their ways of using playful methods that are sensitive towards discrimination. We will have a big open space in which everyone can share methods and games with the rest of the group. After the seminar, there will be a Follow-Up Period. Two, three and four months after the seminar, we will hold joint video conferences with the trainers and all participants. The conferences aim to finalise the Manual, to share updates on new projects that evolved during the project, to strengthen the network and partnerships, and to provide support to the participants, for further project implementation.
Aims of the project
-Critically reflect on games used in non-formal education by raising awareness for different forms of discrimination, as well as safer spaces to create more inclusive youth and volunteering projects
-Raise awareness and understanding of intersectional perspectives (global justice, gender, class, race, inclusion, climate justice) when facilitating and organising youth projects by developing and sharing inclusive,diverse and power-critical games.
-Understand the role of peace and human rights in games in educational work Improve the quality of NFE instruments that can be used in future events, projects, trainings, seminars and
general meetings
-Provide youth workers with tools and methods for power-critical, inclusive and peaceful games in educa-
tional work
-Create a Manual for games in educational work that includes underlying concepts, shared experiences with safer spaces in games, and guidelines for peaceful playing
-Create more and stronger alliances and solidarity in the peace and volunteering movement
Outcomes
Joint creation of the Manual on peaceful playing: NFE methods about peaceful playing, a critical look on gamification of educational work, and tips and tricks for inclusive and sensitive games in educational work.
Methods
As this seminar is about peaceful playing, we will use many Non-Formal Education (NFE) methods, especially games and energizers, for critical reflection but also a broad variety of non-formal education methods, such as world cafe, snowball discussions, research, silent exhibition, simulation games, theatre, visual harvesting, arts, energizers, role games, teambuilding games, and more.
Participants’ profile
Everyone who comes to this seminar should…
-ideally be an active member and be involved in the process and decision structures of their sending organisation
-have some experience in international group works as participant or better as trainer/facilitator or group coordinator
-be interested in learning more about the use of games in groups and to discuss this critically
-be aware of power structures and be able to approach them both sensitively and critically
-be committed to abstain from flying, but travel to the event via overland route instead;
-be committed to spreading their new skills and competences to their sending branches, e.g. via a workshop or a camp coordinator training.
-allow time and ideas for both the seminar and the finalisation phase;
-be motivated to participate actively in the production of the outcomes and in the implementation period
-have sufficient English language skills (spoken and written).
Only individuals with a residence or a passport from one of the following countries can apply:
Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Catalunia, Czech Republic, Egypt, France, Georgia, Germany, Jordan, Morocco, North Mac-
edonia, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey.
ACCOMMODATION and FINANCES:
All costs related to accommodation and food will be covered by the hosting organization.
Travel costs will be reimbursed up to 180 EUR.
Participation fee: NONE!
Sending fee: 500 MKD !