Website: https://erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/projects/search/details/2024-3-AT01-KA153-YOU-000282941
Start date 01-01-2025
End date 31-12-2025
Budget: 41.705,00 €
Coordinator: Arab Organisation of Diplomacy
Partner: ORGANISATION EUROPÉENNE MULTIDISCIPLINAIRE POUR LA FORMATION ET LE CONSEIL INTERNATIONAUX (FR) , EPEKA BERLIN EV (DE) , ICSE & CO (IT) , Cultures du Monde (TN) , INNOVATRIX ACADEMY (DZ) , United Religions Initiative Middle East & North Africa (JO) , MOMENTUM for Programs Design and Development (EG)
Objectives
I. PROBLEM:
In today’s increasingly polarized world, the decline of meaningful face-to-face communication has contributed to rising misunderstandings, intolerance, and conflict, especially among young people. Social media, while offering new avenues for connection, often fosters echo chambers where opposing viewpoints are minimized, further deepening divisions. These trends have had distinct effects on Generation Z (born between 1995 and 2010), a generation that has grown up in a technology-driven world. Unlike older generations, who had more exposure to non-digital interpersonal interactions, many young people today lack essential skills in conflict resolution and dialogue, making it more challenging for them to navigate social issues peacefully. Research shows that Generation Z is more disconnected from face-to-face communication, and this disconnection is compounded by exposure to hostile, polarized online environments. This has contributed to reduced empathy, increased anxiety, and weakened emotional resilience, which are critical for constructively managing conflicts. These effects have been particularly evident in how young people have engaged with recent conflicts in the Euro-Mediterranean region, where exposure to misinformation and polarized opinions has exacerbated tensions. As Gen Z faces global challenges such as social injustice, migration crises, and climate change, the need for peace education has become more urgent to equip young people with the skills to foster understanding and actively contribute to social transformation. Despite this clear need, many youth workers lack the necessary training and resources to effectively implement peace education and conflict resolution methodologies. The increasing complexity of both global conflicts and local tensions has revealed a critical gap in the capacities of youth organizations to integrate peace education into their work, even as the demand for these skills grows.
II. SOLUTION:
To address these challenges, conflict transformation presents a powerful solution, especially when applied in youth work. It equips youth workers with the skills to analyze, resolve, and transform conflicts in a way that promotes positive social change. This is especially crucial in today’s multicultural Europe, where young people increasingly interact with diverse cultures for the first time. Conflict transformation training helps youth workers teach young people the importance of intercultural understanding and emotional intelligence, fostering an inclusive, peaceful community that embraces diversity rather than excluding “others.” The training also fosters empathy, critical thinking, and the ability to see different perspectives, all of which are essential for building positive relationships and inclusive communities. By developing these skills, youth workers will be better equipped to guide young people in managing conflicts constructively and avoiding behaviors that perpetuate exclusion or division. Studies have shown that those who receive training in conflict transformation are more likely to exhibit higher levels of emotional intelligence, empathy, and a proactive approach to fostering inclusion than those without such training.
III. OBJECTIVES:
In this respect, we pursue the following objectives:
1. Promote and enhance peace education as a fundamental component of effective youth work.
2. Build a common understanding of peace education methodologies and their role in civic engagement.
3. Develop the competences of youth workers in facilitating conflict resolution and peacebuilding activities.
4. Equip youth workers with tools and strategies to address issues of intolerance, discrimination, and polarization in their communities.
5. Explore various non-formal education techniques for designing and delivering peace education workshops.
6. Provide opportunities for participants to practice and refine their newly developed skills in an intercultural setting.
7. Strengthen youth workers’ abilities to foster dialogue, understanding, and cooperation among young people from diverse backgrounds.
8. Share best practices in peace education from existing youth work projects and Erasmus+ programs.
Through this project, we aim to deliver a comprehensive training program that equips youth workers with practical tools for analyzing conflicts and developing interventions that foster inclusion. Using methods rooted in conflict transformation and peace education, the project will empower youth workers to act as multipliers in their communities, extending the reach of the training to a wider audience. By equipping youth workers with these skills, the project aims to strengthen their capacity to implement innovative approaches in their daily work with young people, creating long-term, positive changes in their organizations and communities.
Activities
The project organises a Professional Development Mobility Activity in the form of a Training Course for 32 youth workers from 8 different organisations/countries (Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Algeria, Egypt, Jordan and Tunisia). Each country has 4 participants, in addition to 2 trainers and one administrator. The mobility is to be organised in Vienna. This PDA aims to tackle the issue of social exclusion and youth marginalization by equipping youth workers with conflict transformation tools as an innovative approach to promote youth civic participation and combat the growing challenges of marginalization and social exclusion among young people. The training course is designed to provide youth workers with practical skills, strategies, and methods to empower youth and foster inclusive communities, ensuring that the tools can be effectively applied in their respective countries and organizations.
Sessions:
The sessions are structured to build trust, knowledge, and practical skills progressively throughout the course.
– Day 1: Focuses on group cohesion through activities that allow participants to share expectations, build a safe learning environment, and learn about each other’s backgrounds and countries. The day will end with a multicultural night for deeper cultural exchange.
