Call for Trainers in the #diversityEUnited project: young minority voices in the political decision and social change-making in Europe

The Project: 

The organizations Polis180 (Germany), Bridge of Friendship Kartlosi (Georgia), and Ideas for Change (Ukraine) are organizing a tri-national online youth exchange, focusing on the rights of minorities and young peoples’ ways to exercise these rights. We want to foster dialogue between different minority/marginalized groups in Europe, empower young people (ca. 18-30) to develop their own ideas, and support them in implementing innovative projects evolving around these topics. Through a series of online workshops, 45 young people from Germany, Georgia and Ukraine who identify as part of a minority or marginalized group, will learn about their rights, discuss about common opportunities and challenges, dive deeper in their local context, get to know techniques of project development and finally implement their own projects in small groups. 

For our German-Georgian-Ukrainian digital youth exchange project #diversityEUnited, we are looking for experienced and enthusiastic trainers for the following trainings/workshops (all held via Zoom):  

Training 1: Minority rights in Europe (one trainer)

The 4h- online training/workshop will take place on September 25th. The participants will be approx. 45 young people from Germany, Georgia and Ukraine who identify as part of a marginalized or minority group in their society. This will be the first workshop after an initial kick-off meeting. 

Topic: Rights of minorities in the project countries (e.g. based on Council of Europe Framework Convention) and ways to exercise these on the local and national level.

Aims: This workshop will set the basis for following, more practical, workshops about youth participation, project development etc. Participants will get a broad understanding of their rights and the rights of other minority groups. They are aware of examples of how to exercise their rights. 

Approach: We want this workshop to be informative and empowering, interactive and dialogue-driven. 

Who are we looking for? We want to work with a trainer who strongly believes in equal rights for all, who has a broad knowledge of minority rights in Europe, knows concrete examples of how to exercise and campaign for these rights and can deliver their expertise in a compelling, interactive way. The trainer is responsible for developing the agenda and methods for the workshop. The trainer should be based in one of the project countries. Knowing the specific societal context of minorities in Germany, Georgia and/or Ukraine would be a strong asset. 

The workshop will be held in English, simultaneous interpretation will be available for those participants who need it. 

Training 2: Youth participation (three to four trainers)

The online training/workshop will take place on September 26th and consist of two modules: Firstly, the entire group (ca. 45 young people from Germany, Georgia and Ukraine) will have a 2h-workshop on youth participation in general. In the second part (ca. 1,5h), there will be three parallel workshops, each covering the local/national context of one of the project countries. Finally, all participants will have some closing activities in the plenary. 

Topic: The potential of youth participation, including sessions on the national and local level in Germany, Georgia and Ukraine.

Aims: This workshop will set the basis for following, more practical, workshops about project development etc. Participants will understand the power and importance of youth participation in general, but also very specifically in their own national/local context. Participants are aware of concrete examples of youth participation. 

Approach: We want this workshop to be informative and empowering, interactive and dialogue-driven. 

Who are we looking for? We want to work with trainers who strongly believe in the potential of youth participation, who are experts on youth participation mechanisms in their local/national contexts, can explain concrete successes of youth participation and can implement the workshop/module in a compelling, interactive way. Each trainer is responsible for developing the agenda and methods for their module. We are looking for one trainer (based in Germany, Georgia or Ukraine) who can deliver the “general/intro module” and three trainers (one from each country) who implement the modules on national contexts. These three trainers should be present during the introductory module as well. It would be favorable if the trainer responsible for the “intro module” could also implement one of the national modules. 

The “intro module” will be held in English, the “national modules” in the respective language. Simultaneous interpretation will be available for those participants who need it. 

Are you interested in joining us for this project? 

Great! Please send your application to [email protected], [email protected] and [email protected], containing the following: 

• short cover letter (describing your motivation, your experience and your suggested honorary)

• your CV

• some ideas for the training/module you’d like to implement - please state which training/module you are applying for!

The call is open until August 15th, but we’re glad if you apply as soon as possible!

For any questions, please feel free to contact us: 

Polis180/Germany: Nora Pohl, [email protected] 

Bridge of Friendship Kartlosi/Georgia: Ana Jebisashvili, [email protected] 

Ideas for Change/Ukraine: Natalia Novykova, [email protected] 

The project is funded under the grant program “MEET UP! Youth for Partnership” by the Remembrance, Responsibility and Future (EVZ) Foundation and the Federal Foreign Office.