Youth empowerment: how to build GSAs in school?

COC-Netherlands and ILGA-Europe are jointly organising a capacity-building seminar on supporting youth to start GSAs in schools. GSAs are groups of LGBTI and non-LGBTI people that want to create a safer school for everyone. GSAs are often named Gay-Straight Alliances but can also mean Gender and Sexuality Alliance.

The event will take place in November in Amsterdam. There are 12 seats available for this training. If you are interested, please fill in this form and send it back by the 8 September to Sophie Aujean, Senior Policy and Programmes Officer.

What are the expected outcomes of this training?

• Participants know what a GSA is and the different forms it can take.
• Participants know how to support teenagers in schools to establish GSAs in schools.
• Participants are aware of lessons learnt from good practices and bad experiences when supporting teenage activism in schools and establishing GSAs.  
• Participants understand the links between youth empowerment, grassroots activism and the setting up of GSAs in schools. They feel confident to contribute to this youth empowerment.
• Participants identify the benefits and challenges related to building a GSA in schools in their own context.
• Participants know where to start and how to establish a GSA in schools.

Eligibility criteria:

• To be an activist working (voluntarily or as paid staff) for an LGBTI organisation member of ILGA-Europe.
• To be already working with schools (from primary schools to higher education) or intend to do so in the coming year (please provide evidence of this).
• To reside in one of the 28 EU Member States + Iceland + Liechtenstein

Please answer the questions below in less than 150 words each:

Q1. Describe briefly your organisation

Q2. Introduce yourself and your role in your organisation

Q3. What activities have you (or your organisation) been doing so far in the area of education? Are you working with schools directly? If not, do you plan to do so?

Q4. Are there already GSAs in your country in other areas (e.g. workplace) or in schools?

Q5. What benefits do you think establishing a GSA in your context could bring? What challenges do you foresee?

Q5. What are your motivations to attend this training and what are your expectations?

Q6. How do you plan to disseminate the learnings from the seminar?

Information on logistics:

ILGA-Europe covers the accommodation and travel costs of 12 participants, arrival on 6 November (afternoon) and departure on 8 November (afternoon). A daily subsistence allowance is provided. Please note that we might ask participants to share twin rooms.

Thank you very much for your interest in attending this training!