Milena (Lazic) Nikolic

Current occupation

Freelance educator and consultant

Work experience

My professional background is in Counselling Psychology and Trainings in Life Long Learning and Youth field.
I’ve been working as a trainer since 2002 and cooperated with different organizations on national and European level and have designed, delivered and evaluated a number of training modules, in Serbian and English, independently and in teams, related to:

CULTURAL DIVERSITY and INTERCULTURAL LEARNING, Including

- Training Course DAYCUL 6 - ACT DAILY THINK INTERCULTURALY, (March 16 – 23, 2016, Perugia, Italy)
Organiser: National Agency of Italy of the Erasmus + Programme (Youth), European Commission
Aim: Provide basic knowledge for youth workers to work with cultural differences focusing on cultural diversity in daily life.
Topics: Culture, Identity and Culture, Prejudice, Stereotypes and Discrimination, Possible ways for developing understanding and accepting differences.

- Seminar BEYOND - RETHINKING INTERCULTURAL LEARNING, (June 28 – July 03, 2015, Corato, Italy)
Organiser: Associazione Culturale Beyond Borders Corato, Italy, Erasmus + Programme (Youth), European Commission
Aim: Raising awareness on the importance of the ICL dimension in youth educational activities and reflecting on how to improve the practices of ICL; how to enhance the quality of international projects on ICL; how to have deeper impact within the local communities, how to support better understanding of different cultures.
Topics: Quality in ICL activities for youth, Culture, Identity and Culture, Prejudice, Stereotypes and Discrimination.

- Training Course DAYCUL 5 - ACT DAILY THINK INTERCULTURALY, (June 27 – July 04, 2014, Delnice, Croatia) organised by LAG Gorski Kotar, Croatia under Youth in Action Programme, European Commission.
Training course was aiming to provide basic knowledge for youth workers to work with cultural differences focusing on cultural diversity in daily life.

- Training Course DECIDE – DEVELOPING COMPETENCIES FOR INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUE IN EUROPEAN CONTEXT, (May 22 – 29, 2013, Lefkosia, Cyprus) organised by Politistiko Ergastiri, Cyprus under Life Long Learning Programme, European Commission.
Training course was aiming to provide basic knowledge for highs schools/university teachers and educators to work with cultural differences and intercultural dialogue.

- Training Course DAYCUL 4 - ACT DAILY THINK INTERCULTURALY, (April 08 – 15, 2013, Pancevo, Serbia) organised by Pokret Gorana i Centar Volontera Pancevo, Serbia under Youth in Action Programme, European Commission.
Training course was aiming to provide basic knowledge for youth workers to work with cultural differences focusing on cultural diversity in daily life.

Training Course DAYCUL 3 - ACT DAILY THINK INTERCULTURALY, (Feb 22 – March 01, 2013, Lefkosia, Cyprus) organised by National Agency of Cyprus of the Youth in Action Programme, European Commission.
Training course was aiming to provide basic knowledge for youth workers to work with cultural differences focusing on cultural diversity in daily life.

- Training Course CAPTAIN CULTURE (Oct 28 – Nov 04, 2012 Åkersberga, Sweden) organised by Kvinnofridskompetens, Sweden under Youth in Action Programme, European Commission.
Training course was aiming to raise awareness among young people about the importance and influence of culture on person’s behaviour and identity; provide them with skills how to recognize and be sensitive for cultural differences and encourage young people in developing tools, activities, strategies for improvement of youth work on local level focused on cultural diversity.

- Training Course DAYCUL 2 - ACT DAILY THINK INTERCULTURALY, (September 03 – 11, 2012, Galatone, Italy) organised by Insight_e.p.d, Italy under Youth in Action Programme, European Commission.
Training course was aiming to provide basic knowledge for youth workers to work with cultural differences focusing on cultural diversity in daily life.

- Training Course WE ARE ALL DIVERSE BUT EQUAL, (July 01 – 08, 2012, Skofja Loka, Slovenia) organised by Misli Naprej s.p. for educational and training events, Slovenia under Life Long Learning Programme, European Commission.
Training course was aiming to provide basic knowledge for senior adult learners to develop intercultural competencies and to work with cultural differences in daily life.

- Training Course DAYCUL 1- ACT DAILY THINK INTERCULTURALY, (October 19 – 26, 2011, Lefkosia, Cyprus) organised by Politistiko Ergastiri, Cyprus under Youth in Action Programme, European Commission.
Training course was aiming to provide basic knowledge for youth workers to work with cultural differences focusing on cultural diversity in daily life.

- Training Course CAPTAIN CULTURE - NEW APPROACHES IN INTERCULTURAL LEARNING, (November 29 – December 06, 2010, Lefkosia, Cyprus) organised by Politistiko Ergastiri, Cyprus under Youth in Action Programme, European Commission.
Training course was aiming to provide basic knowledge for youth workers to work with cultural differences and encourage them to develop, implement and analyse innovative approaches for improvement of youth work on local level focused on cultural diversity.

