Our aim was to strengthen the potential of workcamps as tool for peacebuilding and post-war reconciliation. As workcamps are short-term international activities where (young) people from different countries and backgrounds meet with common goals to work on public good, workcamps are tool for strengthening mutual understanding and respect. As the situation in Europe is boiling due to the war in Ukraine, we wanted to support IVS organizations to handle difficulties which occur. To fulfill this aim, we identified three main objectives: To build capacities of workcamp leaders and organizers to be able to successfully handle unexpected emotional situations at workcamps. We planned to create material which will support workcamp leaders to be prepared for unexpected situations and know how to deal with them. To support IVS organizations to be able to intentionally work with workcamps as tools to “build bridges”. We planned to create materials to be used by IVS organizations to prepare their workcamp leaders, even if organizations don't have expertise in these topics. To support post-war reconstruction. We planned to co-organizace workcamps in Ukraine in 2023 to support area by practical work and also emotional support for locals.
Our aim was to support workcamps as effective tools of post-war reconciliation. Of course, when preparing the project in April 2022, we couldn’t precede the developments of the war on Ukraine, but we anticipated it will be needed to help our partner organization in UA to reconstruct the infrastructure, but also to psychologically support the local inhabitants and - perhaps most importantly - build respect and understanding between nations, that is an essential condition for enduring peace. Workcamps have proven to strengthen respect and intercultural understanding, so they have great potential to be an essential part of the peacebuilding puzzle, and our project has worked to support this. To increase this potential it is important, that workcamp leaders who are working with the groups of volunteers and thus, are able to deal adequately (to the situation but also their own capacities) with potential sensitive situations which occur in an international environment as misunderstandings, conflict situations but also difficult emotional situations arising from personal lives of volunteers which contains also experiencing of war conflicts.