TOY - Trainers Online for Youth
This is a reference for Adrià Sonet
The aim of the project was to explore the applicability of Contact Improvisation in youth organisations working with young people facing fewer opportunities. Contact Improvisation is a resource that can be used to promote inclusion, to work on the physical contact between people, to develop self-acceptance and to improve the active listening and awareness towards others.
The target group offered this experience to were 26 educators and youth workers actively involved in our partner organisations and working with youngsters on a regular basis. On another level, we also extended this opportunity to trainers and facilitators who were interested to include Contact Improvisation tools and exercises in their workshops and projects.
The working methods were varied and interactive in order to ensure a balance between practice on spot and application in the future in their organisations. Taking into account the diversity of the participants in terms of experience in Contact Improvisation, the methods provided an effective group experience learning together and from each other, and allowed all participants to fulfill their expectations and needs through a progressive and valuable inter-cultural learning experience supported by reflection tools.
By participating in this project, youth workers did: learn what is Contact Improvisation by practicing it; raise awareness of their personal development through connecting with their bodies in a deeper level; learn a set of Contact Improvisation exercises that can be applied in their organisations; and develop new ways how Contact Improvisation can be applied to Youth Work, connecting it with concepts such as inclusion, conflict management, sustainability, leadership, deep communication and creativity, among others. Our intention was that participants had an impact in the organisation level through sharing, spreading and applying Contact Improvisation in the local and international communities.
In order to bring Contact Improvisation and the outcomes of this project to our network of partners and beyond, we created a video-summary of the training and we produced the “Start to Get in Touch” five short videos, compiling the exercises based on Contact Improvisation developed by the participants during the training course.
Trainer and project manager.