Strategic partnership project "Changing the game: developing Culture of Peace in organizations" is aiming is to build the capacity of the 5 project partner organizations from Latvia, Poland, Netherland, United Kingdom and Greece and their 15 associate partners, active in non-formal education, in three levels of a Culture of Peace during the 24 months of the project. This would be done through creating an innovative non-formal education methodology (consisting of interactive Game and Manual for Educators) that can be used to develop practical peacebuilding skills inside organizations. Objectives of the projects are: 1) To develop and extend professional and personal skills to contribute to the Culture of Peace of 10-15 staff members of the 5 partner organizations, and between 30-45 people from 15 associate partners of non governmental organizations and activists movements; 2) To develop an innovative educational methodology based on interactive game comprising 3 modules of CoP, distributed in physical form and via project website through partner organizations, reaching around 800-1000 people of the target groups. We expecting to reach such results: A) 10-15 educators/trainers/educational leaders and support staff belonging to partner organizations will take part in two Joint Staff Training events (C1 and C2) aiming to share best practices and conceptual background and educational methodology related to the Culture of Peace and game design; B) Another 30 educators/trainers/educational leaders and support staff will take part in the Blended Learning Mobility event (C3), based on our developed CoP game (IO1) and Manual for Educators (IO2). Within the course of the project, they will transfer the knowledge and learning to their organizations & communities, directly reaching up to 30-60 additional people from our target group. C) An educational CoP game (IO1) and Manual for Educators (IO2) will be created in English with essential parts translated in languages of all partner organizations (Latvian, Dutch, Polish and Greek). D) During 10 multiplier events (E1-E10)- 150 people in 5 countries will be reached and introduced to the outcomes of the Joint Staff Trainings and will be involved in testing the game. This will include 30-60 people from 15 associate partners of nongovernmental organizations and activists movements. E) Through online communication channels (project website, partner organizations' websites, newsletter, FB pages) - up to an additional of 800-1000 people of the target groups will be reached. Impact of our project will be visible on many levels, i.e.: 1.The trainings will have a direct impact on 10-15 educators/trainers/educational leaders and support staff belonging to partner organizations by developing their competence, meaning knowledge, skills and attitudes, in the fields of the Culture of Peace (C1) and game design (C2), raising their capacity to work on these topics, to implement new programs and generally improve their level of cooperation within the organization. 2. The competence developed in the field of Peace Education will create a change in the communication inside of the partner organizations and their associated partners, improving their ability to deal with conflict nonviolently, and finding solutions that include the needs and feelings of all involved parties. It will also raise the ability and motivation of the organizations to strategize and address conflicts nonviolently, prevent violence and create more inclusive and just social structures and behaviors. 3. The educational game (IO1) and Manual for Educators (IO2) will help the educators/trainers/educational leaders who work with the partner organizations as well as their associated partners to start transformation process inside their organization towards Culture of Peace and will provide a tool that allows to begin this transformation in effective way. The expected impact refers to 3 levels of competence that we connect to the Culture of Peace: * The personal: maintaining inner peace by emotional self-awareness, self-regulation or resilience and self-expression; *The interpersonal: maintaining peaceful relations by peaceful conflict resolution, dialogue facilitation, empathy and mutual understanding; The social/global: mainstreaming a CoP by developing cooperation and strategizing competences for any of the eight elements of a Culture of Peace. 4. Mainstreaming the Culture of Peace to 114 participants of the final Multiplier events and estimated 800 people reached with the online dissemination activities by providing innovative and engaging tools (O1, O2) to approach the concept in a playful and accessible way and to develop the essential competence needed to cultivate the CoP in our society. Project will indirectly increase the quality of peace related projects of civil society organizations and the quality of adult education through developing tools which address actual social and global issues.
Our objective was to enhance the capacity of the five project partner organizations and a minimum of 15 associate partners who were engaged in non-formal education, on three different levels of a Culture of Peace within the 24-month project duration. This was planed to be accomplished by developing an innovative non-formal education methodology that could be utilised to foster practical peacebuilding skills within organizations. Additionally, our goal was to expand the dissemination of our newly created methodology to a broader audience of educators, non-formal education trainers, youth workers, and educational leaders. This involved utilizing the project's webpage and multiple social media channels of our partners to reach out to an estimated 800-1000 interested individuals.
At the start of this project, we quickly realized that the idea of a Culture of Peace can be hard to understand and apply in everyday life. The world we live in is full of challenges such as ecological and humanitarian disasters, conflicts at work, and personal struggles, which can cause stress and danger. As a result, we tend to react automatically with a fight or flight response instead of looking for peaceful solutions. The goal of our creative partnership was to create a tool that could make the concept of a Culture of Peace more practical and fun for work environments and personal, interpersonal, and societal challenges. In April 2020, the project team started brainstorming ideas for a game that could inspire social change for small to medium organizations and community groups. The team discussed various theories, methods, and tools related to the Culture of Peace and identified the importance of addressing internal conflicts, communication challenges, and decision-making effectiveness while promoting societal change towards Culture of Peace.