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Cultivating capacities for quality peer training
Start date: Aug 1, 2014, End date: Feb 28, 2015 PROJECT  FINISHED 

"Cultivating capacities for quality peer training" was a project designed by the European Peer Training Organisation (EPTO) in order to mainstream a quality strategy in peer education. It aimed more specifically to: - Foster and monitor the quality of peer education in materials and trainings; - Strengthen the impact of existing peer training programs; - Use quality and promote peer training to deal with new topics and tackle more issues than in the past (covering a broader scope than anti discrimination); - Support EPTO's peer trainers and new trainees in their lifetime personal and professional development; - Advocate for the quality of peer education projects in Europe; - Position EPTO as the European leader of quality peer education. To achieve these objectives, EPTO and its partners implemented 4 activities: 1) A ‘Quality peer training against discrimination’, a 5-day thematic training for 17 participants that took place in Carne, Ireland, on peer training against discrimination. It focused on 3 main aspects: peer education, confronting discrimination and taking social action. The aims were to improve the quality and strengthen the social impact of peer education methods against discrimination by updating and improving EPTO's educational methods on «confronting prejudice and discrimination” and “social action” and offering opportunities to young leaders/workers to better tackle discrimination and create social change through their projects on local level. The participants in this activity were trainers and social workers from the youth sector who wanted to explore further and acquire more skills in anti-discrimination and social action. 2) A ‘Quality peer training for well-being’, a 5-day pilot training based on the “Learning for Well-being” (L4WB) framework and “risk and lifestyle education” for 17 participants that took place in Carne, Ireland. The aims of this training was to promote peer training as a means to favour the well-being of all underpinned by the principles of peer education and experiential learning. The programme drew inspiration from three important bodies of work: (a) the Learning for Well-being framework and core capacities ; (b) Risflecting approach to risk pedagogy; and the methodology of Sensory Labyrinth Theatre. The participants in this activity were youth workers active in the areas of well-being, health, sports, drugs and alcohol addiction, etc. 3) A Peer Forum dedicated to “Quality in peer education”, a 4-day seminar held in Budapest, Hungary, with 26 participants, 6 trainers and 4 members of EPTO team. The aim of the seminar was to cultivate the capacity of project leaders to design and implement quality peer education in their own environment. The seminar was dedicated to coaching and supporting youth and youth workers in the implementation and development of their own peer education project. The participants’ profile was, on one hand, youngsters who had taken part in the ‘Quality peer trainings’ and on the other hand, youth representatives from youth-serving organisations doing or wanting to do peer education projects. 4) A ‘Peers-to-professionals’, a 4-day training that took place in Brussels, Belgium for 20 participants. The training was defined as a revised, quality oriented version of an EPTO training enabling peer trainers to develop professional training skills within and beyond EPTO network. The training was aiming at upgrading participants' learning and pedagogical knowledge, at discovering one's potential and developing training capacities as well as at increasing participants’ skills as a trainer. The participants were existing peer trainers who had attended a 7-day 'Train-the-Trainer' training in the past, delivered either by EPTO itself or by one of EPTO's member organisations. The project fostered the development of participants' leadership and ability to implement local peer education projects tackling various issues. By experimenting peer education activities on different topics, they enlarged their "toolbox" and developed new skills to take action in their daily environments. The impact at the local level was thus the creation of a snowball effect through participants, partner organisations and their respective spheres of influence (target groups, stakeholders, other partners, etc.) in different regions / countries, covering various topics, namely diversity and anti-discrimination, well-being and risk education, peer education as such and professional peer training. Regarding the national and European levels, the project demonstrated the capacity of EPTO to train quality trainers, to expand its network of professional trainers and to gain credibility towards other organisations using peer education and/or working in the youth sector.
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