TOY - Trainers Online for Youth
This is a reference for Olga Kuczynska
This training, was the fourth edition of the same training concept. The main objectives of this project were:
- Improve youth workers’ skills with practical tools and experiential non-formal activities on conflict, conflict management, resolution and transformation
-Improve youth work quality and enhance the role of youth workers and NGOs as social facilitators spreading European values and a culture of peace, freedom, tolerance and respect
- Develop the competence of empathy and non violent communication as skills linked to positive conflict management;
- Enhance the participants’ attitude in transforming conflict situations into learning opportunities;
- Promote heightened recognition of the educational value of NFE activities for building a more aware and understanding Europe.
The target group was youth workers from a selection of countries. We had participants from Norway, Portugal, Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Czech Republic, Latvia, Russia.
The trainers team was from Portugal and coordinator from Lithuania.
The training was largely built around the simulation exercise "Mission Z: One last chance", which is a game-based exercise developed as part of a KA2-project (and highlighted as a 'Success Story'). Leading up to the exercise, we ran a number of brainstorming activities to establish definitions, and provide some input relevant for the training. In subsequent sessions of the programme we had, among other things, more exercises to process the learning points of the simulation - some of which were gamified.
Other big part of the program was based on the Non Violent Communication and Empathy as tools for the positive conflict management.
The written feedback we collected after the training provided very positive reviews. Participants highlighted the mix of methods and the content as their best experience. Non Violent Communication was important part of the training which most participants planned to use and multiply further.
We have also followed up all of our participants to encourage them to implement their follow-up activities and in total they managed to multiply it to 174 youngsters, youth workers, volunteers.
I was one of trainers in the team, facilitated number of the sessions focusing mostly on Non Violent Communication and working with concepts of peace and power and with conflict analysis.