Youth Exchange: KNIGHTS #1: Searching for a King

Location: Wales, United Kingdom

Dates: 10 – 21 May 2022

Number of participants: 48

Participating countries: UK, Lithuania, Greece, Spain, Latvia, Czech Republic, Romania.

Organizer: Abroadship.org

Apply here: application form

Deadline to apply: 10 April 2022

Date of Selection: immediately, if you are right candidate

Inquiries about this training course: Justinas at hello@abroadship.org

Costs: Youth Exchange is co-funded by Erasmus+:

  • 100% accommodation, food and program materials are free, covered by the grant from Erasmus+
  • 80% traveling costs are covered, up to the maximum expenses:
    • €20/participant for United Kingdom
    • €275/participant for Lithuania, Spain, Latvia, Czech Republic
    • €360/participant for Greece, Romania
  • For traveling reimbursement, it is mandatory to keep and bring all your tickets and invoices, boarding passes and receipts (originals). Without these documents, traveling costs cannot be reimbursed. Special plans, Seat reservation, insurance and other extra costs related to traveling are not compensated.
  • There is no fee for the youth exchange.
  • For traveling reimbursement, it is mandatory:
    • online tickets: forward emails with e-tickets, boarding passes and invoices, it has to contain price and date
    • offline tickets: bring original receipts (originals), copies will not be accepted.
  • Reimbursements for traveling will be sent by 31 December 2022, once (and if) participants take part in full duration of the programme fill the evaluation forms present all the traveling documents

KNIGHTS I: Searching for a King

Download infopack here: KNIGHTS 1: Searching for a King – Wales – Knights of the Round Table – Erasmus plus youth exchange – Great Britain – United Kingdom – abroadship.org

Download the PDF file .

 

Leave the city behind.

In the misty hills of Great Britain, you will enter the shadows of the Stonehenge, the spirit of the medieval time.

Step into the legends and myths of courage and bravery, and re-live the story of Arthurian knights, of the friendship and brother-hood.

Emerge into adventurous 10 days full of games and activities which will support you with discovering what are your behavioral patterns, how do you face the discomfort and struggles, how do you get along with people, how do you create a friendship and meaningful relationships, and what do you consider really important in life.

Welcome Participants from countries

  • Greece
  • Latvia
  • Czech Republic
  • Great Britain
  • Lithuania
  • Romania
  • Spain

LARP – Live Action Role Playing

Live-Action Role Playing is a combination of a game and theatre.

The game, because it has rules (e.g. number of lives saved).

Theatre, because each player is taking and acting the role of a fictional character.

We are using this method for learning purposes:

  • it allows us to safely experiment with our behaviours,
  • discovering what we agree and disagree with,
  • and figuring out more about ourselves.

In every activity, we will be using different LARP schools with different game elements and theatrical approaches.

American LARP: Searching for a King

is more focused on gaming and less on role-playing and theatre.

You will be living as a part of a semi-historical community and competing for resources and power with 3 other groups.

You will decide the level till which you want to be “acting” the role of your own choice.

You will be discovering the following topics:

  • How do I behave in a group?
  • How do I include myself and others into it?
  • How do I react to unpleasant events?
  • How to get the best out of me?

German LARP: Searching for a Grail

puts bigger focus on the theatre, and role-playing.

You will be living in a “castle”. A character you will play will be partly crafter by us, partly by you. This activity will be less about a game, and more focused on your inner experiences.

You will be discovering the following topics:

  • What are my personal values?
  • How do I face my fears?
  • How do I create trust?
  • How can I act as a hero in my everyday life?

Nordic LARP: Searching for Freedom

is mainly about theatre and full-immerse experience. Game elements are having very little importance.

We are going to be working mainly in smaller groups and with several short terms (approx. 5 hours) LARP sessions.

This activity will focus a lot on creating your own mini-LARP which you can bring back home, but there will be more to discover:

  • How do I forgive, forget, and go on with my life?
  • How to design, test and implement a LARP?
  • How to organize and lead a project?

Is this for you?

The project is for you if you re interested in inter-human relationships, in the topics as cooperation, communication, and intercultural learning, if you are interested in theatre, games, or British legends, or in the question of personal development or non-formal education.

Do any of these topics strike your attention?

As a participant, you are:

  • 18-30 years old
  • living in one of the participating countries
  • dedicated to actively participate in the whole activity including the dissemination part (see more in the activities description)

As a group leader, you are:

  • 20+ years old
  • living in one of the participating countries
  • youth worker or youth leader (working or having an impact on youth)
  • ready to support your national team during the preparation phase, main phase, and dissemination phase
  • willing to come on the activity 1 day earlier
  • willing to support organisation team with preparing and running of the activity

Learning outcomes:

  1. INCLUSION – EQUITY. Participants will learn:
    • include others and themselves;
    • cooperate in the international team;
    • listen actively and understand each other;
    • create a sustainable community;
    • support people who need help;
    • focus on the solution;
    • behave proactively in order to support each other.2. ACTIVE CITIZENSHIP. Participants will learn how to
    • recognize issues inside of the society/community and approach them constructively;
    • promote a specific social idea, get attention and support for it, and find volunteers;
    • argument constructively, defend the idea on the basic of democratic society, without the violence.3. INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUE. Participants will learn how to
    • get information about the others in order to understand their point of view;
    • find common ground and space for cooperation with people who are completely different.4. CULTURAL HERITAGE. Participants will discover the beautiful world of British history and its legends about King Arthur and Knights of Round Table, the strong symbol of unity, equity, bravery, and honor.

