Past Opportunities

Education for Social Change Seminar

The first face-to-face international activity of 2022 took place at the Salvador Allende House hosted by SJD - Die Falken. We believe that education is one of the most powerful tool to achieve social change. This is why the “Education for Social Change” Seminar focused on designing a socialist education toolkit that will support educators in making activities more socialist.

Queer Game Event

IFM-SEI celebrated the Pride And Visibility Month with an online pride parade and a queer game event on the 29th!

Next long-term volunteer

FM-SEI is looking for an enthusiastic and active member to volunteer with European Solidarity Corps full time in Brussels for 12 months from 1 September 2021 until 31 August 2022.

Resist! World Environment day

Celebrate with us the World Environment Day and join Resist! The Global Climate Divide! This year, we want to celebrate this day as close to you as possible! We invite you to organise a local action in your community and share it with us and the world. IFF-SEI will support you with the implementation of these actions, both financially and with all materials and tools needed. See more here.

Dream our G->Local Movement - Consultation

This was the first phase of the project, which is a two-part consultation process: one with youth workers and one with youth.
It aimed to bring together marginalised and underserved young people, as well as representatives of organisations working to empower and protect them. The consultation provided an analysis of the situation and an understanding of the ways in which volunteering and meaningful participation are not always accessible to underserved communities, and an opportunity to share good practice in inclusion and accessibility.

Socialist Education - Training for trainers

In IFM-SEI, we consider that we do more than just non-formal education – we do socialist education. Socialist education is a theory and practice in which children and young people can critically analyse existing power structures on all levels of society and are motivated and empowered to take action for social change. Socialist education is a form of political education where we develop children and young people to become critical thinkers, and give them the tools to be active decision-makers in their own lives and communities. The main aim of the Socialist Education Seminar is to promote Socialist Educationand equipping youth workers with the tools so social change can be multiplied on different levels. See more here.

RESIST! The Global Climate Divide - Training

As we all know, 2020 was not what we thought it would be, so Resist! had to happen online! We have designed training of 4 online courses, each packed with exciting and dynamic methods for you to engage with other climate change activists. Each course will consist of: learning about climate change and an intersecting issue, designing and running sessions on this in your local groups. In the training, we will explore different methods of creative activism, such as non-formal education, performance art and campaigning.

Unpacking power & privileges

The privilege or oppression we experience is the result of the intersection of numerous identities and related systems of discrimination and oppression. With this activity, we wanted to unpack our personal and community privilege which is a crucial step to using this power to lead individually and collectively for social justice. We could de(construct), (de)learn our experiences and move beyond feelings of denial, guilt, or shame towards the actions of awareness, responsibility and solidarity. In collaboration with our sister organisation IUSY.

BB Youth Work for Peace and Dialogue: Training in Peace Education

This training was implemented as part of Building Bridges Youth Work for Peace and Dialogue project co-funded by the European Commission and hosted by Juventud País Solidario. Youth workers will learn about peace education and how to put it into practice in localised contexts. The training will be a combination of theory, practice and planning, in the Latin American context where peace processes will be analysed. "

EFN: Spotlight on YOUth

Within the framework of the European Falcon Network, this youth exchange will explore how to make our organisational structures more open and inclusive for young people to be able to foster participation on every level. Putting participation in the spotlight, it will young people to get active in decision making bodies in our MOs and in IFM-SEI, giving participants and organisations tools about how to think global and act local, taking internationalism to a grassroots level. The project is a cooperation with Kinderfreunde/ Rote Falken Austria..

XXVIII Ordinary Congress of IFM-SEI

The XXVIII Ordinary Congress of IFM-SEI was our opportunity as a democratic, membership-based movement to contribute to the development of our international, and to motivate and empower our members for the work ahead. It was an opportunity for member organisations, candidate organisations, partner organisations, fraternal sisters organisations and veterans to come together to discuss resolutions, set the political direction, review the strategic work plan and finances of the movement, elect their representatives and engage in thematic workshops.

Peacemakers of Tomorrow

Peacemakers of tomorrow was an activity day for local groups on a global level. The idea was that all interested IFM-SEI member organisations are facilitating one local event each but within the same time frame. For an even greater experience, you could be matched with another organisation which is having the same event somewhere else on the planet. That made it an international activity on a local level! IFM-SEI provided you with a toolbox, which gave you the already planned activity day, to make it super easy to organise your activity with your local group.

