From August 27 to September 4, a Young Expert (YEP) training took place in Nairobi for the entire Blue Deal YEP group. Monique Zwiers, learning officer at the Blue Deal Programme Office, joined the group.
The training in Nairobi was part of the learning programme of the YEP group that was established specifically for the Blue Deal. Last year in September, a training also took place in Leidschenveen, the Netherlands, at the start of the YEP program. The Yeppers are now halfway through their two-year programme. Zwiers: “They can put the lessons learned during this training week into practice in the coming year.”
During the week, attention was paid to various training sessions during the first 3 days. Zwiers: “The training courses are not so much about water themes, but are often focused on personal development. In this way, the Yeppers become increasingly aware of their own position within their organization and how they can influence their team.”
Exchanging knowledge with each other
On Thursday there was an excursion to the Thika Basin dam, where they received an explanation about water management in the area, which serves as a water extraction area for Nairobi’s drinking water. Furthermore, a tree nursery was visited in the area where trees are grown to protect the banks of the Thika basin.
Zwiers: “During such an excursion you see that the YEP people ask all kinds of substantive questions and also discuss substantive themes with each other. With that idea in mind, we also started a Blue Deal ‘tailor-made’ YEP group. So that if we bring them together, they can really learn from each other substantively and thus strengthen the knowledge within the Blue Deal programme and spread it within their own partnership. With YEP we want to train young people and thus grow a group of good professionals within the partnership.”
Training ‘Train the trainer’
On Friday, the Yeppers received a ‘Train the trainer’ training, so that they can also provide training themselves. Zwiers: “They were very enthusiastic about that. Now we hope that the group will connect with existing Blue Deal initiatives, such as the Communities of Practice, where we share knowledge on a number of themes.”
Movies
A ‘Make a film with your smartphone’ workshop took place on Saturday. All participants made a video. We highlight a few of these videos in this playlist.