International Youth work after the pandemic
International seminar, 21-27 November 2021 in Madrid (Spain)
About the Project
Service Civil International and the partners of the project “COVID-19 – Lessons learned” are organizations
that make international exchanges of volunteers and young people one of their main methods. In doing so, we aim to create intercultural connections, international solidarity and a culture of peace and non-violence. The COVID-19 pandemic is posing unprecedented challenges for the movement. Neither travel nor physical meetings were possible. And the world is in a health crisis that poses enormous economic, political and social challenges to which the international youth and volunteer movement must actively respond.
Young people with fewer opportunities are particularly affected by this crisis: young people with chronic illnesses who are directly affected by the health risk, many young people losing their jobs or unable to find one, with LGBT+ young people isolated at home with families who do not accept their identities, young people with dysfunctional families locked at home.
At the same time, reactions to the crisis, especially within the EU, have been very national and local, with borders that have been open for decades closed and with international volunteering and youth exchanges being literally impossible in the ways we have done so far. As we believe in our goals and approaches, we are working overtime to find new solutions, such as international online volunteering, local volunteer actions, etc.
We need spaces to exchange these solutions, to exchange ideas, and to find new ways of doing it. We need spaces to exchange these solutions, to increase their quantity and quality. Therefore, SCI Madrid and SCI Germany have joined forces and are inviting you to join our seminar: COVID 19 – lessons learned. We hope that, after almost a year of experiences and adaptations, we will be able to exchange experiences, ideas and good practices, learning from each other and creating new common strategies.
Our objective
• To gather lessons learned and best practices on how to translate our work and goals to a situation where physical distance is necessary and travel is impossible.
• To create new and creative ways of international volunteering and youth work.
• Evaluate currently developed approaches, such as digital volunteer camps
• To better understand how to use non-formal education in a digital environment
• Learn from others what local emergency volunteering initiatives have been created
• Analyse how the crisis influences long-term volunteering projects abroad
• Understand the social consequences of the closing of borders and how we as youth and volunteer organisations can contribute to international solidarity in this context.
• Analyse how we can contribute to the fight against new conspiracy theories and misinformation spread on social media among young people
• Assess how the crisis is connected to issues we have been working on for decades such as exclusion, racism, sexism, ecology and climate, etc.
• Networking
Outcome
The results of the seminar will be a manual for youth and volunteering organisations with guidelines on risk management, volunteer management during crises situations, best practices and digital facilitation tips.
COVID-19 during the Seminar
At this point, we assume that it will be possible to organize the seminar in-person in Spain in November. We will ask all participants to be vaccinated, recovered and/or tested (depending on the rules in Spain at that point). We will have a hygiene concept for the group during the seminar and will follow all regulations by the authorities. Should there be another lockdown, we will consider to do the seminar online on the same dates.
Participant’s profile
The project aims to gather 20 participants (up to 2 per partner organization). The participants will be youth workers, trainers as well as staff, activists, camp coordinators and active volunteers from volunteering organizations. All participants selected for this project should meet the following criteria:
• be 18 years old or older
• be able to work in English
• be interested in the seminar topics and have a strong motivation to act as a multiplier
• Able to attend for the full duration of the seminar• If somehow possible and feasible, be committed to come to the seminar without flying, and to travel instead by overland route.
We explicitly encourage participants of all classes, educational backgrounds, genders, sexual orientations, abilities and ethnic backgrounds to apply.
Logistics, financial conditions and sustainability
Simple life: The seminar will take place in a seminar house with simple living conditions. You will sleep in a room shared with few other people.
Money, money, money: We can cover all essential costs of the program (including food, travel costs up to a maximum amount per country, visa costs, accommodation and seminar) through a European project grant by Erasmus+. Your sending organisation might ask for a small participation fee.
Sustainable food: In the application form you can tell us if you have any allergies or intolerances. The same applies if you are vegan or vegetarian. We will adapt the food to your needs.
Sustainable travels?: This is also why we ask you to come to this seminar through more sustainable means of transport rather than flying (e.g. by train or bus), if somehow possible. We will give you more guidance on how you can reach the venue, once you are accepted to the seminar.
How to apply?
Registrations can be made directly via the following link: https://forms.gle/3pccbPphaxKJbCcWA
All those who are accepted will subsequently receive a detailed information sheet (including information on how to get to the venue, how to book their travel and further information on the project program).
First deadline for applying is 04 October 2021.
Contact
If you have any questions regarding the project and your application, don’t hesitate to contact Anna & the SCI team: oficina@ongsci.org.
We are looking forward to your application
Declaration and commitment
I am fully aware that my participation in this activity is an investment of the organisers (in terms of logistics, finances, time and personal involvement of all people engaged) in my personal learning experience.
1. I declare that the information provided in my application is true and I commit myself to participate actively in the whole duration of the project.
2. I promise to share the experiences gained in the course with other people from my sending organisation and/ or other people in my professional/ private / volunteer environment;
3. I promise to implement learned experience at the local level;
4. I commit to attending the seminar in full, with no late arrival and early departure or leaving sessions; I read and understood text of the declaration.
