IMPLEMENTATION

IN & OUT- Innovation through thinking Out of the Box took place in Athens in Greece from 25 to 2 of May 2022 and was implemented by INPLANET organisation with cooperation with ACPELIA. The project manager was Nicolas Nikolaou and the trainers were Orfeas Kritkos and Erma Georgiou. The implemented activities were the following:

26 of April 2022

Day 1

-GETTING TO KNOW EACH OTHER:

Activity to break the ice between the participants and get to know each other. Participants were asked to make a creative name tag that represents them as personalities and afterwards in a circle each participant explained to others what he/she made and the reason that they chose these colors, shapes etc.

Another activity was to divide the group into two circles and the participants that were at the inside circle had to face the participants of the outer circle. Each participant from the outside circle took a paper and a maker and they had to draw a particular part of the face as the trainer asked for (eyes, nose, mouth etc.). Each time, participants of the outer circle had to move a step clockwise and to draw another part of the face of another participant. When they completed the drawing of faces, the participants of inside circle took place at the outside circle and vice versa, in order all the participants to have a portrait at the end. In this way, we had a portrait of each participant which had been drawn by various other participants. Afterwards, we put them up on the wall with an envelope underneath which was used to place some "presents'' and nice words by his/her "secret friend". Secret friend is a game that each participant takes the name of another "participant" and is trying to make something beautiful for him/her. 

-EXPECTATIONS, FEARS AND CONTRIBUTION:

We asked participants to write in papers their expectations, their fears and their contribution to the training. Afterwards, we divided the participants in three groups and each group had to create a poster either with expectations, fears or contribution and to present to us.

-MOON GAME/TOP TEN :

Everyone is standing in a circle. The facilitator takes a pen and draws in the air a figure of

a moon. Then everyone in a row needs to do the same and the facilitator tells if each participant did it correctly. There is one secret: before drawing a moon everyone must say "thank you"at the time when someone else is passing a pen to them. Nobody knows this secret at first, but while playing, more and more people begin to understand. The facilitator approves that a person drew a moon correctly only when "thank you" is said beforehand. The aim of the activity is to break the ice in the group and to create a positive energy.

Afterwards we explained about "TOP TEN" activity. Top Ten is quick game, that usually we play one time at each day before to start the session. At " Top Ten" the participants are playing in their national teams and first of all to have the right to play they have to be on time as a team and afterwards to find some answers in the game. For example, one question can be "Which are the top ten busiest airports in the world?". The aim of the game is to motivate and challenge the participants to be always on time and to act as a team. 

-THE ELEMENTS OF THE INNOVATION GAME

12 Circle Challenge

Overview

The task of this activity is to turn as many circles as possible into recognizable objects in only 4 minutes. Before participants begin, explain to them that the focus is not on the skill of the drawings. Rather, participants should be more concerned with getting as many ideas generated as possible.

Goals

1. Creativity: This activity will help participants to think outside the box.
2. Fluency and Flexibility: When you generate ideas, you are balancing two goals: fluency (the speed and quantity of ideas) and flexibility (ideas that are truly different and distinct). We know from experience that it's easier to have a great idea if you have many to choose from.

Conclusion

The goal of "12 Circles Challenge" activity is to help participants think outside the box. This activity offers a quick lesson about ideation. When you generate ideas, you are balancing two goals: fluency (the speed and quantity of ideas) and flexibility (ideas that are truly different and distinct). We know from experience that it's easier to have a great idea if you have many to choose from. But if you have a lot of ideas that are just variations on a theme, you might really only have one idea with eleven other versions. When you combine fluency and flexibility, you can generate a rich array of concepts to choose from. Moreover, this activity will make them more open-minded and creative people.

