Training the staff of the static and mobile Safe Spaces to carry out educational and recreational activities with the beneficiaries – Ukrainian refugees and members of local communities – is one of the action lines of the Refugee Support Initiative project.

The Mobile Safe Spaces (MSS) aim to empower young Ukrainian refugees in the Republic of Moldova, especially from remote rural areas, as well as their peers in the host localities, through information and training. They provide human rights education activities, support youth participation in community life, prevent gender-based violence (GBV) by promoting gender equality and equitable social norms. Their program also includes Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) approaches, which aim to help the growing generation acquire the knowledge and skills to make good decisions about sex and sexual and reproductive health not only in adolescence but throughout their lives.

This includes menstrual management tools and menstrual hygiene products. Special emphasis is placed on leisure and socializing, sports, artistic and cultural activities, creating friendly contexts for interaction and dialogue. The activities are geared towards the formation of civic, communication and interpersonal skills, behaviors necessary for sexual and reproductive health, for a healthy lifestyle, for successful integration into social and professional life, social cohesion.

Each SSM team consists of 4 members (coordinator, youth worker, psychologist, driver) and is responsible for several target districts/municipalities, depending on the number of refugees, their profile, available local institutions and services (medical, educational, law enforcement, youth centers, youth-friendly health centers, libraries, cultural centers, community centers, placement centers).

The organization of the workspace follows the principle of focusing on quality and ensuring inclusiveness of the activities, with several zones, depending on the specificities of the group (children, young people, adults): learning, socialization, recreation, individual support (as needed).

The Refugee Support Initiative project, as part of the Humanitarian Response in the Republic of Moldova, is implemented by C.E. PRO DIDACTICA, in partnership with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)

The training system of the CONSEPT project, Critical Thinking for Professional Skills Training, continued on 16-18 April with the third module in an online version, using the Zoom platform.

The participants of the training, 12 teachers and masters who teach specialist subjects at centres of excellence, colleges and vocational schools, continued to examine the possibilities of applying critical thinking techniques, as well as linking the philosophy of critical thinking to the teaching-learning-assessment process. The formative values of critical thinking in areas such as electronics, IT, car servicing and transport organisation, combined with the examination of multiple intelligences, the development of communication skills in a professional context, were explored through the lens of interactive techniques from traditional ones.

Emphasis on communication, discussion, argumentation, especially in highly technical jobs, will hopefully bear the expected fruit. The main form of design and delivery of the approach was the model lesson. Sufficient space and time was reserved for debriefing, metacognition, immediate application and transfer to the subjects the learners were teaching.

The Moldova State University is continuing its efforts to promote EIC among educational community by strengthening partnerships with pre-school and school institutions. Thus, On April 12, 2023, at the Center for Didactic Resources for Intercultural Education of the Moldova State University, a training course on Methodology of Intercultural Education was organized for teachers and managers from educational institutions where pre-service teachers from the Faculty of Philology and the Faculty of Psychology, Pedagogy, Sociology and Social Work conducted their internships.
During training sessions moderated by Dr. Dorina Rotari, participants had the opportunity to develop intercultural skills and learn new educational practices in order to align with the challenges of multicultural schools. These sessions focused on fundamental aspects regarding the principles and dynamics of intercultural competence development, intercultural didactics, intercultural competence
assessment, etc.
Through this training, advanced experiences in the field of intercultural education were disseminated and acquired within the project “Promoting and developing intercultural education for pre-service teacher training” (phase 2), implemented by E.C. PRO DIDACTICA in partnership with 6 universities with a pedagogical profile in the country and funded by the Pestalozzi Children’s Foundation from Switzerland.