26 youth workers from nine European countries were initiated in connecting the art of storytelling with organizational development, within Story-down walls! training course, supported by the Erasmus+ Programme.

The training course, organized by Norsensus Mediaforum from Norway and Fundatia Danis from Romania, took place in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, at the end of November 2016. The event brought together youth workers from Bulgaria, Italy, Lithuania, Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Romania, Spain and Turkey.

The catalyst for offering this workshop was to explore storytelling as a way of organizational and personal development.
“In a time of chaos of information, we need good story-tellers in civil society for reaching the heart of the people and sustainable organizational development. Well curated stories have a key role here. We witness many disturbing stories that are shaping our life and worldviews and there is a big need to tell new stories on youth workers’ side. This workshop idea has been initiated with these thoughts”, said one of the main trainers of the workshop, Vedat Sevincer (Norsensus Mediaforum, Norway).

During the six-day training course, the youth workers experienced in various forms the storytelling mind-set, and developed skills and knowledge related to story thinking, story structure, and storytelling techniques. Moreover, they learned to connect their personal stories to the organization’s stories and to their clients’ stories. And, for making their organizations more sustainable, the youth workers tried out various storytelling techniques for advocacy and fundraising activities. Finally, the participants made the plan on how they will use the storytelling in the future, for themselves and for their organizations.

“I am working with thousands of teachers and children, and each one of them is a story meant to be heard. It is a story about how education can change Romania in a country you want to live in, it is a story about how each citizen should fight for the common good. This training helped me a lot in how to tell the stories of these amazing heroes that I work with every day”, Lidia, one of the participants, sharing what the training will help her at work.

“I want to write again. My life is a hero’s journey with a petal structure and a fight between hope and reality. And I am still here. I’m alive and I want to share with the world what I think or what I feel”, Rosa, one of the youth workers, sharing her thoughts on what the training week meant to her.

Find out more about the training and the work done by the youth workers on the training blog:
http://norsensus.no/storydown/

Also, check the photos from the training here:
https://flic.kr/s/aHskPzMvQh

Story-down walls! Sustainable and Innovative Storytelling Strategies Training Course

Rounding up support from Norwegian National Agency, Aktiv Ungdom, the project was carried out in the frame of Erasmus+ KA1 program. The training aimed at professionalizing youth workers in developing long-term storytelling strategies for their organizations, in order to reach community and financial sustainability.

The coordinating organization of the workshop was Norsensus Mediaforum from Norway and the partner organizations as following:

Fundatia Danis pentru Dezvoltare Manageriala (Romania)
Volunteer Development Foundation (Poland)
Fundacion Universitaria San Antonio (Spain)
Youth Art Research and Training Association (Turkey)
Programma Integra (Italy)
Asociacija Apkabink Europa (Lithuania)
The Change Is in You (Bulgaria)
Center for Education and Development (Macedonia)

The main trainers of the workshop were Vedat Sevincer from Norsensus Mediaforum, Norway, and Paula Beudean from Fundatia Danis, Romania. The co-trainers were: Urszula Puchalska (Volunteer Development Foundation, Poland) and Abdurrahim Gunaydin (Norsensus Mediaforum, Norway).

For more details about the training please contact:
Vedat Sevincer, vedats@norsensus.no
Paula Beudean, paula.beudean@fundatiadanis.ro