Compare Your Village - Youth Courage

Main Topic

Solidarity – Participation

Additional Topic(s)

Solidarity - Civic Activities
Solidarity - Social Activities

Duration

1-2 hours

Implementation Mode

Indoor F2F

Goal(s)

● Foster collaboration and teamwork skills
● Encourage creative thinking and imagination

Expected Results
● Participants will effectively collaborate within their groups to merge individual ideas into cohesive village designs.
● Participants will demonstrate creative thinking by incorporating unique features and elements into their village maps, reflecting their diverse perspectives and imaginative visions.

Overview of Activity

Participants will imagine their dream houses and draw them individually. They will then be divided into two groups and collaborate to create vibrant village maps. The groups will merge their individual dream house drawings, expanding the village layout and adding unique features. Finally, the groups will present their village designs, fostering discussions on collaboration, diversity, and citizenship.

Description of Activity

1. The facilitator asks participants to close their eyes and imagine their dream houses for a few moments and prompts them, see notes, to consider the appearance, atmosphere, and reflection of their personalities in their dream homes.

2. The participants should then be grouped into pairs and asked to draw one house between them.

3. Each pair can only have one pen to draw the house they want to live in. It is forbidden to talk in pairs for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, the pairs can talk and continue drawing their houses and can add some trees, fences, paintings, and other items. That should take another 5 minutes.

3. The facilitator then divides the participants into two equal-sized groups, Group A and Group B, and should keep the pairs in the same groups.

4. The facilitator should place a big sheet of paper on the floor for each group, bear in mind that participants can use more than one big sheet of paper, and every pair should place their drawings on the paper as if planning out a village.

5. Each group's participants can work together to develop the “village” further. They should think about roads, buildings such as hospitals and schools, services, more houses etc. Importantly, the whole group has to agree on what to add to the village before it is added. That should take roughly 25 minutes.

6. Once the village is ready, the participants of each group should take a walk around the village they come up with and talk upon everything that is in the village, individual houses, roads, neighbourhood, public buildings and so on.

7. After the time limit, the facilitator asks Group A and Group B, and vice versa, to present their village designs to the rest of the participants by encouraging them to explain how their dream houses fit into the overall village layout and share any additional features they added to the map.

7. The facilitator facilitates a discussion that compares and contrasts the two village designs. The facilitator asks questions, see notes, that highlight the integration of the individual dream houses and explore the differences between the two groups' visions.

8. Time for a debriefing… The facilitator should ask the participants the questions, see notes.

Sources & Additional Materials

Adapted from the activity “Our Village” in “T-KIT 7 European Citizenship in youth work”. https://pjp-eu.coe.int/documents/42128013/47261290/T-Kit+on+European+Citizenship.pdf/7beade8c-aa21-9855-8fc6-6b53481ece2b

Additional Notes

1. Individual Dream House Phase: - What does your dream house look like? Can you describe its appearance, layout, and any unique features? - How does your dream house reflect your personality, values, or beliefs? - What kind of atmosphere or feeling do you want your dream house to have? Why is that important to you? - In what ways does your dream house align with or differ from traditional or conventional homes?

2. Village Creation Phase: - How did you incorporate your individual dream houses into the overall village design? - Did you face any challenges in merging the individual visions into a cohesive village map? How did you address them? - What additional features or elements did you include in the village besides the individual houses? Why did you choose them? - What considerations did you have when deciding on the layout, infrastructure, or amenities of the village?

3. Comparing and Contrasting Villages: - What similarities do you notice between the two villages in terms of design, atmosphere, or values? - What are the key differences between the two villages? How do they reflect the different perspectives and ideas within the groups? - How did the group dynamics influence the creation of each village? Were there any compromises or collaborations? - What can we learn from the contrasting village visions about the importance of embracing diversity and different perspectives in community development?

4. Reflection on Citizenship and Community: - How do the concepts explored in this activity relate to the idea of citizenship? - What does this activity tell you about living together in a community and the challenges and opportunities it presents? - What were some limitations or obstacles you encountered during the village creation rocess, and how did you overcome them? - How can we ensure equal involvement and representation of all individuals in community-building, considering diverse perspectives and wishes?

5. European Context: - Imagine Europe as a big village. What common points do you see between the European reality and the village designs created? - What are the barriers and challenges to realizing the concept of European citizenship? How can they be addressed? - How can the principles of collaboration, compromise, and embracing diversity in community-building apply to fostering a sense of European citizenship?

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