DDP-YD/ETD (2020) 48 Strasbourg, 11 March 2020

29 June-6 July 2020

European Youth Centre, Strasbourg

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS

PRELIMINARY PROJECT INFORMATION

Background

The Youth Peace Camps were initiated by the Council of Europe in 2003 to bring together young
people from conflict regions and to support them in initiating dialogue and cooperation.

In the past years the peace camp project brought together young people from Southeast and Eastern
Europe and from the Middle East. During the camp the participants follow an experiential learning
process and acquire competences in the fields of intercultural learning, dialogue and conflict
transformation, within a human rights framework.

Since 2010, the Youth Peace Camp is held at the European Youth Centres in Budapest and
Strasbourg. It is nowadays is one of the main activities of the Youth for Democracy programme for
the promotion of peaceful and inclusive societies. In 2020 the camp will take place in Strasbourg and
the work with the participants is expected to continue throughout 2021 as support to their role as
promoters of peace and intercultural dialogue in their communities.

Rationale for the Youth Peace Camp

Young people growing up in regions affected by armed conflicts, being exposed to and/or enduring
the consequences of physical and structural violence, are often confronted with dramatic life forming
experiences, emotions and challenges. Such experiences may strongly influence their views and
behaviour towards their own and other communities, their relation to conflict and peace and to their
identity. Many young people choose to engage in constructive initiatives and dialogue instead of
becoming themselves multipliers of hatred, violence and discrimination. When supported and
recognised in their role, these young people may become peer leaders and educators and, in turn,
raise awareness of and involve other young people in dialogue, mediation, conflict transformation
and peace work projects.

In their role as peer leaders and in learning about conflict and peace, it is important for them to be
able to relate to and to be confronted with, the life stories, experiences and aspirations of other
young people from other conflict regions. The Youth Peace Camp unique approach has been the
possibility for young people to better understand conflicts and their transformation by listening to
and living together with young people affected by other conflicts elsewhere.

Intercultural learning and human rights education play a central role in all these projects.
Intercultural learning in youth work practice has been especially developed through long-term
training courses in European youth work – for which projects it was both an objective and a quality
criterion. It soon became understood as representing the essence of the Youth Department’s
educational approach: recognising and addressing prejudice, combating aggressive and exclusive
forms of nationalism, identifying the competences necessary for youth workers active in inter/multi-
cultural environments. Intercultural learning is understood to be a natural part of the educational
approach towards intercultural dialogue and, together with human rights education, may provide
answers to some of the dilemmas resulting from violent, structural and cultural conflicts. The Council
of Europe the White Paper on Intercultural Dialogue1 upholds the political relevance of these
approaches, adding to their proven educational suitability.

The Youth Peace Camp builds on these experiences and applies it to its participants. It provides a safe
space for the young people from different conflict-stricken regions to learn together about conflict,

1
http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/intercultural/source/white%20paper_final_revised_en.pdf

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to share their experiences in approaching them with other young people and to build their capacity
to engage and/or develop future conflict transformation projects and initiatives.

The Youth Peace Camp also enables the youth sector of the Council of Europe to identify and
document challenges faced by young people in conflict regions and to improve its ability to support
youth projects in those regions. The project promotes and supports the role of young people in
peace-building activities that contribute to living together in dignity and dialogue and bring in the
perspective that youth work and youth policy can bring to peace-building processes in Europe,
especially through its preventive and educational nature.

In 2020, the activity is organised in cooperation with Directorate of Political Affairs of the Council of
Europe in the framework of its Confidence Building Measures that constitute a practical tool to
consolidate stability and facilitate political dialogue in post- or frozen-conflict areas.

Aim

The Youth Peace Camp engages young people and youth organisations from conflict affected regions
in dialogue and conflict transformation activities based on human rights education and intercultural
learning during and after the camp.

Objectives

The main objectives (personal, organisational and institutional) of the Youth Peace Camp are:

- To develop awareness and basic competences (knowledge, skills and attitudes) of

participants in human rights education, conflict transformation, intercultural learning and
dialogue, including a critical understanding of personal and collective identities and their role
in conflicts
- To enable participants to share personal experiences of conflict and violence and coping
strategies in a positive and safe atmosphere of living and learning together
- To motivate and support participants in their role as multipliers and peer leaders in peace-
building activities with young people
- To prepare projects or follow-up activities by participants and their organisations focusing on
confidence-building, dialogue and human rights education
- To promote and share existing youth work practices and experiences of young people
working on dialogue and conflict transformation in their home communities
- To strengthen the role of the Council of Europe, in particular through its Youth for
Democracy programme, in its efforts towards strengthening youth work in the field of
conflict transformation, social cohesion and intercultural dialogue and in the implementation
of the approaches of the UN Security Council Resolution 2250 (2015) on Youth, Peace and
Security.

Methodology

The programme of the Youth Peace Camp will give young people, coming from regions affected by
armed conflicts, the opportunity to share, explore, and reflect upon their work in the field of
dialogue, conflict transformation and peace work. Central to the concept of the Youth Peace Camp is

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the motivation and the possibility for living, learning and discussing together with other young
people with whom otherwise it may be very difficult to have contacts or cooperation.

The programme will be based on mutual learning situations among participants, making use of a
variety of working methods which support dialogical and experiential learning. The participants will
be able to share personal experiences with conflict and violence and share the coping strategies they
developed. The programme will also allow time for participants to explore the relation between
identity and the conflict in their region for young people and themselves. Personal reflections and
sharing within community groups will be alternated with sharing, learning and reflecting between
youth from the different conflict regions.

