DayCul – Act Daily, Think Interculturally

CONTEXT: This training project was born from a need to offer participants a chance to discover phenomena of culture and cultural diversity from the “real life oriented” perspective of differences in everyday life. In specific, exploring Religion, Traditions, Food, Music, Languages, Nationalities, History, Communication patterns, Relations, Time, Jokes, Fashion, Personal culture, Relation towards other cultures, Power issues, Gender and Sex, Roles in society and all the other things that shape our everyday life (behaviour, identity, beliefs, values and rules) and all of them are deeply rooted in our culture. By acknowledging the importance of culture in everyday life and understanding that these set of regulations differ from group to group that one belongs to, participants will understand that these topics are essence of intercultural learning and are important part of becoming sensitive to cultural differences. For the sake of comprehending obstacles (stereotypes, prejudice, discrimination and violence) that occur during intercultural dialogue and finding possibilities for overcoming these problems, one first has to understand one’s own culture. AIM: The training course aims at developing the intercultural competencies of youth workers and leaders in organizing international youth projects through exploration of cultural diversity from a perspective of real everyday life and use of it as a tool to discover identity (become aware of your own culture so that you can open to others who are different). WHAT WILL HAPPEN? 6 training days in which we will live and learn together, in order to: - understand the multiple forms of culture and intercultural dialogue through exploration of cultural diversity from a perspective of everyday life; - stimulate and challenge youth workers to use very different cultural environment as a tool to discover identity; - discover and acknowledge the importance that influence of culture has on person’s perception of reality, everyday behaviour and identity; - discuss common European values; take initiative to create activities and projects on intercultural learning for the local contexts and realities; - create an interactive learning and reflection group of youth workers that will afterwards lay the foundations for future international cooperation in Youth in Action projects. METHODS: We will use methods specific to non-formal education and learning, both individual and group methods, taking into consideration participants’ learning needs. - Group work - Debates and Discussions - Simulations and Role-plays - Open space methodology - Reflection - Participatory and Improve theatre techniques - Local community and environment as a tool - As well as Cooking, Dancing and everything else that can work as a learning experience TECHNICAL INFO: Name: DayCul – Act Daily, Think Interculturally Dates: 08 – 15 April 2013 (including arrival and departure dates) Place: Pancevo, 20km from Belgrade, Serbia Number of Participants: 24 total Countries: Serbia, Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Italy, Croatia, Romania, Cyprus Age of Participants: +18 Profile of participants: Youth workers, Youth Leaders or Volunteers dealing with intercultural issues. Some examples on WHO? YOU! If you: - are a youth worker or leader; - are interested in non-formal education, culture, intercultural topics, active participation and the mix between them all; - have a minimal experience with the Youth in Action program; - believe in values such as: understanding between different cultures, social responsibility, sense of belonging to a community, youth active participation; - speak English and are willing to be an active participant in the entire course duration.