streetwise: 2016

What would you say to others engaging youth to encourage them to integrate global justice/ citizenship themes into their work?

Themes and issues generated by a youth group through creative & effective facilitation give ownership/responsibility to the group & connect them with the urban space. The principles of development education & non formal methodologies & approaches to learning by doing will benefit & engage youth. Reflective practice & experiential learning helps to integrate themes of global citizenship into their practice.

This is one of the most important areas of knowledge young people can develop in this changing geo-political global context & they know it & respond so well. There are so many creative ways to share themes of global justice.

Art is a Universal Language.

To use the art, music, dance, etc.. all variables that represent different identities because the integration is possible through the diversity.

Young people are often looking for places to express themselves and their identity. Global citizenship allows them to look outside themselves and in doing this became a ‘bigger self’. Grows responsibility, connecting with others, compassion.

I think it’s important and it gives the youth a voice and a way to communicate with their peers, their towns and in general.

What would you say to others engaging youth to encourage them to work with creativity?

Projects like ‘Street-Wise’ have potential to encourage youth to engage with a variety of tools for creativity & advocacy in urban spaces. Youth workers can harness the social media tools & blogging culture to share different perspectives with a global audience.

It’s an amazing way for people to bond, get to know each other, explore controversial themes, heal & grow together, get to know themselves better & the skills working in teams.

Always have a lot of energy and positivity - persevere when facing possible obstacles.

To involve as many people as possible because the diversity is very important.

It is a fantastic opportunity to explore and grow skills on many levels. Communication, team building, compromise, assertiveness. Exploring values, attitudes, judgements. Engaging emotionally in a neutral way.

It is a fantastic opportunity to really engage youth in an activity that they can not only learn from but give something back, take pride in participation.

Every person can be creative if feeling free. All frustrations and unsure feelings stop creativity. So it’s very important to learn how can we ensure optimal environment to use our creativity and motivate others-young people to do the same.

There is no right or wrong so we are free to make and learn from our mistakes.

Creativity is the only way to find new perspectives and solutions. Creativity is a healing power. We can live our child-freedom as well.

How has the experience of this training impacted on your personal development and your sense of global citizenship?

The experience of this training has prompted me to incorporate more active learning into my own practice. It has stimulated an ambition to build a network of non-formal education practitioners in Galway city & county. It has motivated me to identify my own perspectives & share the perspectives of others. The training has highlighted for me the 3 key competences for working with youth. These are head, hand & heart learning which translate into knowledge, skills & values respectively. In terms of global citizenship my sense of integrity & ethical approach to tasks & values has been enhanced. My sense of global citizenship has developed, I have consciously began to actively observe the actions & attitudes of myself and others. The training has helped me to identify & share the creative approaches for active global citizenship.

Working creatively in teams offered opportunity to know myself better. Once I knew myself and my skills I gained greater confidence, which allowed me to become an active global citizen.

It enriched my knowledge of other points of view. I rediscovered values and new/efficient techniques and methodologies.

This experience was a good training to experiment with different roles and tasks. Through the direct experience I can feel and connect with myself and other people.

It has allowed me to connect with issues I have not considered closely for a while as I have not had the space in my life. Time to reflect. Appreciate connections between each other and reliance on many thousands of people across the globe.

I am still not completely confident in it, but now I know what to do to engage and can’t wait to get started with a group and try out my ideas.

Each intercultural experience allowed me to develop myself as youth worker and person. This training was very useful because it demonstrated that art is very important to develop people’s sense of global citizenship.

What do you think the trainers and team did well?

There was a real sense of professionalism & general openness to skilled creative practice among the team of facilitators. Their wealth of experience & ability to work in multi-cultural, multi-lingual contexts enhanced the experience for me. The coordination of the project & the programme flow gave a solid structure upon which we could build a shared experiential learning environment. The skills of the trainers explored effective team bilding strategies. These were used to benefit the project selection based on our skills, interests and values. Mixing up the cultural differences helped us all to find commonalities with each other. The social evening & cultural exchange was a great success & gave us all a real sense of what issues & themes other active global citizens are engaging in.

Kind, caring, open, super coordination of food venues, supplies, ideas. Really strong sense of acceptance. Non-judgmental space. So much diversity in the creations, so much happening at the same time and it all came together so wonderfully. Safe container & space & freedom.

The trainers were very patient, inspiring and trustworthy. The time was very short but the result was great.

All trainers were patient, creative, respectful and competent. They managed well the group work, activities and communication - listening to everybody’s needs.

Providing an open, safe and welcoming environment/framework. Well organised and planned re practical arrangements, equipment, preparation... Allowed space for people with little English to engage. Celebrated all contributions.

They were very caring and tried to include everyone.

Everything :)

The trainers did a good job. They enabled those with no experience to use urban art.

Stayed calm at all times, trusting us and supporting our ideas. Their energy and smiles, kindness, sensitivity and understanding.

Everything. They were kind, helpful, extremely clever, very artistic and extremely organized.

They were very good passing the skills they have. They were very welcoming and generous with time & skills. Clear explanations. Organized. Materials very well planned. Timetables and punctuality excellent.

Great topics, interesting tools, nice places for the training.