I Act: Exploring Masculinities

Participants came together for seven days to explore the different types of masculinities, the bystander model of prevention of sexual violence, and discover how sexual violence is linked to peer culture and think about mechanisms young people can challenge it. This seminar engages young people - especially young men - in the discourse around sexual violence to be ambassadors on challenging sexual violence in their organisations and societies.

Building Bridges Kick Off Meeting

Building Bridges: Youth Work for Peace and Dialogue is a new global project exploring peace education and dialogue between conflict groups of youth in non-European contexts. Six partners from Africa, Asia and Latin America will come together over two years for the project. Online kick-off meeting of the project took place on 27-28 October 2018 with the participation of coordinators from all the project partners.

Proud and Visible in the Fight for Women Rights

Proud and Visible: in the Fight for Women's Rights was a seminar which took place in Istanbul, Turkey, on 2-4 November 2018 in cooperation with the Party of European Socialists, bringing together members of the socialist family to explore the topic of feminism, gender, the patriarchy and how to combat sexism. The activity was a combination of workshops, expert inputs, sharing of real-life stories and planning actions for the future.

BUILDING BRIDGES CAPACITY BUILDING TRAINING FOR LOCAL AND REGIONAL PROJECTS

As part of Building Bridges: Youth Work for Peace and Dialogue project one member of the leadership of the partner organisation and one person from a local authority or decision-maker in the community came together for five days to learn about how to plan and implement localised and regional projects and received training on Project Cycle Management, funding and fundraising, using ICT tools, crisis management and intercultural learning. The training was hosted by our partner ELIX in Athens, Greece on 11-16 June 2019.

BUILDING BRIDGES TOOLKIT DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOP

As part of Building Bridges: Youth Work for Peace and Dialogue project experts in peace education came together from each partner. Building Bridges toolkit on peace, dialogue and inclusion was developed collectively with the partners starting from an analysis of the situation report and using the expertise the participants had in the field to develop the toolkit. The workshop focused on regional perspectives on peace and dialgue. The workshop was hosted by our partner KKSP in Medan, Indonesia on 3-10 February 2019.

Be The Change study session

Be The Change brought together 30 IFM-SEI members aged 16-22 from across Europe to explore how to combat racism, populism, islamophobia and anti-semitism. This 101 study session for young members worked to foster a critical awareness in young people and come up with tools to tackle these forms of discrimination in their own communities and organisations.The participants came together over one week at the European Youth Centre Strasbourg, from the Youth Department of the Council of Europe, and took part in a varied and dynamic non-formal educational programme where they explored the topic, came up with their own localised projects and produced creative project outputs.

Let's Talk About Sex @ Participation Island

As part of Let's Talk About Sex - an IFM-SEI project generously funded by the European Youth Foundation - IFM-SEI was at Participation Island, an international summer camp, hosted by Nuoret Kotkat in Finland. The last part of the project was to provide educational workshops and a drop-in space on inclusive sex education for participants at Participation Island. The team of 14 facilitators from across Europe ran workshops on inclusive sex education throughout the camp for all ages - with several workshops for under 12s and even two adults-only workshops. In total, 183 people aged between 6 to 62 attended our workshops, plus many more attending our drop-in centre until midnight every evening.

YO!Fest 2018

A delegation of 30 young people from IFM-SEI descended on European Parliament in Strasbourg joining 8,000 other young Europeans to make their voices heard and to come up with innovative ideas for the future of Europe. The event that takes place every two years and IFM-SEI was one of the partners. The participants will led activities one of the workshop hubs, Fighting for a Fair Share, and took part in activities centred around five main themes including the digital revolution, protecting our planet and calling for a fairer economy. They also had the chance to discuss their ideas with political decision-makers and inspiring personalities on the European stage.

International Committee 2018

On 14-17 June, the International Committee - the highest decision-making body in IFM-SEI after the Congress - brought together over 60 delegates from across the globe came together in Brussels to take part in the democratic process of IFM-SEI. Delegates discussed resolutions, reflected on the work and finances of the past year, elected new members of Presidium, decided on membership issues and took part in a workshop led but the Governance Review Group. Delegates also had the chance to share and develop common projects, network with other organisations and celebrate 40 years of our Office Secretary, Ingrid, working for IFM-SEI.

