Discovering New horizons in Croatia

To learn how to reduce social exclusion as much as possible when working with youth - that was the main goal of the training course we participated in. From 3rd till 11th October 2020 we had the opportunity to be a part of an amazing group of people who are involved in various youth organisations with many interesting projects and ideas. A training course was held in Zadar, Croatia and including the Slovak group, 24 youth workers from 8 European countries gathered in order to discuss how to increase the quality of their daily work with youth who face social and cultural obstacles.

The aim of the project was being achieved through various objectives. We increased our knowledge regarding intercultural and interreligious dialogue by doing different activities such as “Bohm Dialogue”, where we had a chance to discuss social inclusion and share our experience in that field. In addition to this, we practised an activity called “take a step forward” where we were given a certain role. This exercise helped us to reflect on people with different backgrounds, religions, disabilities or even addictions. We also discussed European values and the question of identity in seminars that were both theoretical and practical. We discussed the main European values, such as personal freedom, human dignity, solidarity, active civil society, market economy, democracy and rule of law. All of us agreed that these are very important to us, however there are more values that shape our identity.

Regarding the promotion of active citizenship and social inclusion, we had an opportunity to discuss what our ideas of "active citizenship" are and why is it so important for our society. Through games and role-plays, we could promote our own ideas what we later presented for all participants. Working in the group full of open-minded people and cooperation in such a multicultural environment motivated us to work hard but have fun and good time besides. As everyone has different cultural background, traditions and opinions, open discussions were great opportunity to share personal experience and thoughts, it taught us to look at the situation from different perspective and to understand the importance of social inclusion and integration. Sharing personal stories and examples from our lives helped us build trust between each other and supported respectfulness to different points of view. As everyone was included in activities and had space to express themselves, learning was much easier and conversations absorbing.

In the end, every participant received Youthpass, a certificate proving that we took part in the project. It contains competencies and skills we acquired during the training course.

This training course was an amazing opportunity and we are very grateful to be a part of it thanks to Youthfully Yours Slovakia!