Why Youth & Community Development through Rites of Passage Now?

There are two significant and related challenges defining human progress. One is the need to adapt to a constantly transforming world. The other is the need to communicate and incorporate those adaptations into functioning and diverse communities. Indeed, the integration of adaptive strategies into viable social institutions has charted the course of human history.

Today, cultural changes, coupled with scientific and technological advances, are occurring with such rapidity that we find ourselves in a continually emerging “new world” – one that requires constant awareness and adaptation. Having to continually develop strategies to reconcile the conflict between what we know and what is constantly changing presents us with a set of ongoing challenges. The 21st century is clearly emerging as a crucial time. Recognizing the major transformations associated with the unanticipated consequences of technology and climate change is essential for adaptation, strengthening community, and ultimately, our survival.

One of the oldest and most successful survival strategies is our capacity to imagine and tell stories. We have a unique ability to remember the past, recognize the present and anticipate the future. With memory and a process for integration, we have evolved numerous formats for telling our history, narrating the present and imagining our future. We are a story-making species that collectively refers to our storytelling as the arts. Whether it is literature, poetry, music, performance, ritual, or visual images, our arts express who we are and give meaning to our lives.

We are a story telling species! Ellen Dissanayake in her book, What Is Art For?, suggests that art is our unique adaptation strategy whose purpose is to build and strengthen community, which is essential for survival. Elders guiding youth into adulthood is one of our most important and enduring stories. Over a hundred years ago this story was named rites of passage. Rites of passage is the story – the art – of how we transmit essential information to our children. All cultures have given form to this unique process for transmitting survival strategies that strengthen a community’s ability to nurture, grow and support life-affirming individuals.

The time-tested principles of this defining village survival story – rites of passage – has been shared in a framework for youth and community development through rites of passage known as ROPE®, the Rite of Passage Experience©, www.rope.org. Since its first introduction into communities in the early 1980s, over 100,000 youth and their families have participated in remembering and adapting this school-community collaborative story. Evidence of ROPE®’s achievements are well documented. They underscore evolutionary biology’s belief that a species will not maintain any behavior for very long if that behavior does not serve its survival. For thousands of years across many cultures, rites of passage have been instrumental in building a community’s capacity to guide youth through the challenging passage to adulthood while strengthening the bonds of community.

By: William Lavine, DMD, MsD & Hyacinth Douglas-Bailey, JD With David Blumenkrantz, PhD, EdM
© 2013 The Center for the Advancement of Youth, Family & Community Services. Inc.

GoJobGo – International Profiles

Nowadays, 7,5 millions of European young people between 15 and 24 aren’t currently engaged in Employment, Education or Training (NEETs). The possibility of a ‘lost generation’ urges EU institutions and governments, businesses and social partners at all levels to address the youth unemployment challenge. GOJOBGO comes to contribute to youth employment, namely of the youngsters that have been involved in mobility schemes and face difficulties both in finding a job and in exploiting the added value of mobility experiences on their professional profiles.

GOJOBGO project is developed by a European Partnership composed of 9 members from 7 European countries, and is co financed by Erasmus+ Programme, Action KA2, under the code 2014-1-ES01-KA202-004998. GOJOBGO will last until 30/06/2016.

GOJOBGO aims to:

  • Reinforce the links between skilled job seekers with mobility experiences and employers and labour market.
  • Support the employability of job seekers with and International background.
  • Contribute to the visibility of European reference tools for the recognition, validation and transparency of competences and qualifications.
  • Develop best practices in the support for employability in the post-mobility period of Erasmus+ Programmes for Professional Training and Superior Education.

To achieve such aims, GOJOBGO has four objectives:

  • Promoting the use of Information and communications technology (ICT) and Open Educational Resources (OER) for employability purposes.
  • Promoting structured inter-regional cooperation: enhancing the commitment of local and regional pubic authorities in the qualitative development of the education, training and youth fields.
  • Increasing participation in learning and employability by providing a rich variety of European and national support tools and resources.
  • Facilitating the transition of learners through different levels and types of formal/non-formal education and training through the use of European reference tools for the recognition, validation and transparency of competencies and qualifications.

With this purpose, two fundamental GOJOBGO tools will be developed:

  • GOJOBGO PORTAL – Where job seekers can insert their CVs and highlight skills and competences acquired in the frame of transnational mobility and where potential employers can easily seek future employees with specific skills and international experiences in their background
  • IMPROVE MY PROFILE – Integrated in the Portal, there will be a set of tools, tips and instruments used worldwide level to improve profiles. Job seekers can/should go over all the steps in order to make sure their job search rends visible all the skills acquired in Mobility. The main issues approached will be CV, job search, applications and national/European labour market.
  • PILOT TEST TO GOJOBGO – in order for job seekers and employers to test, get familiar and give feedback with both Portal and
  • “IMPROVE MY PROFILE” toolkit and be totally able to exploit its benefits.

