The workshop

Most of us have been to countless workshops and many of us are tired of workshops. All too often we have come home from a successful workshop, we have met interesting people, and learned a lot. And then: Nothing happens! The new contacts vanish and we do not manage to keep our good intentions to start new exciting projects and activities. And if we do manage to come up with exciting new ideas, we discover that it is so difficult to find the money to carry out our plans. We hope that this workshop will be different. The aim of this workshop is to turn it into a process, one workshop which will lead to local activities as well as recruiting new activists who want to mobilise for democracy and participation.

The length of the training workshop

This training programme is designed for three – five days. You may have to squeeze it into three days, or you may be able to add an extra day to train the participants to become local trainers. Depending on your situation you can have the workshop

  • over several week days (for instance every Wednesday for four or five weeks),
  • two weekends (Friday to Sunday)
  • four or five days in a row.   

You will find too many exercises for a short workshop. Feel free to cut out exercises you think you can do without and add others if you know some good ones that will fit in.

The idea is that after the initial training workshop (ToT) the participants should be able to design and carry out a one day training workshop in their own community. Immediately after this local workshop the participants are expected to organise a local activity.

After a few months an evaluation workshop will be organised for participants at the initial ToT. The trainings and the local activities will be presented and evaluated. A follow up process will be planned.

The training programme consists of four parts
  1. Training of Trainers Workshop (ToT) (three – five days)
  2. Local Training Workshop (one day)
  3. Local activity day
  4. Evaluation reunion
Follow up
And we start over again:
  1. Training of Trainers Workshop (three to
  2. Local Training Workshop
  3. Local Activity Day
  4. Evaluation reunion
And follow up etc.

Who do we invite?
To have a good workshop you need to have a good mix of participants who are really interested. You may want to do some research to find good groups and individuals. And it is important to make sure the participants really know what to expect and what you as organisers expect of them.

You will have a good starting point if you invite:

  • Youth groups with a potential to become good local organisations. At least two from each group should be invited.
  • Some individuals who might become good leaders or activists

BR>Suggested age group: between 19 and 25 (but you need to be flexible at both ends)
Always at least 40 % of each sex! The best if possible is 50-50.
Not more than 30 participants in each workshop, the optimal number is 20-25

Main objective ( What we hope will be the situation in the long run.)
Young men and women/boys and girls have self confidence and are good at organising  
themselves as active change agents in their societies.

Short Term Objective (What we hope will be the result of this training)
The participants are able to carry out local trainings and facilitate activities that   contribute to social change in the community.

  • Boys and girls agree that they should have the same responsibility and the same rights in society and within their group/organisation
  • Boys and girls are more able to participate actively and have more self confidence
  • The youth who have been trained continue training others
  • All the participants have had the opportunity to present something to the whole audience and have gained some experience in how to do it.

Introduction at the workshop
It is important to make the participants feel welcome and at ease. Take your time at the beginning of the workshop. You need pleasant icebreakers, giving the participants the opportunity to get to know each other and the feeling that anyone is welcome to contribute with her or his ideas.  You therefore need to take the time for presentations and to make sure the participants know what is expected of them and what they can expect form the workshop. 

  • What is the idea and objective?
  • What is expected of the participants?
  • What are the expectations of the participants?

Exercises

Introducing the participants to each other

Group work: An ice breaker

Aim of the exercise: To break the ice, make people feel comfortable. Have fun and get to know each other

The time it takes: About 30- 45 minutes

How: Divide into groups (five to seven participants in each group)

Ask all the groups to

  • Give their group a name
  • Agree on a sound to characterise the group
  • Agree on an appropriate movement for the group
  • Decide how to present all the participants to the audience when presenting the name, the sound and the movement of the group

Expectations

Aim: To make participants aware of their own hopes and fears.

To give the organisers an idea of what participants expect, and an opportunity to give information if anyone has misunderstood

The time it takes: 15 minutes

How: Give each participant a piece of paper and a marker. Ask everyone to write what s/he expects/ hopes will be the result of this workshop. Ask them to write with big letters so that it is easy to read from afar. Hang up all the papers on the wall and keep the expectations in mind as the workshop proceeds. Go back to the expectations when the workshop is evaluated at the end: Did you reach the expectations?



Ground rules

Aim: To help make the workshop a success. To raise awareness about how we communicate. Rules the participants agree on are more easily implemented and the facilitator can use the opportunity to raise awareness around the way we behave towards each other.

The time it takes: 15 to 20 minutes

How: Ask the participants to suggest rules for the workshop. (Can be done by asking: What do we NOT want to happen during this workshop? And then turn it around to make good rules) Write down on a flip chart the rules the group agrees on. Try to keep the number of rules down. Keep the rules on the wall throughout the workshop and draw attention to them during the workshop if necessary.

A useful idea: A refrigerator

How: Hang a picture of a refrigerator on the wall. If a suggestion comes up, which does not fit into the programme just then, ask the audience if it is OK to put it in the fridge for the time being. You then have the opportunity to raise the issue at a later stage if there is time.

Me: Be honest with yourself

Aim: To help the participants look at themselves in a positive way and see themselves as resources for the workshop

The time it takes: 20- 30 minutes

How: Divide the participants into small groups.  In the groups all the participants write down five positive things about her/himself. Each person chooses the one thing s/he feels is the most important trait, which is written on a flipchart. The group lists hang on the wall throughout the workshop.


Group work: Make a tower out of drinking straws and pins


Aim: To help build a group identity and enhance teamwork

The time it takes: 45 minutes

How: This is a fun competition between the groups: Who builds the highest and most stable tower? Each team gets the same number of pins and drinking straws. Tell them that they are allowed to use this material to build a tower, as tall and as stable as possible. You may choose to give them the instruction in writing. Choose your words with care: "You can use this material to build a tower" You do not say, "You can only use this material".

When the winning team is chosen, emphasise the team work rather than the result! Praise the groups who have shown creativity and not only followed instructions. It is important to encourage participants to be creative and not only obedient to the rules. They have been told to use pins and straws, but no one said they could not use other materials they might find.