About the seminar

MS Action Aid Denmark is the largest Danish development NGO and in Denmark MS engages in political campaigns to create global justice as well as training youth to be active Global Citizens. Every year, MS hosts International Leader Training Seminars with a total of 120 participants from across the world who are interested in thinking global and acting local. Your participation in the seminar will qualify you to lead international volunteer groups making social change. This could be leading international workcamps or leading volunteer groups in NGOs doing campaigns.
The main focus of the seminar is to develop your leadership skills and the topics covered include:

• Communication
• Project management
• Facilitation and group dynamics
• Motivation and empowerment
• Conflict management
• Cultural understanding

You will learn to lead groups by doing: you will be in charge of leading a group through a mini-campaign at the seminar. This hands-on experience with peer feedback and supervision will strengthen your personal competencies to lead a group and you will gain experience relevant to your education, job or organizational work
After the seminar you can become active in MS as a leader of youth camps or campaigns - see more here

Pedagogical Approach

The seminar is based on the following educational principles:

• Learning-by-doing and experience-based learning: You will not be receiving academic lectures, but you will get ‘hands on’ tools and real life experiences that will develop your skills to analyze, reflect and act in leadership situations. Your learning is also supported by feedback and supervision from your co-participants and trainers.

• Active Participation – Your active participation in group work, workshops and other exercises will drive your learning. We expect you to be engaged and share your experiences – so that others can learn from you and you from them.

• Fun – The seminar is going to be hard-working, playful and serious fun: Being among 60 like-minded young people from all around the world is never boring!

The trainers at the seminar are MS volunteers educated in training and facilitation as well as experienced in leading workcamps, campaigns and other projects. See more about MS' Training of Trainers education here

Comments from last year’s participants

“I was surprised that learning by doing is so efficient and how much you can actually learn from other peoples experiences”

“I had never expected it to be so much fun and also being able to get to know 80 different people and talk to them as if we had been friends for some time already. I’m really surprised by the environment created”.

“It was great to be with participants who never wanted to act ‘too cool for school’ and could really engage in everything from theory to (silly) energizers”

“I feel more confident now… I know my strengths and weaknesses better than before”.

“I’ve learned a lot about myself probably sparked by being forced to interact with people and reflect on actions, feelings and learning all the time”

Opportunities after the seminar

In general, the seminar will develop leadership skills that you can use in your NGO, organisation, job or study back home. The seminar is also recognised by many international workcamp organisations and therefore you may be able to lead one of the over 3000 workcamps organised around the world each year. If you live in Denmark, you have the opportunity to use your new skills as a volunteer in MS.

Volunteering in MS

MS is one of the largest Danish development NGOs. In Denmark, MS works to educate the Danish public on development issues, and engages in political campaigns to create global justice. Volunteering is a key part of this work – for example running campaigns on Fair trade or doing international workcamps. The seminar qualifies you to become a workcamp leader or lead volunteer campaign groups in MS:

Leading workcamps in Denmark
The seminar qualifies you to lead an international workcamp, which is a way of thinking globally and acting locally. A workcamp consists of a group of 10-20 volunteers from a number of countries and 2 leaders. They carry out a project in cooperation with a local community. The project could be community development tasks such as social, cultural, environmental, construction and renovation work; or campaigns. The duration is generally 2-3 weeks. MS organizes 10-15 international workcamps in Denmark each summer.

Volunteering in campaign events in MS ActionAid Denmark
Fair Fælled Fair Trade Festival
The National Collection
Global Justice Fighter – starting global groups together with MS on universities and high schools

Volunteering in ACTIVISTA groups

Participate in further MS ActionAid trainings
Training of Trainers
Global Change
Campaign Seminar

Facts about the seminar

Dates: Wednesday 31st of March – Monday 5th of April (this is during the Danish Easter) and April 29th to 4th of May.
Price: 240 euro
Place: MSActionAid, Fælledvej 12, 2200 Copenhagen
Working language: The language of the seminar is English.
Number of participants: 60 + 10 trainers.

Participation fee

The fee includes: Full board, materials at the course, and lodging in dorm rooms typically with 15 beds per room.
The fee does not cover: Transportation to Denmark; visa costs; insurance; pocket money or per diems.
Travel reimbursement: NB: There is NO travel reimbursement for the seminar.
Reimbursement of participation fees for workcamp leaders in Denmark or Greenland: At the seminar, you can apply to become a leader of a workcamp in Denmark, and if you are selected for the task, your participation fee will be reimbursed. But this will happen when the seminar is finished.

Visa info

For participants who need a visa to Denmark, we will send an official invitation letter to the Danish Embassy in the city you mentioned in the application form as soon as possible. Please check their website or contact them in advance to see the requirements to obtain a visa.
http://www.um.dk/en/menu/AboutUs/Organisation/MissionsAbroad/MissionsAbroad.htm

Read more about the Danish visa rules on http://www.um.dk/en/menu/ConsularServices/ShortStayVisas/ShortStayVisas.htm
http://www.nyidanmark.dk/en-us/coming_to_dk/visa/when_is_visa_granted/when_is_visa_granted.htm

If you are in doubt if you need a visa for Denmark, check
http://www.nyidanmark.dk/en-us/coming_to_dk/visa/who_needs_visa.htm