Beacon of Values

"<< Background >>This project worked towards addressing the need to return to the Values Education process to support the growth of societies since there is an acknowledged crisis, especially in the partner countries. As almost every European country is becoming an “immigration society”, European societies are facing a vital growing ground for racism, hate and nationalism mostly now targeted against refugees and migrant population. The European Commission itself has launched a call Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Programme (CERV), promoting Values. Looking at the these recent developments within Europe and the emphasis of the Erasmus+ program in 2021 reacting on that and focusing on “equipping youth workers with competences and methods needed for transferring the common fundamental values of our society”, we felt encouraged to pursue this project and address this need.<< Objectives >>The ""Beacon of Values” project had the following objectives:OBJECTIVE 1: Develop a new innovative, quality and transferable training course aiming to promote, communicate and enhance active citizenship based on common values, using creative, innovative and non-formal education methods and activities and creating a sense of initiative and entrepreneurship among educators and youth workers.OBJECTIVE 2: Develop a tangible, transferable and adjustable educational tool that can be used by educators and youth workers in schools, educational institutions and NGOs for values education and communication and for active civic participation in everyday life.OBJECTIVE 3: Train educators and youth workers in values education using the above-mentioned tools and curriculum with the aim for them to implement their own local workshops to create a multiplying effect of transferring knowledge.<< Implementation >>In the project we implemented the following activities:-Project Meetings (Kick-off, Midterm, Final) in the partner countries.-International Training of Multipliers in Germany.-Local Workshops organized by the Training participants in all partner countries, directly involving people in the education and youth work sector.-Multiplier Event: Final Workshops in Cyprus organized and implemented by all the Training participants in public schools in the Nicosia district and at Politistiko Ergastiri Ayion Omoloyiton.Throughout the project, non-formal learning methodologies were used, placing the participants in the center of the learning process, relying on their interest and motivation for a profound and multi-level learning approach and emphasising their own responsibility for learning.<< Results >>The final outputs and results of the project were the following:-Curriculum for the Training of Multipliers in 4 languages (Romanian, German, Greek and English)-The Beacon of Values ToolBox in 4 languages (Romanian, German, Greek and English) and adjusted to all partner countries’ realities-15 youth workers and educators participating in the International Training and trained as multipliers-15 youth workers and educators facilitating their own local workshops in their countries- Multiplier Event: Final Workshops in Cyprus organized and implemented by all the Training participants in public schools in the Nicosia district and at Politistiko Ergastiri Ayion Omoloyiton.-More than 90 youths and educators or youth workers benefited from their participation in the local workshopsAs expected, the project had the effect of a continuous stimulation of learning and evolving. We succeeded in creating a chain of exchange in terms of expertise, skills, ideas and perspectives in the field of youth education, as the participants have become multipliers of the project in their home countries and local communities."