Seminars

Every year, we hold a seminar on intercultural learning with the volunteers we send and with those who are interested. It does not matter whether you have already found a host project or not. The seminar is financially supported by the city of Jena, which means that the participant fee is very low for you.

Results of the seminar send messages

Mobility in Europe - Opportunities and challenges of a voluntary service abroad

Aims of our seminar

• Examination of different European countries and their significance in Europe
• Raising awareness of one's own competences as well as the reasons for working abroad in Europe, formulating goals for one's own personal and professional development
• Auseinandersetzung mit dem Phänomen “Kulturschock”, Entwicklung von Kommunikations- und Konfliktlösestrategien, um mit auftretenden Problemen im Ausland umgehen zu können

Success indicators

• Participants get to know the specifics of the EU member states and choose their host projects according to their goals for competence development
• The participants reflect on their competences, are able to present them successfully and formulate goals regarding the acquisition of new competences. persönlicher und beruflicher Kompetenzen
• Own sensitivities in the context of culture shock are expressed and possibilities of solving the problem are discussed

Methode

We have prepared a workshop that combines methods of group work, interactive exercises, information talks, individual work as well as creative methods.

Project description:

The workshop aims to make participants aware that mobility of young people in Europe is one of the basic goals of the European Union. In the workshop, they should deal with the fact that they not only enter the work process, but also do so under very different cultural conditions.

The workshop has two focuses:

On the one hand, the participants deal with the possibilities of working abroad for their own competence development and what specific meaning this competence development offers them as EU citizens.

A prerequisite for this is clarifying one's own expectations of the work and tasks. Since most young people are placed after they have finished school or training, it is also important to clarify what expectations are placed on them as volunteers in the work process and how they can meet these expectations. This also includes the perception of one's own competences, the presentation to the outside world and the discussion of the possibilities of a self-responsible and continuous further development of these in the voluntary service. The aim of the workshop is to develop a realistic picture of the demands placed on them and to develop their own goals for the development of their professional and social skills.  At the same time, the participants deal with how they can present themselves in an application process and which tasks and questions they should prepare for.

Another focus is the intercultural aspect of working and experiencing abroad - the perception, processing and resolution of culture shock and intercultural conflicts in the context of working abroad.

Intercultural conditions are often the cause of conflicts and communication difficulties. In order to perceive the different cultures and their reflection in working life in a foreign context, appropriate knowledge and awareness are required. For this purpose, the participants receive information about the EU and the specifics of the European countries. The participants get an idea of cultural peculiarities and intercultural misunderstandings and are thus sensitised to the differences within the EU. From this, the applicants should develop realistic ideas about the expectations and requirements of voluntary service abroad and the willingness to meet them. Furthermore, the participants should think about possible ways of communication, strategies for action or options for conflict resolution in advance.