Description of the advanced module

The Workshop of Europe's advanced module will give participants the opportunity to acquire methods of intercultural learning in two emphasized areas:

1. Media Education
2. Adventure Education

This module aims 20 multipliers, having taken part in the basic module of the Interaktive Workshop of Europe (June 1st to 6th, 2009).

Participants

The target group of the Interactive Workshop of Europe - advanced module are 20 motivated multipliers: youth directors, students, and people working full time or as honorary members in the vocational fields of education, art, culture or other social sciences. The participants of at least 21 years of age must live in Austria, Italy, Poland, France or Germany. As the workshops will be held in English, a solid knowledge of English is required. To participate in the advanced module, you have to complete basic module first. A sole participation in the advanced module is not envisioned due to didactical and group dynamics-related reasons.

For more detailed information about participation and registration, please have a look at our contact page.

Programme and objectives

Over the period of these 3 days, participants will be trained by external experts and are able to set a course according to their own needs and knowledge. This way, the already imparted knowledge of participants can be extended in one of the two areas mentioned above.

media education

The new media bring things even furthest away very close, which is why political, social, and legal decision-making processes can now be related to and examined. The sole barrier of access remains the media-related skills: only those who know how to handle these new tools can partake in the development of this vast platform of information and communication. Hence we provide participants of the advanced module with substantiated know-how of internet, video, and photography and encourage them to think about an appropriate application of the acquired methods during youth encounters.

adventure education

To experience adventures is an attractive leisure activity for young European people with different social backgrounds. But methods of adventure education also offer various elements for individual personality development and a positive influence on group dynamics. To get to know ones limits in a secured environment is a great opportunity, especially for culturally mixed groups, to closely experience reliance and cooperation, while separating differences (e.g. language or provenance) tend to be forgotten. During this adventure education emphasis, multipliers will further their knowledge and experience in the three fields Wood, In Town and Inside and try out new play elements during extended outdoor activities.

European Dimension

The participants will be from Poland, Germany, Austria, France and Italy. During the training, we abstain from professional translation in order to reproduce the reality of European everyday-life, as well as to encourage participants to mingle with people of different nationalities and overcome language barriers. This we understand to be an essential prerequisite for obtaining a feeling of European identity. The cultural diversity is one of Europe’s main characteristics and therefore becomes one of our most important principles. During work stages though, we will generally use English as working language to simplify knowledge transfer.

The atmosphere on the spot

The advanced module of the Interactive Workshop of Europe will take place in Ev. Jugendburg Hohensolms / Tor-Weg-Wohnung (Hesse, Germany). The site was deliberately chosen by the organizers to create an atmosphere, in which interculturalism can be consciously experienced. All participants and mentors will be accommodated in the erstwhile charge offices of the castle, the so called Tor-Weg-Wohnung (the apartment above the archway). Well-equipped seminar rooms are at our disposal in the castle situated nearby, where the workshop will be conducted. The aspect of informal learning will be implemented by cooking our meals together. Different regional receipts suggested by participants in advance will be prepared. Moreover, all every-day tasks will be shared by participants together. It is also very important to give participants enough free time during the training for an informal exchange. Since no professional interpreters will be present during workshop stage, interculturalism will be experienced every day – with all its challenges and limits.

Further information: pictures and a detailed presentation of the site, How to get there?

Documentation

The catalogue of methods that will have been compiled is going to be distributed in two different ways: next to a DVD that will be given to every participant, the gathered workshop content will be put on a data base on our website. Besides further literature suggestions about intercultural learning, practical tutorials from the training workshops will be available online.

Youth Pass

We would like to give participants the possibility to obtain the Youth Pass, a certified document from Youth in Action, underlining the meaning of this informal learning experience.