Have you ever wondered how YMCA is empowering future generations of young leaders, developing capacity and strengthening the network of passionate youth workers? It all begins by Igniting their interest in making a difference in a unique context for all.
The European YMCA Youth Workers Camp (the 6th edition), a wonderful initiative made possible by the incredible hospitality and implementation of YMCA Westbound (CVJM Westbund) in sunny Michelstadt, Germany, has brought together over 100 young leaders from 12 European countries from the 2nd to the 10th of August.
The theme of the camp was “Ignite Change” – walking together towards sustainable and healthy communities.
This year’s participants had the opportunity to share their experiences in youth work, explore diversity, learn from migrant volunteers, and develop personally—all while having a lot of fun. Learn more about the previous edition here.
Each participant had the chance to choose to engage in workshops and sessions such as including intercultural dialogue, YMCA youth work training, treehouse building, outdoor experiences, experiential learning in sports and movement, as well as music, dance, drama, camp-band, and multimedia & social media workshops.
Participants had the privilege of co-facilitating workshops where we tackled key topics. They explored different leadership styles through role-playing dynamics and delved into decision-making, as well as various sessions that encouraged debate and reflection.
Some of the main themes of the programs represented the connections, partnership development and learning of important aspects of youth work, community wellbeing and conflict resolution through role-playing, emphasizing the importance of emotional intelligence in managing mistakes and challenges as leaders.
The camp is structured so that all activities are constantly held by different leaders from other countries. So you really get to take part in so much and see many different types of leadership. We also got the chance to be involved in planning and holding activities for others. It was really fun and gave you many new experiences,” says Emilia, participant from the Swedish delegation.
The program also offered the opportunity to learn soft and technical skills outdoors, and most importantly, it created a space of learning by doing, from their peers, as well as from trained professionals in the field of organisational leadership and youth work.
The camp has been an overall success, paving the way to an already established tradition of creating a tailored program for future leaders and youth workers within the YMCA.