Adultism @ Participation Island

Coming together at Nuoret Kotkat's 75th anniversary jubilee camp that was held on the beautiful Bengtsår Camps Island in the Finnish Archipelago Sea, 35 participants explored the topic of adultism (discrimination towards children) in a challenging and exciting programme bringing together participants aged as a young as 6 years old up to 60. The 50/50 seminar of kids and adults used art, theatre and discussion to explore the topic and consider how we can challenge adultism in our organisations, societies and daily lives.

Reach Out: Bringing Global to Local

Reach Out: Bringing Global to Local is a youth exchange that took place in Barcelona, Catalonia, in May 2018. Groups of young people aged 13-17 from eight IFM-SEI organisations gathered together for one week to discuss internationalism and how to bring this concept to grassroots groups IFM-SEI. The culmination of the event was the participation in the 'Esplaiada', a huge gathering of thousands of children and young people from Esplac, where the participants delivered activities on internationalism - using activities they created during the week!

Let's Talk About Sex parallel seminars

As part of our Let's Talk About Sex project, two parallel seminars took place in Döbriach, Austria, in May 2018 on inclusive sex education. Me as a Sexual Being, the beginner level seminar, explored topics such as my identities, intersectionality, body positivity, sexual rights as human rights and exploring normativity. The advanced level seminar, Us as Sexual Beings, reflected on sex from a structural based approach and with an emphasis on challenging oppression and discrimination and topics included critical sex positivity, peer pressure, disability and ableism, pornography and power structures.

Let's Talk About Sex focus group meeting

Taking place on 7-11 February 2018 in Stockholm, this meeting kicked off our new Let’s Talk About Sex project, supported generously by the European Youth Foundation of the Council of Europe. A focus group of 8 young members came together to prepare this project that will look at comprehensive progressive sex education, which is inclusive with the whole spectrum of genders and sexualities, as well as promoting body positivity and bodily diversity.

 

Proud and Visible: in the Fight for Migrant Rights

This the first in a series of conferences hosted by Party of European Socialist (PES) in partnership with IFM-SEI. In Istanbul in March 2018, participants explored the causes and effects of migration on marginalised groups, specifically youth, women and LGBTQI person and brought together participants from across the socialist family from IFM-SEI, PES, PES Women, IUSY and Rainbow Rose. The conference gave space to discuss, debate, share ideas and think into the future.

Queer Easter 2018: Solidarity vs. Segregation

The theme of this year's Queer Easter was 'Solidarity Versus Segregation'. 80 members from IFM-SEI and Young European Socialists came together during a week in March and April 2018 for the biggest socialist, educational LGBTQI event in Europe. IFM-SEI delivered a working group on how to be positive allies of the LGBTQI community, as well as IFM-SEI Rainbow Network and Feminist Network meetings taking place.

On The Move Latin America Region

The last activity of the global project On The Move saw members from the Latin American partner organisations of the project come together to put the learning from the project in action in a regional context. Participants explored topics such as intercultural learning, youth mobility and regional youth work, visa tips and tricks, fundraising strategies and project planning in action. The activity took place on 12-19 January 2018 in Lima, Peru, bringing together 10 participants and the team. Soon the report will be available here.

On The Move Africa Region

The penultimate activity of the global project On The Move saw members from the African partner organisations of the project come together to put the learning from the project in action in a regional context. Participants explored topics such as intercultural learning, youth mobility and regional youth work, visa tips and tricks, fundraising strategies and project planning in action. The activity took place on 12-19 November 2017 in Nsawam, Ghana, bringing together 12 participants and the team. You can read the full report here.

I Act international action day

On 25 November 2016, coordinated around the Day of the Elimination of Violence Against Women, IFM-SEI member organisations delivered trainman days, street stalls, workshops and campaigns for the I Act action day. As far afield as Senegal, Israel, Bolivia and Sweden, member organisations across the globe used the tools, resources and motivation to run activities to promote the prevention of sexual violence project using the bystander model. The project was kindly supported by the European Youth Foundation. Check out more info by following this link.

I Act international action day planning meeting

Eight committed members of the I Act project came together for three days in Tbilisi to prepare the upcoming I Act international action day taking place on 25 November. A key part of the 'I Act' for the prevention of sexual violence project, the members prepared the soon-to-be-released activity pack, prepared communications and strategies around the action day, designed publicity materials and updated the I Act online hub. The exciting new resources will be sent to all member organisations at the start of November! The project is in partnership with the European Youth Foundation. You can find out more about the project here.

Community, Care and Capitalism - Who cares?

