Tirana, Albania was the host venue of Roots for Peace Expert Pool meeting on November 07 – 10, 2024. 15 participants from 9 countries (Albania, Armenia, Georgia, Germany, UK, Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Russia and Serbia) came together to kick-start a new project component that envisages to channel the skills and expertise accumulated during 3 previous Peace Work Institute sessions into specific initiatives and actions that will greatly shape the course of current phase of Roots.

The event served as an opportunity to create a safe space for the representatives from different PWI cohorts to meet, interact and share their knowledge and experiences, starting the meeting with the Roots staff providing a fresh update to the attending Alumni on the current phase of the project and the anticipated expectations from their concrete involvement into its key activities for the next few years.

The specific interactive sessions dedicated to: Politicizing and Empowering Young People towards Peaceworking (Andy Hamilton) and Roots Peace Award and Roots Legacy (Combined sessions by Adi Davies) helped the attendees to become better aware of past divisions and current peace-building  initiatives in Northern Ireland; and to delve deeper in the history and procedures of Roots Peace Award that has already gained widespread recognition and made a hugely positive difference for several recipient YMCA organizations across Europe. While the overview of Roots website and the accumulated legacy gave a food for thought on how to make sure that we convey our stories and at the same time preserve already rich history in the best possible way.

Exposure visits to YMCA Albania space was a wonderful occasion to get to know the work of our host better and to learn about the fruitful cooperation with the local municipality. A small, but a vibrant YMCA that is almost entirely run by volunteers and delivers digital skilling and community engagement programs, involving dozens of children on a daily basis; while evening trips to Kruja Castle and the town of Durres treated the participants with centuries rich history and traditions of Albania.

And then there was an exceptional local cuisine and overall great hospitality of Egla, the secretary General of YMCA Albania that went far and beyond to make our stay in her country as pleasant as possible. So it was no surprise that the evaluation session was full of praise and gratitude.

It was yet another reminder that YMCA is our shared home where everyone is always welcome and Roots is a project that safeguards the Peace!