September 2017: Fotoessa was certified in The Training of Trainers in Creative and Social Entrepreneurship Program (CSEP Training)

Fotoessa coordinated, trained and certified as a trainer (ToT) along with other non-governmental bodies, in the Social and Creative Entrepreneurship Program – Creative & Social Entrepreneurship Program (CSEP), a Cross-Network Action (CNA) held in Athens from 2 to 9 September 2017. It is an award-winning, University of Manchester-certified educational “good practice” that provides the necessary tools of know-how to develop creative projects and sustainable businesses.

The CSEP program is implemented internationally by the non-profit organization In Place Of War (IPOW) and helps individuals of any personal, educational, economic and social situation to design and implement their business idea, in terms of sustainability, contributing to the development and prosperity of both their own and their community.

The CSEP training program is specifically designed for people who usually do not have access to formal education or who have limited experience of formal education due to personal, social, economic or political circumstances, such as refugees and migrants. Indeed, the methodology of education designed by the University of Manchester is based on the Socratic method: the trainees themselves set goals and questions to which – through teamwork – they themselves give answers and solutions. Naturally, the CSEP program promotes intercultural dialogue, social inclusion and the economic development of vulnerable communities.

The CSEP program for training trainers was funded by the Anna Lindh Foundation and was attended by 20 participants (from the United Kingdom, Sweden, Germany, Lebanon and Greece). In addition to Fotoessa, the training was attended by:

Germany: Interstate corridors, Heimaten eV, Haus der offenen Tur / Smarts Up, Centre for Cultural and General Studies (ZAK)

Greece: Hellenic Foundation for Culture, NGO IASIS, Wind of Renewal, ANTI GONE

Lebanon: National Lebanese Commission for UNESCO (LNCHU), UTOPIA, AMEL, SAWA Association for Development

Sweden: bMETCE, STPLN, World Dance Company / Chalmers University, Swideas

UK: Review of the Reconstruction Society, Amani Creatives, Cakeface Makeup

  

«Socrates teaching his students”: mural from the University of Manchester