The expected results to be reached are:

  • Greater support to mobility participants after their international experience.
  • Increased employability of young skilled people after an international experience.
  • Enhanced use of European certification tools in order to foster the employability.
  • Wider recognition of competences connected, in accordance with the ECVET system, both on professional level, as well as on personal and social level, both for professional and for citizen participation.
  • Active involvement of public bodies in charge of Education, Training and Employment in the support of target groups in their transition to the labour market
  • Adhesion to the Resources and Portal by job seekers and employers from Europe.
  • Capitalization of the value of the international mobility experiences as a tool for learning and personal and professional development.
  • Improved tutoring and mentoring practices and tools of the mobility experiences, considering them learning processes that have to be linked with participants learning paths and personal and professional objectives.
  • Greater involvement of employers in mobility issues, allowing them to benefit from European mobility programmes by an active recruitment of young skilled people.

PATiE Project – Psychodrama Training modules in adult Education

The implementation of 32 pilot courses in workshops’ form, with the participation of 45 adult trainers in the four partners’ countries in Rethymnon (ECTE), Florence (Centro Machiavelli), the Watowice (EST) and Arrasate (ALECOP), gave enough material for evaluating, feedback and finalization of the produced educational material of the PaTie project

Coordinator of the training courses activities in all partners’ countries, as well as responsible for the development of two training packages, is the European Centre in Training for Employment – ECTE, while coordinating partner of the program is the part Lifelong Learning department of Regional Unity Rethymnon. In Rethymno, pilot training programs were attended by 12 adult educators, coordinated by a certified psychodramatist, Ms SofiaDimou.

The project «PaTiE», which is near completion, is aimed at introducing methods of psychodrama in the processes of learning, upgrading the skills of adult educators by developing educational material. Specifically, the produced educational material includes “teaching material User Guide” for adult educators and teaching eight teacher training modules.

  • Module1 Experiential psychodrama
  • Module2 Power of group
  • Module3 Sociometry
  • Module4 Warm up
  • Module5 Power of playing
  • Module6 Working with symbols
  • Module7 Conflict management
  • Module8 Sharing

The program is co-financed by the European Commission.

Is ecology still attractive?

Ecological problems more and more influence our lives and adult education is not an exception. Various integrated programs are being created and ecological matters are included into many school subjects. We can talk about ecological problems during the lessons but our experience shows that the most effective ways is practical activities. One of the most efficient and creative ways is participation in project so since the year of 2000, Vilnius „Židinio“ gymnasium teachers and students have been participating in programs supported by Grundtvig, Comenius, Europa Workshop, Nordplus Adult and JTBA.

In September, 2014, Vilnius „Židinio“ adult gymnasium teachers and students started an Erasmus+: Grundtvig Strategic Partnerships project „Collect. Recycle. Manufacture“. The aim of the project is to recycle used paper and to use it for a specific purpose as a way of solving ecological problems. Other participants of this project are adult education institutions from Greece (European Center in Training for Employmen, Crete), Ireland (Kerry Action for Development Education, Tralee), Italy ASTERISCO-Associazione per lo sviluppo socioeconomic, Palermo) and Portugal (Associação Intercultural Amigos da Mobilidade, Barcelos).

All countries actively participate in project workshops which were the main objective of the first project meeting in Lithuania, from the 18th to 22nd of January, 2015. Project partners presented their organizations and the research results on paper usage and recycling in their countries. They have also conducted interesting researches on how much paper is used in their local communities. All countries calculated the amount of paper they use per year and converted this number into the amount of trees that were used to produce that amount of paper. Each country has undertaken to replant the exact number of trees.

Project coordinators introduced the participants to a handmade paper making methodology. During seminars, project members produced their own handmade paper sheets and other artistic pieces from paper pulp. Project meeting ended with an exhibition from handmade art pieces from paper pulp produced during the seminars.

Each team left Lithuania having an assignment to test out the methodology they have learnt and to organize seminars in their countries to their target groups on chosen handmade paper making methodology. From January to April, project participants held 17 seminars to various target groups such as seniors, social workers, kindergarten teachers, elementary school students, disabled people, local citizens, adult educators, trainees, volunteers and students. During these seminars we were making paper sheets, postcards, pictures, Shrovetide masks, Easter decorations and eggs, penholders and lampshades. Each seminars ends with an exhibition of participants‘ handmade art works. Participants of the seminars are happy to try a new and interesting activity which, by some of them, will be applied in their work and for others will become a great leisure time activity. And the most important part is the fact that at the same time we recycle and produce new, lovely things.

These seminars achieved a great success; therefore, we will continue series of seminars in the autumn. Everyone, who is interested, is welcome to visit our Vilnius „Židinio“ gymnasium website.

