Partnership-building activity “Social Diplomacy –mind mapping opportunities”

Dear friends, We invite you to take part in the partnership-building activity “Social Diplomacy – mind mapping opportunities” that will take place from 14 to 22 of October 2015 in Armenia. “Social Diplomacy – mind mapping opportunities” aims at gathering youth NGOs from different countries, which have similar missions and objectives related to social diplomacy especially to strengthening public participation in decision making processes, promoting dialogue and deliberation. During the meeting we plan to create a diverse network of youth organizations bringing together young diplomats acting for social change through active participation. The meeting will offer a place to discuss, to decide, and to create projects together in order to address the today’s toughest challenges. MAIN OBJECTIVES OF THE ACTIVITY ARE: • To explore the meaning of social diplomacy in current social and political situations in different countries, to identify its potential, limits, challenges and current state. • To get-to-know each other personally and professionally; • To discuss what is social diplomacy is and what are the forms and models • To Share own “success stories” and making social diplomacy in a change-making process at local level; • To identify the common “change field” – main challenges to be addressed centralized as a network of young diplomats. • To innovate mechanisms and to develop new ideas; to draft project ideas (Youth exchanges, trainings, seminars, voluntary projects etc.) • To contribute to the capacity building of other organizations by doing “peer reviews”; • To deepen knowledge on EYF and Erasmus + programs, other European and national funding opportunities and to find potential partners for applications. PARTICIPANTS PROFILE: • The PBA is open for youth workers, youth leaders, activists, volunteers and simply active citizens who would love to bring change to the society. • Our participants should have a desire to learn about social diplomacy and importance of youth participation; they should formulate concrete learning needs and to be eager to develop the intercultural competence, including all aspects of it such as intercultural sensitivity, nonjudgmental approach, critical thinking, nonviolent communication, capacity for dialogue, developed communication skills such as active listening and active speaking, ability for personal (critical) assessment, ability to give and receive feedback etc.). • Besides that they should be ready to act right after the project. The clear commitment for follow up is one of the main selection criteria. This need should be shown in the expectation and motivation part of the application form. • Age limit: 18+