The training course (TC) Experiential Inclusion, due to happen 7-15 September 2013 near Berlin, Germany will focus on the method of experiential education to involve young people with fewer social, emotional and educational opportunities in local youth work or international activities.

NFJD is an organisation with a long experience in organising summer trips for young Naturefriends using outdoor and experiential education as a key element for non-formal education of the participants. Especially in the work with socially, emotionally and educationally disadvantaged youth the experiential approach has proven as an attractive approach for this target group and is effective in supporting this target group’s social and team skills as well as their individual self-awareness and self-confidence.

With this TC, NFJD wants to share its expertise in this field and explore with other European partners the opportunity to organise suitable international activities – such as youth exchanges – for this particular target group.

 

The objectives of the course are to:

  • explore experiential education as a specific approach of non-formal education
  •  share and learn about the specific needs of youth who have fewer opportunities
  •  increase participants’ intercultural awareness and empower them to apply intercultural learning and sensitivity in their projects
  • find partners for international cooperation and plan the first project steps
  • learn about the Youth in Action programme and particularly about the opportunities to fund international youth exchanges

The target group of this TC is:

a) youth workers who either work already with low opportunity youth and typically are „indoor“ focused (teachers, school pedagogues, open youth centre youth workers) and

b) youth workers who already have experience with outdoor and experiential education and would like to involve this target group in their youth work.

The venue of the course: Abenteuerzentrum im Grunewald (AziG)

The AziG was the venue of the Green Games 2011 and has proven as a great training venue for activities involving outdoor group action, contact with nature and tools used for experiential education. It is located in the south west of Berlin and even though it is reachable from any major arrival point in Berlin within one hour, it is remotely located in the Grunewald forest, nearby a lake and surrounded with pine trees, birds and squirrels.

Accommodation is relatively simple in two larger rooms for group accommodation. Also the group will need to prepare their own meals. While this means on the one hand a lack of comfort, we also believe it provides also a good frame for building a sense of community that will support the learning and growth of the group additionally.

The Team:

Friedrich Köckert: Freelance trainer in international youth work since 2009 with an educational focus of intercultural learning, project management, experiential learning, learning to learn, self-organisation and environmental education.

Tino Jonuscheit: Social pedagogue and trainer since 2006, is responsible for the educational programme and high rope course of the AziG and focuses on learning and group development processes for low opportunity youth through experiential education.

We are currently looking for 6 partner organisations from EU countries interested and motivated to work with fewer opportunity youth with an experiential approach and who would like to organise international activities with this target group in the future.

If 1) the themes of this TC are appealing to you,

2) you are willing to promote this TC to your youth workers and

3) you are ready to send three suitable participants to the TC in September,

then we would like to invite you to get in contact with Ewa (ewa@iynf.org) at the latest until Sunday, 20. January 2013, to arrange the next steps for partnership.

Please see the PDF file in the attachments for more information and provisional programme.

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