TOY - Trainers Online for Youth
This is a reference for András Nyirati
This was a democracy project (YiA 1.3) which lasted 18 months and aimed to start an international network of youth parliaments. This project was the first step, the goal was to share good practices from Germany and Hungary about youth advocacy and participation and to create common standards for youth parliaments and councils. The main topic of the 5 days training in Pécs was the creation of the Youth Parliament of Pécs and set the common standards
The group was made of 12 German youngsters from Berlin and 11 Hungarian youngsters from Pécs. The team consisted 2 experts from Berlin, 1 group leader from Pécs and 1 trainer, me.
The first training in Berlin was about team building and intercultural learning, so on this second training we only had short sessions with intercultural learning and the focus was on project planning. There were many group work in small, big, mixed and national groups. We used SWOT analysis, different project planning models. We also had some simulation about how a youth parliament works, about how to make a debate and how to negotiate with adults/decision makers.
The project wasn't a big success, because the applicant organization had some serious troubles, so there were no next steps to build this network. The Pécs youth parliament didn't born, I think the municipality dind't have an interest in creating it, but there is a City Students Council, so something happened. On the other hand the training in Pécs was OK, we made a real analysis and an action plan which could be implemented if decision makers wanted to.
The applicant gave the main goals for the training and I use these frames to develop the training program. I led the 4 days of the program and wrote a report for Berlin and Pécs.