ToT Seeding Peace was held from 7 – 13 September 2018 in Afacan Gençlik Evi, Yenisakran, Izmir, Turkey and hosted by Gençtur. The training was framed into the “Empowerment” strategy of the Raising Peace Programme and was co-financed by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union and the European Youth Foundation.
The first idea of the Training of Trainers came up during a CCIVS Conference on Anti-Radicalisation, where CCIVS members considered that the best way to work on this issue was to continue to put emphasis on the inclusion of young people at risk of social exclusion in their local communities. For this reason, the members requested the network to further develop the CCIVS Pool of Trainers and to train young activists in peace and human rights education so that they may then transfer what they have learnt into their local context.
The main aim of this activity was, then, to empower young activists in Human Rights and Peace education competencies necessary to run activities specifically those focusing on the inclusion of young refugees, migrants, minority groups and those facing exclusion or in situations where they may be subject to radicalisation.
For this reason, the objectives of the training were:
- To consolidate participants’ knowledge on Human Rights Education and on the contributions of IVS on the promotion of Peace and Human rights.
- To acquire tools, methods and techniques to design and implement intercultural projects focused on human rights and Peace.
- To improve teamwork skills, intercultural communication, cooperation.
- To provide participants with communication tools for the promotion of their actions, initiatives and projects related to Human rights and peace.
The training welcomed participants from 13 different IVS organisations: Baladna – Palestine 48, CCIVS, COCAT – Catalunya, Concordia – France, Gençtur – Turkey, PVN Albania, SCI Catalunya, SCI Hellas, SIW – Stichting Internationale Werkkampen – The Netherlands, Solidarités Jeunesses – France, Utilapu – Hungary, VAP UK, VCZ Croatia. The group was really diverse and rich, bringing experience from different backgrounds and fields, which made the training really interesting and fruitful. It was a really motivated and committed group, who took the participation in the sessions with passion and joy.
During the week in Afacan, participants got the chance to explore the connections between Human Rights, Peace and the IVS movement; learn about the approaches of Non-Formal Education, Peace Education and Human Rights Education and how do they influence each other; reflect upon Social Inclusion and how to make an inclusive education; analyse current human rights issues at a global level such as radicalisation, climate change and its impact on forced displacement; reflect upon the role of the Human Rights and Peace Educator and experiment with it by forming teams to experiment a workshop preparation and facilitation with the group there. Besides that, the training was preceded by an online preparation which included some theoretical introductions to the topics that would be explored later on during the training days.
All in all, the training was rich and it was beautiful to see how quickly it became also fruitful: the seeds we planted in Afacan are already growing: a group of participants presented a project application to the Erasmus+ October deadline through Concordia France for a training on identity and intersectionality. Looking forward to seeing these peaceful seeds growing all around the IVS movement!
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