Empowering Voices: Human Rights & Inclusive Pedagogy is an interactive 5-day program designed for adult educators, trainers, and community leaders. Set in the vibrant, multicultural city of Lisbon, this course equips participants with practical tools, participatory methodologies, and human rights-based frameworks to address social inequality, encourage critical thinking, and build truly inclusive learning environments for diverse adult learners.

Duration: 5 days (25 hours)

Target:

– teachers working with all types of learners in both formal and non- formal context

– staff in educational institutions

trainers

Objectives:

– Apply Human Rights Education (HRE) principles to learning contexts and non-formal education frameworks.

– Identify and deconstruct implicit bias, discrimination, and barriers faced by marginalized learners (e.g., migrants, seniors, disadvantaged socio-economic groups).

– Utilize participatory, learner-centered methodologies (such as theater of the oppressed, story circles, and critical dialogue) to address sensitive issues.

– Design inclusive learning activities and curricula that promote social justice, active citizenship, and democratic participation.

-Network and collaborate with international education practitioners to build inclusive

European educational projects.

Programme:

Day 1 – Where Do Human Rights Begin?

09:00 – 10:30 Level 1: Presentation of training institutions, trainers and participants

10:30 – 10:45 Coffee break

10:45 – 12:15 Introduction to the programme, warmers and icebreakers

12:15 – 12:30 Coffee break

12:30 – 14:00 Level 2: Human Rights in our everyday practice – Presentation of tools and approaches participants already use

14:00 Free afternoon

Day 2 – Understanding the Adult Learner

09:00 – 10:30 Level 3: Core frameworks – Human Rights Education (HRE), intersectionality, and addressing privilege in the classroom with practical examples 10:30 – 10:45 Coffee break

10:45 – 12:15 Level 4: Deconstructing stereotypes and implicit bias in adult learning spaces

12:15 – 12:30 Coffee break

12:30 – 14:00 Creating safe and brave spaces for difficult conversations and vulnerable learners

14:00 – 18:00 Free afternoon

18:00 – 19:00 Tour Guide around Lisbon’s best-kept secrets

19:00 – 21:00 Dinner in a Typical Restaurant

Day 3 – Learning How to Teach for Empowerment

09:00 – 10:30 Level 5: Transformative pedagogy – Paulo Freire’s critical pedagogy and Augusto Boal’s Theater of the Oppressed

10:30 – 10:45 Coffee break

10:45 – 12:15 Level 6: Storytelling and narrative methodologies for social inclusion

12:15 – 12:30 Coffee break

12:30 – 14:00 Practical tasks

14:00 Free afternoon

Day 4 – How Can Tech Be a Support and Not a Stressor

09:00 – 10:30 Level 7: Gamification and interactive tools for teaching civic rights and active citizenship

10:30 – 10:45 Coffee break

10:45 – 12:15 Adapting learning materials to meet diverse accessibility, linguistic, and cultural needs

12:15 – 12:30 Coffee break

12:30 – 14:00 Addressing contemporary Human Rights challenges: Digital rights, climate justice, and migration in adult education

14:00 Free afternoon

Dia 5 – I’m ready to transform Education!

09:00 – 10:30 Level 8: Knowledge into action

10:30 – 10:45 Coffee break

10:45 – 12:15 Level 9: It all comes together

12:15 – 12:30 Coffee break

12:30 – 14:00 Closing and evaluation of the course

14:00 Free afternoon

Course details:

Course Fee: €400 per participant (5 training days × €80/day)

Includes:

• Course preparation and delivery by qualified trainers.
• Five days of structured training, including workshops, practical activities and group discussions
• Training materials and educational resources
• Administrative and organisational costs
• Certificate of participation
• Europass Mobility
• Pre-course coordination and participant support.

Not included: Travel, accommodation, meals and local transportation. These expenses are the responsibility of the participants or their sending organisations.

