From the 6th to the 16th of September 2011, 120 young people from 12 countries of the European Union came together in a specially arranged place within the premises of the «Tsaf Tsouf» summer camp at Orphani Kavalas/Greece to participate in and contribute to artistic workshops (performance, dance, cinema, photography, web radio, handicraft, circus, comic book) in view of creating for and expressing themselves about volunteering and activism.

The participants, using their expression and creativity, made statements and exchanged opinions through which, they fostered their perception to and respect for multiculturalism and sought for new, creative ways for promoting the ideas of volunteering and active citizenship. In parallel, they were involved in sports’ activities, intercultural nights, exhibitions and music nights.

Technically speaking, “Creativities” are projects funded by the European Commission’s “Youth in Action / Youth” Programmes. They are categorized as multilateral intercultural youth exchanges.

Everything started in 2004 by “Kids in Action” with the helping hand (mind and soul) of several partner NGOs from different European countries. Thenceforth, several editions of the concept took place.

Different themes have been addressed: Peace & Solidarity (2004, Greece), Tolerance & Diversity (2005, Greece), Love & Unity (2006, Greece), Democracy & Participation (2008, Greece), Creativity.cat - Act for Interculturality (2009, Girona, Spain), CreArtivity - Creativity & Innovation (2009, Greece), Creativity.UK (2010, UK)

In the latest edition, Volunteering & Activism, the Malta UNESCO Youth Association had the honour and definitely the pleasure to be one of the partner groups among 12 in total, which consisted of one “leader” and five participants each. Being creative from the start, the Maltese group – later referred to simply as “The Maltesers” – managed to be the only group of “6andahalf” participants, since with Rosaleen Thenner Caruana (at that time 13 months old) we sent the youngest participant ever to take part in Creativity. The other Maltesers were Deborah Abela, Roberta Bonnici, Christianne Caruana, Andy Grech, Dhiraj Narwani and Alex Thenner.

Together we all shared the experience of the vision of a world where difference is a driving force, equality is a must, mistakes are means for change and development and creativity is being. It was and still is a lived experience.

For most people might describe creativity as “to make, to begin, to launch or to set forth.” “Creativity” by Kids in Action does so much more than this. It is a creative process that empathizes with and embraces the youth world and seeks to dynamically evolve and maintain its appropriateness to all youth, with no exception. Because no one is better than another, there is no in or out, up or down in the circle that is “Creativity”…

‘Humour is Serious Business’ Training Programme
Thursday12th – Friday 20thApril 2012, Derry, N Ireland.
3 Participants from Malta

Summary of Training
‘Humour is Serious Business’ is a Training Programme aimed at youth work practitioners from a eight countries (N Ireland, Germany, Austria, Greece, Malta, Lithuania, Slovenia, Estonia and Poland) who have an interest in and commitment to the examination and use of Humour as a proactive and deliberate methodology in their work with young people and other youth work communities. 

The programme will provide space and time for participants to examine a multitude of issues, concerns and questions related to the use of Humour in an effort to increase their skills, knowledge and experience of Humour as an effective method of engaging young people. 

Participants will come away from the training much better informed and ‘upskilled’ with a clear direction of how they can use humour in their work setting and with a clear plan for developing a locally-based project which will be documented to further inform the discussion regarding Humour as a mechanism which can be used in effectively engaging young people.

Target Group
We are looking for three participants from each country/partner organisation to participate in the programme  – we are  targeting  Youth and Community workers, Young Leaders (18+) and Trainers.

Content and Methodology
The overriding theme of the training is the use of Humour (as a pro-active methodology) in youth work practice.  By providing space and time to examine humour, participants can develop a better understandIng of its use and application and in doing so increase their capacity to use it in their work setting so as to engage young people and other youth work communities in a constructive fashion, e.g., a ‘mulitplier’ capacity. 

Before getting to that point participants will be engaged in consideration of important questions such as what is humour?  Is it simply our ability to make people laugh?  Is it how we perceive things, people or certain situations?  Is it a means of escapism?  Is it what we use when we feel all else is lost?  Is it what we turn too when we have nothing else?  Is it our mechanism for dealing with ‘stuff’ when we don’t know how too?  Is it our way of dealing with embarrassment?   

