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EIRENE- Peace-Building and Conflict Management through Non Formal Education

2020-3-IT03-KA105-0201132020Youth mobilityfinalized
Countries: IT|FR|TR|HR|LT|HU|LV · Grant: €53,178
Youth (Participation, Youth Work, Youth Policy)New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training coursesCivic engagement / responsible citizenship

Objectives

EIRENE Peace-building and Conflict Management through Non Formal Education was a multi-action pilot project with the objective of strengthening peace-building and conflict management actions at local, national and EU levels through non formal education and participatory tools. The project grew out of the consortium's need to implement peace awareness actions by engaging young people in debates and exchange spaces to address the dimensions of "conflict" at personal and societal levels. This was highlighted by the analysis of the current situation in Europe in the era of pandemic and social networks. At that stage, the interests and perceptions of individuals and groups, amplified by the use of social networks, tend to create polarized opinions, distrust and social conflicts. Hatred, violence and discrimination, "border protection," armed conflicts and cultural supremacism are stronger in public discourse. Thus, the need has emerged to develop tools to further enhance peace education and conflict management techniques within youth groups. In recent years Lunaria and its partners have aimed precisely at this goal. Pacifism, with its broad spectrum of approaches, rejects the use of violence and seeks alternative ways to address conflicts through nonviolence. to address conflicts through nonviolent means. Protests, blockades, peaceful demonstrations, civil disobedience, and objection, among others, are effective tools to counter oppression and promote human rights. Specifically, work with youth is central because it lays the foundation for an effective culture of peace, seeking to produce knowledge and tools among youth workers, activists, organizations, and, most importantly, youth themselves. The project was structured into four interconnected actions: a Training Course - A.1 TC, a Virtual Preparatory Visit - A.2 Online APV, and two Youth Exchanges - A.3; A.4 YEs. The consortium designed this structure to facilitate access to knowledge and resources of youth work at the European, national, regional, and local levels to support the exchange of practices related to peace education and conflict management, in a peer learning perspective. In order to achieve the overall objective stated above, a number of specific objectives are linked to each sub-action to ensure a coherent pathway through the different phases of the project. In detail: A.1 - TC: - to explore the issues of violence, conflict management and peacebuilding; - to share existing methods and approaches, in the field of peacebuilding and conflict management, used by partner organizations in their EU countries; - to develop, test, evaluate and update methods and tools for peacebuilding and conflict management to be offered to youth and local communities. A.2 - APV Online: - to gather the Group Leaders of the next two Youth Exchanges, YEs, in order to prepare the next steps of the project, provide logistical information, share information on participants, profiles and needs, so as to structure agendas and select approaches, tools and working methods to be used later in the two Exchanges. A3; A.4 - YEs: - to reach out to youth, and youth at risk of exclusion, to promote intercultural exchange, understanding and learning; - ro raise awareness of peace building and conflict management as a first step to then promote participation and active citizenship once they return home. In addition, the project was designed in line with the objectives set by the European Training Strategy-ETS in the youth sector, such as contributing to the development, well-being and social inclusion of young people and the exchange of good practices, training, skills acquisition and peer learning. EIRENE has taken into account the Sustainable Development Goals 2030-SDG, No. 16, focused on promoting peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, with the goal of reducing all forms of violence, ensuring responsiveness, inclusive participation and the protection of fundamental freedoms.

Project partners (8)