27 of April 2021

DAY 2

-INTRODUCTION OF THE PROGRAM

Our training was divided in two cores: Human Rights and Inclusion and Self Awareness/ Self Improvement. Orfeas did a small introduction about Self Awareness and Self Improvement and later Erma did an introduction about Human Rights by creating an Association Mind Map. In this exercise two participants are sitting in the middle of a sitting circle and are writing down all what the group says. There is a big flip chart in the middle where they write down the topic of the mind map (Human rights e.g.). Now all participants should tell their associations with this topic. No comments should be made, only associations. The two people write everything down, even personal conversations. This supports better concentration of the group and as well it gathers everything without judgment. This mind map can be used as a base for further creative writing processes (e.g. to pick expressions or ideas for further scenes in improvisation theater etc.).

-HUMAN RIGHTS-POST CARD STORYTELLING

In the middle of the plenary, they were many postcards and we asked from the participants to choose a card that are drawn most to it and after to create groups of three and draw to the paper as a group, having in their mind several questions as "What is inclusion or diversity for you?".

FROM POSTCARD TO STORY

Afterwards we asked them again to choose a card and to think which Human Rights topics they see in them and to share their thoughts. Every person had to choose one card and then to write a fragment (10-15 min approx.) about what this picture and the thought of Human Rights triggered them and get together with a partner and exchange stories. Afterwards, we talked about how that experience was and their feelings about this topic.

-INCLUSION ACTIVITY:

The group was divided into 5 teams and had to prepare a small scene. One team was visually impaired and must communicate with their eyes covered. 1 team was deaf-mute and must communicate without speaking. One team was in a wheelchair and must communicate without getting up from the chair. One team had mental disabilities and must communicate in their own language, English was prohibited. The other team had multiple disabilities such as diabetes, epilepsy, turret syndrome, food allergies. Each team had the task of finding methods to access the workplace / a space in the area. The Purpose of the performance was to understand how others feel in different situations, to discuss human rights and to be innovative and find solutions to adapt them in the situation in regard each time. Many people concluded that we may have self-knowledge, but it is difficult to have empathy, and this is an aim of all of us, because if we feel the other we can help him/her for the improvement of his/her condition of life and of the society in general. In addition, we concluded that the most important thing is to be educated respectfully starting from a young age.

-ONE STEP FORWARD ACTIVITY:

Our trainer Nikolas gave the participants scenarios that described specific physical or social characteristics. Each time, the participants were asked to take one step forward, when they were socially advantaged according to the character they were given. During the debriefing and evaluation, participants worked in groups and created posters that was related to social inequalities and discrimination in life, and they did a presentation about it.   

28 of April 2022

Day 3

-ON THE WAY TO UNDERSTAND OURSELVES AND OTHERS (PART 1 & PART 2):

We started the day with a meditation about self-love. Meditation can give a sense of calm, peace and balance that can benefit both your emotional well-being and your overall health. And these benefits don't end when the meditation session ends. Meditation can help to carry more calmly through the day and may help us manage symptoms of certain medical conditions. Afterwards, we gave them a paper with ten deep questions which help to the journey of self-discovery, and we gave them some minutes to wander alone in the venue and to write down their answers. When they came back, we divided them in pairs, and they exchanged their experience and their feelings. At the end, we did a debriefing about the importance of journaling as a tool and how helpful it can be. Journaling is a great tool for self-awareness and can help to control our symptoms and improve our mood by helping us to prioritize problems, fears, and concerns. Tracking any symptoms day-to-day helps to recognize triggers and learn ways to better control them. Journaling evokes mindfulness and provides a greater sense of confidence and self-identity.

-PRESENTATIONS OF THE PARTICIPANTS

Before training we gave the participants some tasks to prepare with their national teams for the training. The task was to prepare a presentation "out of the box" in a way they wanted to, about an innovative person and his/her life and the way they inspired the world (Bill Gates-Romania, Marie Curie-Moldova, Simone De Bouviour-Republic of North Macedonia, Hastings Reed-Ukraine, Elon Musk-Armenia, Jeff Bezos-Cyprus, Mark Zuckerberg-Georgia and Geta Thunberg for Greek team).The goal of the task was to think out of the box and to work as team and at the same time to find out common traits and attitudes that may these people have in common.

