TOY - Trainers Online for Youth
This is a reference for Karen Ayvazyan
Training-seminar aim:
The training-seminar aims to develop participants' understanding and competences to address shrinking spaces through human rights education
and youth work in their local contexts and through international cooperation.
Training-seminar objectives:
● to develop participants understanding on the phenomenon of shrinking spaces, its current developments and its implications in the human
rights framework;
● to share participants perspectives and experiences on the phenomenon of shrinking spaces and its impact on the lives of young people;
● to empower participants through mutual learning, exchange of practices, tools and ideas on how to engage young people in their local
contexts and through international cooperation;
● to provide training elements on human rights education, youth work and advocacy for human rights, at local as well as international level;
● to provide concrete tools for planning and implementation of actions by and for young people addressing shrinking spaces in their contexts;
● to create a safe space for participants to share experiences, concerns and proposals and to support each other in their follow-up actions.
Blended learning course in Brussels brought together 30 young people alongside 12 youth workers to get engaged
in understanding the above mentioned issues and co-create actions to counter the shrinking space through human rights education. The countries included Armenia, Georgia, Belarus, Belgium, Poland, Hungary, Italy, Russia, Ukraine.
The team included trainers from Italy, Georgia, Bulgaria, Armenia, Serbia, Poland.
Through the activities we followed the Kolb cycle, i.e. experiencing – observing and reflecting – giving theoretical background – linking with reality and develop participants’ skills, attitudes, and knowledge in different areas, connected to the rural development. The workshops tailored to meet participants’ learning needs and will combine theoretical input with interactive exercises and tools for youth empowerment.
The training was designed and structured in a way that gives participants the freedom to express themselves, to share their experience and skills, to learn as much as possible in terms of the main topics and to acquire new skills beneficial for their youth work. The whole project was mainly practice oriented and was a platform for generating and developing new ideas for rural youth development. On the one hand, the course workshops equipped participants with some practical skills, for example, the workshop on best practices and failures.
Training-seminar achieved the followings:
●participants developed understanding on the phenomenon of shrinking spaces, its current developments and its implications in the human
rights framework;
● Participants shared their perspectives and experiences on the phenomenon of shrinking spaces and its impact on the lives of young people;
● Participants were empowered through mutual learning, exchange of practices, tools and ideas on how to engage young people in their local
contexts and through international cooperation;
● Participants were provided with training elements on human rights education, youth work and advocacy for human rights, at local as well as international level;
● Participants were provided concrete tools for planning and implementation of actions by and for young people addressing shrinking spaces in their contexts;
● A safe space for participants has been created to share experiences, concerns and proposals and to support each other in their follow-up actions.
I was a co-trainer of the training course being responsibly for the preparation and implementation of the whole training programme and all the training sessions along with my colleagues.