The Baltic Regional Summer Academy for Democracy and Human Rights

The training activity took place

in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, by rotation

organised by The European Wergeland Centre and the Ministries of Education from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania

June of the current year, till net year's June

Reference person

Natalia Gudakovska

(Co-trainer)

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Aims & objectives

The Regional Baltic Summer Academy is a training programme that aims to build the capacity of schools in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to foster an inclusive and democratic culture by training teachers, school leaders, community members and student representatives in citizenship and human rights education. It also offers support for school development projects.

Organised yearly since 2015, the Academy is a great opportunity to learn practical tools and strategies on how to create a more open, inclusive and democratic school environment for all children through a whole-school approach. The programme allows school teams to analyse school needs and priorities and prepare a concrete action plan to meet the challenges their school is dealing with.

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

The training is delivered by a team of three, one trainer from each Baltic state (I represent Estonia) and also act as Head Trainer.

The training brings together 12 school teams, namely 4 teams from each of the Baltic states.

Training methods used & main activities

Workshops, brainstorm, group discussions, project development etc.

Outcomes of the activity

Becoming a more inclusive and democratic school provides benefits for students, teachers and the whole schools:
• There is a friendly school atmosphere, which fosters cooperation and respect;
• Pupils feel more confident, actively listen to each other and take responsibility for their school;
• Teachers feel more confident in using interactive methods in teaching and are able to address controversial issues in class;
• Pupils with weaker academic results are more involved in school;
• Relations between teacher – pupil, teacher – parent, pupil – pupil are co-operative;
• Pupils are showing greater interest in community affairs;
• Cooperation between schools and other organizations is created and enforced.

Your tasks and responsibilities within the team

I am Head Trainer and coordinate the development of the programme, as well as deliver parts of it. Together with my colleagues trainers, I evaluate it and liaise with the Organizers in defining the needs for learning and evaluating their level of realization.