The Networking event that was organised by the Department of Programs & Lifelong Learning (under the Directorate of Education) of the Municipality of Thessaloniki  in collaboration with KEPA, as part of the implementation of the Remicro LOCAL project, was an exceptional success!

The event entitled “Find your “Youthful” Value and make your Voice heard!” was held on Saturday, December 10, 2022 in the M. ANAGNOSTAKIS room at the Thessaloniki City Hall, on the occasion of the designation of 2022 as the European Youth Year (EYY), as an awareness-raising action for the young men and women of the city.

The aim of the event was to give young people the opportunity to participate in actions that focus on the continuous improvement, completion and upgrading of the knowledge, skills and abilities of individuals for the continuation of their personal and professional development, but also their active adaptation to the rapidly changing social and professional environment. In this direction, the guest speakers through an experiential approach and examples of their personal experiences, highlighted the importance of cultivating soft skills with a view to cultivating a growth mindset.

Specifically, Ms. Chryssa Herkeletzi, Business Coach, EMCC Accredited Practitioner (EIA) & Adult Educator, Certified by EOPPEP spoke about time management, starting with the key topic of priorities, presenting models for prioritizing tasks and goals, digital and non-digital tools that improve personal and our professional organization, among them the Pomodoro technique, as well as the enemies of “organization”, such as “time-stealers” and procrastination.

Afterwards, Ms. Mary Spathari, Psychologist, Organizational & Personal Growth Coach, developed the concept of the conflict and the possible benefits that can arise from it, so that one can face it as a potentially useful process, in terms of personal development and the improvement of interpersonal and social relationships. In particular, through a personal experience that she shared with the participants, the three dimensions of the conflict were understood: the interpersonal, the internal, and the social, conflict models, the role of empathy, and the power of vulnerability. Concluding, he highlighted the stages of escalation of a conflict, the role of communication and the use of words between those involved, as well as the concept of mapping and the practice of applying its steps, through “circular observation”, so that they are able to the stakeholder to analyze different conflict maps and explore alternative options that emerge from them, with the aim of resolving the conflict.

Finally, Ms. Phyllis Gavriilidou, Author, Coach, and co-founder of “The Brain Hacking Academy”, spoke about the importance of managing a change, stressing that adaptability is a skill, and those who have the ability to adapt to it, achieve the desired results for them. Change management is a structured approach to how individuals, groups, organizations and societies change, as they seek to move from an existing state to a future state, which is sometimes dependent on their own actions, and sometimes is consequence of external factors. She characteristically mentioned the phrase “Premeditatio malorum” which comes from Latin and translates as the foresight to foresee any undesirable events or situations. Summarizing, he added that this approach is similar to the stoic technique of negative visualization, but through the “Hack the Change” perspective, it is possible to design a “change strategy”, providing flexible, human-centered and knowledge-based experience, tactics for managing change.