Is it our disregard for other people’s feelings?  Is it a means of avoiding what we need to confront?  Is it our way of avoiding feelings and emotions? Humour is often a natural reaction to or consequence of a given situation - a raised eyebrow, a look, a word but often it is and can be a deliberate act, planned with precision, timed to perfection 
and designed to maximise given circumstances.  It’s something that everyone knows, something that everyone feels, something everyone sees yet is one of those things that is often frowned upon.  It is one of those things that can ‘hit the target’ and when it does it is great but when it misses it can be disastrous.  

What are the rules, the boundaries, the parameters of laughter?  What is the acceptable face of humour?  What is ok, what is not?  This training programme is designed to equip participants to use humour as a means of engaging young people effectively, if not more effectively that in the past, hence the title, ‘Humour is Serious Business.’  
Some view humour as irresponsible, inappropriate, irrelevant, even poisonous, perhaps reprehensible, and disrespectful.  Sometimes practitioners take themselves ‘too serious’, are so committed and so passionate about their work which is admirable but don’t allow themselves to laugh or to see the funny side because they feel it will undermine their approach, it will deviate from their given task, it will diminish their work, it will make light of their much sought after principles and values, what they stand for, what they hold dear!

Can humour though be a tool for good, can it be put to good use, can it be a constructive force?  Has the question ever been asked?  Has there ever been serious examination of humour, at least within youth work anyway?  
We have designed a programme which we believe not only allows participants to examine humour in detail but enables them to achieve a greater understanding of the subject matter, enhances their capacity to use it in their work and provides them with space to test it in a safe environment.

Participation fee: EUR 50

Application form below which should be sent to info@muya.info by the 20th January 2012:

A delegation from Malta UNESCO Youth Association recently participated in an international  seminar entitled “Volunteerism in Debate” in Cordoba, Spain organised by Plataforma Andaluza de Voluntariado.

The aim of the seminar was to bring together young European volunteers and politicians/decision-makers to discuss different aspects of voluntary work in society, its importance and challenges imposed by the legislation and policies as well as good practices from different countries. As a result of the workshops taking place during the weeklong seminar in November, the participants from various European countries were asked to draft a list of 
recommendations for policy makers on how to improve the voluntary work sector.

The Maltese delegation consisted of five young women Analiza Abdilla (24), Birgit Oidram (26), Erika Borg (24) and Martha Bartolo (18), all from Malta UNESCO Youth Association and a representative from Aġenzija Żgħażagħ Angie Farrugia (25). Additionally to Malta UNESCO Youth Association, there were voluntary organisations from Spain, Portugal, Greece, France, Germany, UK, Poland, Lithuania and Estonia. The participating voluntary organisations ranged from those working with minorities (such as disabled persons, immigrants) to those dealing with youth participation in the decision-making processes and human rights.

Angie Farrugia from Aġenzija Żgħażagħ took the opportunity to introduce the recently launched Malta Youth Portal. During a session facilitated by the European decision-makers she explained how the voluntary work in the youth field is strongly and actively supported by Aġenzija Żgħażagħ in Malta.

This year, millions of people decided the time had come to claim their rights. They took to the streets and demanded change. Many found their voices using the internet and instant messaging to inform, inspire and mobilize supporters to seek their basic human rights. Social media helped activists organize peaceful protest movements in cities across the globe - from Tunis to Madrid, from Cairo to New York - at times in the face of violent repression.

Human rights belong equally to each of us and bind us together as a global community with the same ideals and values. As a global community we all share a day in common: Human Rights Day on 10 December, when we remember the creation 63 years ago of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Today, the 10th of December, on Human Rights Day 2011, we pay tribute to all human rights defenders and ask you to get involved in the global human rights movement.

This year everybody has an opportunity to support human rights by joining our celebration. Invite your family and friends to participate in our social media campaign. Become a human rights campaigner; learn more about your rights and spread the word www.celebratehumanrights.org

Go to www.celebratehumanrights.org, choose a slice of the cake which represent the the 30 articles of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, make it your wish by blowing out as many candles as you  can and share it with your friends and family!  

