FAMILY is the BEST
Start date: Aug 1, 2015,
End date: Oct 31, 2015
PROJECT
FINISHED
The International Cultural Association of the city of Turku coordinates meetings of young people from Finland, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Ireland and Sweden. Meetings are organized 11.8. - 22.8.2015. The project lasts 12 days. 60 young people and 10 leaders take part in the project. The main topic of the project is FAMILY and its importance for children’s and youth’s welfare. The title of the project is Family is the BEST. The topics of the project are WELFARE, HOME and RIGHTS and SOCIAL SKILLS. The importance of the family is discussed in the project. Family is considered to be a part of welfare. Every child and young person has a right to welfare and safety. At the meetings objective (health, living conditions, income) and subjective (family relationships, justice, participation) elements, which have influence on welfare, are discussed. The most important thing is the non-material side of the family influence on welfare. The program consists of much group work. Important things such as equality, help, love, and respect, tolerance, taking of responsibilities, social skills and communication are discussed. Young people should understand that family is one of the most important sources of welfare. The goal is to develop social skills of young people. Nowadays much use of mass media decreases time for face-to-face communication. Tasks give an opportunity to young people to talk about their feelings, to show them, to appreciate environment, to understand different people, to be able to enjoy life with its little things. The project promotes children and youth equality, inclusion and development. Among the work methods are work in groups (small and large), discussions, culture evenings, excursions and simulations. Each day ends by sharing expressions. Due to different tasks, participants think about their abilities and learn new things. Tasks are practical and give opportunities to realize own ideas. Tasks help to find solutions to different problems. Working in groups, participants learn taking responsibilities of their own actions. All the partners organize information seminars for young people in their countries. They also give a summary of the project, where they analyze the methods and the results of the project. Together with young people, they think of the things that succeeded, and of the things that could be done in another way. Positive results of this project will have influence on both our organization and the work of our partnership. We are going to use these positive results in our future projects and of course in the work of our organization.