International Encounters: Demining the field, digging treasures

International encounters are usually seen as a promising way for young people to increase their intercultural understanding. One of the main hopes connected with providing those opportunities is that by meeting and interacting with people from different countries (and therefore perceived different cultures) young people will increase their understanding of other systems of behaviors, norms and values and will develop a more positive attitude towards cultural diversity. During the last decade this conception has been put into question from different sides as its strong focus on a seemingly homogenous national culture becomes doubtful under a closer look. On the other hand it would also be problematic to neglect the concept of culture at all, as cultural differences form a potential source of misunderstandings, tensions, conflicts of values and communication problems. Youth workers active in the field are therefore having the challenging task to not see every situation through the 'cultural lens' without on the other hand becoming 'culture blind' and therefore neglecting the influence of cultural backgrounds completely. Without going into the details of the debate it is also clear that the way how the topic of cultural diversity is addressed by the organizers forms a crucial aspects on how young people will actually perceive their experiences in an international setting. The attitudes and competences of youth leaders therefore have a direct impact on what young people will take out of their international experience and to what extent they will get encouraged to develop a reflected point of view on the topic. The project "Intercultural Encounters: Demining the field, digging treasures" is therefore aiming at giving youth leaders from program and EECA partner countries, who are involved in the organization of international youth encounters the chance to develop the necessary competences to deal with challenges that arise from differences in the cultural background of participants while at the same time making young people look beyond static and homogenizing perceptions of the other. It will consist of a training course, which will give the chance to the youth leaders to develop their competences in organizing, facilitating and animating international youth encounters based on contemporary tools and discussions of concepts related to intercultural learning and dialogue.