The idea
FLOW is a training program designed to develop facilitation skills in non-formal education settings while offering valuable insights into sustainable and inclusive project design and management. Unlike purely theoretical trainings, FLOW provides you with the opportunity to engage in real projects after the program, ensuring that you can apply what you’ve learned in practical, impactful ways. Effective and sustainable projects require skilled trainers to lead them successfully. Many activists within the peace movement aspire to become trainers and organisers of educational initiatives that foster a culture of peace. To support this goal, the International Secretariat of SCI organises an annual Training of Trainers with a special emphasis on peace education and inclusion.
Objectives
Empower participants with the knowledge and skills to effectively engage in peace education.
Provide (future) youth workers with new inspirations and perspectives for peace education to get in a good flow while initiating, organizing and managing educational projects.
Share best practices and institutional frameworks for developing and managing peace education initiatives, tailored to the needs of young participants (including Project Management and EU fundings).
Reflect on how power dynamics can be reproduced in project organization, and explore ways to integrate peace values into all levels of social movements and educational project planning.
Enhance the quality of non-formal education tools and resources for use in future events, training courses, seminars, and meetings.
What past FLOWers say
FLOW was an amazing opportunity to learn and to practice different dynamics on facilitation skills and what’s needed from a trainer or a facilitator in the training room!
FLOW helped me a lot in feeling more confident in my skills and knowing which aspects are part of being a trainer. It was also very sweet to meet so many others through this experience. A lot of us have stayed in touch ever since.
Current Edition
FLOW 2025
If you’re eager to improve your critical thinking skills, explore non-formal education tools, and experiment with various facilitation methodologies and concepts, FLOW is the perfect opportunity for you. This year, FLOW will be held from April 22nd to 28th, near Innsbruck, Austria. The 7-day in-person training (including arrival and departure days) will be hosted by SCI Austria, with financial support from the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV) Programme of the European Commission. Don’t miss out—check out all the details here and apply soon!
Past editions
FLOW 2024
Online Preparation Period
February 2024
.
Online training course
April 2024
.
Follow-up Period
June – August 2024
.
FLOW 2021
Online Preparation Period
January 2021
Participants were invited to participate in the online course “Peace in Practice”. A padlet was created for the training sessions with different resources and participant were invited to get to know each other before the start of the training.
Online training course
March 2021
The training was held online and it included 5 basic elements: Welcoming, Introduction, Group building, Basics of being a Trainer, Power Structures in Educational Activities, Project Planning and Evaluation & Reflection. The training also taught participants how to run online projects themselves. So, it consisted of 3 working days, 6 evening sessions, and several individual tasks. A large Padlet resource library and interactive space was also available to participants.
Follow-up Period
June 2021
In the follow-up period until June 2021, each participant was encouraged to run a workshop with their organisation. The planning of the workshops, as well as other follow-up projects, was started during the time of the training itself and we encouraged participants to work on it as much in the 4 weeks of the training as possible. During the follow-up phase, there was also the possibility to get feedback from the project team as well as from other participants in a peer-review process.
Updates
Change Makers online event
In the first edition of the Change Makers, six people shared their stories with the audience, on a broad range of topics: food sovereignty in Mesoamerica, Female Genital Mutilation, migration, squatting as a political need, defending indigenous rights through music and physical disability.
Supporters
FLOW 2025 is financially supported by the CERV programme of the European Union.
The previous editions were supported by the Erasmus + Programme of the European Union.
