Social diplomacy – the field where YOUth has a real power. Step 1

In the current situation of raising youth mobility, the important role of Internet and social networks in the international communication among young people it`s very important to act as an “social diplomat” to build friendly relationship between young people from different countries in spite of political situations and decisions on the governmental level. Young people through international projects with volunteering and humanitarian purposes bring peace and build peace in the international reality. Some researchers of social diplomacy phenomenon call it “soft power” in the international relationships and underline the importance of young people in this field. During this training we want to realize the role and place of youth organizations in the “soft power” phenomenon. Social diplomacy has strong connection with peace building process, it is the way how to develop and reach peace and we will take into account both social diplomacy and peace building in a relation during the training. The project contributes to the empowering youth organizations to implement peace building projects with social diplomacy approach in the COE members states, to promote among young people values of tolerant communication and mutual understanding as a tool for democracy development on the “bottom” level and active citizenship of young people. It collects practices of peace building projects and campaigns, implemented in different parts of Europe and, using synergy, produces concrete suggestions how to develop social diplomacy approach in the youth field on the national level taking into consideration all-European experience. The outcomes of the meeting will be translated on the territory of the Council of Europe and outside thanks global networking cooperation of involved organizations with Alliance of European voluntary organizations and Service Civil International what turns the project into the platform for translation of European values and approaches to other countries. The 6-days training will gather 30 participants from 15 countries, representatives of youth organizations working with peace building projects to share their experiences and best practices in peace building and social diplomacy projects, to develop skills on non-violence communication, conflict transformation, work and leadership in multicultural groups, effective communication skills in the international reality, dealing with stereotypes and prejudices. We will host participants from Russia, Armenia, Spain, Hungary, Poland, Italy, Ukraine, Greece, Rfance, Belgium, Estonia, Germany, Turkey, Georgia and The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. For now we already have confirmed participants from Russia, Poland and Italy. We are looking for 2 participants from other countries, mentioned above.