- Training Course CAPTAIN CULTURE - CREATIVITY IN INTERCULTURAL LEARNING, (October 26 – November 02, 2009, Zafferana, Italy) organised by Arci Catania Sicily under Youth in Action Programme, European Commission.
Training course was aiming to provide opportunity for youth workers to develop, implement and analyse innovative approaches in the field of Intercultural Learning.

- Training Course CAPTAIN CULTURE (March 26 – April 1, 2008 Bohinj, Slovenia) organised by National Scout Association of Slovenia under Youth in Action Programme, European Commission
Training course was aiming to raise awareness among young people about the importance and influence of culture on person’s behaviour and identity; provide them with skills how to recognize and be sensitive for cultural differences and encourage young people in developing tools, activities, strategies for improvement of youth work on local level focused on cultural diversity.

VOLUNTEERING, Including

- Long-term Training Project VOLU.M.E – Volunteers Management Enhanced, (March 24–31, 2015 Nicosia / Jan 27–Feb 02, 2016 Lysos, Cyprus)
Organiser: EVyouth, Cyprus, Erasmus + Programme (Youth), European Commission
Aim: Provide possibilities for EVS (European Voluntary Service) stakeholders to share knowledge and experience in order to create tools and products for improvement of EVS projects for youth, both on local and international level.
Topics: EVS projects, Management of Volunteers, Project Management, Roles of parties involved in EVS projects, Mentoring, Possible ways for overcoming obstacles in EVS projects, Creating Tools and Products.

- Training Course ALPHABET OF VOLUNTEERING, (April 04 –11, 2014, Cluj-Napoca, Romania) organised by ProVobis Romania under Life Long Learning Programme, European Commission
Training course was aiming to provide skills on Volunteerism and Volunteers’ Management for managers of volunteers specifically working on Illiteracy programs for adults.

- Training Course SUPER VOLUNTEER, (June 15 –21, 2012, Nicolosi, Italy) organised by Arci Catania Sicily under Youth in Action Programme, European Commission.
Training course was aiming to provide opportunity for youth workers to develop, implement and analyse innovative approaches in the field of Volunteerism and Intercultural Learning.

EUROPEAN IDENTITY and CITIZENSHIP, Including

- Training Course PEACE – PROMOTING ACTIVE EUROPEAN CITIZENSHIP IN EUROPE, (April 30 – May 06, 2014, Pancevo, Serbia) organised by Pokret Gorana i Centar Volontera Pancevo, Serbia under Youth in Action Programme, European Commission.
Training course was aiming to provide basic knowledge for youth workers to work with concept of European Citizenship and Youth Active Participation in daily life.

- Session EUROPEAN CITIZENSHIP (January 21, 2008 Antalya, Turkey) in the scope of the Training of Trainers for European Youth in Action Projects 2007/08, European Commission.
Session was aiming to provide understanding what is the concept of the European identity and citizenship.

- Session HOW CAN TRAINERS USE EUROPEAN CITIZENSHIP (January 22, 2008 Antalya, Turkey) in the scope of the Training of Trainers for European Youth in Action Projects 2007/08, European Commission.
Session was aiming to provide understanding how European trainers can and have to use the concept of European identity and citizenship in Youth trainings of the European Union.

INCLUSION and PARTICIPATION of YOUNG PEOPLE, Including

- Training Course BACK AND FORWARD - Empowerment for transition from Youth in Action Programme to Erasmus +
(Oct 30 – Nov 06, 2014, Ayia Napa, Cyprus) organised by National Agency of Cyprus of the Erasmus + Youth Programme, European Commission.
Training course was aiming to encourage and offer young people practical social skills on how to use the knowledge and skills acquired from Youth in Action Programme with new program Erasmus + in order to develop higher quality projects and stay active on the local and European level.

- Seminar BACK AND FORWARD - Youth in Action Programme, the last dance before the new one (Sep 13 – 18, 2013, Lecce, Italy) organised by Insight_e.p.d, Italy under Youth in Action Programme, European Commission.
Seminar was aiming to encourage and offer young people practical social skills on how to use the knowledge and skills acquired from Youth in Action Programme with new program Erasmus + in order to stay active on the local and European level.

- Training Course YOUTH SUMMER CAMP 2002 (August 12 – 19, 2002, Divcibare, Serbia) organised by Ministry of Education and Sports, Serbia
Training course was aiming to support young people to develop and implement civic activities in their community, also to make them understand the importance of social skills such as non-violent communication and dealing with conflicts in group as well as in team.