Phase I: Searching for a King

Uther Pendragon died without leaving a successor. For a minute, the land was at the edge of civil war… But a miracle has happened – at the courtyard of castle Camelot, sword in stone appeared. Sword with a sentence: “Whoso pulleth out this sword from this stone, is right wise King born of all England.”

10 May 2022 – Arrival day
11 – 20 May 2022 – Youth Exchange
21 May 2022 – Departure day

What will happen:

After your arrival at Go Wild Adventures, you will be divided into 4 teams representing 4 towns of old Britain.

You will become a citizen of medieval Britain, divided Kingdom without a king, and you are loyal servants of your lord who is fighting for power and resources with other lords.

You will be living in a semi-historical community, trading and competing with other “cities”, and training to become knights.

The whole Activity is OUTDOORS. You will be living in tents! Be ready for it!

What you will learn:

  • How do I behave in a group?
  • How do I include myself and others into it?
  • How do I react to unpleasant events?
  • How to get the best out of me?
  • How to win in a game of life?

The activity is for you if:

  • you like to compete and play games
  • you like outdoor, sleeping in a tent
  • can come with a sleeping bag and mat
  • want to cook food with other participants

Accommodation

Youth exchange will happen in a Go Wild campsite (campsite, barn, courtyard & facilities), which is located in Wales.

Campsite contains a relatively sheltered flat area for the tents. Here you will spend 11 nights in tents of 4-5 persons. Organizers will provide tents, but participants should bring their own sleeping bags (not just sleeping bags, but very warm sleeping bags) and mats (mattresses to sleep on – either inflatable or other type)

Facilities include toilets, HOT water showers, waste recycling, drinkable water and a space for cooking.

Participants will need to take care of accommodation in terms of cleaning, cooking, and other indoor and outdoor tasks needed for the smooth flow.

Partners

Abroadship.org United Kingdom hello@abroadship.org
Inovatyvi Karta Lithuania inovatyvi.karta@gmail.com
Solidarity Mission Greece training@solidaritymission.org
LaVibria Intercultural Spain info@vibria.org
Biedriba Piedzivojuma Gars Latvia international@piedzivojumagars.lv
INspire Czech Republic javojtazak@gmail.com
Asociatia Synergy Romania asociatiasynergy@gmail.com

Arthurian myth

King Arthur was a legendary British leader who, according to medieval histories and romances, led the defense of Britain against Saxon invaders in the late 5th and early 6th centuries.

There are plenty of books (The Mists of Avalon, The Sword in the Stone, Le Morte d’Arthur, etc.), movies (Camelot, Excalibur, or my favorite Monty Python and the Holy Grail, etc.), video-games and other pop-cultural materials about him.

To share his story in a short:

as a kid, Arthur was taken from its father by a wizard Merlin. Britain was without a king, but the sword in stone appeared in the capital with the inscribed sentence:

“Whoso pulleth out this sword of this stone and anvil, is rightwise king born.” (Good luck with translating that :D )

Something like 16 years later, young Arthur who has no clue about his real father, accidentally pull out the sword and became a king of Britain. He gets married to Guinevere and creates a Round Table where he sits with his knight – the Round Table is the symbol of equality for everybody.

The most skillful knight is Lancelot, and he is so handsome he steals Guinevere’s heart and together they cheat upon their king. Then, the Holy Grails appears in front of the eyes of one of them – the grail with the blood of Christ, and all knights set upon the journey to find this holy relic. (Most of them die while trying it.)

And then the crazy big army of Sax is coming to the shore and Arthur needs to fight them back. He succeeds but dies in the battle.

This is it in a shortcut. There is a lot of dragons, giants, princesses, virgins, witches, wizards, magical sword and other cool stuff in a way, so get ready for it.

Inclusion in Action

Inclusion in action is about feeling like a part of a community, bonded together by a common identity and shared values. It is about acceptance, cooperation, and creating opportunities for each other.

It starts with us – we include ourselves in the community. We make a step for active participation so we are not only complaining about what we disagree with, but we are making an active step for changing it.

Part of social inclusion is also a decision what we don’t want to be part of. But for that, we first need to be sure who we are, what are our values, what we want to stand for.

Inside the project, we will be striving for reaching a personal authenticity and recognizing who we are and what are the values we want to stand for.

In this project, we will avoid the political dimension of the topic and we are going to be working with the question how do we include/exclude ourselves and others.

Team

“From the childhood, I had been fascinated by myths. Especially the legend of the King Arthur, his magical sword Excalibur, Knights of the Round Table, wizard Merlin, the son of Satan, and this whole lot, were striking me with their headless diving to the adventure, with chivalry, honour, and courage, following strong values of these medieval gentlemen in iron (or can of sardines on a horse).

