#youthwork — Public Fediverse posts

I love the rainbow flag. It's such a strong and magical symbol. There are (at least) two versions often confused.

I'm privileged to travel for my work doing what I love. About a week ago, I went to Cascia in Italy, to hold a workshop on sensitising young minds to the challenges of equitable inclusion and participation. It was a mixture of the 10th-anniversary Social Hackathon and Peace Village. Symbolically, we carried a 25-metre "PACE" (peace) flag. It's a rainbow flag with the white letters of the word placed on it - sometimes it's even without the word. You can see how easy it is to confuse it with the pride flag. I sent the image to all my friends and acquaintances, because I felt this was a special walk, where a common appeal to peace beyond ideologies was delivered through poetry, by the youth.

Several asked what I was doing at the parade. Some ignored my message. To me, the peace flag, which Umbria has been carrying since 1961, represents camaraderie, or at least constructive acceptance among all. We're all children of the Sun's rays, after all.

That's what the event got right - prosperity built through difference, not despite it. The Hackathon part involved 8 young teams mentored by experts to compete in delivering tech solutions to build peace and tackle other Sustainable Development Goals, and twice as many smaller junior teams building applicable solutions for local communities. The Peace Village side was subtler: mindfulness, and responsibility for building and maintaining peace. With 46 nationalities in attendance, it was an enchanting 3-day event, giving hope when, at least to me, it was very much needed.

Anyone working with youth, pay attention to Umbria's Social Hackathons and C.R.E.A. Cultura Festivals. Challenging models to replicate (you need a highly driven team), but worth stealing from.

#SHU #SHU2026 #Education #PeaceBuilding #YouthWork #Cascia #Umbria

Some tools feel theoretical — these ones don’t.
They were built in real rooms, with real young people, during real moments when thinking needed more than answers… it needed space.

- Design principles for calmer classrooms.
- A debate framework refined across 300+ dialogues.
- Reflection prompts that help groups settle.
- Curiosity tools that turn tension into understanding.

https://open.substack.com/pub/associationredefine/p/tools-for-building-better-thinking?r=6l8ed8&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false

#Democracy #Education #CivicEngagement #EmotionalLiteracy #Facilitation #YouthWork