Review

Political education in times of crises

The program started in Wannsee on Friday with some teambuilding activities and sharing updates from the network countries. Here, the participants were able to get to know eachother and find out about developments in the whole network. Further training sessions took a deep dive into the educational approach of Understanding Europe as well as the “Red Line Module” on how to deal with difficult class room situations.

The day concluded in Potsdam with a keynote by education expert Cristina Bacals on the topic of solidarity and its importance in the light of current crises. In a following panel discussion, the Fellows were able to talk about the process and the ideas behind their newly created workshops and answer the Peer Educators’ first questions.

The second day started with a workshop conducted by the organisation Planpolitik on the new role of the Peer Educators in the Understanding Europe Network. Other sessions during the day included an introduction to the Toolbox and further ressources, a diversity training as well as various workshops on moderation fundamentals.

New Fellowship workshops

Sunday set a focus on the topics of this year’s Fellowships: Security, Fundamental Rights, and Transnational Solidarity & Resilienz. The morning was reserved for further team building and a trip to the Pfaueninsel. In the best weather, the participants explored the island and had to fulfill tasks that gave food for first thoughts on the Fellowship topics.

After lunch at the hostel, the Fellows Yasmine Djidel, Erion Krasniqi und Cameron Merelle simulated the process of their respective workshops and were able to talk about them with Peer Educators in detail. These simulations were important for the Fellows and the Peer Educators alike to make sure the workshop will be succesfully established in the network.

Planning a Traing for Trainers (T4T)

The last day of the ESS dealt with planning and facilitating T4Ts. In most project countries, these T4Ts take place in autumn and winter. During theses two- to three-day seminars, the Peer Educators are responsible for the program. Therefore, they were able to use this last day to gain security in this task and profit from the individual experiences of the other participants.