LEGO Challenge

Overview

The task of this activity is to build the lego

Goals

1. Improves organizational productivity: It engages empathy, collaboration, team spirit, organization or planning skills, creative thinking, working under pressure, leadership etc.
2. Improve team communication: When you generate ideas, you are balancing two goals: fluency (the speed and quantity of ideas) and flexibility (ideas that are truly different and distinct). We know from experience that it's easier to have a great idea if you have many to choose from.

Instructions

Step 1: Split the participants in 6 teams.

Step 2: Tell them to make the same structure that they have in front of them as fast as they can. Each round they have to make it faster and faster, so they have to work together very quickly and to find better strategy each time.

Step 3: Compare results.

Conclusion

The goal of the "LEGO Challenge" activity is to help participants think outside the box. This activity offers a quick lesson about ideation. The main goal of this activity is to improve productivity and motivation. Additionally, it will help groups break down political and personal barriers, eliminate distractions, and have fun. The benefits of team-building programs are so significant that many corporations have incorporated team building strategies into their standard training curriculum.

29 0f April 2022

Day 4

-CULTURE VISIT TO ATHENS CENTER

The Parthenon ( Ancient Greek: Παρθενών, Parthenon, Greek: Παρθενώνας, Parthenon's) is a former temple on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, dedicated to the goddess Athena, whom the people of Athens considered their patroness. Construction started in 447 BC when the Delian League was at the peak of its power. It was completed in 438 BC, although decoration of the building continued until 432 BC. It is the most important surviving building of Classical Greece, generally considered the zenith of the Doric order.

The Acropolis of Athens is an ancient citadel located on a rocky outcrop above the city of Athens and contains the remains of several ancient buildings of great architectural and historical significance, the most famous being the Parthenon. The word acropolis is from the Greek words ἄκρον (akron, "highest point, extremity") and πόλις (polis, "city").The term acropolis is generic and there are many other acropoleis in Greece. During ancient times the Acropolis of Athens was known also more properly as Cecropia, after the legendary serpent-man, Cecrops, the supposed first Athenian king.

Cultural significance

Every four years, the Athenians had a festival called the Great Panathenaea that rivaled the Olympic Games in popularity. During the festival, a procession (believed to be depicted on the Parthenon frieze) traveled through the city via the Panathenaic Way and culminated on the Acropolis. There, a new robe of woven wool (peplos) was placed on either the statue of Athena Polios in the Erechtheum (during the annual Lesser Panathenaea) or on the statue of Athena Parthenos in the Parthenon (during the Great Panathenaea, held every four years).

Within the later tradition of Western Civilization and classical revival, the Acropolis, from at least the mid-18th century on, has often been invoked as a key symbol of the Greek legacy and of the glories of Classical Greece.

Most of the artefacts from the temple are housed today in the Acropolis Museum at the foot of the ancient rock.

30 of April 2022

Day 5

-Discover your Creativity:

During the training, we were talking about how to think "outside the box", in innovative and creative ways. That day started with a little different way, trainers put on the floor big papers, markers, crayons, watercolors, balloons etc. and they didn't show up at the time they supposed to be there. It was a challenging activity to test themselves if they actually let their minds free and out of the "box". When the trainers came back, they discuss about the aim of the activity but also their thoughts and feelings about it.

-The Success Principles (Part 1 & Part 2)

The participants were introduced to the Success Principles and book. The Success Principles was designed by Jack Canfield and reveals the simple set of rules for success that led him to become the multi-million copy bestselling author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, and shows how anyone can follow these principles to achieve their own dreams. Greater levels of performance and achievement are attainable by anyone. This book offers the proven self-empowerment tools and time-tested performance strategies that are the basis for personal and professional success.

