On September 12, 2021, in the framework of the National Meeting of the members of the Anna Lindh Foundation’s network in Greece, which took place in Rhodes, we carried out a small Intercultural Citizen Education (ICE) workshop with two activities included in the Intercultural Citizen Education (ICE) program of ALF. The main axes of such workshops are usually capacity building and raising awareness, whereas the activities included tackle issues like human rights, diversity, inclusion, the concept of identity, stereotypes and prejudices, empathy and collaboration, critical thinking, etc.

We started with an original ice breaker activity that is called “Palm to palm”: the participants are guided by the facilitator to a circular rhythmic movement with their hands outstretched and their palms joined with the people next to them. This “dance” activates the dynamics of the group, because it “breaks the ice” in order to facilitate the subsequent verbal communication among the participants. It also has a dual purpose: to allow participants to define their personal space and maintain a distance that helps them feel “safe” and at the same time interact with the movement of those next to them, try to “follow” the flow and work together for the harmony of the human chain in which they participate. This activity is also “Covid safe” (that’s why we use A4 sheets between our palms).

Then, the activity “Human Bingo” took place, an activity for strengthening the group’s familiarity. This was an adaptation of an ICE activity from the ALF’s program on Intercultural Citizens Education in the Euro-Mediterranean region. It is an activity that we often use in the early stages of an intercultural meeting or training, where we want the participants to get to know each other better and come closer. When preparing the activity, we ask each participant to give us a piece of information about themselves that others may not know (e.g. –I don’t wake up easily in the morning, –I don’t like chocolate, etc.). This information is collected without names on A4 sheets in one column on the left, while on the right there is a blank column. At the beginning of the activity, it is distributed from such an A4 sheet to each participant. As in the game “Bingo”, the start is given and at a predetermined time (e.g. 15 minutes) the participants must talk to each other and look to find out to whom what information corresponds. The one who fills in the right column first and correctly matches people and information, makes “bingo” and “wins”. After that, the members of the group can continue to chat so that everyone can learn something about the others.