How to Talk About War: Training Youth Workers for Difficult Conversations

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Amaç

The project “How to Talk About War: Training Youth Workers for Difficult Conversations” was implemented to respond to the growing need for youth workers to address sensitive and polarising topics with young people, particularly war, conflict, migration, refugee integration, disinformation, trauma, and social polarisation. In many local communities, young people are directly or indirectly affected by war through family histories, migration experiences, online media exposure, or tensions connected to current conflicts. Youth workers therefore need practical tools to create safe, inclusive and constructive spaces for dialogue.
The main objective of the project was to strengthen the capacity of youth workers to facilitate difficult conversations about war and conflict in a sensitive, inclusive and non-polarising way. More specifically, the project aimed to develop participants’ competences in safe-space creation, trauma-sensitive facilitation, nonviolent communication, storytelling, emotional awareness, resilience, and media literacy. It also aimed to increase youth workers’ confidence to address difficult issues rather than avoid them, and to support partner organisations in integrating new methods into their daily youth work practice.

Uygulama

The project took place from 7 to 14 May 2026 in Kemer, Türkiye, as a residential training course for youth workers. It brought together 24 participants, with 4 participants from each partner country: the Netherlands, Poland, Lithuania, Italy, Greece, and Türkiye. The coordinator was World Up from the Netherlands.
The participants were youth workers, youth leaders, NGO staff, volunteers, and young professionals active in non-formal education and work with young people. Their backgrounds included social sciences, psychology, political science, sociology, international relations, community work, volunteering, and Erasmus+ youth activities. The group was diverse in terms of gender, age, professional experience and Erasmus+ experience. Based on the participant data, the group included 11 female and 13 male participants. Participants were aged between 20 and 35, with an average age of approximately 25 years. The group also combined experienced Erasmus+ participants with newcomers: 3 participants had no previous Erasmus+ mobility experience, while several had taken part in five or more previous mobilities. This created a balanced learning environment where experienced participants could support newcomers, while newcomers brought fresh perspectives.
Before the training, participants reported different levels of knowledge about the topic. Among the responses received, most participants had moderate knowledge, while others had basic, good, or very good knowledge. This confirmed the relevance of the training design, which combined introductory concepts with more advanced facilitation tools.
The training course used non-formal education methods and experiential learning. Activities included team-building exercises, group dynamics, thematic workshops, role plays, simulations, storytelling exercises, World Café discussions, peer-to-peer exchange, reflection groups, and cultural evenings. Key topics included emotions connected to war, safe-space creation, nonviolent communication, trauma-sensitive youth work, resilience, media literacy, disinformation, intercultural dialogue, and the role of youth workers in peacebuilding.
Daily reflection sessions were used to connect learning outcomes with Youthpass competences. The final part of the programme focused on Erasmus+ opportunities, follow-up initiatives, local multiplier activities, and brainstorming new project ideas.

Sonuçlar

The project resulted in a stronger group of youth workers who are better prepared to facilitate difficult conversations with young people on war, conflict, migration and polarisation. Participants improved their confidence, communication skills and methodological competences, especially in creating safe learning spaces, managing emotions in groups, listening to different perspectives, and responding to sensitive or controversial statements in a constructive way.
A key result was the testing and collection of practical methods that can be reused in local youth work. These included tools for safe-space agreements, storytelling, nonviolent communication, emotional reflection, role play, simulation, resilience-building, and media literacy. These methods can now be adapted by participants and partner organisations in workshops, youth meetings, school cooperation activities, volunteer trainings and local community initiatives.
The project also strengthened the capacity of the partner organisations. Participants returned with practical tools that can be shared with colleagues, volunteers and local young people. The project encouraged partners to act as multipliers and to continue cooperation through future Erasmus+ projects, local workshops and dissemination activities.
Dissemination was also strengthened through local media coverage. A local media outlet published an article about the project. This increased the visibility of the project beyond the direct participants and partner organisations, reaching many local readers and citizens and raising awareness about the importance of dialogue, peacebuilding and inclusion.
The article can be found here: https://shorturl.at/A0QD5