WORDS FOR CHANGE

Dates and Locations

TC1 – France (Cornus, near Montpellier): 13/10/2025 – 21/10/2025

TC2 – Portugal (Madeira, Funchal): 21/11/2025 – 29/11/2025

General Background: In today’s connected and intercultural society, young people access vast amounts of information about sexuality online. This offers new opportunities for exchange and freedom but also exposes them to risks such as cyber harassment, revenge porn, and blackmail. Despite increasingly open public discussions, stereotypes, discrimination, and rigid gender or sexual roles remain widespread.

Prevention campaigns have not stopped the rise of STDs and STIs across Europe, and sex education continues to be taboo in many contexts. At the same time, Europe faces growing opposition to gender equality and sexual rights, while the 4th wave of feminism challenges everyday sexism, rape culture, and harassment.

Formal education often limits itself to biological aspects, while non-formal education focuses mainly on prevention. Youth workers are therefore lacking tools to engage young people in an inclusive, critical, and open vision of sex and gender education. This training aims to equip them with knowledge, reflection, and practical resources.

Objectives:

• Deepen knowledge of gender, sexuality, and their historical context.
• Strengthen the ability of youth workers to reflect and take positions on these issues.
• Create practical educational tools and a toolkit on gender and sexuality.
• Exchange good practices between participants from different countries and professions.
• Foster a European peer network to support future collaborations in the field.

Description of Trainings

Training 1 (France):
Seven days combining analysis, reflection, and practice. Participants will receive preparatory readings before the course. Sessions will alternate between theoretical contributions, text studies, group work, and more playful educational activities. Writing will be a central support tool.

Training 2 (Portugal):
A deeper exploration of sexual and affective education. Includes theoretical inputs, resource sharing, and exchange of practices. The program will be tailored to the expectations of participants and adapted daily based on feedback.

Profile of Participants: The course is designed for youth workers and professionals active in education and social work, such as social workers, teachers, psychologists, trainers, youth leaders, and health professionals.

Participants should:

• Be engaged in or motivated to work on gender and sexual education.
• Be ready to share experiences, reflect on their own path, and engage in respectful dialogue.
• Commit to attending the full program.
• Diversity of backgrounds and experiences is strongly encouraged.

Methodology: 

The training is based on non-formal education methods. Participants will be active contributors, leading energizers and workshops, as learning is most effective through action and experience.

Trainers will provide theoretical content using participatory methods. Collective intelligence will be fostered through tools such as fish-bowl discussions, moving debates, and skim reading. The program will remain flexible and responsive to participants’ needs.