It was our pleasure to host 4 international experts from Belarus, Bulgaria, Georgia and Ukraine and to collaborate with 4 national experts.

During the whole period of Caravan, which lasted from 11 till 15 of August we have traveled in Yerevan and in the 3 regions of Armenia: Kotayk, Gegharkunik and Armavir.

Our biggest achievement is the realization of 21 events in total, which was specifically designed for the local communities fulfilling their interests and needs.

More than 300 people attended to our events, learned and shared their thoughts and made their own contribution by their active presence.

According to the reactions of our target groups in the cities Hrazdan, Armavir, Gavar and Yerevan the participants were fully involved in the processes, they expressed their interests and involvements to all the events that our both national and international experts leaded.

Almost everywhere the hot topic still stayed the issue of war and peace, the military escalation in the boarders of Armenia and Azerbaijan, the aggression of Azerbaijan towards both Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh) and of course the total blockade of Nagorno Karabakh from the other parts of the world with 120 000 population and the humanitarian crises because of the hunger, zero medical supplies, cut off the electricity, gas, petrol supplies, no free movements, basic human rights of education, transportation, self-determination etc.

I hope that Caravan will become annual project and next time we can include other regions too.

Huge gratitude to the EENCE for this opportunity and trust.

Experts’ feedback about Caravan in Armenia

Read more:

https://caravan.eence.eu/category/armenia-en/

Сообщение Ghazaros Teknejyan: I hope that Caravan will become annual project появились сначала на Citizenship Education Caravan 2023.

We have collected the experts’ feedback on the events and the Caravan as a whole.

Caravan is organized by Eastern-European Association for Citizenship Education under support of the Federal Agency of Citizenship Education of Germany (bpb) and funded by German Foreign Office. NGO “Youth is Power” is local partner of Caravan.

Сообщение The Citizenship Education Caravan in Armenia is a success! See the experts’ feedback появились сначала на Citizenship Education Caravan 2023.

The peculiarity of the Caravan was the diversity of topics: from geopolitics and democracy to project-based learning, from security and human rights to 21st century education, from gender component in the context of inclusive education to EU integration issues and hybrid warfare, from leadership and soft skills to effective public administration, from culture and identity, the gap between reality and democratic values to critical thinking and media literacy.

On the last day of the Caravan, August 15, the Caravan experts summarized its results and also met with representatives of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

The meetings focused on citizenship education and engagement in Armenia, creating a space for productive dialog and finding potential opportunities for cooperation.

Now the Civic Education Caravan is moving to Lithuania and Poland.

Caravan is organized by Eastern-European Association for Citizenship Education under support of the Federal Agency of Citizenship Education of Germany (bpb) and funded by German Foreign Office. NGO “Youth is Power” is local partner of Caravan.

Reed also:

See the preliminary program of the Caravan in Armenia

EENCE Citizenship Education Caravan kicked off in Armenia. See the big photo report!

EENCE Citizenship Education Caravan moves through the regions of Armenia

EENCE Citizenship Education Caravan in Armenia. Day 3, Armavir

EENCE Citizenship Education Caravan in Armenia. Day 4, Gavar

Сообщение The Caravan of Citizenship Education in Armenia is over. Lithuania and Poland take up the baton появились сначала на Citizenship Education Caravan 2023.

Ani Kojoyan (Armenia) was again able to engage the participants of the training “Education in the 21st Century. Gender Component in the Context of Inclusive Education”.

Education is the key to drive us in our life; it is about knowledge, skills, values and practices. At the same time, education can be both empowering and oppressive. In case of empowerment, education should be inclusive, based on participatory method from gender perspective as well, taking into consideration the needs and interests of female and male students, giving each an opportunity to thrive and grow rigorously and abundantly to each of them, based on their own peculiarities, including gender; otherwise education can turn into a tool of oppression for kids in schools

Ani Kojojan

Meeting was organized in cooperation with Bayazet Center and Գավառի Քաղաքային.

Young residents of Gavar together with Narine Teknejyan (Armenia) discussed the role of non-formal education in the transformation of society.

Students and youth specialists discussed the challenges of non-formal education, defined the difference between formal and non-formal education, specifics and values of non-formal education.

The participants of the training identified the main problems related to the education of youth in Armenia. These are lack of modern and up-to-date education, educational programs, literature, description of approaches and methodology, lack of participatory and inclusive approach in research in this sphere.

