Call for Participants: Storytelling in Youth Peace Advocacy

Storytelling in Youth Peace Advocacy Storytelling workshop 27 April – 3 May 2014, in The Hague, the Netherlands and E-learning online
From myths and legends to the simplest tales of people’s every day, stories cut across borders and boundaries, they travel all around making their way into people’s hearts. They are the true bearers of change as they transmit messages about what people care about and envision for their lives.
Set out for a journey with us, exploring the paths you can take as a storyteller, sending a clear message to the world: Peace is what I stand for!

 

About the organizers – UNOY Peacebuilders

The United Network of Young Peacebuilders (UNOY Peacebuilders) is a global network of 60 youth peace organisations active in the field of peacebuilding and conflict transformation. UNOY Peacebuilders is a non-political, non-religious, non-governmental organisation that welcomes youth peace initiatives, organisations, and young peacebuilders regardless of gender, ethnicity, social class, religion, or any other distinction. UNOY Peacebuilders develops expertise on specific themes within peacebuilding based on requests from member organisations. The UNOY Peacebuilders as a network organization contributes to the work of its members in two fundamental ways: through capacity building and through advocacy. It also engages in a range of additional activities to support these two key functions: networking; sharing of information; advice and support through a pool of resource persons; research; fundraising and administrative support.

 

About the project

Stories as the universal carriers of human experience have been used all over the world by people to pass on messages about their history, culture and values. As such stories enable us to reconstruct our pasts and imagine futures; through stories we remember, engage and dream. What is more, stories convey essential meanings of our existence which can be exchanged between fellow humans; through stories we connect, share and understand each other. As islamo- and xenophobia is spreading in Europe, and skepticism of the West is spreading in the MENA region (Middle East and North Africa), it is essential for youth peace activist on all sides of the Mediterranean to be able to tell stories of peace and coexistence and to use these stories to advocate for diversity, intercultural dialogue and youth participation in peacebuilding.

Overall aim

  • To strengthen intercultural dialogue among youth in the Euro-Med area;
  • To strengthen the voice and recognition of youth in peacebuilding processes in the region, as well as to change the discourse of youth, from trouble-makers and victims of conflict, to positive agents of social change
  • To strengthen our network’s and partner organizations’ advocacy and capacity building work.
Objectives
  • To build the skills of youth peace activist on advocacy through storytelling
  • To provide a forum for intercultural dialogue (through storytelling) within our network
  • To create tools for youth peace advocacy in the Euro-Med

 

About the activities

Storytelling workshop The 5-day workshop is taking place in the period 27 April – 3 May 2014, in The Hague, the “international city of peace and justice”.

 

The participants of the training will gain skills in storytelling, and in how storytelling can be used in youth advocacy. Storytelling will be introduced to the participants as a tool for dialogue and participants will reflect upon the role storytelling plays in their communities. According to personal interest, participants will be able to select one of the workshop tracks: (1) storytelling through audio-visual tools – video and photography, (2) storytelling through theatre and performance, or (3) creative writing. The sessions will be led by experienced trainers together with invited experts in relevant disciplines. Methods will be based on non-formal education, building upon participants’ skills, needs and interests. The outcomes of the different workshops (photos, videos, written stories, drawings etc.) will be shared between groups and some of them used also for the online site “25 Stories of Youth in Peacebuilding” created on the e-learning platform as a tool for youth advocacy and to celebrate the 25th anniversary of UNOY.

 

E-learning/sharing platform

The workshop in The Hague is directly linked to the online learning platform which will provide participants with a structured forum for preparatory work, as well as for the follow up activities and dissemination of results. The online platform will have two components – an interface for participants to login and update their project information and – a website open to the public. The login component will serve the purpose of preparatory work for participants from February onwards. It will consist of various research and creative exercises using online tools to introduce the topic of storytelling in peace advocacy and to encourage initial discussion among participants. The website open to public will include the “25 Stories of Youth in Peacebuilding” to which participants will contribute with their own stories (as written stories, videos, drawings, etc.) emerging in the course of the training process. These stories will function as a practical advocacy tool for the workshop participants and for our network at large as it can be used to show policy makers the potential of youth as positive change-makers.

Project partner organizations
Participant selection criteria
We are searching for enthusiastic young people who believe that their voice is important in the public debates on peace and security. They should be curious and open to leave their comfort zone to explore creative ways of engaging with the world around them and taking an active role in it. Additionally they should be:
  • between 18 and 30 years
  • residents of one of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership Countries (Albania, Algeria, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mauritania, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, Netherlands, Palestine, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Tunisia, Turkey, United Kingdom )
  • actively involved in youth peace work
  • interested in storytelling and advocacy work
  • fluent in English!!!

The selection process will proceed mainly from the motivation of applicants to participate in this project and to use its outcomes for their future activities. Diversity of participants and gender balance will also be taken into account. 12 participants will be selected from Europe and 13 from the Middle East and North Africa. Preference will be given to applicants from partner organizations and members of the UNOY network; however participants from other organizations are also welcome to apply.

 

Availability

 

Participants must be available to attend the entire duration of the workshop (see above for dates) and commit to 1-2hrs online per week to update to keep up with the preparatory work and provide feedback to others on the online platform. Note: The activities on the platform are an integral element of the trainings project and as such participants are expected to take an active part in it!!!

 

Costs

 

The participation fee is €60 for all participants. Workshop-related expenses will be covered by the organizers including:

  • Visa fees  Local transportation costs to/from the airport
  • Accommodation in a youth hostel in the Hague for the duration of the workshop (4-8 bedded dorms)
  • Full boarding for the duration of the workshop (breakfast, lunch and dinner)
  • Other workshop related costs (training material, travel costs during the workshop, etc.)

 

International travel costs will be covered as follows:

  • 100% for participants from the Middle East and North Africa up to the maximal amount of €390
  • 70% for participants from European countries up to the maximal amount of €140 Note: Only the cheapest mean of transportation will be reimbursed (economy class, no taxi). Under 600km of distance participants are required to travel ON LAND.

 

Application process

 

If you think you are suitable for this training, please fill-out the online application which you can find under the link here. The deadline is Sunday, 16 February 2014, but we encourage you to submit the application as soon as possible.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.