December is a month of presents, and Roots got a major one last year when our application for “Be a Voice not an Echo” study session was approved by the Council of Europe.

Aiming to scale up the capacity and actions of YMCA Europe against hate speech using counter and alternative narratives as a tool, the activity will take place in the late November of the current year and will be implemented as a “ProFest” – one of the signature elements of the Roots.

The preparations for it, however, started almost immediately upon reception of the good news – an International Planning Team comprising Roots Staff members, Peace Work Institute Alumni and the invited expert from World YMCA was set up to ensure a smooth and uninterrupted process.

The global pandemic of COVID19 had a major impact on yearly plans of Roots and certain changes had to be applied to “Be a Voice not an Echo” preparation process as well.

Therefore, after quite intensive correspondence in written form, it was only on June 30th, 2020 that the Planning Team had the opportunity to convene for the first Online Zoom Meeting and discuss various items on the agenda, such as:

• the concept and background of “ProFest” as one of the most effective & major components of the Roots;
• Aims & Objectives of the study session and subsequent program elements to elaborate and assign;
• the conditions of participant enrollment and the date by when to launch the call;

The next meeting of “Be a Voice not an Echo” Planning Team is scheduled for July 29th, 2020