The participants also noted the gap between the labor market and specialists, the need of young people to learn by doing and gain practical knowledge.

Project-based learning that emphasizes inclusion and promotes social justice was suggested as a possible solution to these problems.

Oksana Urban (Ukraine) spoke about what competences leaders need and how to organise teamwork.

The discussion “The Gap between Reality and Democratic Values: How to continue working when it becomes frustrating”, which was led by Evgeny Goshev (Bulgaria/Georgia).

And participants of Anna Mekhakyan’s (Armenia) training discussed how to increase access to education.

A prominent challenge discussed was the issue of inter-city transport. This challenge particularly affected the children residing in neighboring villages, as limited transport options hindered their participation in various educational programs and activities. This issue underscored the need to address infrastructure gaps that restrict access to education and extracurricular opportunities.

Another significant concern raised by participants was the prevalence of bullying in schools.

To combat this issue, participants proposed a project idea aimed at raising awareness and preventing bullying. The suggested project involved creating a social video campaign that would educate and sensitize students, parents, and the wider community about the harmful effects of bullying. This project aimed to foster a collective effort toward preventing bullying and promoting a safe and supportive learning environment. Participants emphasized the importance of involving as many stakeholders as possible to maximize the impact of this initiative.

The Gap between Experienced Realities and Democratic Values: How to Keep Going When it Gets Frustrating.

This was the topic of the discussion moderated by Evgeny Goshev (Bulgaria/Georgia).

Target Group: students, youth workers, civil society activists.

Challenges: Major challenges highlighted by the participants: war experience and uncertainty, women’s rights and trust in institutions.

Suggested solutions: applying ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Theory), strengthening social cohesion.

See a large photo report from these events.

Photo by Harut Chatinyan.

Caravan is organized by Eastern-European Association for Citizenship Education under support of the Federal Agency of Citizenship Education of Germany (bpb) and funded by German Foreign Office. NGO “Youth is Power” is local partner of Caravan.

Reed also:

See the preliminary program of the Caravan in Armenia

EENCE Citizenship Education Caravan kicked off in Armenia. See the big photo report!

EENCE Citizenship Education Caravan moves through the regions of Armenia

EENCE Citizenship Education Caravan in Armenia. Day 3, Armavir

EENCE Citizenship Education Caravan in Armenia. Day 4, Gavar

Сообщение EENCE Citizenship Education Caravan in Armenia. Day 4, Gavar появились сначала на Citizenship Education Caravan 2023.

The Caravan programme in Armavir started on 13 August with a training on leadership development and teamwork conducted by Oksana Urban (Ukraine)

One of the highlights of the training was the discussion about whether one should do what one wants or do what one needs to do.

As the local organisers of the Caravan noted, the mentality of Armenian women is inclined to devote themselves to others, but if you want to become a leader, you have to change something radically in your mindset.

The training conference “Voices of Armenian Youth” organised by Vitaly Nikanovich (Belarus) was also very interesting.

The training participants had an opportunity to express their concerns and practice their oratorical skills.

The training of Narine Teknejyan (Armenia) was also devoted to the issues of youth involvement in reforming the society.

On empowering education through project-based learning that emphasises inclusion and promotes social justice, Anna Mehakyan (Armenia) discussed with meeting participants.

Target Group: Educators, Civil Society Representatives, and Young Individuals.

In a bid to empower educators, civil society representatives, and young individuals with innovative teaching methodologies and an understanding of social justice in education, a training session was conducted in Armavir.

The focus of this training was to explore the integration of project-based learning and social justice principles to create impactful and engaging learning experiences.

The primary objectives of the training presentation were threefold:

Principles of Project-Based Learning: To comprehend the fundamentals of project-based learning and its application in fostering meaningful educational experiences.

Significance of Social Justice in Education: To recognize the importance of incorporating social justice principles within the educational framework to promote fairness, equity, and inclusivity.

Intersection of Project-Based Learning and Social Justice: To understand how project-based learning and social justice can intersect to create transformative learning environments that empower learners.

On 14 August the Caravan will visit another region of Armenia – Gegharkunik.

Caravan is organized by Eastern-European Association for Citizenship Education under support of the Federal Agency of Citizenship Education of Germany (bpb) and funded by German Foreign Office. NGO “Youth is Power” is local partner of Caravan.

