Name of the organization: Associação Check-IN – Cooperação e Desenvolvimento
Website: checkin.org.pt
Brief description of the organization
Check-IN – Cooperation and Development is a non-profit organization founded in 2010, based in Beja, operating with its headquarter in Lisbon.
The main objectives are to promote lifelong learning opportunities, to encourage young people to be active citizens and participants in the local community, to encourage social integration and inclusion, and to enhance education on sustainable development.
Furthermore, the team pays special attention to young people who have difficulty to access information due to their geographical location, social and economic status or personal situation. In fact, Check-In has been involved in the creation of local projects in sensitive neighborhoods and urban areas of Lisbon and rural areas of Beja.
Problem addressed by the good practice
Through 10 days, youngsters have learned a lot about those countries in a historical and emotional level. All the participants had the opportunity to hear and present their national conflicts and after that to talk about a personal item, that has an emotional value for them and it is strongly connected with their national conflict. All the stories heard during those sessions remind how much peace building is important around the world. The project aimed for the view that peace building is not important only between countries, but also in our own houses.
Target groups
The target group is young people from different parts of Europe and Partner Countries of the European Union Neighbourhood Policy.
Summary of the good practice
The youth exchange “Inspiring YOU(th)” took place in Beja, Portugal in the period 10 -21 July 2017, implemented by the Portuguese organization Check-In and funded by the Erasmus+ Programme.
The main aim of the project was to give youngsters the opportunity to share various experiences and their historical conflict and learn more about peacebuilding. An interesting thing is that the countries involved in that program were countries that faced or still facing political conflict. The participant’s countries were: Bosnia Herzegovina, Cyprus, Georgia, Italy, Israel, Palestine, Portugal and Turkey.
Evaluation
Inspiring YOU(th) – Peace Building indeed inspired and motivated all the participants to build a world made of peace and love. Listening to personal stories and not only getting information from media and the internet, but people can also understand what conflicts can create and how can affect people’s lives. The Check-In team is very thankful for being part of this program as it changed them a lot and make them see things they could not see before.
Recommendations
It is very important to accurately manage to find space for the other cultures and have a very neutral side when talking about conflicts from other countries, specially when you have two groups when one identifies as a victim and the other as the actor (and vice-versa), in this case it is important to have a specialist in the process or psychologists.
Resources
More information is available on the organization’s website.