We are happy to report that the yearly EFIL Training for Trainers took place 17-26 October in York, United Kingdom, contributing at the same time to the development of exchange organisations in the UK and Ireland. The idea, which proves very valuable, is that the Training participants acquire new competences in the first half of the event and then, towards the end of the week, prepare and run “practice training event” for the local volunteers. This way not only could they try out their trainer skills but also other AFS volunteers from developing organisations could benefit from the delivered content.
The 2015 edition of the Training gathered 23 participants and 5 trainers from 20 countries, to focus on citizenship education, fostering the link between intercultural learning and active responsible involvement in communities. The trained participants are now expected to become the key trainers in their countries, sharing the expertise with other volunteers. The programme included therefore both discussions and input on Active Citizenship content, as well as sessions focused on basic trainer competences.
A huge credit for the outcomes of the event goes to the preparatory trainer team: Beatriz Fonseca from AFS Portugal, Sigrún Tinna Sveinsdóttir from AFS Iceland, Nicolas Coudret from AFS Netherlands and Eliza Popper from AFS Hungary, supported by Izabela Jurczik-Arnold and Chiara Mercogliano from the EFIL Secretariat.
Finally, we should not forget the work of Pauline Fraser from the hosting organisation – the newly established AFS branch office in the UK – who not only helped with many logistics issues but also played a key role in recruiting UK-based participants for the local training component.
The project was supported by the European Youth Foundation of the Council of Europe, within EFIL’s yearly Work Plan on Citizenship Education.
For more information: izabela.jurczik-arnold@afs.org