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III. Guidelines and learning resources for delivering empowerment workshops

Our suggested workshop
This module is a step-by-step guide for planning and delivering a workshop on social and
professional empowerment for people who face socio-cultural, economic and geographical
disadvantages and/or disabilities. The suggested framework for a workshop of social and
professional empowerment is organized into five sections. A relevant workshop can be delivered
by one or two facilitators/trainers, while a small group of participants is recommended. Ideally,
the number of participants should not exceed 20 people. A tip is to try to have an increasing
diversity among participants, if possible. This will help in building more valuable relationships
among participants, and each of the following activities can be more easily adapted to their
respective characteristics. The language of the workshop can be the local language of every
partner’s country (this module is available in English, Greek, Spanish, Romanian, Bulgarian and
Polish).
Furthermore, invited speakers could be included in the workshop’s programme in order to cover
some interesting relevant topics and provide motivation to the participants through their personal
stories of success. Small sessions for the invited speakers can be added among the main parts of
the workshop.
Being inspired by the main components of the empowerment process, proposed by Cattaneo and
Chapman (2010), we have created a basic structure of the workshop, which is divided into five
parts dedicated to a specific purpose.
Part 1: Social Interaction

Part 2: Professional Skills
Part 3: Empower Yourself
Part 4: Action & Impact
Part 5: Reflection

Part 1: Social Interaction

The first part of the workshop aims to help participants to get a better understanding of themselves,
their values, their mutual interests and common values in an attempt to fully comprehend and
define personally meaningful goals for their social and professional life. Through the suggested
activities, participants will receive motivation to cultivate a sense of gratitude for their personal
characteristics, differences and similarities with others, to realize the value of their authenticity,
and to define and accept their own fears and comfort levels. Furthermore, it is recommended to
start the workshop with some ice-breaking activities, such as those suggested below and try to
create warm and relaxing atmosphere, encouraging participants to get to know each other.

Project 2019-1-BG01-KA204_062299
The content of this material does not necessary reflect the official position of the European Union.