Call for participants — The Art of Nonviolent Dialogue

6 min readJan 17, 2024

Training Course and Tools Development on Mediation and Nonviolent Communication

13.–20.04.2024 Germany + 15.–22.09.2024 Austria

looking for: 30 young participants
being residents in one of the partner countries: Germany, Portugal, Greece, Kosovo*, Cyprus, France, Italy, Poland, Türkiye, and Austria.
when and where:

training course“Mediation & NVC as tools for Conflict Transformation”
13–20.04.2024. (with traveling dates) in Berlin, Germany;
training course and tools creation activity “Tools Creation for Conflict Transformation”
15–22.09.2024. (with traveling dates) in Reichenau an der Rax, Austria.

Deadline for application: 10th of February 2024
Link to apply -> Click here

LET US TELL YOU ABOUT THIS PROJECT 🌱

Why does this project take place?

In times like these, when violent, armed conflicts are escalating all over the world, when Europe and the Middle East are facing one of the deadliest conflicts in recent years, and many escalations are happening on European soil, offering alternatives to violence and escalations of violence became a priority. To prevent radicalization, hatred and further escalation among youth, but also assure a peaceful future, where every individual is respected and valued with dignity and human rights, we need to offer educational support to young people to avoid violence as the only option and method to deal with conflicts and violence. “The Art of Nonviolent Dialogue” — Training Course and Tools Development on Mediation and Nonviolent Communication as the basis for Conflict Transformation is an idea developed together with our partners where we decided to offer long-term education for young people to gain sufficient knowledge and tools that can serve them to deal with conflicts and foster a culture of peace.

As you already read, the project “The Art of Nonviolent Dialogue” has two activities. The first one will be a training course in Germany “Mediation & NVC as Tools for Conflict Transformation”, while the other activity “Tools Creation for Conflict Transformation” will be dedicated to developing online and offline tools to foster conflict transformation, and will take place in Austria.

Let’s check the general aim and objectives:

AIM: to provide 30 youth workers with the necessary skills, knowledge, and competencies in nonviolent communication and mediation as central ideas of conflict transformation, and create practical tools to foster peacebuilding and conflict transformation on a grassroots level.

OBJECTIVES:

To understand the basic concepts of nonviolent conflict transformation and its principles, by exploring further peace, violence, conflict, peacebuilding and nonviolence;
To become familiar with the basics, methods, and processes of mediation and develop the ability to practice and apply the learned mediation concepts.
To develop knowledge and practice in nonviolent communication, dialogue, active listening and empathy and how to use them in transforming conflicts within or between groups.
To explore methods and tools for conflict analysis and mapping to understand local realities better and apply nonviolent tools to deal with conflicts;
To design and create digital and analog tools for conflict transformation based on the principles of mediation and nonviolent communication.
To plan follow-up actions for using and implementing the created tools in real-life situations, such as providing support and training for youth workers and organizations in using the tools effectively.

⚠️ This is a project with 2-training activities. By joining you are committed to taking part in both trainings 🤩

The activities (training) will take place in:

first training: 13–20.04.2024. (with traveling dates) in Berlin, Germany;
second training 15–22.09.2024. (with traveling dates) in Reichenau an der Rax, Austria.

In the meantime between the activities, we will run online meetings and webinars to support the cooperation and common work.

PROFILE OF PARTICIPANTS

We are looking for:

Young people between 18–35 years (older generations are also welcome!)
that is living (based) in one of these countries: Germany, Portugal, Greece, Kosovo*, Cyprus, France, Italy, Poland, Türkiye, and Austria (you don’t need to be national, you need to live there)
active or interested in the field of peace, human rights, and youth work.

with some other characteristics:

youth workers working in the field of human rights and peacebuilding;
young activists willing to develop their knowledge in the field of conflict transformation, mediation and conflict communication skills;
people active as trainers or educators in non–formal education, especially within youth organizations and associations;
youth leaders and youth workers at the local/regional/national levels active within youth organizations or informal youth groups;
young people experienced in digital tools creation and willing to use them in the conflict transformation field;
young people involved in the creative industry and/or social entrepreneurship who would like to explore the topics of conflict transformation and peace education as well as the creation of a culture of peace.

HOW WE WORK (have you heard about Non-Formal Education?)

The training course will be based on the principles of non-formal education.

We will implement the basic elements of non-formal education, such as the education being voluntary, organized with educational objectives, participatory and learner-centered, about learning life skills and preparing for active citizenship, based on involving both individual and group learning with a collective approach, holistic and process-oriented, as well as based on experience and action (we will plan the follow-up activities) and starts from the needs of the participants.

It’s a peer-to-peer (you teach & learn from others) approach 😊

💰💰💰 COSTS, WHAT IS THAT? 💰💰💰

We believe in one thing, the power of peace education and the right for all to have an opportunity. That is why, thanks to the ERASMUS+ scheme, we can provide this training for you for FREE.

We will be able to reimburse you for your travel to Germany (1st Activity) with a limit of:

Germany — 23 Eur (up to 180, depending on the distance of traveling);
Greece, Portugal, Cyprus, — 360 Eur;
Austria, Kosovo*, France, Italy, Poland, Türkiye — 275 Eur;

Traveling limits for the second activity, in Austria, will be shared with you after acceptance.

And a bit about ourselves 🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳

Youth Peace Ambassadors Network

The Youth Peace Ambassadors Network (YPAN) is an informal network of 125 young peacebuilders from across Europe who work with and in conflict-affected communities.

Our Mission: The YPA Network wants to develop a culture of peace by empowering young people, and promoting human rights, dignity, equality, and respect for diversity through education, advocacy, and other non-violent actions through projects at the local and international levels.

Peace Up! — Verein für Friedenspädagogik und gewaltfreier Konflikttransformation

Peace Up! is an organization established in 2020, with objectives to promote the theory and practice of peace education, non-violent conflict transformation and reconciliation work at local, national, and international level, and to raise public awareness of the ideas of peace work and non-violence. Peace Up! is engaged in organizing and implementing seminars, workshops, training courses and further education and scientific papers and cultural products in the theory and practice of peace education, youth work, non-violent conflict transformation and reconciliation work.

DEADLINE — 10th February 2024

🔎CLICK HERE TO APPLY🔎

CONTACT
Write to this e-mail with the Subject: “The Art of Nonviolent Dialogue” —
nevena@ypan.org

“The Art of Nonviolent Dialogue” is a project financed by the European Union’s Erasmus+ Programme, Jugend für Europa, Erasmus + National Agency of Germany.