BUILDPEACE is all about integrating formal and non formal education in the field of peace-building, and we spent 5 days together sharing approaches, methods and knowledge under the theme of ‘identities and belonging’. In the 8 months we have been working together on this project, we have learnt about different working styles of formal and non formal organisations which has been in equal measures fascinating and challenging (for example, the much more prevalent involvement of part time and/or volunteers involved in the non formal education organisations).
Our Xchange Scotland team delivered two sessions, thank you to Monica, Richard, Christine, and especially Amanda for their contributions, skill and motivation.
Our first session was creating Loesje posters to unpack identities, and we were impressed by the creativity of all the participants. We got some great poster ideas by the end of the session!
Our second session was on accrediting non formal education, and why this is extremely valuable to some (but not all) people who are engaged in non formal learning. We drew on research as well as our experience accrediting learning using the Youthpass and Community Achievement Awards, and tried to inspire some of our university partners to get involved in assisting organisations in their countries to start the journey towards accreditation.
Sessions from other partners were diverse in topic and methodology and included: Mugla University’s presentation on conflict resolution (involving a quiz and animals!), Young Researchers of Serbia’s fishbowl on international volunteer projects, Wings of Hope’s informative discussion on citizenship and (not)belonging in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Coventry University’s ‘you are what you eat’, CCIVS’s activity extravaganza on peace activism and Kadir Has’s panel discussion on identity and belonging in Turkey.
We would like to say a huge thank you to Laura, Michaelina, Sharon and Nancy for organisating, Bogdan for doing a fantastic job facilitating such a varied programme and group of participants, and all partners for their fabulous sessions! Keep watching this space to follow the progress of #buildpeaceEU….