20th - 28th February, 2012 in Murcia, Spain

About the Training: 
“Volunteers, take a step forward” aims to acknowledge the role of volunteers in the Human Rights Education field and empower them with knowledge, skills and attitudes to serve better for civic society association 

Objectives: 

• to improve the participants' knowledge in the area of Human Rights Education
• to promote awareness on Human Rights issues
• to empower young volunteers and youth workers working directly with volunteers and enable them to implement HRE project and give them tools to do it
• to give the space for the exchange of knowledge and best practices and to create a base for the strong cooperation
• to contribute to the civic society associations' development and the quality of youth work by investing in the education of local volunteers
• to further contribute to the motivation of volunteers and willingness

Participants: 

• 17 countries including; Armenia, Azerbaijan, Denamrk, Italy, Latvia, Macedonia, Poland, Netherlands, Greece, Hungary, Slovenia, Spain, Ukraine, Egypt, Albania, Moldova. 
• 1 participant from Malta

Profile of Participants required: 

• are volunteers or youth workers working directly with volunteers
• are interested to develop their skilss in human rights education 
• plan to start to work with young people using human rights education or are doing it already 
• are able to communicate in English
• are between 18 and 30 years 
• are motivated to participate in the whole duration of the project. 

All the participants from the partner countries will be reimbursed in 75% of the  total travel cost

Application form:http://www.muya.info/uploads/5/3/4/5/5345324/participants_form.docx 

Malta UNESCO Youth Association is looking for one participant to represent Malta and the organisation in a traning course about theatrical art as a tool for intercultural dialogue to be held in Râmnicu Sărat, Romania from the 6th till the 13th of November, 2011.

The training course “Theatrical Art as a Tool for Intercultural Dialogue Creation” is designed as a process of non-formal learning and peer education involving participants from different countries who work with young people, have experience in the fields of youth work, youth arts and international cooperation. Participants are required to  have an active input in sharing knowledge and experience, and to be willing to learn new skills, in the dramatic arts and intercultural youth work, from the trainers and each other.

This active participation will encourage ownership of the learning, motivation and comittment to working together, building effective international working relationships, making the training an exercise in best practice
Using theatrical arts within the Youth in Action Program is a very valuable tool for developing intercultural learning, cooperation and quality projects in the youth field among all the regions concerned. This training course is designed to encourage partnership building activity, development of intercultural youth projects and networking among promoters from southern EU, Mediterranean Partner Countries, Eastern Europe and
Caucasus regions in the framework of the Youth in Action programme.

The project is focused on the individual creative development of each participant and sharing such intercultural competences as appreciative inquiry, open minded personality, respect and trust, mutual understanding and team work. Through cultural relationships we strive to generate opportunities for individuals to fulfill their potential
and foster the co-operation that contributes to a stable world.

Objectives :

- Promoting forum theater as non-formal tool for developing creativity and intercultural dialogue
- Developing solidarity and mutual understanding, a positive and tolerant attitude towards cultural diversity
- Empowering youth workers for using non-formal social intervention tools to fight against rasism, discrimination and any kind of human rights violations
- Bringing together organizations working with youth in order to share working methods
- Establishing new partnerships, building new projects within the Youth in Action Programme framework

If you are interested in participating in this project kindly send the attached form urgently on info@muya.info

Malta UNESCO Youth Association would like to invites its members to a Youth in Action workshop that will result in the generation and exploration of project ideas which could be used in a project application for the 1st November deadline. The workshop will be held on the 24th September 2011 at the Marsaxlokk Youth Activity Centre from 09:00 till 19:30. 

The workshop will include an introduction to the Youth in Action programme so you do not need to be an expert on the funding programme. Participation in past Youth in Action projects would help though although not absolutely necessary. The workshop is a great opportunity for you to learn more about Youth in Action and what goes behind organising such project. 

Lunch and coffee breaks will be provided by MUYA and participation is free. Should you be interested to join kindly send an email to birgit@muya.info by Thursday 22nd September 2011. It is important that if you would like to join, you can be present all throughout the workshop. If you have any questions do not hesitate to ask. 

After the workshop we shall be going straight out to dinner at SouthEast Cafe in Marsaxlokk. Should you wish to join us for dinner kindly let us know by the deadline also so that we can book your place at the table. Dinner is optional and comes at an extra charge. 

