SUPPORT THE POSITIVE TRANSFORMATION OF CONFLICTS IN ORDER TO REALIZE THE FULL AND MEANINGFUL PARTICIPATION OF YOUTH IN SOCIETY
Young people are very important now and in the future. But, there are more and more conflicts happening, and it’s making it hard for young people to be part of their communities. That’s why youth groups and their members need to do something about it.
Our training «Community Conflict Transformation Through Youth Work» for 27 participants from Austria, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Romania, Spain, and Türkiye with the support of ERASMUS+ of the European Union, aimed to train them on how to analyze community issues and design and implement initiatives to tackle grassroots problems to achieve positive change. Issues could be environmental, social, civic, political, or any other conflictual area that affected their local society. As participants, they chose specific issues to focus on and tackled them during the training to design initiatives with other participants from their countries and implemented these small initiatives after the training. The range of possible issues to tackle varied from the environment, inclusion, diversity, education, digitalization, human rights, gender, integration, equality, solidarity, discrimination, justice, culture, and youth empowerment, to topics such as poverty, employment, social public services, sustainability, politics, and climate change. All these diverse topics could be understood in the framework of visible and invisible violence. Therefore, they chose this framework as a method of finding solutions and developing transformation skills and tools to address these topics in a constructive way to achieve a positive change in the community.
Here is our participants reflection and impressions:
This training course in the Austrian capital has been the second in which I have participated, and without a doubt, the one I have the best impressions of! In one week we have had the opportunity to debate the cultural, political, economic, educational and religious realities of the participating countries in order to learn about the necessary tools to promote European cohesion and try to gain awareness and sensitization towards social conflicts of European countries. We have had an incredible time both with our European and North African friends and with the Spanish team: Vanessa, Alvaro & Miguelito; as well as with Sakr, the organizer. Without a doubt I would repeat this incredible experience!!!
I had already participated in 5 Erasmus + projects before arriving to Wienn. And now, after it ended, I only have an even stronger eagerness to keep going to more of them! It was a wonderful an enriching experience, thanks to a dedicated trainer and a wide variety of participants from many different places and cultures, we could both learn a lot about conflicts, their origins and how to transform them into something positive; and could do it with the holistic view having many different points of view allows. This kind of projects show what Erasmus + is all about, enriching the mindset of the participants with multicultural learning. And the personal experiences I live there, and the long-lasting friendships I made are simply priceless. Thanks to everyone that made this possible!
This project has been incredibly revealing and enriching. The tools and methodologies provided were completely new to me and I realised how useful they were going to be in my work with youth. The facilitator, Sakr, had wide experience in the field and this enhanced the quality of the whole programme. However, what I value the most from this course is the people I got to share it with, the environment created among us was excellent to build ideas comfortably. They were not only exceptional youth workers, but also amazing human beings trying to make a difference in their local contexts. The inspiration I obtained from this training course will undoubtedly guide my journey as a social change maker!
From August 11 to 18, we joined a training course in Vienna, Austria, titled "Community Conflict Transformation Through Youth Work." This program, supported by the Erasmus+ initiative of the European Union, gathered 30 amazing youth workers from various countries. The training focused on equipping youth workers with conflict transformation tools to address social issues positively. Participants from my country, including Carlota, Vanessa, and Miguel Viña, had transformative experiences, fostering cultural exchange, new perspectives, and lasting friendships. Over the course of a single week, we engaged in discussions delving into the cultural, political and economic aspects of the participating nations. This exploration aimed to equip us with the essential tools for fostering European unity. They left with enriched skills and a shared commitment to making a difference in their communities. Thank you very much for this wonderful experience!
