From May 14th till May 17th the Young Template of Peace: Slinky, Essence and Skills Transference Gathering will be taking place in Waunifor in Wales (UK). It is a four day get together of 50 participants from different ages, from 10 countries wanting to train themselves to get more skills that are needed to guide Y-Top and other youth camps. The last 7 years there has been an annual Youth Exchange with Y-Top partners. The non formal and informal methods and techniques developed over this period have led to success, with the result that the number of participants of the youth exchanges grows substantially every year. Some youngsters have participated for 7 years in this. These youngsters take on more responsibility every year. And they are asking for training to do this better. In consultation with them the following key areas have been identified to seek to both develop capacity within and develop competence in: 1. Improve Skills Transference Ability During Youth Exchanges we have found that skills are both developed by young people and also transferred between people, both younger and older. This is particularly true where someone has set themselves the goal of developing a skill and seeks a circumstance where this can happen. It can also happen when someone finds themselves in a circumstance that they are attracted to and they then discover the love of a new area. We have also found that somebody can transfer the essence of a skill or subject to a person who is seeking to develop that skill. This can also happen with groups of people who for example are able to catch the way of something during a workshop process. The workshop itself may provide the person with the challenge in a particular area and then in the process of engaging with the workshop new skills are developed. 2. Versatility and Competence Development Across Subject Areas For a Youth Worker (volunteers both young and old with a variety of backgrounds) being able to respond at the point according to learning needs and what’s appearing is a great skill. To do so requires versatility for Youth Workers across a range of subject areas and the ability to work with different cultural characteristics. We want to develop the competencies of Youth Workers across a range of topic areas. 3. Design of Workshops and Processes in the Context of Non Formal and Informal Learning We see that the design of workshops and processes that facilitate skills transfer and the essence of a subject is a vital competency. We have found that processes which are open, exploratory and prompt explorations about the future are very attractive to young people. We are now at a point where there is the possibility of engaging with more young people in further Youth Exchanges. In order to engage with more young people we need to know what works well in skills transfer and have more people who are skilled in this. There are 3 objectives of this gathering for Youth Leaders and Young People as follows: 1. To improve skills transference ability and to increase the number of people who are able to do this during youth exchanges. - To review and evaluate what has worked well in earlier Youth Exchanges. - To discover & understand how the coding of essential skills development and skills transference can be developed for better learning performance on youth exchanges. 2. To develop the ability to transfer vital skills using different media such as theatre, dance, magic, music, movie making, communications media, oratory and other techniques. - For young people and older to practice skills transference during the gathering leadership and workshop development. We all have the need to improves skills in this unique time of life. 3. To develop expertise in the design of workshops where both skills transfer and skills development exchange can take place. - To develop skills in working with new ideas as they appear in each person’s life and within groups of people to create a better future for all. - To find ways putting into practice ideas that encourage initiative within each person’s life and which encourage entrepreneurship. - Development of skills to enable young people to take greater responsibility in their own lives, within youth gatherings and also for a better future society. - Creating a workshop circumstance where transference of skills and knowledge takes place that has an openness, no judgment, is safe and where creativity is present. The 'Young Template of Peace: Slinky' in Wales will be hosting 50 people, consisting out of 41 youngsters and 9 Youth Leaders. The participants come from all over the world, and is made up of Youth Trainers, Youth Guides, young people in training to be Youth Guides. Attendees will be coming from countries such as: Italy, Turkey, Cyprus, Germany, Israel, United Kingdom, Denmark, Netherlands, Lebanon, Greece, Cyprus, Sweden.