Study visits "Chasing the Rainbow"

The training activity took place

in Riga, Latvia and Rovaniemi, Finland

organised by Latvian, Finish, Irish NAs & other partners

6-21 June 2015 (Latvia); 24 February - 1 March (Finland)

Aims & objectives

"Chasing the Rainbow" was a set of three study visits that took place in Latvia, Ireland and Finland. The overall aim was to encourage more LGBTIQ young people from the participating countries to start international projects on human rights.

The objectives:
- explore the diversity of LGBTIQ communities in participating countries
- exploring opportunities for human rights activism
- transferring learned competences into work on local level
- forming partnerships between participants
- understanding the possibilities of Erasmus+: Youth in Action projects
- learn project management skills
- developing projects under E+ YiA

Target group & international/intercultural composition of the group & team

Organizers were: National Agencies of Latvia, Ireland and Finland

I was working for 2 of the study visits. In the first one, there were young activists from Latvia, Ireland and Finland and I was working with Dermot O'Brian from Ireland as a co-trainer.

The study visit in Finland was gathering participants from around 10 Programme and Partner countries and I was working with Laszlo Foldi from Hungary as a co-trainer.

Training methods used & main activities

- Study visits
- Team work and discussions
- Short theory inputs
- Case-study analysis
- Project development
- Practicing activism - participation in EuroPride (Riga) and ArcticPride (Rovaniemi)

Outcomes of the activity

- Network of LGBT+ activists
- Developed competences and confidence of young activists
- Promoted active participation
- Developed youth exchange ideas

Your tasks and responsibilities within the team

I was a full-time facilitator for both events together with my colleagues and in cooperation with NAs