Regional Studies Center - “The Rocky Road to Peace”

“The Rocky Road to Peace” Youth Exchange

“The Rocky Road to Peace” Youth Exchange
21-30 October 2013

The Regional Studies Center (RSC) hosted a youth exchange in Yerevan from 21-30 October 2013 entitled, “The Rocky Road to Peace,” which brought together 40 young people from Armenia, Georgia, Belarus, Ukraine, Slovakia, Romania, Italy and Poland. The main aim of the exchange was to promote the “culture of peace” among the young leaders and to encourage them to act as “peace-builders” in their own communities.

The specific objectives included:

gaining theoretical knowledge on conflict management and peace-building;
obtaining practical skills to act as peace-builders;
discussing “best practices” and assessing failures of non-violent peace-building actions;
preparing guidelines in terms of messages or concrete action examples for young peace-builders;
sharing experience and learning from each other;
creating an informal framework and platform for future cooperation in the field;
experiencing intercultural dialogue and communication with peers from different parts of Europe.

The exchange was based on non-formal learning methods and included teamwork exercises, outdoor activities, simulation games, participant-led workshops, evaluation and debriefing sessions. The views, needs and expectations of the participants were taken into account in all stages of the project. The project was funded in the framework of the European Commission's Youth in Action programme.

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As Armenia faces an unprecedented combination of threats and challenges, we each have a part to play in helping the Armenian nation. But after standing on the frontline committed to the defense and development of Armenia for over twelve years, our think tank, the Regional Studies Center (RSC), is now asking for your support.

As a think tank in Armenia, we focus on contributing to Armenia’s public policy process by providing analytical support in the areas of foreign policy, national security, defense reform and diplomatic strategy. We further seek to strengthen statehood and support statecraft by engaging with Armenian state institutions, including ministries and parliament.

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Thank you,

Richard Giragosian
Director, Regional Studies Center (RSC)