‘InclusiOFF- Turn it ON!’ Training in Serbia

Deadline: 22 December 2013
Open to: youth workers, facilitators, trainers, coordinators, active volunteers from Serbia, Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Romania, Greece, Turkey, Poland, Portugal, or Estonia
Venue: 7-16 February 2014 in Novi Pazar, Serbia

Description

“InclusiOFF – Turn it ON! – mainstreaming social inclusion in youth work field” is a training that will be held from the 7-16 February 2014 in Novi Pazar, Serbia.

A strategy that is undergoing now at European Commission Level mentions “this strategy responds to the challenge that many young people in Europe are deprived from participating in trans-national activities, be it because there are many obstacles or because youth workers and trainers are not sufficiently prepared to assist this target group to participate” . The inclusion strategy aims at areas such as information, motivation and training; creating networks; transfer of best practices and experiences. If youth workers and youth organizations cannot reach out to and include young people with the fewer opportunities in their activities, where else will they benefit from the non-formal learning experiences these activities provide?

Partners involved in this project detected (besides the statistics and international documentation and measurements-see “Social Inclusion for Young people–Breaking Down The Barriers” HERE) an increase in the level of social exclusion in their communities and felt the responsibility that youth organization play in building a social cohesive society. Youth work plays an essential role in reaching and bringing together young people who face exclusion on a daily basis. It is true that there are many other factors in society that can contribute to the social inclusion of young people, not least the abilities and strengths of young people themselves, but for young people with the fewest opportunities youth work and youth organizations can be a principal means of such inclusion to happen.

The aim of this project is to increase the capacity in youth work field to mainstream social inclusion in their work.

The project is based on an intensive experiential learning process to reach following objectives:

  • To increase the level of knowledge in social exclusion (causes, dimensions, effects and consequences),mechanism of inclusion in youth field, best practice on inclusion growth(in youth projects);
  • To develop deep understanding and practical skills in alternative methods for mainstreaming inclusion and participation of young people :Living Library, Image Theatre(as type of Theatre of the Oppressed), Animation, and Experiential Learning;
  • To increase the level of solidarity, tolerance and empathy among youth workers;
  • To develop pro-active attitudes towards inclusion;
  • To equip a new generation of youth workers to act as “social exclusion fighters” in their communities.
  • To facilitate the building of an informal network for promoting and mainstreaming inclusion growth in local and international youth work environment.

The vision of the project is to enable the participants to be independent practitioners of various methods with their beneficiaries (among the methods that will be targeted in the project we can mention: Social Theatre, Living Library, Street Work Techniques, experiential learning) together with an in-depth understanding of social inclusion layers and complexity). The “approach” of the training will make use of the richness of experiential learning and non-formal education in general.

The educational team is composed of trainers with more than 10 years of experience in youth work field, social inclusion methods and training youth workers and trainers across Europe.

Eligibility

Participants should be Youth workers, facilitators, trainers, coordinators, active volunteers that are already working with social inclusion issues or are interested to be active in the field and need more practical competencies in various methods for mainstreaming social inclusion in their communities.

All participants should have an English level of at least medium level (to be able to participate in discussion and in training activities). The participants should be resident of one of following countriesSerbia, Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Romania, Greece, Turkey, Poland, Portugal, Estonia.

Important Note: applications from people residents in other countries (regardless if they are nationals/citizens of the countries mentioned before will not be accepted.

Costs

This project is funded by the Youth in Action Programme. According to its rules, all costs of board and logging will be covered by the organisers. In addition, the organizers are going to reimburse 70 percent of the participants’ travel costs, upon the receipt of all original tickets and invoices.

Application

If you fit the profile of participants and you are interested in taking part in “InclusiOFF- Turn it ON!” training course, please fill in the application form HERE and return it completed not later than 22 December 2013 to andreea_loredana_psi@yahoo.com.

Send any questions to the email listed above.

For more details, see the official call for applications HERE.

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