The seminar 'Community, Care and Capitalism - Who cares?' brought together 20 members of IFM-SEI and YES/IUSY at the Kurt Löwenstein Education Centre, near Berlin. In the seminar, participants explored feminist theories and critiques of capitalism of care and health and developed ideas of how to respond to capitalist gender division of labour and how to build communities that take care of each other.The seminar explored why is it especially women and migrants taking care of others without being appropriately recognised for it, and what our capitalist society does with people who are stigmatized as non-functional (e.g. suffering from mental health issues).

International Summerschool 2017

The International Summerschool 'Acting for Peace - Overcoming Violence' brought together around 50 IFM-SEI and YES/IUSY members to explore what is going on in and around Europe with regards to conflict and peace. Members aged 18-30 came together in late August at the Kurt Löwenstein Education Centre near Berlin. Participants discussed the reasons for violent conflicts and wars, explored what neo-colonialism has to do with conflict, and how societies can find a way out of conflict and recreate a democratic social order. They also discussed what the concept of peace means to us and what is our role as young European activists in the consolidation of peace.

IFM-SEI Presidium August 2017

Framfylkingen, our member organisation from Norway, kindly hosted the third face-to-face Presidium meeting of 2017 at the Sørmarka Conference Centre, home of the Trade Unions in Norway, and on the island of Utøya. The Presidium meeting took place shortly before the Willy Brandt Conference. The Presidium discussed a range of topics including an IFM-SEI children's rights consultation, communications plan, finances and membership fees, enacting the Code of Conduct and upcoming statutory meetings. Presidium also undertook the one-year review of the strategic work plan 2016-19.

Willy Brandt Conference - Youth Against Extremism

On 1-3 September, over 100 participants from 22 countries came together from all world regions to take part in a conference on extremism at Utøya. The Willy Brandt Conference - Youth AgainstExtremism built awareness around the topic of right-wing extremism, with participants taking part in workshops, receiving lectures from experts on the topic and having the chance to reflect of the horrific attack of 22 July 2010 on the island of Utøya. Participants also visited the 22 July memorial centre and visited the Nobel Peace Prize Center in Oslo.

Döbriach International Camp 2017

Rote Falken Kinderfreunde Austria invited groups from IFM-SEI to their amazing campsite in the south of Austria to create the Children's Republic of Döbriach. It was a big, colourful and lively international Camp 2017 where families, kids, as well as young people up to the age of 16 and their leaders met to spend two awesome weeks together. Take a look at their Facebook page to see some photos.

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International Committee 2017

The International Committee is the second-highest decision-making body of IFM-SEI - We came together at the Slovenian coast, with our hosts the Slovenian Falcons, to discuss resolutions, find out what the leadership has been doing in the last year, take part in workshops and plan the future of our movement. And of course there was plenty of time for the organisations to present your projects and developments and to network with the other delegates. Read here the article about the new MOs.

On the Move seminar III - regional youth work

Participants from Africa, Latin America and Europe came together in the beautiful city of Vienna in June to explore the topic of regional youth work, in relation tot he topic of flight and migration. We explored regional youth work as a whole, covering everything from grants and fundraising to the theory and practice of intercultural learning. The participants developed an online e-learning course during the week, due to be launched in September 2017 so IFM-SEI organisations can engage with topic no matter where they're situated in the world!

Queer Easter 2017: queering pop culture and education

Members from IFM-SEI, YES and IUSY came together a week for the biggest socialist, educational LGBTQI event in Europe! The programme looked at all aspects of sexuality and gender experience and theory, with special attention on the effects of pop culture on queer subculture and vice versa. Participants tackled questions such as how does queer subculture criticise pop culture while relabelling it as their own? It was a week to remember for the 80 young people who spent the week debating, discussing, creating and having fun!

The Faucons Rouges' Activity Weekend 2017 in Namur

Over 100 young people from across Wallonia took over the city of Namur for their activity weekend in May. International guests also joined them for this fun-filled programme. Being based at the YHA adjacent to the river, participants had the opportunity to take part in everything from water sports and cycle trips, to games and activities in the citadel and work out puzzles while running around the city. The first day was designed for older teenagers and the second day for 12-13 year olds. Great fun was had by all and we can't wait for next year!

