VIBE’s International Training on Storytelling for Youth Workers and Trainers was implemented in Gyumri, Armenia, from October 23 to October 25. 16 youth workers from Armenia, Bulgaria, Malta and Moldova took part in the training, which aimed to test the open educational resources developed within the VIBE project. During the three activity days, the participants improved their capacities to work with the VIBE NFIL tools and were prepared to conduct local training sessions on storytelling as a tool to voice young people’s perspectives and foster civic activism.
The training was hosted by Youth Initiative Center (YIC) in the beautiful city of Gyumri. On the first day, the youth workers took part in introductory activities and an ice-breaking session called “Human Bingo”. They learned interesting facts about each other. FECE’s chair Ms. Nevena Dobreva presented the VIBE project, its activities and foreseen impact and outlined the expected results of the training. Within the first group activity, the youth workers created their definitions of storytelling:
Group 1: “Storytelling is a creative process of telling a story of someone to engage and raise awareness among the audience/ community”.
Group 2: “Storytelling is a way of non-formal education for self-expression, sharing stories, lessons and personal points of view.”
Group 3: “Storytelling is a history, which has a plot with characters and they are showing their individual perceptions and emotions”.
Group 4: “Storytelling is a social process of putting the human in the center that purposely engages an audience on an emotional journey”.
The next activity, called “Build Your Own Truth”, was facilitated by YIC. During the session, the youth workers created a news article blending facts and fiction, then analysed it in order to identify and discuss common manipulation techniques used in information and media content. In the afternoon, the youth workers visited YIC’s office. YIC manager Ms. Valya Martirosyan presented the history of the organisation, its main areas of work, ongoing and past projects, and educational resources. An exciting city tour was led by Lilit Gevorgyan (YIC).
During the second activity day, the youth workers joined “The Community Problem Solvers” activity. They had to envision their ideal community, identify local issues and develop joint projects on how to solve those issues. Special attention was given to the role of youth in overcoming local challenges. The next session, “Together for Local Solutions” (facilitated by MilleniuM) offered a unique group perspective on solutions linked to current challenges that young people face.
Later, VisMed presented the VIBE Online Crash Course on Powerful Storytelling, which is available on the HOP platform. The course is designed for young people willing to develop their storytelling skills and to use storytelling as a tool to voice their opinions, to highlight the importance of specific causes and to deliver impactful messages to the general audience through storytelling.
During “The Stand-Up Writing Room” activity (conducted by VisMed), the participants created engaging group stories and performed them through theatre by exploring the main story elements such as introduction, characters, hook, climax, and resolution.
During “The Advocacy Spectrum: From Words to Action” (conducted by MilleniuM), the youth workers engaged in a debate by providing arguments to defend opposing opinions concerning a controversial case:
A youth group wants to convert an abandoned municipal park into an outdoor youth hub and venue. Local residents strongly oppose it, fearing noise, littering and lack of security.
The day concluded with “Interactive Chapters of Change” (conducted by MilleniuM). The youth workers had to take the role of a “living book”, present a local issue, investigate it and describe possible solutions. A reflection session followed. The participants shared very good feedback about the group spirit, the tested activities and the overall organisation of the training.
During the third day, YIC demonstrated the “Ariadne’s Thread: Four Stops in the Information Labyrinth” activity. In groups, the participants had to analyse pieces of information and evaluate its truthfulness. The next session focused on exploring the VIBE Stories Board Game. FECE presented the game, its rules and principles. The final result was four brilliant stories encompassing the 11 European Youth Goals. The training concluded with a final evaluation and feedback session. Everyone expressed high satisfaction with the design of the training and the exchange of professional, personal and intercultural experience between the youth workers.
All nonformal activities are available in the VIBE training toolkit, which is published in English, Bulgarian, Armenian and Romanian.
The VIBE: Young Voices Inspiring Active Citizenship project is co-funded by the European Commission under the Erasmus+ Programme.
