Participation Toolbox! – DAY 1

Youth Express Network is currently holding the training course “Participation Toolbox!”, second activity of our annual work plan “Shake the Box! – Alternative ways of Participation”.

29 young people are gathered in Berlin, Germany, to improve their capacity to advocate for their active participation in society and develop their competences towards a better implementation and perceptibility of their initiative. The training course is hosted by our partner organisation CUBE – Your take on Europe.

Introductions, icebreakers and team buildings… Day 1 allowed the participants to get to know each other and build a safe and productive environment for the days to come.

Introductions

The day started with the usual name games and practical informations: introduction to the project, Youth Express Network and our host organisation CUBE, presentation of the programme, the aim and objectives of the week.

Getting to know each other

The next sessions allowed participants to get to know each other. They discussed in pairs and answered several questions to learn interesting facts about each other. They then got to express the reason that motivated them to participate to this training course, and lay on paper their fears, expectations and contributions.

Building a Safe Space

The afternoon started by a session aiming at creating a safe space within the group. To do so, the room was divided in two zones: the learning zone – confort zone – the panic zone. The participants were invited to position themselves in these zones according to how they feel on various contexts or topics such as: speaking in public, physical contact or sharing their emotions. They also learned what is a debriefing and got to create their rules for the rest of the week.

Developing a good group dynamic

To finish the day, the group went into a park in Berlin. The participants took part in a Team Building activity which developed their team spirit, cohesion and communication skills. Later in the evening, they went into a “walk and talk”, to both enjoy the city center and learn new things about their teammates.