Impowering Youth Work Towards Gender Equality

Impowering Youth Work Towards Gender Equality

At the beginning of February, we participated in a training course on Improving Youth Work Towards Gender Equality. The course took place in the picturesque village of Penagos in Cantabria, northern Spain. The main goal of this project was to raise awareness of the subtle everyday situations of gender discrimination that young people encounter due to sexist cultural expressions and behaviors.

From the first day of the course, our time was filled with interesting activities that expand awareness of everyday sexism. Mornings were dedicated to theoretical and practical lessons led by a top lecturer, who guided us through the various pitfalls of sexism and showed us much more. For example, how to manage stressful situations, how to name our feelings in more detail and thus improve communication. During the afternoons, we had the opportunity to work on presenting our own projects in groups on topics such as gender stereotypes, toxic masculinity and femininity, gaslighting, and many others.

The organizers also thought about exploring Cantabria and prepared a great program for us outside of the workshops. We had the opportunity to visit a local eco-village and enjoy a day in Santander, thus getting closer to the culture and beauty of northern Spain. In the afternoons, there were also hikes, as the area around Penagos is quite mountainous, and we were lucky to have wonderful views from them.

Throughout our stay in Penagos, we had the opportunity to taste excellent cuisine and local specialties of Spanish cooking, such as Patata and Paella. On the second evening, we spent time tasting national specialties from the countries of all participants, and we also danced Bulgarian national dances with a couple from Bulgaria.

We had the opportunity to meet and get to know inspiring young people from Italy, Greece, Spain, Romania, Croatia, Poland, Turkey, and Bulgaria. The training course was thus not only about studying but also about great activities and wonderful friendships, and we will certainly not forget this course so quickly. It was a unique experience, and we are truly grateful that we could participate in this project.