?Art therapy methods for conflict transformation in youth work is training activity.. From the 1st till the 9th of August 2014, 24 youth workers from Israel, Russian Federation (Chechnya), Belgium and The Netherlands will go on an intercultural exchange project in Piatigoriski in the Russian Federation. The partners have been working in collaboration since 2006, and while each one?s work is adjusted to their local reality and adapted to the goals, themes and educational approach that are most relevant to their realities, the areas of focus in which they overlap are found in the fields of youth work in multicultural settings: dealing with identity issues, (collective) conflicts, oppression, non-violent conflict resolution and activism through creative expressions. In this project we will transform personal and collective conflicts in society through art methods into creative activism. IWe will work around creative conflict transformation., from the personal trauman to change in society. This program targets youth workers who work with youth in multicultural societies, whom face challenges working through complex social-political situations marked by different degrees of violence, racism, in equalities and conflicts prevalent in their societies. Some of the educational work these practitioners implement targets disadvantaged youth, and raises further challenges of engaging these youth in peace building efforts. Goals: 1. 24 youth workers from Belgium, Chechnya, The Netherlands and Israel will be trained in an international framework, to work with artistic and creative methodologies and will thereby enlarge their capacities as youth workers and group facilitators to work with and through conflicts in their own local contexts. 2. The capacities of the four organizations participating in the project will grow through strengthening their youth workers abilities. 3. Strengthen the network of youth leaders that work in local and specific contexts through mutual learning, by reflecting together on their work and by exchanging practical experiences in the framework of the training. Specific objectives: (a) The participants from each of the respective countries will meet fellow youth leaders and share their personal stories, get to know each other?s cultures and societies and the main socio-political context and issues linked the work of each of the organizations. (b) The participants will be trained to use various artistic and creative methods, such as body art, flash-mob, pupptering, dance, etc., to work on issues prevalent in their societies such as racism, oppression, stigmatization, collective and personal identity and working in a multicultural environment. (c) Through an experimental learning process done in an international context the participants will gain new tools, skills and methodologies that they will later adapt to their youth work in their home countries. (d) Through this international and intercultural learning framework the participants will learn about local social-political issues which affect the lives of the citizens in each of the countries and will thereby learn to see their local issues in a wider international context and learn to identify and take a stand on issues that aren't solely related to their own local context. The impact and long term benefits will be situated on different levels: a) Participants will become better youth group leaders, with more skills to practice youth work in their local settings. Additionally they will learing to reflect on learning outcomes in the youthpass-process. Through the youthpass the project will ensure recognition of the learning outcomes of this non-formal education process. b) Participants will go through a personal development encountering new methods but also working together in an mulcultural and intercultural setting which is relevant for the own development in their local societies. Furthermore they will learn different perspectives on the issue of conflict management and the concrete issues raised throughout the training. c) Raise participants' awareness and understanding of other cultures and countries, and more specifically their societal challenges in regards to collective trauma's and confilcts of injustices. Through the interconnection and the intercultural experience their internationalised/Europan identity will be strenghtened. d) The organizations will strengthen their cadre of practitioners and thereby be able to further their impact on their beneficiaries. The organisations will increase their quality of youth work, as well as have the opportuning to innovate in their working methods. e) Adapting and implementing the learning outcomes to the local contexts of the partner organizations and training other youth workers in the organisations. f) Target groups of each of the respective organizations will enjoy better facilitation and be exposed to other approaches and methodologies which will in return empower them