LLP Grundtvig learning partnership project

1. LLP Grundtvig learning partnership project 2nd project partner meeting 14-15 May 2012, Rotterdam ACT! Active & Responsible Citizen= Flourishing Future Society

2. Presentation on the trainings for the potential participants of the civic actions run in Lithuania • Date - 2012 March 15-16 • Place – Soros International House, Vilnius 14-15.05.2012, Rotterdam

3. Participants (1) • Number - 12 • Profile : - all the participants - women - different age group – from students to middle aged women - different experience of participation in civic actions - representing different professions – naturalists, students studying theatre pedagogy, history, public relations and advertising Type of institutions represented: - Education institutions – Vilnius University, Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences, University of Applied Social Sciences - non-formal education organizations – The Lithuanian Young Naturalist Centre, School of Success 14-15.05.2012, Rotterdam

4. Participants (2) Why they became interested in the project and the trainings (please name a few reasons/motives that encouraged them to join the trainings) - work with children and young people seeking to develop their skills of patriotism, citizenship and responsibility - different kind of experience in running civic actions. Desire to gain new knowledge and skills for organizing more effective civic actions in the future. - possibility for people of different ages to participate in the project activities - desire to gain new skills, which could be applied in other activities - the fact that the actions will be organized based on art forms 14-15.05.2012, Rotterdam

5. Trainers • Name: - Arūnas Bėkšta - Mindaugas Reinikis • Profile (a short introduction of each trainer) - Arūnas Bėkšta – President of Lithuanian Association of Adult Education . Former head of the division of the Lithuanian Public Administration Institute for International Cooperation and a lecturer, in 1998-2000 - Minister of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania. Criteria: Arunas is one of the best andragogues in Lithuania, a developer of a number of curriculums and a training manager. He applies innovative methods in organizing events, conferences, training courses and seminars in Lithuania and other countries and his interest areas include lifelong learning, education, higher education, public administration and cultural heritage. - Mindaugas Reinikis – The representative of Civil Liability Fund and represents the Confederation of Lithuanian Industrialists at the Lithuanian Seimas, the former president of the Lithuanian National Union of Students Criteria: Mindaugas is an active public figure, an organizer of a variety of civic actions , runs training seminars and is an active promoter of citizenship 14-15.05.2012, Rotterdam

6. Training agenda/programme (1) 14-15.05.2012, Rotterdam

7. Training agenda/programme (2) 14-15.05.2012, Rotterdam

8. Training agenda/programme (3)

9. Reflections on the “ACT” methodologyfrom the trainers point of view (1) • The most appropriate methods (please reflect on all the methods and comment on the most appropriate ones): - Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed – this method in this case was as a general concept which was realized by means of Forum Theatre, Invisible Theatre, Image Theatre - Invisible Theatre – inspired creativity, was very lively, involved all of the workshop participants, led to much debate about the applicability of the proposed scenario, identified possible problems related to the implementation, safety of the participants, ethical issues - Forum Theatre – encouraged activity , search for different possibilities. It was very lively caused a lot of excitement and discussions - Image Theatre - Image theatre elements were used for warm-up activities. The created image was used to express the theme. The facilitator (Joker) created an image which showed the theme and asked all the participants to contribute to the image by adding themselves in and striking a different pose. Each person who entered the circle froze in their shape and spoke out a phrase in such a way creating a verbal story. It was creative, funny and instructive. I’d like to point out the importance of the first image and the first uttered phrase. It dictates the direction of the further development of the image. - Warm-up exercises were very suitable as an introduction to the topic, has created a "dramatic" atmosphere and caused a lot of players to think about their use in a variety of activities with students at school, camps and other events 14-15.05.2012, Rotterdam

10. Reflections on the “ACT” methodologyfrom the trainers point of view (2) The difficulties faced implementing the trainings - Seminar participants and facilitators didn’t face any kind of misunderstandings. - The methodology has been presented as guidelines on how to run the trainings therefore we had to look for extra information. - Forum Theatre and Invisible Theatre examples, uploaded on YouTube were of great help in clarifying the concepts and deepening general understanding. - While analyzing the methodology we had some doubts regarding the proposed time for the activities. In our opinion more time was needed therefore while planning the activities we made some adjustments in our time table and all the activities took place almost exactly according to plan. 14-15.05.2012, Rotterdam

11. Reflections on the “ACT” methodologyfrom the participants point of view(1) • The most effective methods (please comment): - Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed –this method has made the greatest impression. It doesn’t use pressure and coercion - Invisible Theatre - one of the favorite methods, provoking many challenges, therefore very interesting and intriguing. It’s especially useful as it can be adapted/applied for various campaigns. It is also a method that can be used in various studies - Forum Theatre - the method was employed for carrying out the tasks and provoked most discussions - Image Theatre - an interesting approach, which requires a sufficiently fast response, improvisation • Why? “…In fact, all the methods were interesting and different and it was fun to try/experience them. All of them were either completely unknown or little known therefore we definitely gained a lot of new information and skills during the trainings” “…The whole program was very useful: preparation for the action, succession of activities, resources, human resources, the proper location and timing and so on. “ 14-15.05.2012, Rotterdam

12. Reflections on the “ACT” methodologyfrom the participants point of view(2) The difficulties faced while working on the tasks - at the beginning it was a little bit scary as the training brought strangers together - fast generation of ideas. The course was very concentrated, therefore all the tasks had to be performed quickly. And sometimes the best of thoughts come to mind when you think nothing of it. 14-15.05.2012, Rotterdam

13. Applicability of new skills and competences gained during the trainings • While discussing the methods, the participants pointed out that all these methods are particularly well suited for students and various academic activities:  - civic and other type of actions -discussions on various socially sensitive topics - introductions for business meetings/conferences  - summing up of the conferences - students’ creative activities  - work with children and young people  - various events and so on. 14-15.05.2012, Rotterdam

14. Ideas generated during the trainings for civic actions to be implemented in partner countries in autumn, 2012 • "Smile inspectors” - as most public transport ticket inspectors are bad-tempered and sullen, it was agreed during the training to launch a campaign with the focus on this problem. Scenario: during the campaign, ticket inspectors get on the public transport at certain places and instead of asking for a ticket they will “ask” for commuters’ smiles • "No smoking on the beaches” - smoking on the beach annoys a lot of holidaymakers. During the training we discussed a possible campaign to address this issue. Scenario: a group of volunteers will be walking along the beach offering the smokers to replace a cigarette by a candy and after a friendly interaction providing them with a brochure containing info on smoking statistics. The campaign will also aim to draw attention to the fact that beaches are not equipped with smokers’ area. • "Clean meadows" – following the law, the owners must collect their pets’ excrement in public places, but it's still a pretty painful problem in Lithuania. So the action would seek to attract the attention of the general public to the fact, that parks are a favourite place with most of the children and we all want our kids to play in a clean, safe, and healthy environment. The campaign would involve children as well who would serve flyers with the info on transmitted diseases to the people who will leave their pets’ excrement. 14-15.05.2012, Rotterdam