Getting to know the Council of Europe and the European Youth Centre Budapest

Objectives and programme of the training seminar

Together with this info pack, you will receive the draft programme of the seminar. This draft programme describes so far only the course contents and is subject to changes and adaptations before and during the course as it is being prepared and run on the basis of a methodology that stresses active participation and co-management of elements of common concerns. You are expected to participate actively in the sessions constituting the current programme.

Aim of the project

The Youth Peace Ambassadors project promotes and supports the role of young people in peace-building activities that contribute to living together in dignity and dialogue through a network of specifically trained young people who strengthen the presence and promote the values of the Council of Europe in conflict-affected areas and communities.

Objectives of the project

The main objectives of this project are:

• To promote the presence and the role of young people as positive actors of change in peace-building processes;
• To strengthen the role of young people in identifying and speaking up against human rights violations, including discrimination, hate speech and those human rights violations affecting especially young people and children;
• To support the field presence and activities of the Council of Europe by fostering cooperation with key stakeholders, partners, non-governmental organisations working in the field of peace-building in order to promote the values of the Council of Europe;
• To develop the impact and the expertise of the Council of Europe’s youth sector in conflict affected areas through non-formal education activities with young people;
• To develop the competences of 50 youth peace ambassadors in human rights promotion and protection, conflict transformation, peace-building and intercultural dialogue, as well as other specific competences according to the participants’ needs, related to their role as future ambassadors;
• To support and give visibility to at least 50 local youth-led projects for peace-building in conflict-affected areas and communities;
• To enhance the youth ambassadors capacity to take action at a local level in environments affected by previous or ongoing conflicts;
• To advance youth policy’s role in peace-building and conflict transformation;
• To create and support a European network of youth peace ambassadors to secure the sustainability and medium-term impact of the project.

Within this wider framework, the first training seminar will focus on deepening participants’ competences in the field of human rights and human rights protection in conflict-affected communities. The first seminar will also be an opportunity for understanding more about the Council of Europe and its main actions related to the promotion of human rights.

Methodology

The methodology of the training seminar is based on the principles of non-formal education, focusing on experiential and intercultural learning as basis for addressing topics such as human rights, conflict transformation and peace-building. It emphasises the links between intercultural dialogue, human rights and conflict transformation as key elements in long-term sustainable peace processes, while exploring and developing participants’ knowledge, skills, attitudes and values in each of these areas.

During the seminar, several elements of the project will be introduced, among which: e-learning, mentoring, peer learning groups, the practice phase. You are expected to implement their learning into practice by initiating various activities in their community to support youth participation and contribution to peace-building processes just right after the first seminar.

The curriculum of the training seminar will make full use of the educational resources of the Council of Europe’s youth sector, in particular “Compass - the manual on human rights education with young people” and the T-Kit on Conflict Transformation.

Timeframe

As mentioned in the project presentation, your group is the second group out of three. All the groups will follow a similar process, starting at different moments, but also meeting to share experiences and support each other in learning, action taking and build up to act as a network.

The training programme comprises three residential training seminars, out of which the first two are similar for all participants:

Seminar 1: Human rights and human rights protection in conflict-affected communities (for us, in June 2011)

Seminar 2: Peace-building and conflict transformation (for us, in February 2011)

A netowrking meeting among all the three groups is foreseen for 2012 and will be followed by the third seminar.

The third training seminar will aim to consolidate learning taking into account the needs identified by participants as a result of their projects and initiatives.

This diagram shows you the timeframe for all three groups:

Getting to know the Council of Europe and the European Youth Centre Budapest

For many of you, visiting the European Youth Centre in Budapest will be a new experience. But even if you are a frequent guest here, we would like to make sure that you are familiar with the political and educational framework of this course. The following web sites provide you updated information and the resources that you will need in the course or later on in your work.

1. Council of Europe –Information on the structure, activities and policy of the Council of Europe

http://www.coe.int/

2. Council of Europe – Directorate of Youth and Sport - Information on the structure, activities and policy of the Council of Europe’s youth field.

http://www.coe.int/youth

3. Human Rights Education Youth Programme – the Council of Europe portal on human rights education with many useful resources.

http://act4hre.coe.int

http:// http://eycb.coe.int/compass/

4. European Youth Foundation –the Council of Europe fund established in 1972 to support European youth activities

http://www.eyf.coe.int/fej/

Date: 2015-12-17; view: 850