Between the 7th and the 10th of November 2024, a group of 37 volunteers from 12 countries in Europe and beyond, gathered in the enchanting Budapest, Hungary to participate in the Local Changemakers Training!
The Local Changemakers Training represents the second activity part of the Speak Out project of ESN, funded by the EU through the CERV programme. The Speak Out project aims to foster a vision for an intercultural and inclusive Europe and to empower youths’ voices in Europe as change makers.
The event was hosted by ESN Hungary in the Katedra Language School and was a meeting of young people who have previously benefited from European opportunities and are active in their local community, gathering feedback on how they perceive Europe and identifying the misinformation they notice on their local level.
During the first day of the training, participants gained awareness of their own stereotypes and the ones present in their surroundings and understood what stereotypes are, how they are created and why it is important to fight against them. On the second day, the focus was on understanding how misinformation is spread, in which areas of participants’ lives it can be encountered and how to prevent it from being spread further. On the final day of the training, participants stepped into the role of changemakers and started the co-creation of tools to be used to combat stereotypes and disprove misinformation in their local communities.
The training combined both theoretical and practical approaches and a variety of non-formal education methods, allowing participants to play with new concepts, develop their critical thinking and collaborate with each other in order to put what they learned into practice and take an active role in shaping their learning experience.
As a multiplier effect of the activity, participants designed action plans to further implement trainings and events for their fellow volunteers and share their learnings, demonstrating their commitment to their mission as change agents.
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