This is a reference for Zsiday Kriszta

Wonderous Stories: From Xenophobia to Amazement

The training activity took place
in Ommen, The Netherlands
organised by Olde Vechte
10-24.February 2012

Aims & objectives

The aim of this training was to empower youngsters and youth workers, artists to take actions in order to recognise, face and deal with xenophobia in the everyday life in a broad spectrum of experiences. In a constantly changing society, shaped by perceptions
built by media or one-to-one interaction, one has a specific moment of decision: to be afraid or to be amazed. The project Wonderous Stories was created for bringing a better understanding on Xenophobia in everyday life. The constant re-examination of what is new or strange in our society reveals the importance of challenging our perceptions through Art.
My role as a trainer was: creating and facilitating processes mainly on leadership, conflict resolution, intercultural learning, innovative project ideas, communication styles and active participation.

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

The target group was: youth leaders and youth workers and artists aged 18-25 years old willing to work with Performance Αrts & Media. Participants from Greece, Netherlands, Hungary,
Lithuania, Denmark, Ireland, France, Romania and Slovakia were present.
The team consisted of 3 headtrainers from Greece and Hungary and experts facilitating workshops and giving lectures from 6 other countries such as Canada, Romania or Ireland.

Training methods used & main activities

We run an online training before the event. The methods combined new media and regular non-formal educational processes. I facilitated sessions with drama, simulation, outdoor activities or communication assessment.

Outcomes of the activity

The training gave theoretical and practical background and deep information on xenophobia and intercultural dialogue. A very important asset was the high level approach concerning active participation, expression and self-directed learning in the whole program. This contributed to the artistic and long term impact of the training providing the participants and the organisations to have skills, materials and experiences to be reused in their daily work and life. The competences and knowledge of participants on this field developed while dealing with different challenging circumstances.

Your tasks and responsibilities within the team

My tasks were realised in various ways, leading activities alone, facilitating small group work, plenary lecture, supervising the teamwork and designing and supporting the overall training process.

I worked on this training for 15 days as a full time trainer.

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