1. Take 100% Responsibility for your Life: The basic idea is that every outcome we experience in life (whether it is success or failure,wealth or poverty,health or illness,joy or frustration) is the result of how we responded to an earlier event or events in our lives. Most of the times you can't change the event but you always can change your response to the event.

1. Embrace Change: To be successful we have to change our responses to the people and the external events in our lives ( The economy,clients,customers,failures etc). There are only three responses we have any control over:

-Our Behavior (including what we say and how we say it)

-Our thoughts (and self talk) and beliefs (both conscious and unconscious)

-Our visual Imagery (including the images of the future)

3.Determine our Life Purpose: We talked and did an exercise on how to find our purpose in life and the difference between a purpose and a goal. A goal is a specific target we want to reach by a certain time. A Life Purpose, it's about using our natural talents and being a certain way or contributing in a certain way. It's that which brings us joy and fulfillment whenever we do it.

4.Setting SMART goals means you can clarify your ideas, focus your efforts, use your time and resources productively, and increase your chances of achieving what you want in life.SMART is an acronym that you can use to guide your goal setting.

To make sure our goals are clear and reachable, each one should be:

• Specific (simple, sensible, significant).
• Measurable (meaningful, motivating).
• Achievable (agreed, attainable).
• Relevant (reasonable, realistic and resourced, results-based).
• Time bound (time-based, time limited, time/cost limited, timely, time-sensitive).

1.Specific

Our goal has to be clear and specific,otherwise they won't be able to focus their efforts or feel truly motivated to achieve it.

2.Measurable

It's important to have measurable goals, so that we can track our progress and stay motivated. Assessing progress helps us to stay focused, meet our deadlines, and feel the excitement of getting closer to achieving our goal.

3. Achievable

Our goal also needs to be realistic and attainable to be successful. In other words, it should stretch our abilities but still remain possible. When we set an achievable goal, you may be able to identify previously overlooked opportunities or resources that can bring us closer to it.

4. Relevant

This step is about ensuring that our goal matters to us, and that it also aligns with other relevant goals. We all need support and assistance in achieving our goals, but it's important to retain control over them. So, we have to make sure that our plans drive everyone forward, but that we're still responsible for achieving our own goal.

5. Time-bound

Every goal needs a target date, so that we have a deadline to focus on and something to work toward. This part of the SMART goal criteria helps to prevent everyday tasks from taking priority over our longer-term goals.

5. Affirmations: Positive affirmations are statements that can help brighten your outlook on the world when you say them to yourself regularly or write them down in a journal.

6.Visualizations of the desired goals: Visualization techniques have been used by successful people to visualize their desired outcomes for ages. Visualization is really quite simple. You sit in a comfortable position, close your eyes and imagine - in as vivid detail as you can - what you would be looking at if the dream you have were already realized.

 ART THERAPY-VISION BOARD

Participants created their vision Board. A vision board uses pictures, symbols, graphics and words to represent what we want to achieve-our dreams and goals. Afterwards, they divided to pairs and shared their feelings. 

1 of May 2022

Day 6

-OPEN SPACE WITH PARTICIPANTS

As this day is International Labor Day and a national holiday in Greece, though it is more commonly called "Protomagia" meaning the first day of May. Protomagia finds its origins in ancient Greece as a celebration of nature's rebirth, spring, and flowers. The month May was named after the Greek Goddess Maia, who was linked with the Ancient Roman goddess of fertility, Bona Dea, whose festival was held in May.

To honor the day there will be many parades and other festivities around Greece. So, we decided to go to a festival near our venue and had fun for a few hours.

Many people traditionally go to the countryside for a picnic, to fly kites and gather wildflowers for a flower wreath called "Stefania" that people hang on the front doors of their houses to welcome spring. It is also the date for locals to attempt the first swim of the season.

-YOUTHPASS/EVALUATION

Reflection, evaluation of the program through a questionnaire, summing up and giving of youth passes.