SMART STEPS FOR CONFLICT RESOLUTION

Project Summary
''Smart Steps for Conflict Resolution" is a shared idea between 8 partners: Cyprus, Bulgaria, Greece, Czech Republic, Spain, Republic of North Macedonia and Malta.
The main aim of the project is to enhance partners’ capacity and competences on working more efficiently with their youths who are involved or are present in conflict situations within their area.
The current project is important and unique from others because we aim to:
a)Train our YW to be more competent to face issues of conflict and anger managementthat happen in the NGOs and communities. Sometimes these issues are connected toacts of racism and stereotypes due to multicultural settings. Thus, they refer totheir personal and professional lack of skills and innovating methods to approachyoungsters in order to promote intercultural dialogue and cooperation.
b)YW recognize that some of their youngsters are non-very cooperative with them andexpress the need to be trained on how to use more attractive and effective methods.
c)Many YW from partners NGOs have fewer opportunities (economical, cultural, social,health) who lack of often opportunities for developing their approach on who tomotivate youngsters to be active citizens for their community welfare, and combattogether any type of conflicts, xenophobia and discrimination.
Participation in the project will achieve the following objectives:
1.Increasing competences on conflict resolution and conflict management Methods inmulticultural settings for enhancing intercultural dialogue (ID) in NGOs and in localcommunities.
2.developing self-confidence on how to prevent and solve unexpected conflicts and actsof discrimination within practice. Self-confidence will be achieved through the newmethods, presentations, teamwork and transmitted to their diverse target groups;
3.creating products and Tools, as good examples of cooperation, that will supportconflict resolution and management, which will be disseminated to local andinternational Youth field to enhance ID and inclusion.
4.training participants to develop strategies and activities to tackle conflicts andenhance cooperation in their community with orientation to intercultural learning.
5.increasing awareness on the importance of the implementation of social inclusionpractices in the youthwork as an ally to conflict management. Dealing with diversity,asks a high level of awareness which will be totally increased mainly during theactivities: "Stages of Conflict", "conflict management techniques"
6.developing Networking for empowering the Impact and Dissemination.

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Methodology of the activities
-based on the principles of non-formal education such as experiential learning, cooperative learning, shared responsibility, etc.
- enriched with numerous practical examples of projects that have brought about change and success in the subject area as well as meetings with the experts and practitioners in the field.

The training
involving partners interested in further increasing their capacities within youth work and supporting personal development of young people and youth workers alike. “Smart steps for Conflict Resolution” took place in 17th - 26th April in Formia -  aimed at both evaluating the achievements and challenges of the past months, as well as looking at the ways of improving human and organizational capacity building of young people and youth organizations through new and innovative personal development tools. Also, training is envisaged as a space for:
a)developing their expertise and repertoire of practices about conflict resolution andconflict management in their youthwork and communities.

b)improving their basic key competences in order to assist themselves on how to facesituations of conflict and discrimination acts,
c)increasing self-confidence and learn how to inspire their youngsters to recognize thepositive influence of NFL for turning themselves more active citizens
d)enriching their inclusive practices, understand diversity in favor of their youngsters incommunities
e)developing future partnerships among those involved.

Participant’s profile
The project is designed for youth leaders, teachers, NGO members, NGO employees, NGO co-workers and NGO volunteers actively involved in life of partner organizations / actively involved in social and civic life of youth on local, national and European level. Participants selected for the project were: 18+ and able to effectively communicate and work in English. Italian team  participated with 4 people (Coordinator: Anna Mottola, 1 support staff Salvatore Supino). Partners NGOs sent 3 participants per organization. Partner NGO from Greece sent 4 participants. Partner NGO from Cyprus sent 2 participants and 2 trainers (Trainer/project manager: Renos Georgiou Trainer: Kyriacos Stouppa, + 2 participants).

Profile of the participants:
(a) participants who are between 21+ and have little or no experience in international trainings
(b) gender balance and
(c) all of them MUST be able to communicate in English.

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Venue
Food and lodging: Accommodation was arranged at Klaton Hotel, (location, wifi, seminar room, indoor/outdoor leisure space). The hotel prepared for us the breakfast/lunches/dinner. Neci Italia organization provided coffee break. The place was selected because the topic of the TC demands peaceful area by the sea and not from city center in order to succeed on trust and team-building, implementing the best we can our sessions and succeeding on realizing our objectives.
Transport: For visiting Formia center (for the social experiments) we’ll go by public transport (it’s about 10 minutes by bus). For any other visit we’ll use again public transport. From Rome airport participants will use bus Shuttle or Terravision which stops outside termini station, it costs about 5€.
Then they’ll ta

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