Background Development Perspectives has years of experience in development education programs and, through these activities, have built up leadership capacity in participants to become leaders for change in their own community and further afield. The experience of Development Perspectives in these areas of active citizenship ,leadership and employability . We are very passionate about social change through the empowerment young people to make a change in both their own lives and the lives of those around them.Public engagement is an important aspect of the work of NGOs as engaging people about the work of organisations can attract more followers and more participants for programmes, exhibitions, workshops etc. However, public engagement is also very challenging for many NGOs especially those which seek to address complex issues.Objectives The objectives of the project are: to explore diverse methods of public engagement, to highlight and explain the principles of effective storytelling, to examine the importance of values and frames and the role they can play in storytelling and public engagement for NGOs and to allow a space for participants to apply the principles of storytelling to their own organisation's public engagement.Number of Participants/profile There will be a total of 28 participants on this project. There will also be 3 facilitators facilitating this training course. The participants will be youth workers, trainers and volunteers who are 18 years of age or above.Description of activitiesThe activities will include a range of workshops exploring storytelling and public engagement. This will include basic principles and how each of these ideas link to each other. Near the end of the training course, participants will have the opportunity to practically apply their learning from the week. There will be also be nature-based activities throughout the project, most notably through the use of the Hero's Journey transformational educational model.Methodology Experiential learning will be very prominent throughout the project. Based on David Kolb’s experiential learning cycle, this approach will provide a holistic learning experience for participants. Based upon what is known about how adults learn, this is an appropriate approach given the age of our participants.ImpactParticipants will have an increased knowledge and understanding of public engagement. Furthermore, participants will also have a strengthened capacity to use storytelling principles when describing the aims, objectives and activities of their NGOs.Longer-term benefitsParticipants will act as multipliers within their organisations by providing advice and guidance in regards to communication strategies and public engagement approaches. Improved public engagement will help organisations to reach a wider target group. It will also, help create a clearer message of what the organisation does.