Saloniki, Grecja
12 – 21.05.2014
SMIT "CREATOR" members were participating in the Youth Exchange project called Peace of Mind co-ordinated by Informal Group Change.
Europe is experiencing tremendous changes in societal, economic and political level. These changes are the result of conflict of interests and needs between different involved parties. However, conflicts are not solely a negative event, but also can have a positive aspect since they can lead to necessary adjustments and changes for the common good. “Peace of Mind” project is a multilateral youth exchange aiming to enable young participants to consider conflicts as true opportunity to create positive changes by learning to managing them effectively.
Experiential learning, which applies in non- formal educational settings, will be used to achieve the above-mentioned goals. Creative methodology (e.g. role playing, case studies, flash mob, etc.), practical workshops; will be the important aspects of this project. Moreover, this project will attempt to familiarize participants with concepts such as acceptance of cultural diversity and equal opportunities for personal development. The proposed project aspires to meet and promote the above objectives through the placement of 40 beneficiaries, from the following countries: Greece, Romania, Estonia, Croatia, Poland, Czech Republic, Italy and Turkey. The venue of the implementation of the project will be Chalkidona, Greece and will run for a period of 8 days.
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Aleksandra Pawlak (Monday, 11 August 2014 15:12)
„Peace of Mind” YA project, conducted in the Greek city of Chalkidona, was a wonderful experience. A great combination of educational and recreational activities allowed us not only to obtain practical knowledge and skills but also helped us to get to know each other well. Thanks to national and cultural differences we were able to learn about needs and backgrounds of others, what helped us during our activities.
Psychological workshops, cultural evenings and other group activities were well-prepared and interesting. During our workshops we were able to understand the essence of conflict and conflict-solving: we got to know why are the conflicts arising, and what is more even important – how to cope with them or how to avoid them. We also learned that conflicts are inevitable and, while well-resolved, help develop relations.
I am glad I was able to participate in this project. Thanks to this experience I got the possibility to learn how to resolve problems and develop my creativity. I have also met many wonderful people, whom I am sure I will never forget.
Iwo Byrski (Monday, 11 August 2014 15:13)
Thanks to „Peace in mind” project I have learned how to communicate with people from all over the world, being self-aware and confident. Participating in a variety of exercises during “Peace in mind” helped me to be engaged and active through teamwork. Apart from that, I believe that the theme of this project had fully developed- we managed to solve many different conflicts(those presented on purpose and those, that occurred between the participants). The social aspect of the project was dominating – each and every second was devoted to communicating with others and leading to compromises. I believe that after this project I will more easily connect with different people from different countries, pay more respect to what others say and always find a way to fix a problem without violence and targeting the person, not the issue.
Paulina Szczepanek (Monday, 11 August 2014 15:14)
In this project, besides 5 Polish participants, part took citizens of following countries: Romania, Turkey, Czech Republik, Italy, Estonia, Serbia, Croatia and hosting us Greek team.
Main topic were conflicts: their couses, effects and ways to avoid them or benefit from them. Our workshops mosty contain team work as creating posters or short scenes.
On one of workshops with little bit different formula we were talking and analazing whether are we passive, assertive or aggressive person. Conclusion was that depending of the situation we can be every one of them.
Another interesting exercise was trying to repeat exact same sentence as our partner said, what came out to be not so easy. Later on we had to say what we thought the other person had in mind by this statement. We noticed that one simple sentence can have completely diffrent meaning for every person. This can easily lead to a conflict, that is why it is importent to clarify exacly what we have in mind and ask other person what she/he understood.
Negative sides of project were things with accomodation. Although rooms were nice and so were lobby, the beds weren’t at all. Moreover the lunches were always cold, even when the dish should’t be.
Secound big minus were the pool. When you come to the hotel with pool you expect to be able to swim in it. We didn’t have chance to. Furthermore people working in the hotel were constantly lying to us about it’s condition, telling us for example that there are no chemicals in it when everyone could easily smell chlorine.
Chalkidona itself seemed to be one deserted pleace in the middle of nowhere. Anyhow we menaged to turn every single bad aspect of in to a joke. Good thing about it was that on the main street there were some bars and restaurants that has been a rescue for us after not big and tasty enought hotel food.
While project we had one trip to Thessaloniki. This city is beautiful and full of historical places. You can feel a possitive Greek atmosphere and energy there.
Though project had pluses and minuses, personally I found it awesome thanks to the people I have met there.
Grzegorz Szpura (Monday, 11 August 2014 15:16)
I dare say it was a good project. I’ve met people from many different countries and broadened my horizons thanks to discussions with other participants. I’ve got to know new cultures and seen new places like Thessaloniki, Pella, Chalkidona. Especially Chalkidona was a big surprise for me. All participants were cooperating during different tasks and activities. We’ve made a movie showing a conflict and a solution for it, prepared couple of short plays with us as the actors and taken part in the final event which was a group dance in the main square of Chalkidona. Project was also full of discussions about different approaches to solving conflicts. Thanks to them I was able to recall many useful informations about correct behaviour which help to tackle problems quickly. Discussions also helped me to rethink my attitude towards other people during conflicts. I’ve spent great time there, mainly in Chalkidona, so I guess it was worth it.