Armenia, Greece, Turkey Under SHELTER

The SHELTER project took place in the Armenian city Tsaghkadzor, from March 12 to 19. It is about a trilateral youth exchange among Armenia, Greece and Turkey, with 11 young participants from each country. The intercultural youth exchange focused on cross-cultural communication and cultural sharing among the three countries, which are burdened by a long history of painful disagreements.

It was organized by the Armenian Progressive Youth NGO with financial support of the Youth in Action Program of the European Union and co-funding from the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs of Armenia.

The 33 participants engaged in a variety of activities, such as workshops, seminars, artistic activities, training, intercultural evenings, city games, sightseeing, cultural visits and more. Through this project they learned to cooperate, share, act and explore together as one big family, leaving the differences of the past behind.

During the SHELTER project, the theory of intercultural learning in Europe was presented focusing on culture and learning-different, but interconnected topics. Different definitions of culture, types of learning processes, differences among cognitive, emotional and behavioral learning were presented as well as concepts of formal, non-formal and informal learning, with emphasis on non-formal learning.

The main objectives of the project were to introduce the concept of intercultural learning and develop shared understanding, to promote cultural diversity, to explore the theme of anti-discrimination and to foster cooperation in the youth field. Through it, young people from Armenia, Greece and Turkey, managed to break their stereotypes and prejudices about each other and to find areas of mutual concern, by working in mixed nationality groups and by exchanging ideas and experiences. A hope that they will continue to work together in the future was expressed.