ECHO Community Summerschool edition
Are you looking for new ideas and inspiration to actively contribute to more inclusion in the Netherlands? Are you interested in the stories and experiences of other ECHO community members in that regard? Are you a student, young professional, an ECHO ambassador or did you participate in one of ECHO’s programs? Are you available in the summer from the 1st to the 5th of July? Sign up for the ECHO Community Summerschool! In this 5-day course, guided by ECHO, you will work towards creating a personal action plan to bring about more inclusion in society.
Because this program is part of a European project, all costs are funded by the project (travel costs, accommodation, food, drinks and your participation in the program. In February and March a total of 40 young professionals and students participated in this program. Here is a short impression of the February and March edition.
Goal
The ECHO Community meet-up is an interactive program developed within the framework of the European MURAL (Mutual Understanding Respect And Learning) project initiated by the British Council. In other countries such as Germany, England, Portugal, Greece and Poland similar workshops are offered to strengthen inclusion in Europe. We seized this opportunity to develop and implement a program specifically for students and young professionals from the ECHO-community who
- Wish to strengthen their relationship with other people from the ECHO-community;
- Would like to learn from experiences and ideas of other people from the ECHO community and vice versa;
- Wish to develop the ideas they have for inclusion in their own context (as a student or professional) into a specific action plan for the short and long term.
Active Citizens
The program for the ECHO Community meet-up is based on the Active Citizens model as developed by the British Council. This model has been translated into a program with activities that meet the needs, talents and hopefully ambitions of the ECHO community. This model offers interactive working methods to work on themes such as identity, community and sustainable change at the local and global level. The unique thing about this approach is that participants themselves practice with different methods, while still maintaining the freedom to draw inspiration from their own experience, insight and expertise. The goal is to work towards ‘social action plans’ that are elaborated and implemented by participants within their own context.
What we aim to achieve
With the ECHO Community meet-up we want to create a setting for 5 days, in which:
- Old friends meet and new friendships are formed;
- Our existing knowledge and experience is connected and enriched with new insights;
- New insights and ideas are gained with regard to diversity and inclusion;
- Potential opportunities are converted into specific action plans.
Program
Meeting 1 – Monday July 1st 2019: My vision
- Introduction to the program
- Expectations and goals
- Introduction participants and initiatives
Meeting 2 – Tuesday July 2nd 2019: My identity
- Reflection on your own identity
- Awareness of the influence this identity has on D&I in practice
- Understanding of frameworks and concepts to deal with this effectively
Meeting 3 – Wednessday July 3rd 2019: My discomfort
- Awareness of own blind spots
- Insights and tools to be able to deal with this constructively
- “Getting comfortable with the uncomfortable”
Meeting 4 – Thursday July 4th 2019: My expertise
- Awareness of the own sphere of influence and how to act strategically
- Showcasing: facilitate your own workshop for other participants
- Panel discussion with different stakeholders
Meeting 5 – Friday July 5th 2019: My plan
- Reflection process: formulating ideas and plans for taking your role
- Presentation of project plans
Sign up
The condition for signing up is that you are available during all 5 meetings. The meet-up will take place in Schoorl, Noord-Holland and will be fully taken care of (including travel costs, overnight stays, food and drinks). Participation in the program is therefore free of charge. It is possible to use the accommodation option, but that is not mandatory. You can register via this link.
More information
For more information or questions on the program please contact Josefien via phone: 06-18257003 or e-mail: Josefien@echo-net.nl.