Available vacancies: 2 (for residents in EU)

Long-term ESC

• Activity start date: 2026

• Activity duration: 6 months

PROPOSED ACTIVITIES

The volunteers will participate in the activities of the European Programmes and Mobility Department, which may include:

• assisting with the logistical organisation of Spin’s international projects (Youth Exchanges, Training Courses, etc.);
• providing administrative support for Spin’s sending activities (Portuguese ESC volunteers or groups of Portuguese participants in Youth Exchanges, Training Courses, etc.);
• helping to organise and actively participating in Information Sessions about Erasmus+ and the European Solidarity Corps at the office, schools, seminars and conferences to promote the programmes;
• researching and collecting information on international mobility opportunities for Spin’s monthly newsletter, website, blog and social media.

Within the Image and Communication Department, volunteers will:

• contribute to the creation of written, graphic and audiovisual content and regularly update the blog, website and social media channels;
• prepare the monthly newsletter;
• design brochures, posters, flyers and other promotional materials;
• help disseminate youth-related opportunities and events through social media, as well as in the Carnide area and schools and universities across the Lisbon Metropolitan Area;
• document Spin’s activities and support their dissemination.

All volunteers will also support the management and staff of the SPIN Hostel by welcoming international groups, responding to requests for information, cooking and cleaning together with guests, organising cultural activities, decorating rooms and contributing to the hostel’s communication and promotion.

LOGISTICS & PRACTICAL INFORMATION

Travel costs – Round-trip travel (from the volunteer’s place of residence to Lisbon and back) will be reimbursed up to the limit established by the European Solidarity Corps distance bands.

Accommodation – Associação Spin will provide accommodation in a shared flat located as close as possible to the office and the city centre. Depending on the apartment’s location, volunteers may take around 45 minutes by public transport to reach the office. Volunteers will usually share a room with another volunteer, student or young person. Accommodation and related expenses are fully covered by Associação Spin. Alternatively, volunteers may choose to receive a monthly accommodation allowance and arrange their own housing.

Food & local transportation – Volunteers will receive a monthly allowance of €210 to cover food expenses and local public transport.

Pocket money – Volunteers will receive €180 per month as pocket money.

Working hours – Volunteers are expected to work 30–35 hours per week. The weekly schedule includes language learning, lunch breaks, social activities and time to develop personal project ideas.

Days off – Volunteers are entitled to two days off per week (which may not always fall on Saturdays and Sundays) and two additional vacation days for each full month of volunteering.

VOLUNTEER PROFILE

• We are looking for volunteers aged 18–30 who are open-minded, eager to learn and motivated to contribute to the project’s activities. 
• No specific educational background is required. We value a positive and proactive attitude, flexibility, tolerance, adaptability, motivation and enthusiasm.
• Knowledge of Portuguese is considered an asset but is not required.
• All applicants must be registered with the European Solidarity Corps.

SELECTION PROCESS

To be considered, applicants must complete the Google Form and send one single email to esc.spin@a-spin.pt containing:

• an up-to-date CV;
• a project-specific motivation letter;
• a short presentation about Associação Spin (the format is completely free—be creative! We encourage applicants to explore our website and communication channels before preparing it).

Application deadline: November 2nd 2026

Good luck!

Hosting Organization: Associação Crescer a Cores
Coordinating Organization: Associação Spin
Activity start date: 30 November 2026
Activity duration: 6 months
Vacancies: 1 (for female volunteers residing in Spain, France or Italy exclusively)
Application deadline: 2 November 2026
Application consists of: filling this Google form + CV, project-specific motivation letter and presentation (more info below)
Application sent to: esc.cac@a-spin.pt

Crescer a Cores – Associação de Solidariedade Social – IPSS is recognized by the Portuguese law as a charity organization. It is a non-profit association with regional reach and its main aim is to accompany and support the social inclusion of vulnerable children, youngsters and families, through providing community responses and services within the fields of psychology, education and health. The ESC volunteers will work mainly with the organization’s biggest target group: children aged 4 months to 4 years old. 

