• Active Citizens Program:

Active Citizens is a 4-day social leadership training program that promotes intercultural dialogue and community-led social development. The program is offered to youth in collaboration with the British Council.

The training content is divided into levels as follows:

Level 1 – Me – Identity and culture:

Understanding identity and culture is the key to opening minds to new learning and perspectives, changing attitudes, encouraging empathy and interest in peaceful coexistence and creating a stronger sense of social responsibility. It is also critical to problem-solving and building networks. The participants get a better understanding of the concepts of identity and culture so they can apply their learning to understanding the behavior and attitudes of themselves and other people.

Level 2 – Me and You – Intercultural Dialogue:

Participants learn methods of dialogue as a tool for building empathy, trust and mutual-understanding within and across cultures.

Level 3 – Local and Global Community – We together:

Participants develop an understanding of ‘community’ and its relationship with identity and culture. They develop a stronger sense of responsibility towards their community and learn how communities are local, global and interdependent. Skills are developed in mapping the community from a variety of perspectives-problem identification, systems thinking and power dynamics. These are key to identifying appropriate interventions and a network to address them. The group apply their learning to their own community to identify the problem they would like to address and the people they need to engage to achieve their objectives.

Level 4 – Social Action Planning:

Participants focus on planning a social action initiative in their community, considering the process in different levels of detail and complexity. This involves identifying and clarifying their agenda, a specific intervention and how they will deliver it.

After the workshop participants go into the community to deliver and report their social action in the community. This can be attached to the existing work of in the community or a new initiative. The implementation of this initiative in the community is the culmination of the participants learning. It provides participants with experience of social action and demonstrates their increased social responsibility and leadership skills.

After participation on training and social action, the program further supports learning outcomes through supplementary activity. Participants and partners can apply to engage in policy dialogue; research on community; international study visits and international partner networking.