Implementation

03/01/2024

FIRST DAY

GETTING TO KNOW EACH OTHER

During the morning session, we held an activity about creating our own envelopes. In this activity, participants were walking in the room with a piece of paper with their names and a circle (face). As they were walking with their papers each time and when the trainer said "stop", it was simultaneously suggested to draw a specific feature of the face of the participant whose name was on the paper (e.g., eyebrows, eyes, lips). We continued until we had drawn the whole face. In this way, we had a portrait of each participant which had been drawn by various other participants. Afterwards, we put them up on the wall with an envelope underneath which was used to place some "presents'' and nice words for each person. Within the framework of this activity, we played secret friend throughout the whole week. In fact, each participant had a secret friend from which they were receiving small presents the whole week!

Within the first session, we also played various name games, such as the activity in which you say your name and make a movement. The next participant has to repeat the name and the movement of all the previous ones. It was certainly challenging up to a point. We played the famous two truths and one lie, in which you wrote in a paper two truths and one lie about yourself and others have to make a strong guess to figure out the lie.

FEARS, EXPECTATIONS, AND CONTRIBUTIONS

During the second session of the first day, we made an introduction to the Training, and we found some rules with the participants, which they signed.

We continued with fears, expectations, and contributions. In this game, each participant had to write post-ed about fears, one about expectations, and one about contributions, which they had to stick on the respective flipchart of each. We divided the group in three teams, and each had some time to work on their respective poster in order to present it to the group.

YOUTH PASS ACTIVITY

In this activity, participants have been divided into eight groups. Around the workshop room, they were eight stations. Each station was about one Erasmus Plus Competence (e.g., Literacy, Multilingual, Mathematical, Digital, Personal and Learning to Learn, Citizenship, Entrepreneurship, and Cultural Awareness and Expression Competence). Participants with their teams received their Youth Pass portfolio and they had to go around the stations and complete a particular task out of three. For each task of a particular competence they completed, they were going to the "authorities" to receive confirmation through a stamp. Most teams completed all the tasks. This was a way for them to understand that Youth Pass is not only about the certificate they receive but about the subjective way in which they develop. It has been given to them space in this way, to reflect on each competence through practical learning, collaboration, and fun.

WHO ARE "I" ACTIVITY

The trainers asked the participants to reflect what is interesting or important to know about someone else when you first meet, and brainstorm the general categories of information. For example, name, age, sex, nationality, family role, religion, age, gender, ethnicity, job/study, taste in music, hobbies, sports, general likes and dislikes and more. Then each participant was given a coloured paper to draw his star with the 10 most important information about him/her as lines of the star, assuming that they are stars. When all of them had finished, they were divided in groups of men and women to compare what is important for each one, and if they had something in common they had to make the line bigger and write the name of the person that they had the similar information. When this phase finished, they were divided in groups regarding their country, where they had again to compare the information and make the lines bigger by completing more names. At the end, they were divided in groups randomly and they did the same thing. We discussed about how identity develops and which aspects of identity are social constructs and which are inherent and fixed, especially those relating to religion and gender. It was worth asking participants to consider their own process of growing up and how certain aspects of their identity have changed over the years, perhaps even those aspects of their identity that they think are fixed. We combined also the discussion with Human Rights. Some purposes of the activity were to find out who we are and who are the others, to see that all of us have something in common, but all of us are unique, like stars, they have their own identity and this makes the world more colourful and beautiful. If we know ourselves and we learn how the others think about us and how the others seem, we can develop the world.

04/01/2024, SECOND DAY

HOMEWORK REFLECTION

In the first session of the second day, we reflect on the homework activity participants had. The mandatory homework activity was to answer the following questions on a piece of paper:

• What does my comfort zone look like?
• For a week, answer every day the following question:
  How did I get out of my comfort zone today? How did it feel? What have I learned?

We continued in implementing the optional homework activity participants had, that is we listened to the following Ted Talk about how diversity makes teams more innovative: www.ted.com/talks/rocio_lorenzo_how_diversity_makes_teams_more_innovative 

We later took a piece of paper and reflected on the following questions:

a) How many of your friends are the same age as you?

b) How many are from a similar cultural or socio-economic background? Are these the only people from whom you can learn?

Leadership Mindset

Leadership entails a combination of three factors: understanding yourself, understanding others, and understanding the relationship between yourself and others. Participants were divided into pairs and had to answer a series of questions related to the qualities of: Enthusiasm & Clarity, Self-Awareness, Growth Mindset, Strategic, and being Proactive.

Growth Mindset vs. Fixed Mindset

On the third session of the day, we implemented a short debate in which we attached "YES," "NO", and "MAYBE" on the floor. When we read a statement, for example, whether working from home is not a normal job, participants had to take a side depending on what they believed. Accordingly, everybody had the opportunity to raise their voices and learn from others. This was an opportunity for everybody to speak up their mind and contribute to the dynamic of the group, brainstorming ideas.

