TOY - Trainers Online for Youth
This is a reference for Gośka (Małgorzata) Tur
The training idea was based on always important issues in international youth and volunteer field, as capacity of organization, networking and partnership. To this, new topics were added, such as usage of internet for promotion of volunteering, and how to bring sustainable lifestyle to international youth and volunteer projects. Therefore, the objectives of the training course were:
- To raise knowledge and skills of participants on use of ICT technologies for promotion of volunteering, environmental sustainability issues, networking and partnership on international level and capacity development of youth and volunteer organizations for improving quality and quantity, innovation and creativity in international youth and volunteer work,
- To develop guidelines and share best practice examples for creative and innovative promotion of international volunteering, Youth in Action program and youth activities, involving young people through use of diverse online tools, including multimedia as flash, youtube and other in SCI network,
- To develop educational materials and guidelines on how to make international youth and volunteer projects more environmentally sustainable, and diminish negative impact on climate and environment,
- to promote active citizenship and grass root approach of youth and volunteer activities through improved networking and partnership, and increased capacities of youth and voluntary organizations,
- To contribute to sustainability of international youth and volunteer projects, by promoting grass-root approach and developing support system for young people to design and implement own projects and initiatives, by increasing and developing capacity of volunteer organizations, and innovative use of ICT,
- To improve quality, quantity and sustainability of Youth in Action program activities (youth exchanges, trainings and seminars, EVS and other) through new methods of networking and cooperation, innovative and interactive use of internet tools, and environmental sustainability as special education focus of projects and activities.
The main theme of the project was empowering young people with capacities and skills to improve quality and quantity of international youth and volunteer work, make it more sustainable, and promote volunteering as a tool for active citizenship and community development on local level. To achieve this, the training program was designed with parallel workshops and activities on the four main blocks:
- Networking and partnership: successful examples of networking and coordination of international activities on certain topics, international communication and coordination, diffuculties and challenges in international cooperation on volunteer and youth field.
- Capacity development of youth and volunteer organization: what are our capacities, identifying and analyzing them (strong and weak points) on national and international level, needs, tools and steps for developing organization.
- Internet and creative ways to promote volunteering and international youth work: usage of Internet for promotion of international youth and volunteer projects, which methods of promotion are used now, what works and what not, sharing experiences and best practices, creativity and innovation in online promotion (flash, youtube etc.), using internet for learning and sharing information.
- Sustainability in international youth and volunteer work: global problem of climate change and environmental sustainability – how can we make our activities more sustainable, minimize harmful impact on environment, make international youth and volunteer proejcts a practical examples and models of sustainable lifestyle.
The training course was targeted at active volunteers, board members and staff of SCI organizations and partners, leaders of youth and volunteer projects – workcamps and youth exchanges, former EVS volunteers interested to get involved more actively after the service, and activists dealing with specific themes.
20 non-governmental youth activists attended the event, coming from Azerbaijan, Belgium, Croatia, Germany, Italy, Moldova, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Serbia, Switzerland, and Ukraine.
The four thematic blocks were closely connected with each other, and included both theoretical inputs prepared by trainers, as well as practical workshops aimed to work on ideas and specific proposals for future activities and educational materials.
The working methods during the training included brainstorming as introduction to topics, working groups/ workshops to elaborate certain topics in detail and share experience, thematic presentations to introduce some aspects, as well as practical work in small groups to go deeper on each subject, discuss and develop follow-up ideas. Other methods included facilitated discussions in the plenary, silent individual work for reflection, creative sessions, energizers, and role plays.
The training succedeed in fulfilling its objectives, and the group left the training with new knowledge, skills, and ideas for future action. Some participants reported later on actions aiming at assessing and increasing their organisations' sustainability, as well as new approaches to ICT and internet usage in organisation.
I was a full-time trainer, member of the trainers' team.