Online course: Past forward – transforming reality

Dates: 14-23 December 2020

Participating countries: Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Cyprus, Georgia, Germany, KOSOVO * UN RESOLUTION, Republic of North Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey, Ukraine

Apply hereapplication form

Number of participants: 34

Organizer: German Youth for European Unity

Deadline to apply: 7 December 2020

Date of Selection: 8 December 2020

Inquiries about this project: Vladimir at vladimirgjorgjevski@gmail.com

Costs: FREE

Past forward – transforming reality

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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 MLADIH – Croatia
  • 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, 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.