Participant in the Online Facilitated Dialogue ‘Connect Programme’
Sara participated in Online Facilitated Dialogue as part of a course at her university. For eight weeks, she met with the same group of peers for a two-hour, weekly session to discuss topics like identity, religion and culture. In addition to free-flowing dialogue moderated by a trained facilitator, these sessions included activities and exercises to build skills for example in critical thinking and self-reflection.
“It felt enriching and relieving for me to find a place to discuss things important not only to me but to many around the world. Before, I did not prefer having conversations using technology but rather sitting with the person. With this activity, I broke this barrier and became aware that Virtual Exchange could be the solution to students like me who do not have the chance to travel at the moment, but want the intercultural communication experience.
I think Virtual Exchange could be our new portal into each other's worlds. We need to share our experiences directly with each other rather than from filtered sources, develop a better view rather than to stereotype. Participating in Erasmus+ Virtual Exchange made me want to strive towards more engagement with young people in order to have an impact on this world.”