Hope to see you there! :) 

Malta UNESCO Youth Association has received an invitation to send two paticipants to a project called “Today's Youth...Tomorrow's Citizens (TYTC)” in the frame of Europe for Citizens measure 2.3.

The project “Today's Youth...Tomorrow's Citizens (TYTC)” want to send an important message to EU citizens: “take an active role in society for your future and the future of the society itself”. We don’t’ want EU citizens waiting at the window (or on facebook) and expecting others to decide for them but we want them to wake up from their “civic sleep” thinking not just to what EU can do for them but firstly to what they can do for EU.

The project will realize a transnational seminar focusing on the following topics:
- European active citizenship
- volunteering
- youth employment
- youths and politics

One of the strength points of the project is the Intercultural dialogue: TYTC will involve 66 participants coming from 30 States ( 27 EU members + 3 candidate countries) in a way to deal with issues in a broad comparative perspective and find common solutions while ensuring maximum impact to the project. Each debate each speech will be carried out respecting all the cultures.

The comparison between different cultures will show to the participants that each culture can be different in something from the others, but all of them have common values and that’s important to build a “common Europe”. The participants will understand that European Union has not to be constituted of Italians, French, Spanish etc....but of “European citizens”.

The seminar will take place in Sciacca (in the south - east cost side of Sicily) and one day in Mussomeli . It will last five days from 12th – 17th September 2011.

Each organization will take part with 2 participants. No limit age for the participants. Travel costs (airplane and means of transports) will be reimbursed at 70%. Food and accommodation will be totally covered 100%.

Active Ingredients – Cooking in a Melting Pot, was an exchange which took place in the wonderful and stunning
area of the Mazury Lakes In Poland from the 13th to 22nd June 2011. It saw the participation of 30 other youths
coming from 3 different youth organisations in Europe, namely Membrillos por el Mundo an organisation from
Cordoba Spain, Malta Unesco Youth Association from Malta and the hosting organisation from Warsaw Poland.

On 12th June, when we, the 7 maltese participants landed in Poland we had a first day for ourselves in Krakow,
since we had decided to spend a Sunday together to get to know each other better. This was a very good idea
because it served to break the ice through the smallest of things, even deciding together where we wanted to
visit and what we wanted to see. Even though all of us had different tastes and opinions, we spent a very nice
day together touring the city’s attractions. In the long run, this did us a lot of good in terms of team-building and
preparing us for the week ahead!

The day after we headed out to Warsaw by train to meet all the other participants from Poland and Spain. What
impressed us in the group was that all of them were such nice and warm-hearted people; you immediately felt like
you knew them forever.

We had cooking workshops including basic kitchen practises. We had to work in team from the 3 countries and
this help alot for the 30 participants to be able to work with each other. Almost none of the participants have
ever worked in a kitchen, but creativity and imagination have led to wonderful meals everyday both for lunch
and dinner. Other workshops that we had, was on preparing serviettes according to the occasion, the history of
ingredients in europe and worldwide. It amazing to know the history and origin of certain ingredients, as we now
take for granted. In truth there are vast stories behind every ingredient and mixtures we do have in every kitchen,
most of which include ancient cultures and explorers who discovered these things and exported them globally. We
also had the opportunity to have a demonstration of how polish cottage cheese is made... the smell is not that nice
but we must say that the taste is better than the smell.

Activities apart from the cooking workshops were fantastic, including the canoeing trip around the lake, the daily
energizers and games, lakeside cookout and the rest!
Each country had the opportunity to participate in the intercultural evenings spread over 3 evenings. As usual the maltese team had loads of food and drinks to share with others. We also had the opportunity to participate in a local festival in Milki where we meet locals, played beach volley and shared our own traditional food, which indeed poles like our qassatat (which we prepared in the morning), maltese bread and beer we must say!

We must say that the exchange was very well-organised by Magda and Giovann, a Maltese chef who managed the
cooking workshops – a sincere thank you from all the group!

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Istituto Italiano di Cultura

 Invites the General Public to a lecture

By the Assistant Director General of UNESCO

Francesco Bandarin, entitled

 “Heritage and modernity: how our past matters for us. A UNESCO perspective”

Being held on Thursday, 15th September at 1700 at the

Istituto Italiano di Cultura at St Georges Sq.,  Valletta