QUALITY in EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES, Including

- Training Course A DIFFERENT KNOW HOW, (Nov 28 – Dec 05, 2013, Lefkosia, Cyprus) organised by Politistiko Ergastiri, Cyprus under Youth in Action Programme, European Commission.
Training course was aiming to provide basic knowledge for youth workers to implement non-formal educational methodologies and experiential learning when working with learning groups.

- Training Course KNOW HOW, (March 21 – 23, 2012, Skofja Loka, Slovenia) organised by Misli Naprej s.p. for educational and training events, Slovenia under Life Long Learning Programme, European Commission.
Training course was aiming to provide basic knowledge for youth workers to implement non-formal educational methodologies and experiential learning when working with learning groups.

- Long-term European project – Strategic Partnership QUILT - Quality in Training and Learning (2010 - 2012) within the Grundtvig Action of the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Commission.
Partnership of trainers working on quality enhancement in the European projects related to training, learning and education, with special attention on the possibilities for facilitating learners to plan, organise, implement and assess their own learning process.

- Workshop THE INTERNATIONAL CLASS – OUR VYGOTSKY (October 4, 2008 New York City, USA) organised at the Conference Performing the
World 2008 – yesterday, today, tomorrow, East Side Institute for Group and Short Term Psychotherapy, New York City, USA.
Workshop was aiming to present what was the concept behind the long-term program The International Class on human development and learning,
organised by The East Side Institute for Group and Short Term Psychotherapy, New York City, USA.

- CAPACITY BUILDING FOR DECENTRALIZATION OF EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM OF SERBIA long-term educational project for decision makers in schools (October 2003 – April 2004 Belgrade, Serbia) organised by Ministry of Education and Sports, Serbia with logistical support of NGO Civic Initiatives. Trainings were aiming to establish the foundation for acceptance of the process of decentralization planned by the reforms of educational system in Serbia, meaning provide basic information on what will be new in national educational strategy and give support to stakeholders in schools to understand and implement this required changes in everyday school life.

COMMUNICATION SKILLS and CONFLICT TRANSFORMATION, Including

- Youth Exchange CHAMPIONS OF GROWING UP (August 19 – 25, 2016 Zelimlje, Slovenia)
Organiser: Drustvo SMC, Maribor, Slovenia, Erasmus + Programme (Youth), European Commission
Aims: Develop skills among young people for healthy growing up and personal development, to enhance self-empowerment and self-esteem in Intercultural Learning setting.
Topics: Image of Self and Identity issue, Emotions, Relationships within the peer group/parents/love partners, Independence, Improving Communication Skills, Assertive Reacting, Active Listening, Conflict Transformation and Intercultural Dialogue.

- Training Course AEROSTATO (October 13 – 15, 2011, Lefkosia, Cyprus) organised by Politistiko Ergastiri, Cyprus under Life Long Learning Programme, European Commission.
Training course offered different workshops for adult learners on relevant topics for improvement of individual and professional development such as Conflict Transformation, Learning Styles and Personal development.

- Workshop CONFLICT TRANSFORMATION in the scope of Life Long Learning Week 2011 (June 02, 2011, Skofja Loka, Slovenia) organised by Misli Naprej s.p. for educational and training events, Slovenia under Life Long Learning Programme, European Commission.
Workshop was aiming to offer knowledge and skills of Conflict Transformation to adult learners interested in the improvement of their personal development.

- Training Course TRAMPOLIM (March 18 – 20, 2011, Cascais, Portugal) organised by Rota Jovem, Portugal under Life Long Learning Programme, European Commission.
Training course offered different workshops for adult learners on relevant topics for improvement of individual and professional development, improvement of youth work and non-formal educational activities such as Conflict Transformation, Coaching, Creativity, Body movement and expression, Learning Styles and Volunteer management.

- Long-term preventive program THE ART OF GROWING UP (January – June 2003, Belgrade, Serbia) organised by Team Psihokod – a group of psychologists devoted to education and providing psychology services and Youth Open Clubs, Belgrade, Serbia.
The program was aiming to offer knowledge and skills and develop communication and conflict transformation skills among young people for solving their developmental problems and difficulties adequately.

YOUTH EMPLOYABILITY, Including

- Training Course CAPTAIN CULTURE – MISSION EMPLOYMENT, (October 06 –13, 2013, Praia Grande, Portugal) organised by Vida Mais Viva, Portugal under Youth in Action Programme, European Commission.
Training course was aiming to provide opportunity for youth workers to develop, implement and analyse innovative approaches in the field of Youth Employability and Intercultural Learning.

TEAM BUILDING and LEADERSHIP, Including

- Training Course TEAM WORK (March 12 – 14, 2003, Belgrade, Serbia) organised by Serbian Chamber of Commerce, Serbia.
Training course was aiming to equip top management of various companies with basic concepts and techniques of working in a team.