One of the first projects, Babilon Travel NGO is involved in, this year,, is an international project called „Close-Up 2 – Culture Since Rome”. The main activity of the project, a youth exchange, will take place in Beja, Portugal, between 16-24 May, 2016 and will gather youngsters 24 youngster, age 18-25, 6 youth leader, age 18+, and 2 accompanying persons, age 18+, from 6 EU countries: Romania, Portugal, Hungary, Estonia, The Netherlands and Poland. The participants will be a mixed group of visually and non-visually impaired.

The project has as main themes: European Citizenship and Cultural Diversity. We believe that education, social and cultural awareness are the best tools to overcome the European cultural struggles; through a better education we will be better citizens.

In this project we want to promote and disseminate the best practices in youth work and non-formal education, as well as empower youngsters to develop skills regarding self-awareness and cultural understanding.

The Close Up Project aims to join youngsters and youth workers in for reflection about the different cultural and social aspects in Europe, through a evolutionary perspective since the Roman empire.

Intolerance is a symptom of the cultural issues in Europe and discrimination is the reflex of the non-acceptance of diversity. The inter-cultural dialogue, will fight the intolerance and the lack of knowledge of the “other”. This actions are not only inherent in the thematic of the project but, in a transversal and global way, it help youngsters to build themselves in a peaceful and open minded conscience.

During the main activity, participants will attend the Roman Fair Market and parade that will take place in Beja.

The methodology of the youth exchange will be built on group activities with the resource of the holistic approach of non- formal learning as well the maieutic approach will be used.

Other methodologies that will be the base for this activity are live action roleplaying game (LARP) (is a form of role-playing game where the participants physically act out their characters’ actions) and by exploring acting and character development research activities. This activities are aimed to the development of the capacity of understand the process of character and personality development by comparison to the acting practices.

Learning by doing, workshops, visits, group debates, dynamics and reflections (team building, icebreakers, energizers, tolerance games and role play), etc., will be used as tools to engage participants actively in the education process.

Experienced facilitators will assess the needs and expectations of participants and based on that to invent new, creative and participatory methods.

Non-formal learning is a vital and fundamental educational methodology that can facilitate skills acquisition of young people with fewer opportunities. These skills include social and civic competencies, sense of initiative and entrepreneurship, cultural awareness and expression, etc. This, in turn, enables them to actively participate in civic and cultural life and increase their employability by giving them confidence and transversal skills.

Babilon Travel NGO provides a team of six participants. From these, three are blind or visually impaired.

In case you are interested in this project and would like to participate to the youth exchange, please download the Infopack:

and don’t hesitate to contact us at office@babilontravel.net.

Partners:

Autonomia Descoberta, Portugal;

Continuous Action, Estonia;

Magyar őnkenteskűldő alapítvány, Hungary;

Regionalne Centrum Wolontariatu, Poland;

The Exchangeables, The Netherlands.