Youth. Denmark.

Title: “The Culture Next Door- Training Course on Intercultural Learning and Dialogue”.

Description of the project:

TC will train participants in the art of facilitating dialogue & equip them with tools required to implement activities on the topic of migration & integration

The migration flows towards and withinEuropehas increased drastically the last years and has become a highly politicized topic across the region. With the crisis inSyriaand the resulting influx of refugees into European countries, the issue of integration will remain a key challenge for years to come and it is of vital importance to the social cohesion inEuropethat this is addressed in a qualified manner. This project emphasizes dialogue as an important tool in this endeavour. While we have seen a huge number of European civilians organising and taking ownership to welcome our new citizens within these last months, it is no secret that xenophobic and islamophobic attitudes have generally been on the rise in Europe for the last decade. Topics like religion, freedom of speech, integration and civil rights are discussed frequently in the media, but unfortunately the discourse around these issues is too often aggressive and filled with emotionally charged and adversarial language, which means that we are not getting closer to understanding each other or ourselves better. Examples of this include the Muhammed drawing crisis inDenmarkand more recently the Charlie Hebdo shootings inParis. These incidents are a testimony to the importance of raising awareness on intercultural empathy and dialogue.

We use the term dialogue in a very specific way. It is not just any conversation, but one that involves deep listening, honest sharing and mutual respect, ultimately leading people to a greater understanding of each other and themselves. Dialogue can be a huge challenge, if you are talking to someone you disagree with profoundly, but it is through dialogue you can exchange opinions and viewpoints in a manner that can create insights and expand our thinking. Intercultural dialogue entails a focused exploration of differences and commonalities, including how these could contribute to misunderstandings and tensions as well as being a potential for cooperation and new possibilities.

Aim: 

With the proposed project we would like to train youth workers, working with intercultural understanding and integration in their home countries, in the art of facilitating dialogue. Through a reflective learning process we want to contribute to enhancing their personal dialogical and intercultural competencies, and to equip them with the tools required to design and implement dialogue workshops/activities on the topic of migration and integration. In addition to this, the project will also create a platform from which these youth workers will get the opportunity to knowledge-share, create and have dialogues about the challenges and opportunities in the intercultural meeting.

Our objectives are the following six:

• To create a reflective process within the single youth worker on their own dialogical approach to other people and how they can improve it.
• To equip youth workers with knowledge and skills to create dialogue learning spaces for youth.
• To develop the competences of youth workers and youth leaders in organizing and facilitating groups with youth at risk of being culturally and socially excluded. 
• To make the participants aware about possible lines of conflicts in working with culturally and socially excluded youth and train them in ways of dealing them.
• That every partner organization will have participants who afterwards will be equipped with competences and materials to be able to implement workshops on cultural differences and integration in the current situation back home. 
• To make the participants aware about possible lines of conflicts in working with culturally and socially excluded youth and train them in ways of dealing with this specific topic and group.

Partner sought: 9 more partners from Erasmus+: Youth in Action Programme countries, Partner Countries Neighbouring the EU.

Deadline: April 8^th, 2016.

Contact:

Publicado por europa en marzo 8, 2016