“Transformers!” is a two-week training experience from the 12th till 26th of August 2017 in which 24 young people from 6 different cities are brought together in Tangier/Morocco. They come from Amsterdam, Paris, Rabat, Istanbul, Cairo and Berlin, are aged between 18 and 23 years old, and live in deprived neighborhoods. Inspired by the Arab spring, they will experiment with new forms of political participation and civic engagement to fight problems in their neighborhood. They will be trained in skills of creative activism and digital communication by young experts, who have played an active role in movements like Occupy, and the Arab spring. The participants will discover their own potential to become a community leader. By imagining themselves as local super heroes, they will work on their self-esteem and discover their own special powers, but also become aware of their weaknesses and the benefits of cooperation with others. After the exchange, all participants will organize an activity in their own neighborhood, in which they bring their newly trained skills into practice.

During the two-week training program, the participants will discover their own potential to become a community organizer. They will work on their self-esteem and discover their own talents but also become aware of their shortcomings and the benefits of cooperation with others. Within the framework of the methodology of community organizing, the participants will engage in a variety of activities. In the beginning of the training, they will work on their individual competencies for leadership and their team building capacities. They will focus on their own background and experiences and will determine which issues they would like to tackle in their own neighborhood.

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After this, they will present and discuss their personal project plans. In a series of creative and practical workshops, they will work on the skills needed to raise awareness for local problems and activate peers to find solutions. These workshops incorporate topics and activities such as internet security, public speech, community organizing, fundraising, civic journalism, story telling, theatre of the oppressed, and spoken word. After the two-week training program, all participants will organize an activity in their own neighborhood, in which they bring the skills that they have trained during the exchange program into practice. These activities will start at the same moment and will be reported on the project website. The Transformers! organizing team will provide participants with support in the process of organizing their activities. This support includes regular feedback, and further coaching in matters such as fundraising, PR, network building.

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Transformers 2017

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