Training courses for youth workers involved in youth work addressing young Ukrainian refugees and host communities in Romania

Aims & objectives

The training courses aim to equip the youth workers involved in the project with the relevant competences to implement quality youth work activities and responses to support the successful inclusion of young Ukrainian refugees in Romania.
The participants in the training courses have already developed and implemented activities in the framework of the project in the past year, some of them being refugees themselves. They have different levels of experience, expertise, and training. The training course has also the function to respond to their training needs and to support them in offering similar quality levels activities.
The objectives of the training courses are:
- To introduce participants to the approaches and quality standards of the Youth Department of the Council of Europe to youth work, youth participation and human rights education;
- To enhance their competences as youth workers by providing learning opportunities for rights and value-based quality youth work with a focus on:
o Human rights and human rights education
o Participatory youth work
o Inclusion of young refugees
o Work and support for young people affected by war
- To empower youth workers to support the inclusion of young refugees and the solidarity of host communities through youth engagement
- To strengthen cooperation and team work among the participants.

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

The team consisted of 2 Romanian trainers and 4 Ukrainian ones. Participants were both from Romania and Ukraine, some of them had refugee background.

Training methods used & main activities

The event was dedicated to human rights education methodology. Participants gained experience of being engaged with non-formal education activities and adapting non-formal education methods (mainly human rights education ones) in their youth work realities.
Participants learned a lot about group dynamics, experiential learning, safe space and Do No Harm principles in youth work.

Outcomes of the activity

Participants developed their competencies in human rights education,
- Got acquainted with tools and learning instruments of Council of Europe,
- Participants adapted methods to their youth work realities and practiced them,
- Youth workers established cooperation ties and developed joint projects.

Your tasks and responsibilities within the team

1. Participated in the preparatory meetings, on the dates to be agreed with the organisers and the Council of Europe;
2. Prepared sessions outlines detailing programme elements in agreement with the rest of the team and the Council of Europe Secretariat
3. Facilitated plenary sessions, workshops and working groups in the programme as agreed within the team.
4. Lead the preparations of the programme elements dealing with participants planning and reflection on how to integrate human rights education in the programme of activities of the youth centres
5. Supported the work of co-trainers and organisers, and support participants learning.
6. Took part in daily evaluation meetings during the training course.
7. Applied the educational approaches, methodology and contents of the programme according to the quality criteria for non-formal education activities of the Council of Europe’s Youth Department
8. Any other task agreed with the Council of Europe secretariat and relevant for the smooth running of the training course.
9. Contributed to the evaluation and reporting of the activity by attending the evaluation meeting and completing an evaluation report of the course.

I worked on this training for 6 days as a full time trainer.