Training of Trainers for the prevention of sexual violence

Participants from 8 European organisations took part in an intensive and challenging Training of Trainers on the prevention of sexual violence as part of our I Act project in Darsham, UK, in May. A new generation of multipliers on the topic were nurtured through a programme covering topics such as recognising patterns of sexual violence, thinking about how to identify sexual violence, analysing power structures in relation to sexual violence and coming up with methods about how to put the bystander model into practice. We acted! Will you?

On the Move seminar II - exploring visas

For a week participants from 10 memeber organisations from Africa, Latin America and Europe met in Recife, Brazil, to talk about visas and how they affect us as internationalist youth movements, as part of the project On the Move. During the week a common understanding about visas was developed, we explored why some people are structurally discriminated by the visa system and we looked at global migration patterns. A new visa website is being developed by the participants - watch out in July for the website launch!

Children on the Move study session 2017

30 participants from IFM-SEI and other organisations came together to talk about migration and refugees with special focus on children and unaccompanied minors at the European Youth Centre in Strasbourg at the start of March. We looked at the global perspective and how it affects our organisations, looking at the systemic reasons for migration. The last part of the study session was dedicated to develop projects that the participants can implement in their own organisations - we can't wait to see them come into fruition.

YO!Fest 2017 - 25 years of the Maastricht Treaty

A delegation of IFM-SEI members from across Europe joined the 8th edition of the YO!Fest (Youth Opinion Festival), the annual political youth-led festival organised by the European Youth Forum. Joining 3000 other young people in Maastricht in February, IFM-SEI presented our new I Act project, hearing from other young people how they would respond to instances of sexual violence in their organisations and communities. We also contributed to an International House activity with other organisations such as Erasmus Student Network and the World Organisation of the Scout Movement, where young people got to explore the key themes of the event, such as participation and peace, and share their ideas with decision-makers.We can't wait until next year's festival!

 

I Act focus group meeting

The 'I Act' focus group came together in Vilnius, Lithuania, to explore the topic of power-based violence and sexual violence in relation to the new I Act project on the prevention of sexual violence. The five members of the focus group came together to receive comprehensive training from Maria Almario, a New York based trainer on the topic. The focus group also developed a detailed work plan for delivering the project throughout 2017, including planning the upcoming Training of Trainers seminar on the prevention of sexual violence taking place in May in the UK and putting into action the creation of an online platform, which will offer our organisations and members lots of creative tools and materials on the topic. The focus group meeting was supported by the European Youth Foundation. You can find out more about the project here and look at the existing campaign materials here.

All In study session 2016

25 participants from IFM-SEI and the European Network on Independent Living (ENIL) Youth Network came together in a mixed ability study session to discuss how we can make our organisations more inclusive and empowering for all. In partnership with the Council of Europe, the participants discussed what inclusion means to us, power and privilege in relation to inclusion, the Council of Europe disability strategy and developing 'inclusion in action' projects. The study session had many rich outcomes, including the establishment of an IFM-SEI accessibility network, a guide about how to make non-formal methods and activities inclusive, and an online campaign about anti-capitalism and inclusion. We're excited this is only the start of our ongoing partnership between IFM-SEI and ENIL Youth!

Group photo of the study session participants and team

On the Move seminar I - Flight and Migration

In October 2016, the first expert meeting of the On the Move project with the theme of flight and migration took place in Catalunya. It brought together one person per partner organisation to discuss the reasons for flight and migration in history and the situation refugees face today in Europe, Africa and Latin America. The group exchanged experiences of working with refugees or migrants in their organisations and draft tips for youth workers and organisations before preparing an outline for an online course on the topic. 

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European Falcon Network Seminar 2016

During a weekend 30 members from 12 European IFM-SEI organisations came together for the European Falcon Network seminar in Helsinki, Stockholm and on a ferry in between the two cities for Ferry to Europe. The biggest EFN seminar ever, the participants discussed Erasmus+ funding, an IFM-SEI Pool of Trainers, organising international camps and international solidarity projects. There are lots of common projects in the pipeline coming out of the seminar.

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IFM-SEI Camp: Welcome to Another World

IFM-SEI’s event of the year happened this summer from 23rd July - 5th August! Hosted by our German member organisation SJD - Die Falken, it took place at the Willy Brandt Zeltlagerplatz in Reinwarzhofen. The camp brought together 2500 children, young people and leaders from 30 of our member organisations across the globe to live as an international socialist community for 2 weeks and take part in a fun, engaging central programme. Do you want to know what happened? Then have a look here.camp-logo-small