GSSkills Project – 3rd workshop in Chania, Greece

Plumbers and electricians from France and Spain met in Chania with colleagues from Crete experience in photovoltaic and geothermal installations. In the context of the European Programme “GSSkills”, that the Chania Chamber of Commerce is coordinating, transnational partners from Greece, France and Spain, met for the third consecutive workshop in Chania. In the program “GSSkills”, except the Chamber, which is the coordinating partner, are partipating European Training Centre for Employment (ECTE) based in Rethymnon, the educational organization “Les Compagnons du Devoir et du Tour de France”, based in Paris and is a member of UNESCO, and the “company for the economic development of Debabarrena” Debegesa “, based in Eibar, Spain.

In the workshop in Chania, participated five people from France (three technicians and two administrative employees of the organization), four people from Spain (three technicians and an administrative employee of the company) and 15 from Greece. In the afternoon of the first day, was held on the site of the Chamber a meeting among the partners, which involved a summative information of progress of the project and raised and timetables for completion.

The morning of the second day began with three visits:

  • in the company CretaCon Green Energy SA brothers Ntagkounaki located in Tavronitis
  • in the company Mazanakis Therm Ulysses Mazanaki based in Chryssopigi
  • in the Laboratory of Renewable and Sustainable Energy Systems of the School of Environmental Engineering of the University of Crete whose director is Professor Mr. Theocharis Tsoutsos

During the visits, members of the mission together with local electricians and plumbers had the opportunity to see up close solar and geothermal installations and discuss. At noon of the same day, it took place the second workshop of the program. Initially, there was a presentation of the training on thermal plants, geothermal and photovoltaic plants in the three countries.

After a presentation of case studies companies / educational institutions, proposed solutions on the problem of mismatch of skills and knowledge acquisition, were analysed. At the end, participants were divided into two specialised groups, for discussing the mismatch of skills and knowledge in the sector. One group consisted of electricians and solar installers, discussion of which headed Mr. Manolis Karapidakis, Associate Professor of TEI of Crete and research fellow of the program. The other group consisted of hydraulic, discussion of which headed Mrs. Vassilios Fortsas, partner of the Development Company of the Chamber to help implement the program and Mr Konstantinos Androulakis, director of the European Training Centre for Employment (ECTE) is partner program.

In the afternoon of the same day, in a main dissemination event, results of the program, were presented, from research performed, analysis and conclusions. At the same time, there was a broader discussion on alternative energy sources and their use. The event in Chamber conference room, was open to the public.

Greetings

  • Mr. John Margaronis, President EVECH,
  • John Brokalakis, President of the Association of Electrical Installers v. Chania
  • Limogiannis Costas, Chairman of thermohydraulic Chania.
  • Mr. Nick Kalogerakis, President of the Hellenic Association of Photovoltaic Investors, spoke about Renewable energy sources in Greece,
  • Mr. Manolis Karapidakis, Associate Professor of TEI of Crete, spoke about the program and the major conclusions drawn, while
  • Mr. Theocharis Tsoutsos, Associate Professor of the University of Crete, spoke on “Near Zero Energy Hotels “(Hotels near-zero energy consumption). The discussion was moderated by Mr. Michael Papavasileiou, Deputy Director EVECH and task manager.

THE PRESIDENT OF CHAMBER
In his address, the President of Chamber, John Margaronis said:

“This program, launched in December 2013 and completes its activities at the end of February 2015, has three objectives:
Identify the skills necessary to be a technician to meet the installation needs of geothermal and solar thermal systems. To identify best practices in education. To create a network between educational institutions, public authorities, professional associations and the business community in the fields of geothermal and solar thermal installations in the three countries-etairous.Gia the needs of the program, Chania Chamber as coordinating partner, worked with the European Training Center for Employment (ECTE) from Rethymnon, the educational organization “Les Compagnons du Devoir et du Tour de France” from Paris who is the oldest teacher training organization in Europe, and the company’s economic development Debabarrena “DEBEGESA” from Eibar, Spain.

This is the third meeting that takes place between partners, which is the closure of the program. This followed the first meeting in Paris in January 2014, where he was a first meeting between partners and were the implementation timetables. A second meeting was held in October 2014 in Eibar, Spain, where the survey results were discussed during the previous period, while professional technicians from the three partner countries exchanged views on the necessary skills. Notably Chania Chamber took with him to Spain six professional technicians.

Big beneficiaries of this program are the communities of the three partner states, as through professional associations and technicians, transferring know-how and good practices. Of course, you should not conceal the fact that in this difficult economic climate, through this program and others planned for the future, the Chania Chamber is unable to draw significant financial resources that allow both to continue its operation of, and to play its important role as the engine of growth for the prefecture of Chania.

In closing, he said. Margaronis, I would like to thank everyone who contributed in their own way to the successful implementation of the program, and I hope to be given the opportunity with a new funding to implement programs developed on the basis of the results obtained from “GSSkills”