Reed also:

See the preliminary program of the Caravan in Armenia

EENCE Citizenship Education Caravan kicked off in Armenia. See the big photo report!

EENCE Citizenship Education Caravan moves through the regions of Armenia

EENCE Citizenship Education Caravan in Armenia. Day 3, Armavir

EENCE Citizenship Education Caravan in Armenia. Day 4, Gavar

Сообщение EENCE Citizenship Education Caravan in Armenia. Day 3, Armavir появились сначала на Citizenship Education Caravan 2023.

The meetings in Hrazdan dealt with a variety of topics.

Tigran Mughnetsyan (Armenia) organised a discussion on the effectiveness of public administration in Armenia.

Discussion had two main parts, initially there was discussed public management challenges in theory and its application in Armenian realm.

During second part there was group works, where participants aimed to identify public management issues and provide specific and tangible solutions. First group elaborated on city demographics, while the second group presented their vision on the higher education and Meister schools prospects in Armenia.

Ani Kojoyan (Armenia) lecturer at YSU, Youth is Power NGO leading trainer and expert of language, gender and communication studies held a training session (gender mainstreaming in inclusive education) focused on the issues in the field and the mechanisms how to respond those issues.

The audience was very active, among them there were school teachers and educators, social workers and psychologists.

They shared their experiences and provided vivid examples from their own lives. They came up with a number of suggestions and questions. The session was finalized by the video watching on gender stereotypes and their perception by school children.

The next training Ani gave was called “Critical Thinking. Media Literacy Tool”.

Target Group: “Bruntsk” NGO, young people, youth workers.

Challenges: Lack of Critical Knowledge in general, interpretation of media and its discourses.

Suggested solution/ perspectives: capacity building of NGO sector, school students, community developers.

Workshop transferred saying: “Media discourses are never neutral. In order to be or become able to analyze and evaluate those discourses, and make own judgment, we need to develop the so-called media immunity through reliable tools and techniques, among them the most reliable one is critical thinking”.

Meeting was organized in cooperation with Հրազդանի համայնքապետարան and «Հայի բռունցք» հասարակական կազմակերպություն.

Narine Teknejyan (Armenia), the cofounder and educational project manager at Youth is Power NGO leaded a workshop dedicated to effective communication specifically non violent communication.

Evgeny Goshev (Bulgaria/Georgia) initiated a discussion on how culture determines the vision of the past, present and future of the Eastern Partnership countries.

The event revolved about the way people in general and Armenians in particular perceive their culture.

The event was based on questions and vivid discussions on various aspects of culture as well as on scientific research into the Armenian diaspora.

The final part of the event was work in groups which helped the participants reflect on the way they perceive their cultural identity.

The friendly and relaxed atmosphere was enriched by a religious song and by an Armenian folk dance.

On 13 August the Caravan will move to Armavir.

Caravan is organized by Eastern-European Association for Citizenship Education under support of the Federal Agency of Citizenship Education of Germany (bpb) and funded by German Foreign Office. NGO “Youth is Power” is local partner of Caravan.

Reed also:

See the preliminary program of the Caravan in Armenia

EENCE Citizenship Education Caravan kicked off in Armenia. See the big photo report!

EENCE Citizenship Education Caravan moves through the regions of Armenia

EENCE Citizenship Education Caravan in Armenia. Day 3, Armavir

EENCE Citizenship Education Caravan in Armenia. Day 4, Gavar

Сообщение EENCE Citizenship Education Caravan moves through the regions of Armenia появились сначала на Citizenship Education Caravan 2023.

The first events of the Caravan took place on 11 August in Yerevan.

First, a round table was held on the challenges and prospects of citizenship education in Armenia.

Then there was a discussion on how civil society can live and develop in the conditions of hybrid warfare, when media become an instrument of national and regional security system. The discussion was modelled by Stepan Grigoryan, a well-known Armenian activist and politician.

Journalist and researcher Manon Bokuchava spoke about the Georgian experience of countering attempts to control public media through trolls, fake pages, throw-ins and manipulations.

See a large photo report from these events.

Photo by Harut Chatinyan

Caravan is organized by Eastern-European Association for Citizenship Education under support of the Federal Agency of Citizenship Education of Germany (bpb) and funded by German Foreign Office.

