Info pack by Foundation For Tomorrow

“Inside you there’s an artist you don’t know about… say yes quickly, if you know, if you’ve known it from before the beginning of the universe.” – Rumi

Dates: 28th March – 7th April 2025 

11 nights/days – 9 days program – 2 days for traveling 

Venue: Dolni Rakovets, Bulgaria

Dolni Rakovets is а village in Southwestern Bulgaria, situated only 50 km south from the capital Sofia. The village is quite, situated in the valley under a hill with mineral spring water and charming forest. In the village has high-speed Internet connection and easy connection by train (around 1 hour) to the city center of Sofia.

How to reach Dolni Rakovets:

The closest Airport is Sofia. https://sofia-airport.eu/en/ 

The village has a direct connection by train to the central railway station of Sofia (only 70 minutes trip by train)

The hosting organization, Foundation For Tomorrow, will organize a shuttle cars to the village for all participants arriving in Sofia. Please send us your travel details to organize a certain time and place of the cars departure!

The place of accommodation: 

House for personal development “Home OM" 

The house for Personal development, “Home OM,” is a retreat house for organizing events for informal education and physical and spiritual development. In the calm and relaxed atmosphere of the village villa, the participants could feel at home and get closer to group dynamics, interaction, and peer-to-peer education. The house has all the necessary facilities for an enjoyable stay of a group of 20 persons – 7 bedrooms (double, triple, and quadruple), four shared bathrooms, a common kitchen and daily room, a big terrace, a 48 m2 training hall with all necessary training equipment, green yard with sports facilities, fireplace, swimming pool and own garden with fresh vegetables. The house and the village have mineral spring water.

During the program, participants will have fresh, homemade food from the local restaurant, but they could also participate in food preparation (especially for the cultural evenings) and learn some traditional recipes. Evenings are long and funny around the fireplace.

Next to the house, there is a charming forest with spring water and beautiful trails and views.

Objectives:
Training program for youth workers to develop innovative skills for informal education and support for social and inclusion of youth with special educational needs by the tools of inner creativity and art. The participants will be trained by interactive and informal methods of education by leading experts psychology, Art, sound therapy, dance, social entrepreneurship, social and work inclusion. Тhe focus will be on innovative art and creativity methods for informal education of intellectually disabled youth as an instrument for development of important personal abilities and social skills for their effective inclusion.

Topics in the training program: 

1. Exchange of experience and good practices in youth workers work for social inclusion of I young people with special learning needs.
2. Exchange of experience in creativity and art methods in inclusive education 
3. Interactive educational methods for social inclusion
4. Interactive music and sound methods as instrument for informal education of intellectually disabled youth.
5. Interactive methods for support innate creativity
6. Innate art methods for inclusion – painting, handcrafting, inner theater, creative dancing and etc.
7. Work with senses as an instrument for development inner creativity of intellectually disabled youth.
8. Social entrepreneurship as a tool for social and work inclusion.
9. Social entrepreneurship by Art and creativity activities
10. Environmental art methods for support social inclusion and personal development – Art and creativity activities in nature, work with ecological materials and etc.
11. Digital tools for creativity activities
12. Digital tools for networking and promotion social entrepreurship.
13. Europass Recognition tool for non-formal & informal learning of youth workers.

Introduction:

When you think about creativity what comes to mind? 

Usually we immediately have images of famous artists, painters or musicians. I think of great works of art hanging in galleries, plays and songs that have been written that set my soul on fire when we see and hear them. And yet we realize this is a limited view of creativity and since we are neither a famous painter or musician, what does that mean about our capacity for creativity in the world?

Through this training program we want to remind and show to all participants that creativity is not exclusively about having specialized artistic talent and it is not only for professionals in art. We often attach creativity to professional art and think that if we can’t draw, dance, sculpt or write music according some specific standards then we are not creative. We often think being artist or creative persons needs special gifts, special education or higher intellectual abilities. What about intellectual disabled people – oh, no, is not possible they to be artists or create as “normal” people?! 

All these prejudices will be broken and overcome during our project. We are all creative, every person could be an artist, including the intellectually disabled. Yet, we don’t often all fully realize it, embrace it, and embody it. 

Through this training program for youth workers, we will present and practice some methods for research, develop and expose the inner creativity potential of every person, especially of intellectually disabled persons. Developing and support the inner creativity of intellectually disabled youth is powerful instrument for social and work inclusion.

During the program team of artists, psychologists, special educators will present different creative informal educational approaches and techniques that youth workers could use in their inclusive work with intellectually disabled youth. We are going to use the power of voice, music, dance, painting, craft work, clay and other creative approaches to learn how to connect and include intellectually disabled youth. Special focus will be given on implementation of inner creativity and art for work inclusion and social enterprises development for young people with intellectual disabilities. The training program will be implemented with participation of trainers and experts from South-West University “Neofit Rilski” www.swu.bg. 

All potential participant should apply for participation by filling Online Application Form with a detailed description of their motivation and experience. 

Each applicant should specifically select this training program from all accredited projects of Foundation “For Tomorrow”! The hosting organization will select the most motivated applicants ready to participate actively in each stage of the project implementation and to continue working for social and work inclusion of intellectually disabled youth. 

Participants should have experience in creative workshops, education, training, consultancy, social work, volunteering and/or other activities for support social and work inclusion of youth with special learning needs. We especially looking for partners with experience in art and creativity work with young people with special needs.

Participants must be ready to participate actively in preparation, implementation and follow-up activities. They must prepare and present during the training program presentation about experience, present and future activities of their organization in the area of the project topic. They must prepare and present the culture of their country – by presentation, games, music, dance, food and other cultural activities. Every evening will have cultural program of each partner’s country.

The participants must be ready to multiply the results from the training program by public presentation of the training results and by implementation the new knowledge and methodology in their work with intellectually disabled youth. As follow up activity each organization should realize at least 1 public presentation and at least 1 workshop with youth with special learning needs by using learned during the project innate creativity tools.

During the program representatives of partner’s organization should discuss and create plan for next common activities and long-term partnership in the area of social and work inclusion of intellectually disabled youth.

Host organization:

Foundation For Tomorrow – Blagoevgrad , Bulgaria