TC with OUTDOOR approach "Bringing You Closer to You"

Aims & objectives

The training course was based on Experiential Learning approach and had four objectives with intrinsic connection to each other:

-Holistic Approach - Exploring different areas of holistic approach to personal and professional development, such as physical, emotional, cognitive, spiritual and social by experiencing outdoor and light meditation and yoga activities.
- Reflecting and analyzing the experience: Participants reflected on the values behind youth work and non-formal learning in different contexts, analyzing to what extent their current working approach and practices reveal these values and identifying the gaps in order to improve the youth work they do.
- Conceptualizing: Exploring underlying theories and opportunities for including more elements of holistic approach to personal and professional development in youth work and discovering what competencies it could develop.
- Developing new ideas: participants developed concrete ideas on how the experience from this training course could be applied on different levels: setting concrete objectives and creating action plan on their personal and professional and creating more general recommendations for improving youth work quality in their countries.

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

24 youth workers from Sweden, Spain, Estonia, Latvia, Slovenia, Ukraine, Armenia, Georgia, Lebanon, Jordan, Morocco, Turkey.

Training methods used & main activities

Methodologies and Content:
• Outdoor Activities - Experiencing outdoor and light meditation and yoga activities and becoming more aware about ourselves – our characteristics, values and objectives in personal and professional life;
• Values - exploring values behind youth work and non-formal learning and analyzing to what extent our current working practices reflect these values;
• Clear Objectives - setting clear objectives and developing action plan on personal development as a youth work practitioners;
• Analysis - analyzing the methodology of this training course (personal development approach with outdoor and light meditation and yoga elements) – how it impacts the individual and how it could be applied in youth work for young peoples’ personal development
• Idea Development - coming up with a set of recommendations for improving youth work practices in Europe that could be shared with all participating organizations and also wider target group involved in this field
• Testing Yourself – the course included 24-hour challenge. Participants were divided in micro groups to spend one day and a night outdoors and take care of themselves and their team-members independently.

Outcomes of the activity

- Developed competences and confidence of participants
- More balanced approach to own life and role of youth worker
- Motivation to use outdoor approach as a strong tool for learning
- Follow-up activities with youth

Your tasks and responsibilities within the team

I was a full-time trainer together with Kety Zhvania-Tyson (Georgia)

I worked on this training for 8 days as a full time trainer.