Name of the organization: Youthnest
Website: youthnest.com
Brief description of the organization
Youth Nest envisions an inventive, collaborative and innovative society that incorporates faster and more effective solutions to the social challenges of our time. They develop new, more effective and sustainable solutions to an existing social problem. Education, health, equality, justice, access, entrepreneurship, working conditions, communities, sustainable cities, neighbourhoods and so many other areas need to be able to adapt more quickly today, to absorb new technologies and use modern tools and methods that listen to our real needs.
Problem addressed by the good practice
Disengagement of participants in volunteering activities.
Target groups
Young people participating in volunteering opportunities.
Summary of the good practice
This approach to providing activities and managing group dynamics approaches attentively each person participating and establishing a common denominator for the group. Seeing each person’s individuality as valuable for the group, trainers focus on shared characteristics, as experience on same topics and professional aspirations. To connect personal habits to collective spirit, suggestions call for all to agree before being adopted. Feedback mechanisms encourage both affirmative and critical stances, as well as the introduction of new elements (“keep-stop-start” practice). Crises are handled by fostering communication and steering group dynamics towards common goals rather than personal differences..
Evaluation
This practice has a high degree of abstraction, being an approach that can be applied to trainings. It fosters intercultural competences by downplaying points of friction and highlighting shared characteristics. This approach can be useful to diverse groups that needs to focus on specific tasks in a short amount of time, or as an approach for the initial stages trainings provided to groups coming from very different cultures.
Recommendations
In the frame of intercultural cooperation, the trainer(s) adopting this approach should be aware of the cultural background of people participating in their activities, to use this approach in a beneficial way. This inclusive training approach can ease cultural shock shared among groups that come together, without prior experiences of contacting other cultures.
Resources
Information about the Inclusive Training Approach can be found on the Youth Nest’s website