Meeting to validate tools in Sousse — Tunisia
From May 20 to 25, ASED proudly hosted a vibrant and inspiring Capacity Building Week in Sousse, welcoming partners and youth workers from across the Mediterranean as part of the Youth for Peace in the Mediterranean project.
This gathering was not only a follow-up to previous meetings held in Marseille and Cairo, but also a crucial milestone in the project’s journey — dedicated to evaluating, improving, and validating a set of educational tools designed to promote peacebuilding, coexistence, and social justice among young people.
Throughout the week, participants engaged in interactive workshops, peer-learning sessions, and hands-on testing of educational resources developed collaboratively by the partner organizations. The goal was to ensure that each tool remains impactful, inclusive, and adaptable to diverse educational and cultural contexts — allowing them to be used effectively across the region.
Beyond technical work, the week in Sousse provided a unique space for dialogue and exchange. Participants shared experiences from their local realities — from community peace initiatives in Lebanon and Morocco to intercultural youth programs in Spain and Italy — building bridges between diverse perspectives and approaches to peace education.
In a spirit of mutual learning, the group reflected on the challenges faced by young people today, including polarization, misinformation, and social exclusion, while exploring innovative strategies to foster critical thinking, empathy, and civic engagement.
The sessions also emphasized the importance of local ownership and sustainability, ensuring that peace education tools are not just theoretical but living resources that can be adapted by youth organizations, schools, and community groups throughout the Mediterranean.
As the host organization, ASED facilitated several field visits around Sousse, offering participants a glimpse of Tunisia’s cultural heritage and the daily realities of local youth. These moments of connection reminded everyone that peace is not built in isolation — it grows through shared experiences, understanding, and collaboration.
By the end of the week, partners reached a shared vision and a clear plan for the next phases of the project, including national dissemination events and stakeholder meetings to present the developed tools and outcomes to educators, NGOs, and policymakers.
The Capacity Building Week in Sousse marked a significant step forward in the collective effort to empower young people as agents of change. Together, the project partners reaffirmed their commitment to fostering dialogue, empathy, and active citizenship across the Mediterranean — laying stronger foundations for a region guided by peace, inclusion, and mutual respect.