A team of experienced trainers and facilitators (one per each community or region from where the
camp participants come) will prepare and facilitate the programme with the support of Council of
Europe educational staff.

The programme will be based on the human rights education approach outlined in COMPASS:
Manual for Human Rights Education with Young People. It will rely on other publications of the
Council of Europe, such as the T-Kits Youth transforming conflict, Mosaic and Intercultural Learning
and on other instruments, including the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2250 (2015) on
Youth, Peace and Security.

Towards the end of the camp, participants are expected to develop initiatives as peer leaders and
multipliers with other young people in the field of dialogue and conflict transformation, in their
home communities. The Council of Europe is committed to motivate and encourage such initiatives
and would also offer institutional, educational and, where possible, financial support for the follow
up initiatives of participants after the camp in 2020-2021. Therefore the preparation of meaningful
and realistic follow up plans by the participants has utmost importance this year.

The Youth Peace Camp started as a camp with participants living in tents and doing also outdoor
activities. Nowadays the activity is mostly held indoors at the European Youth Centre, where the
participants are also accommodated. The spirit of a camp remains present in the activity though the
extensive usage of non-formal education methods, the experience of living and learning together
and, to the extent of the possible, the usage of outdoor activities.

Working language

The working language of the programme will be English. Participants must have sufficient
understanding of English in order to comprehend and complete the application form without
assistance from another person and to fully and actively take part in the programme.

Educational team

The educational team consists of a group of facilitators and trainers, including an educational advisor
of the European Youth Centre. Altogether, trainers and facilitators are experienced in running similar
activities, have direct experience of the regions from where participants come and will be able to
communicate with participants in their mother tongue.

Participants' Profile

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The 2020 Youth Peace Camp will bring together 60 to 70 young people from the following
communities:
- Cyprus (Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots)2
- Kosovo,* participants coming from Albanian, Serbian and other communities
- From both banks of the river Nistru/Dniestr
- South Caucasus, in particular from conflict affected regions and ethnic minorities.

All participants must:

 be aged between 18 and 25 years (exceptions are possible if duly justified);
 be able to work in English;
 be available and fully committed to take part in the Youth Peace Camp;
 be curious, open-minded, appreciate diversity and learn about each other’s realities.
 be motivated to learn and to apply the values and approaches of the Youth Peace Camp,
notably human rights, democracy and intercultural dialogue;
 be involved in youth or community projects in their community and be motivated to
implement youth initiatives for peace-building following the camp;
 possess a sense of responsibility for one’s own actions, a commitment to personal and
community development and continue the engagement with other participants;
 preferably be involved in an organisation or network, institution, formal and/or informal
group that is ready to support them throughout the project duration and afterwards when
implementing youth initiatives for peace building.

A specific priority will be given to applicants who are or have been displaced as a result of armed
conflict (refugees, internally displaced people, migrants, asylum-seekers…).

The group of participants should be balanced in relation to sex and reflect the diversity of their
communities. The expected total number of participants and facilitators will be 60 to 70, with an
average of 4 to 6 persons from each community present.

The Council of Europe welcomes applications from all candidates who fulfil the specific
profile of the activities, irrespective of gender, disability, marital or parental status, racial,
ethnic or social origin, colour, religion, belief or sexual orientation.

Application procedure and selection of participants

Applications must be submitted by Friday, 3 April 2020, 1 p.m. CET (midday)

* All reference to Kosovo, whether to the territory, institutions or population, in this text shall be understood in full
compliance with the United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1244 and without prejudice to the status of
Kosovo

2
With the financial support of the Youth Board of Cyprus

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Financial and practical conditions of participation

Dates: Participants are expected to arrive on 28 June at the European Youth Centre in Strasbourg
(France) and to depart on 7 July 2020.

Please note: in view of restrictions in place due to the COVID-19 (corona) virus and depending on
how the situation evolves on the European level, changes may occur in the programme of activities
of the Youth Department of the Council of Europe. For the moment it is not expected that the Youth
Peace Camp will be affected. However, the Secretariat of the Youth Department is closely following
the situation and will inform all applicants in due time if needed.

Travel expenses
Travel expenses will be reimbursed upon presentation of the relevant receipts, according to the rules
of the Council of Europe. Only the participants who will attend for the entire duration of the camp
may be reimbursed. The payment will be made in cash (in euros) during the Camp or optionally by
bank transfer after the meeting. Specific travel-related risks will be covered by a CHARTIS insurance
policy about which more information will be provided for selected participants.

Visa expenses
The Council of Europe will issue invitation letter for the purpose of obtaining visas to all participants.
Costs related to the application for visas will be reimbursed by the Council of Europe, upon
presentation of the relevant receipt and after being previously approved.

Accommodation
Full board and lodging at the seminar will be provided and paid for by the Council of Europe at the
European Youth Centre in Strasbourg.

Deadline for applications

All candidates must apply by completing the online application form by Friday, 3 April 2020, 1 p.m.
CET (midday).

Link to the application form: https://youthapplications.coe.int/Application-forms

Further information

For more information about the Youth Peace Camp, the application procedure and financial and
practical conditions of participants please email: eyc.programme@coe.int

With practical questions related to the Youth Peace Camp contact Claudia Montevecchi:
Claudia.MONTEVECCHI@coe.int, and with questions about problems with the online application get
in touch with Gabriella Tisza: Gabriella.TISZA@coe.int.

Other training courses of the Youth Department

If you are interested in a training course in international youth work, but your profile does not fully
correspond to the requirements of this activity, please note that the Youth Department of the
Council of Europe also organises other study sessions, seminars and training courses with and for
young people. For details please consult our webpage www.coe.int/youth or contact one of the
European Youth Centres.