PROPOSED VOLUNTEER ACTIVITIES:

• Provide support to the educators in the daily activities for children aged 4-36 months old (general support, helping with meals, hygiene and cleaning, telling stories, puppet theatres, playing with the children, drawing and painting, etc.);
• Support in the organization of cultural events with families, children and local community by preparing creative informative materials, making contacts with stakeholders, arranging decorations and preparing the spaces for hosting the beneficiaries;
• Collaborating in local projects with the community on the frames of project “Pulsar” which promotes the dialogue, interaction and local interventions among neighbours and residents of the local council parish (Carnide);
• Participate in creating materials and activities & in the organization and implementation of celebration days and Summer activities with children.

Crescer a Cores intends to support the volunteers to create their own events or initiatives, in accordance with their principles and upon Board’s approval.

LOGISTICS & PRACTICAL INFO:

• Travel cost – The two-way travel (from place of residence to Lisbon and back) will be reimbursed up to the limit given by the distance band of the place of residence, according with ESC rules;
• Accommodation – Coordinating & hosting organization, Associação Spin, will provide the lodging in a flat as close to the office and the city center as possible. If the apartment is located in the city center, the volunteers will spend around 45 minutes to reach the workplace by bus and subway. The volunteers will have to share the room with another volunteer/student/young person (room and connected expenses are paid by Associação Spin). They may also – if so, wished by the volunteer – receive a monthly accommodation allowance and be solely responsible for finding and paying for their own accommodation.
• Food & transportation – A monthly allowance of 210€ will be provided by Associação Spin to cover food expenses and local public transportation.
• Pocket money – Every month the volunteer will receive 180€ as pocket money.
• Working hours – The volunteers are expected to spend 30-35 hours a week working. The daily timetable includes time for language learning, lunch, social activities and development of own project ideas, etc.
• Days off – Volunteers are entitled to two days off per week (usually Saturday and Sunday) as well as 2 extra days of vacation for every month of their voluntary work.

VOLUNTEERS’ PROFILE: WHO ARE WE LOOKING FOR?

Volunteers aged 18-30 years, open minded, eager to learn and motivated to work on the proposed project activities. It is not required to have any degree of formal education, but to have positive and proactive attitude, show tolerance, flexibility and capacity to adapt, motivation and enthusiasm. In this project, age and maturity are important due to direct work with small children and families in the neighborhood. We encourage applications especially from youngsters who already have some experience in volunteering or in working with small children and are, at this moment, available to commit to a long-term experience of volunteer work abroad. We will give some priority to candidates who have at least a basic level of Portuguese, however it’s not a requirement for the application.

All candidates must be registered with the European Solidarity Corps.

SELECTION PROCESS:

In order to be considered for the vacancies, each candidate has to fill this Google form and send (in only 1 single e-mail):

1. up-to-date CV,
2. project-specific Motivation Letter,
3. short presentation about an idea you would like to implement with the children (the format is absolutely free for you to choose, be as creative as possible).

The complete applications (CV + project-specific Motivation Letter + presentation) should be sent to esc.cac@a-spin.pt no later than November 2nd, 2026.

FINAL REMARKS (please read carefully):

• this project is already approved by the ESC Program;
• only candidates residing in Italy, France or Spain may apply;
• as this volunteer placement involves direct work with children, the selected volunteers will have to provide us with their criminal record certificates;
• we only accept complete applications that contain all the required documents;
• one vacancy has no assigned sending/supporting organization (we will partner up with the sending organization of the selected volunteer);
• In this selection process priority will be given to candidates whose profile is well-suited to the proposed activities and who can be considered fewer opportunities candidates;
• due to the high number of candidates, we are only able to contact the short-listed candidates (in order to invite them for a brief online interview);

GOOD LUCK!

All Spin Association’s projects aim to contribute to the dissemination and implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, unanimously approved by 193 UN Member States in 2015.