Fear & Trust

Participants were divided into pairs. One person from each pair got her eyes blindfolded while the other person was guided. They walked in this way, with the purpose of developing trust in the person who guided them. The roles later changed in order for both persons A and B, to feel develop trust in one another to guide them. We also had a Speed Networking with a Twist activity in which wearranged participants in pairs for short, timed conversations (2-3 minutes). After each round, participants switched partners and shared: a. the future version of themselves having successfully navigated a difficult challenge. Asked participants to share it to the group.

05/01/2024, THIRD DAY – Excursion Day

On the third day, we visited the center of Wraclaw, where participants had some time to relax from the intense training seminar.

Wroclaw is a vibrant city located in western Poland, known for its rich history, stunning architecture, and lively cultural scene. Wroclaw has a long and complex history, having been influenced by various cultures and empires over the centuries. It has been a part of Poland, Bohemia, Austria, Prussia, and Germany at different times in its history. The city has a beautiful mix of architectural styles, including Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, and Art Nouveau. Wroclaw's Market Square (Rynek) is one of the largest in Europe and serves as the heart of the city. It is surrounded by elegant townhouses, cafes, restaurants, and the iconic Gothic-style Town Hall.

We later visited the Lumina Park, located on the grounds of Topacz Castle. The Lumina Park allows you to immerse directly into your favourite movies, books, and TV series. One can be carried away by freedom alongside Pocahontas, step through the wardrobe and visit the magical Narnia. Stroll along the seabed like Captain Nemo, and also sit down with Friends on a comfortable and familiar sofa.

06/01/2024, FOURTH DAY

SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEURS

During the morning sessions of the fourth day, participants were divided in 6 teams. Each team received a successful entrepreneur whom they had to research. They first had about 20 minutes to research the individual at hand, learning as many things about that person as possible. They later had another 20 minutes to find out the mistakes and obstacles those entrepreneurs faced on their path towards success and how they overcame them as well as to find out their greatest achievements. Once all teams were finished with their posters, we had a world-café rotation session, in which one person from each team had to stay on their station with their poster while the other members of the team were rotating around the station. Every five minutes, the team members were rotating until they visited all the stations. The person explaining the posters was also changing.

PLAY IN THE PRESENT MOMENT

In the last sessions, we continued with a pantomima-like version in which participants received a quirky character card. One by one they had to enact this role in front of the group and others had to understand what their card was saying. The person who found the card was taking it. This activity was mainly about taking risks and unravelling any implicit biases and stereotypes. It was about acting out of the box and thinking in a more creative way by receiving characters that were often out of the ordinary. It was about putting ourselves in other people's shoes, as only in this way, we can become unique and stop acting like everybody else.

07/01/2024, FIFTH DAY

Powerful Chair

In the powerful chair activity, we divided participants into 3 groups, and we told them to transform a simple chair into a powerful chair. All three groups worked on their chair to create not only a beautiful chair but also an audiovisual experience to provide to others. The meaning of this activity was to understand that we all are the same and it's on us to feel powerful and feel different about ourselves.

Circle Challenge -THE ELEMENTS OF THE INNOVATION GAME

Overview

The task of this activity is to turn as many circles as possible into recognizable objects in only 4 minutes. Before participants begin, explain to them that the focus is not on the skill of the drawings. Rather, participants should be more concerned with getting as many ideas generated as possible.

Goals

1. Creativity: This activity helps participants to think outside the box.
2. Fluency and Flexibility: When you generate ideas, you are balancing two goals: fluency (the speed and quantity of ideas) and flexibility (ideas that are truly different and distinct). We know from experience that it's easier to have a great idea if you have many to choose from.

Conclusion

The goal of "12 Circles Challenge" activity is to help participants think outside the box. This activity offers a quick lesson about ideation. When you generate ideas, you are balancing two goals: fluency (the speed and quantity of ideas) and flexibility (ideas that are truly different and distinct). We know from experience that it's easier to have a great idea if you have many to choose from. But if you have a lot of ideas that are just variations on a theme, you might really only have one idea with eleven other versions. When you combine fluency and flexibility, you can generate a rich array of concepts to choose from. Moreover, this activity will make them more open-minded and creative people.

INNOVATION STORY

In the last two sessions, we divided participants into 5 groups and shared with them 5 different starting stories. Each group had to write a sentence to continue the story. For example, (When I walked into a strange cafe in France, I noticed that each table had a different magical theme… What happens next?). Every 10 minutes, we were changing their papers and were giving them the paper of another group. At the end, after all groups received all papers, we told them to get prepared because they will had to roleplay the story they had in their hands.

SEVENTH DAY, FINAL DAY

In the morning session of the final day, we had a recap of the project. Participants were divided into 6 groups and they had to come up with an innovative way to present each day of the project. That is, each group had to represent one day, the first group, day one, the second group, day two, etc. We continued evaluation, dissemination-follow-up explanation, and secret friend ceremony. In the afternoon, we continued with our youthpass ceremony.