– Day 2: Introduces key concepts and the Reciprocal Maieutic Approach. Participants will engage in a role-play activity, applying the first educational tool. Afterward, there will be a reflective session on outcomes and possible improvements.
– Day 3: Introduces conflict transformation models, such as the Thomas-Kilmann Model and the Johan Galtung model, and participants will apply these models to case studies from their own countries. This day will also feature intercultural discussions to foster deeper engagement with conflict-related topics.
– Day 4: Participants will take part in a study visit to the headquarters of the UN in Vienna and meet with relevant UN actors who are involved in community peacebuilding and peace initiatives. They will also participate in a min-simulation on practising collaborative and collective decision making.
– Day 5: Participation in an immersive multilateral simulation around two different conflicts to practise collective conflict transformation and democratic decision making as tools for peacebuilding in resolving social conflicts.
– Day 6: Dedicated to recognizing learning outcomes, evaluating the experience, and brainstorming local follow-up activities. This session ensures participants are ready to apply the tools learned to their local communities. The focus will be on harvesting learning outcomes, creating an online library with all materials and tools used during the training, and solidifying the next steps
Methods:
The program will utilize a wide variety of non-formal educational methods to ensure dynamic and interactive learning. Methods include Games, Personal Reflection, Journaling, Presentations, Think-Pair-Share, Balaton Analysis, Mind-Mapping, Fishbowl Discussions, Role-Play, Simulations, Forum Theatre, Study visits, Dialogue, World Café, Jigsaw Technique, Polling, Scenario and Case Analysis, Conflict Analysis, and Case Studies.
In this regard, the profile of the involved Youth workers is as following:
SELECTION CRITERIA FOR YOUTH WORKERS:
– A clear need to develop specific ETS (European Training Strategy) competences, particularly:
1. Collaborating in teams,
2. Displaying intercultural sensitivity,
3. Being civically engaged.
– A strong desire to develop key YOUTHPASS competences, notably:
1. Citizenship Competence,
2. Personal, Social, and Learning to Learn Competence.
– At least 20 years old.
– Active in working with young people at the grassroots level or motivated to begin working directly with youth.
– Committed to enhancing civic participation among their peers and the youth they work with.
– Some previous experience in non-formal education activities is preferred.
– Willing to learn new skills, tools, and methods related to youth work and civic engagement.
– Ready to identify, share, and catalog experiences, best practices, and competences with others.
– Keen to design and implement non-formal educational activities for youth.
– Motivated to improve their skills in non-formal education, facilitation, and experiential learning.
– Interested in participating in a mutual learning process within a highly intercultural setting.
– Committed to acting as multipliers, carrying out local, regional, or international activities within their communities.
– Curious about different cultures and appreciative of diversity and others’ realities.
– Possessing interpersonal skills that enable them to collaborate and benefit others within the group.
– Dedicated to collaborating with other participants to maximize the overall project impact.
– Demonstrating a commitment to European values and principles, with respect for diversity.
Impact
We anticipate that the project will have both immediate and long-term impacts on the participating youth workers, partner organizations, and the broader communities they serve. By equipping participants with conflict transformation tools and techniques, we expect the following results and impacts:
#Immediate Results:
1. Increased Competence in Conflict Transformation: Youth workers will acquire practical knowledge and skills to manage and transform social conflicts in a constructive manner. They will be able to apply these methods in their everyday work with young people, particularly focusing on inclusion, non-violent communication, and social justice.
2. Enhanced Civic Participation Skills: Youth workers will learn how to foster civic engagement and community involvement among young people, encouraging them to actively participate in solving social problems and promoting inclusive societies.
3. Creation of Follow-up Initiatives: Participants will design and implement follow-up activities within their local communities, utilizing the newly acquired tools to address social exclusion and marginalization in practical, actionable ways.
4. Developed Educational Resources: The project will result in the creation of an online resource library containing training materials, methodologies, and tools, which will be available to other youth workers and organizations for further application and replication.
5. Strengthened Network of Youth Workers: The project will establish a network of youth workers who are trained in conflict transformation, enabling continued collaboration, knowledge-sharing, and the exchange of best practices.
#Long-term Impact:
1. Sustainable Improvement in Youth Work Practices: By integrating conflict transformation into their youth work, participants will enhance the overall quality of youth services in their organizations, promoting a culture of peace, inclusion, and dialogue.
2. Increased Social Inclusion and Reduced Marginalization: The application of conflict transformation tools will lead to more inclusive communities, reducing social exclusion by empowering youth to engage meaningfully in society and tackle issues such as discrimination and inequality.
3. Multiplier Effect: Youth workers, as multipliers, will pass on their new knowledge to their peers and the young people they work with, creating a ripple effect that extends the reach of the project beyond the immediate participants.
4. Contribution to European Youth Goals: By promoting civic engagement, inclusion, and non-violent conflict resolution, the project aligns with key European Youth Goals, particularly the goals of inclusive societies and youth engagement in civic life.
5. Strengthened Cross-cultural Understanding: By bringing together participants from different countries, the project fosters intercultural dialogue and understanding, helping youth workers to better address the needs of increasingly diverse communities.
