Educational Leadership Institute - Training Engagers

ongoing

The pandemic, followed by the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, have caused a profound change in the discourse patterns and social behavior of youth in Eastern Europe and in nearby countries. While there has been an increase in expressions of pluralism and social action, there has been a concerning rise in expressions of seclusion, isolationism, and extreme social and political positions. It is the latter on which this project will focus, specifically the: - Advancement of social and intercultural competencies through international forums for young people from traditionally conservative countries in the Caucasus and those living in Eastern Europe. - Establishment of mutual dialogue between the young people from Eastern Europe, namely Ukraine and the Baltics, who experience a highly articulated nationalistic discourse in their countries resulting from the conflict with Russia on the one hand, and young people from the Caucasus region, who deal with a surge of refuges and other newly arrived migrants, mainly from Russia, resulting from the Russian- Ukrainian war. - Development of educational materials—including informative models of inclusion and multiculturalism within the framework of informal, multicultural education in the mentioned above countries—which deal with social and cultural inclusion of refugees and migrants on a daily basis. ELI-TE (Educational Leadership Institute – Teaching Engagement) is a training program for counselors working in camping programs for children and teens that will educate them regarding the need for civic involvement, multiculturalism, inclusion and other topics of good citizenship, and teach them how to informally educate and support their campers in these subjects. ELI-TE will produce an operational manual and materials that can be used beyond the initial partners of the project.