So when this idea came – to make a project about social inclusion through LARP – I got excited from the opportunity to become the hero I had always wanted to be. To become wise Ector, brave Percival, skilled Lancelot, dreaded Kai or any of their peers.

I invite you to join me on this journey. To take the opportunity to play a character from a legend – loyal, faithful, strong (but also devious, treacherous, and mean, if you choose) – and through their characteristics reach the bottom of your heart and discover your qualities and values which you want to be carrying.

So you can live as a HERO in your everyday life.

I am not going to tell you how to do it. I and my team will simply create a condition in which you will figure it out for yourself.” Vojtěch Žák, designer of the project

Panagiotis Mamouzakis: A digital native and a devoted change-maker who likes media and being focused on the integration of the new media (online video, blogging, social media, crowd-funding) with non-formal learning and modern educational approaches (Coaching, NLP, Systemic work, Embodied training, DISC profiles etc). Practiced several fields in life; come up with these core competencies: Training-Facilitation, Coaching, Youth Work, Event Management, Social Media Consultancy & Filmmaking. Believes that the new technologies are not evil but a tool for progression. Always looking for new challenges to go through. Works with the vision to support others to make their lives easier. More here.

Vojtěch Žák: I had embodied methods of bodymovement, coaching, systemic work (constellation), storytelling, LARP, theatre, and games. Thanks to it I understood that our life is a story we tell to ourself. It is 100% in our power to rewrite the story according our needs. When we stop being victims to whom life is happening and become accountable who are choosing their life. We can tell stories through our voice, but also through our mind (NLP), through our body (bodymovement) or through world around us (constellation). My strongest point are my observation skills, reframing, thinking outside the box, creativity, and metaphors. Let me be the pen which helps you write your new story.

Justinas Brikys: An educator, social entrepreneur, investor and founder of Abroadship.org, a centre of learning through mobility. Lets travel around the world meaningfully. Lets travel and learn. Justinas has developed 80+ educational, cultural and science based projects and now started one of the most magnificent project of all times – KNIGHTS. Let this project show the extent of the effort placed to make it happen and the outstanding learning outcomes that will follow as a result. Join Abroadship.org opportunities.

Practicals – what to bring

  • For the 1st and 2nd phase you will stay 11 nights outdoors in the tents, thus, it is mandatory to bring a very warm sleeping bag (rated at least 0 or -5 degrees, for example this one) and a mat (best inflatable, for example this one), a towel, toiletries. We provide tents. We will do activities outside and in a huge barn.
  • For the phase III you will sleep indoors, thus just need toiletries and a towel.
  • Head lamp-torch
  • It is a country of rain and wind, so prepare well with raincoat for yourself and your backpack! Bring waterproof sturdy and comfy shoes to hike.
  • Insurance – this is critical! Please arrange insurance, because we do not provide and are not liable for any incidents.
  • Bring camera – lots of great shots to make
  • Prepare endurance, Good spirit and Positive vibes!

* We will provide a detailed list of things to take with your upon confirmation.

Weather

In May temperature in Wales ranges from 7 to 14 degrees, and June 10-17 degrees, while daylight lasts about 16 hours and of course of course of course (not so) beautiful rain is a constant friend and a mandatory discussion subject in all conversations. Since our camp is situated in the valley, there is plenty of humidity and can get cold at night, thus your good sleeping bag is the best investment you can make. Check the weather forecast here.

Food, Medicine & Allergies

If you have illness, physical limitations and/or use medicine we need to know about, please inform us.

If you are vegetarian or have special diet, let us know, indicating what you can and cannot eat, so that we can arrange the suitable food.

Cooking will be individual and self-driven in the first phase, joint as a whole group in the second phase and provided by a cook on the last phase.

How to Apply:

Fill in the application form available:

Knights of the round table Phase I: Searching for a King
10 – 21 May 2022
Apply here: https://forms.gle/q3wftgkVvgq8nET77

In order to apply for I am Responsible project, you must be over 18 – 30 years old (unless you are a leader) and a citizen of one of the partner countries. Contact the partner organisation from the list below if you need any support.

Abroadship.org United Kingdom hello@abroadship.org
Inovatyvi Karta Lithuania inovatyvi.karta@gmail.com
Solidarity Mission Greece training@solidaritymission.org
LaVibria Intercultural Spain info@vibria.org
Biedriba Piedzivojuma Gars Latvia international@piedzivojumagars.lv
Asociatia Synergy Romania asociatiasynergy@gmail.com
INspire Czech Republic javojtazak@gmail.com

Other phases

Phase I: Searching for a King
10 – 21 May 2022
Go Wild Adventures
Wales

Phase II: Searching for a Grail
6-17 June 2022
Go Wild Adventures
Wales

Phase III: Searching for Freedom
16 – 27 August 2022 
Bushmills Youth Hostel
Northern Ireland

Apply here:

Further information

For information about practical matters, accommodation or how to get to the place, please contact
Abroadship.org at hello@abroadship.org