The trip was organised as part of a two-year international project entitled „End of Disaster: Undoing Crisis. Active Tutors Open to Reflective Education – EDUCATORE” (link). 

Together with the Polish team, teams from Croatia, Romania and Belgium are taking part in the project. This was the second meeting in the same group: in June 2022, the international teams visited Poland and were hosted at the APS for a two week period, participating in numerous activities - workshops and an International Conference.

The EDUCATORE project, supported by EU funding through the Erasmus+ Programme, is a training project. In an international setting, we are seeking answers to the question of the determinants of the psycho-physical well-being of teachers, future teachers and social workers in times of crises, and the tools for sustaining well-being and resilience, as we see it as an important factor in an environment that permanently supports children and youth in their recovery from isolation during pandemics and other traumas resulting from the crises experienced.

In June, one of the conclusions arising from the deliberations on the condition of participants in educational processes was the topic of the experience of voluntary work as a path to wellbeing. And it was to this form of activity that a significant part of the training and coaching session in Oradea was dedicated. The joint work was planned over five days: the proceedings started with a welcome ceremony by the authorities of the University of Oradea, honoured by a performance by the choir of the music faculty. The three days of work in small international teams were filled with, among others, workshops on the participants' understanding of the concepts of well-being, volunteering and answering the question "How did we survive and what did we learn for the future?" and conceptual work on scientific publications with the results of our research. 

The two following days of our stay were filled with an international conference entitled "Education for Volunteering", during which Prof. Anna Odrowąż-Coates and Dr. Ewa Dąbrowa presented a paper entitled. "Response to crisis through volunteering activity. Case study of Maria Grzegorzewska University, through the eyes of the participants” which focused on the commitment of the APS community to refugees from Ukraine, a speech by the chairwoman of the APS Volunteer Association, Ms Zuzanna Chałubińska, and 10 students in the APS tutor programme, including a duet of Aleksandra Sanecka with Dr Magda Lejzerowicz. A paper by Prof. Anna Perkowska-Klejman and Dr. Monika Czyzewska on volunteer activities during the war in Ukraine provoked an avalanche of questions and emotions. During the conference, APS students presented their numerous personal experiences as volunteers in a poster session.

In Oradea, we were welcomed with great hospitality. For this, we would like to thank Professor Florice Ortan, Director of the Department of Educational Studies and Teacher Education; and her team, led by Dr Julien F. Kiss and Dr Ciprian Simut, who ensured that our discussions, sometimes heated and sometimes full of humour, took place in beautiful settings - the historic museum and the modern university halls.
In the evenings, we also explored the city, admired the renovated Art Nouveau townhouses, experienced the beneficial effect of unhurried conversations... Oradea will remain in our memory as a city full of charm and friendly people.

This news report was prepared by Dr. Monika Czyżewska; Photos provided by Dr. Magda Lejzerowicz and University of Oradea.