In a truly inspiring activity, 30 participants from 10 Vinnytsia high schools came together for 9 days to participate in the training "Developing an environment of peace and understanding", facilitated by the Council of Europe. The effects and results of such a training were nothing short of amazing! The participants went on to hold 65 follow up training events in their educational institutions covering more than 5,000 students, spreading the message of peace and understanding far and wide.
The training course "Developing a multicultural society and understanding" was held from February to May 2024, the course was designed to strengthen the role of students’ bodies in the processes of building a multicultural society. Participants were taught youth leadership and youth participation in decision-making in community life, the culture of democracy in educational institutions with an emphasis on the rights of vulnerable groups and protection of national minorities, through a non-violent communication methodology.
Once the training was over, the school teams were ready to get to work on developing and implementing cascade activities aimed at creating a non-discriminatory environment in their educational institutions. After a lively discussion, the participants were thrilled to announce the general initiative "Everyone is different - everyone is equal" and simultaneously embark on measures to create and maintain a non-discriminatory environment in their schools. From 22 April to 10 May 2024, a wealth of activities were generated, ranging from information hours, training sessions, presentations, and meetings focused on peace-making and understanding, mediation, hate speech prevention, and cyberbullying. Each school team was thrilled to receive a "suitcase with materials" (container with stationery) from the Council of Europe, which they used to carry out a activities.
Activities sparked lot of interest and enthusiasm over students. They are already looking forward to new joint projects! Sofia Kulyk, a student of Vinnytsia Lyceum No. 33, brimmed with ideas: "I'm going to put all this new knowledge and skills to good use! I'll share them with my friends and classmates. I'm also in the mediation group, and our school is planning a summer camp for elementary school children already. I'll be using exercises from this training course there!"
The events were held within the framework of the Council of Europe project "Supporting the reform of the legislative framework regarding national minorities and strengthening the stability of national minorities and Roma in Ukraine" in cooperation with the Institute of Urban Development, the Department of Education of the Vinnytsia City Council, the public organisation "Vinnytsia Regional Information Center" Kreativ"/ Kreativ - Vinnytsia Regional Informational Center and Vinnytsia OUNB named after V. Otamanovskyi.
