The Natural Edge

We invite you to where the real adventure in learning is, to a programme on co-operative leadership for personal and group transformation, social initiative and cultural cohesion to pass on your work with young people.

The Natural Edge is an 8-day-long international training course in September, 2019 in Kisterenye, Hungary aimed at youth workers, educators, leaders, facilitators working with young people.

We will work deeply with the communication skills of the Way of Council in combination with a 24-hour solo time in nature and use and explore the method of experiential learning – This combination contains elements designed to elicit;

• storytelling • ceremony • build meaningful relationships and natural leadership • deepen development and awareness of one’s self and others’ place, wisdom and abilities in a group and culture • how to give regenerative feedback • read the field to best know how to foster optimum learning conditions.

The course will have a strong experiential part. Be prepared to be challenged in some ways that can surprise you! Participants will be offered a space for trying themselves out, and there will be a space for their inputs to be incorporated in the course.

The course aims:

• To introduce, confer and develop a basic to intermediate methodology of Council practice, facilitation skills, the use of agreements, strategies and forms, dynamic potential for self transformation, small and large groups learnings and collective wisdom.

• To strengthen the value of our stories and skill in storytelling, to explore relational dynamics, increase awareness of the impact and responsibilities in our communications.

• To offer tools and methods that can educate young people to community-mindedness, that support building relations and trust, promote common values, inclusion, diversity, mutual respect and tolerance.

• To deepen an awareness and connection of our natural human resources with a 24-hour solo experience in nature as a reflective non-formal, non-biased education method, an open resource accessible to all.

• To develop leadership, service social/civic competencies in its multiple and diverse forms and as natural outcomes of our work

• To contribute to a cross-cultural peer community of youth workers and facilitators in transformative learning.

• To carry forward social entrepreneurship, initiative and learnings through a relevant follow-up project, designed, peer-mentored and facilitated by participants

The trainers:

Rob Dreaming, Krisztina Pasztor, Gyula Szabo, Rebecca Card.

The course will involve 28 participants from 9 countries: Hungary, Latvia, Bulgaria, Greece, Czech Republic, Turkey, United Kingdom, Slovakia, Portugal, plus 4 trainers.

The ideal applicant will be a trainer, youthworker, social worker or educator working with young people, strongly motivated in participating for the whole duration of the course, including the preparation, follow up and dissemination phase. The working language will be English.