Reed also:

See the preliminary program of the Caravan in Armenia

EENCE Citizenship Education Caravan kicked off in Armenia. See the big photo report!

EENCE Citizenship Education Caravan moves through the regions of Armenia

EENCE Citizenship Education Caravan in Armenia. Day 3, Armavir

EENCE Citizenship Education Caravan in Armenia. Day 4, Gavar

Сообщение EENCE Citizenship Education Caravan kicked off in Armenia. See the big photo report! появились сначала на Citizenship Education Caravan 2023.

In order to get acquainted with the program of events – click on the “+info” button under the dates and names of cities.

The program of events is still subject to change.

Caravan’s experts in Armenia:

Manon Bokuchava (Georgia)

Manon Bokuchava has been working in Georgia for more than ten years in the media sphere, heading a regional media organization. She is also working on her dissertation researching Russian-language information resources in the occupied regions.

During the Caravan in Armenia she will give a presentation on how trolls, bots, fake social pages in Georgia try to control public opinion

Evgeni Goshev (Bulgaria/Georgia)

Represented Civic Education Theachers Forum (Georgia). A Master of Arts in Political Science (University of Bonn), experience in organizing development aid events in various emerging countries.

Will lead discussions on the role of culture in the past, present and future of the countries of the region, as well as on the gap between reality and democratic values and how to continue the work when it begins to disappoint.

Stepan Grigoryan (Armenia)

“Analytical Center for Globalization and Regional Studies”, public and political activist.

Mr. Grigoryan will be a keynote speaker during the discussions on challenges, problems and prospects of civic education in Armenia, as well as on the issues of countering hybrid warfare and the role of media in ensuring national and regional security system

Ani Kojoyan (Armenia)

Research fellow at IGS, LMH. Yerevan State University University of Oxford. Lecturer in Language, Gender & Communication Studies, and Translation Studies at YSU. Former director at Eastern Partnership EaP CSF Armenian National Platform and the Program Coordinator at OSFA. Ani is an advocate and activist of women’s rights and girls’ education.

The topics of her meetings during the Caravan will be “Gender component in the context of inclusive education” and “Critical thinking as a tool for media literacy”.

Anna Mekhakyan (Armenia)

Educational Program Coordinator at Ayb Educational Foundation, Fundraising & Donor Manager at MediaLab- Newsroom Laboratory.

The topic of her training will be “Empowering Education through Project-Based Learning, Emphasizing Inclusiveness and Fostering Social Justice”.

Tigran Mughnetsyan (Armenia)

PhD in political science, Master in Public Management (KDI School of Public Policy and Administration), Researcher at Transparency International Armenia, Lecturer at Eurasia International University. 4-year experience in governmental work as assistant to the Chief of Prime Minister’s Office and adviser at External relations department.

Will lead a discussion on the effectiveness of public administration in Armenia.

Vitaly Nikanovich (Belarus)

Head of EduHub – International platform for training professionals from Eastern Europe, South Caucasus and Central Asia in the field of health and well-being, UNESCO consultant. He is a trainer for trainers of trainers in the field of citizenship education. Member of the EENCE network since 2015.

Will hold a training conference “Voices of Youth in Armenia”.

Narine Teknejyan (Armenia)

Youth worker, trainer. Youth is Power NGO cofunder and project manager. Coordinating Council member and expert of the Eastern Partnership Network for Citizenship Education (EENCE).

Will conduct a training on “Youth as an Engine of Public Transformation”.

Oksana Urban (Ukraine)

Executive Director of the NGO “European Vector of Volyn”, Lecturer of the Department of International Economic Relations of Lutsk National Technical University. In 2009, 2010, 2015 she represented the interests of Ukraine at NATO Headquarters. In 2022 and 2023 she interned in the USA.

She will conduct training on leadership development and teamwork.

Ghazaros Teknejian (Armenia)

Lawyer, journalist, NGO activist, artist.

National coordinator of the EENCE Citizenship Education Caravan.

Caravan is organized by Eastern-European Association for Citizenship Education under support of the Federal Agency of Citizenship Education of Germany (bpb) and funded by German Foreign Office.

Сообщение See the preliminary program of the Caravan in Armenia появились сначала на Citizenship Education Caravan 2023.