top of page

TransformAction: Countering Social Conflicts in Youth Work

- a professional development training for youth workers & youth leaders -

in Markutiskes, Lithuania from 4 to 11 November 2023

GENESIS OF THE TRAINING:
Youth are the cornerstone of the presence and the future. However, the increased prevalence of various forms of conflict is not only undermining their fullest potential but even hindering their basic participation in civic life. Therefore, youth organisations and their members are required to take action and support the positive transformation of conflicts in order to realize the full and meaningful participation of youth in society. Hence, our training "​TransformAction" for 30 participants from Austria, Poland, Croatia, Hungary, Romania, Estonia, Czech Republic, Latvia and Lithuania with the support of ERASMUS+ of the European Union, aims to train you on how to analyse community issues and design and implement initiatives to tackle a grassroots problem to achieve positive change. Issues can be environmental, social, civic, political or any other conflictual area that affects your local society. As a participant, you will choose a specific issue to focus on and tackle during this training to design an initiative with other participants from your country and implement this small initiative after the training. The range of possible issues to tackle varies from the environment, inclusion, diversity, education, digitalisation, human rights, gender, integration, equality, solidarity, discrimination, justice, culture, and youth empowerment, to topics such as poverty, employment, social public services, sustainability, politics, and climate change. All these diverse topics can be understood, in the framework of visible and invisible violence. Therefore we choose this framework as a method of finding solutions and developing transformation skills and tools to address these topics in a constructive way to achieve a positive change in the community.

LEARNING EXPERIENCE:
During this ERASMUS+ training, you will first learn about the framework of visible and invisible violence, including concepts such as "violence", "conflict", "peace", "and "transformation" to build a common understanding among all. Further, you will get introduced to tools to analyse an existing conflict and think about possible solutions. As a next step, you will work in small groups of 3 persons (national teams) to design their own initiatives that address any topic that they wish to influence. You will be supported during the training to design a comprehensive local initiative with an implementation plan. All groups will present their initiatives (problem, solution and intervention strategy) and get feedback. After the training, all groups will be further supported by the team to implement these newly designed initiatives as a follow-up to this training on the local level. Each initiative will receive the needed programmatic to enable its implementation. The initiatives can take different forms such as a short workshop in school or university, a webinar, a digital campaign, a series of interviews, or any other form that you find useful. The actual implementation of the follow-up initiative is an integral part of the training course itself. All initiatives must tackle the marginalisation and social exclusion of youth in the local areas.

THE PROFILE OF PARTICIPANTS:
- you live in one of the participating countries:
(Austria, Poland, Croatia, Hungary, Romania, Estonia, Czech Republic, Latvia and Lithuania).
- you are older than 18 years old.
- can commit to full participation during the whole activity and in all sessions.
- you can communicate in English.
- you wish to learn new skills, methods, and tools.
- you wish to improve your conflict transformation capacities.
- you can cooperate and work with others in a team.
- you are ready to work in a team to design and implement an initiative.
- Be working with youth and motivated to explore new approaches in youth work.
- Have the ability to do the follow-up initiative.
- Ready to support dissemination and visibility activities online and offline.
- you are curious to learn and you appreciate diversity in every sense.
- you would like to build new friendships and international connections.

WHAT ARE THE COSTS:
- The training is "fully" funded!
- It is financed by the European Commission as part of the Erasmus+ Programme.
- The hostel, training, materials, meals, and transport are covered to the determined limits.
- Participants are required to book their own transport (flights, busses, trains) to and from Vienna and we will refund the eligible costs to you after your successful participation.
- Only selected participants can book their tickets, after consultation with us!
- The refund of travel costs is after the implementation of the local follow-up initiative.

PARTICIPATION RULES AND CONDITIONS:
- You must have the time to attend the entire activity from 4th to 11th November 2023.
- You should engage in all preparation and follow-up activities to the best of your abilities.
- You should fill out the application form before 15 October 2023 (Final dealdine).
- You should sign the participation agreement once selected, within a period of three days.
- You should purchase your travel tickets within five days of signing the agreement.

TIMEFRAME:
Preparation:
From acceptance to 03. November 2023 (in various stages)

Participation:
November 4th to 11th (in Markutiskes, Lithuania)

Follow-up:
November 2023 - February 2024 (local implementation of follow-up initiatives)

OTHER IMPORTANT REMARKS:
- Applications will be reviewed and accepted based on motivation and eligibility.
- More details such as preparatory tasks will be shared after selection via email.
- You will receive a YouthPass certificate on the last day of the training.

bottom of page