Project dates: 27 August – 03 September 2015
Project place: Ommen, Netherlands
Deadline for application: URGENT CALL!
About the hosting organization:
JUB is a youth organization, founded in 2011, aiming to promote peace, understanding and co-operation between young people in the world. We aim to realize local and international youth activities, to promote tolerance between young people from different cultures and countries. Further, we hope to encourage active involvement in society, without any distinction because of race, social status, educational level or any other ‘disadvantage’. We work in a spirit of respect for human rights and we highly value sustainable development. Our projects are carried out by trained professionals, mostly based on non-formal education methods. It means we make use of several techniques, like brainstorming, discussions, presentations, role plays, simulations and expert inputs. The proverb ‘learning by doing’ is most suitable here. In short, we create a space for young people to develop themselves.
Idea, theme and objectives of the project:
On an everyday basis, youth workers are dealing with conflicts. They are in touch with youngsters, sponsors and authorities. They ‘move’ in different local cultures, effectively as a mediator between different interests. It makes their work most valuable, as they are usually also working with vulnerable groups. On a daily basis they deal with many visions, which do not always go hand in hand with each other. For a youth worker it is essential to manage these interests, with respect to all parties.
The political crises in Europe and bordering countries (such as recent conflicts in Syria, Gaza, Egypt and Ukraine), add another dimension to youth work. The crises ‘abroad’ also have a strong impact on the youth in our countries, where many minorities from those countries live. For example during the war in Gaza (2014) mostly Arab youth went to the streets to protest, sometimes leading to hate speech. And most recently some highly educated youngsters are going to Syria to fight. Youth workers hear the voice of youth first hand, and should play a calm, yet assertive role to transform possible violent inclinations: engaging in dialogues, looking for common ground and transforming communication processes. Last but not least: youth among themselves need guidance in conflicts, nowadays being under extra pressure because of the financial crisis.
Conflict Management tools are needed for youth workers, to deal with different interests in their work, with the reflection of international crises on youth and the society, and with conflicts young people experience. Many youth workers are making use of conflict transformation skills in these situations already, but without proper training. They gained these skills ‘along the way’, but given the impact, it would be most necessary to take a close look at this aspect of their work and to gain insights from professionals on Conflict Management.
This training course will gather 24 participants from Armenia, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Georgia, Macedonia, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania and Turkey.
Aim:
- To develop competences (skills, knowledge and attitudes) of youth workers in the field of Conflict Management and to disseminate the results of the training course in a concise introductory guide on Conflict Management for youth workers.
Objectives:
- To explore the situations in which youth workers face conflicts
- To understand the causes of conflicts youngsters are dealing with and how it reflects youth work
- To introduce different Conflict Management tools (conflict mapping, co-operation solutions, non-violent communication, negotiation and mediation)
- To experience different activities for conflict management in youth work from different perspectives, both as a facilitator and as a participant
- To discuss the best practices of conflict management in youth work
- To find out the limits of conflict management in youth work
- To produce and promote an attractive introductory guide on conflict management for youth workers
Profile of participants:
Priority will be given to participants matching the following profile:
- Experience with non-formal education;
- Willing and able to implement local activities on conflict management.
- No expertise in the topics is needed, but welcomed for input during sessions – enthusiasm is most important;
- Ability to work in English.
- Ability to attend the entire duration of the training
There is no age restriction. The organization will take into account balance in terms of gender and cultural background.
Financial aspects of the project:
- Food and accommodation will be covered 100% by the organizers.
The training will take place in training center / hostel ‘Olde Vechte’, close to the city of Ommen in the Netherlands.
- Travel expenses will be covered 70% of costs up to 275 EUR.
PARTICIPATION FEE: 35 EUR
SENDING FEE (payable to CID): 500 MKD