On March 29-30, 2025, the Belarusian Association of UNESCO Clubs in partnership with the UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education and the State Educational Institution “Academy of Education” held a training seminar for volunteers “20 video lessons on healthy lifestyles”.
The seminar familiarized already experienced volunteers from the Association of UNESCO Clubs and Dance4life program, working with different categories of teenagers, including young people in difficult life situations, with 20 video lessons on healthy lifestyles and a methodological manual for their use. The videos and the methodological manual were developed within the framework of the joint initiative of UNESCO IITE and partners in the Republic of Belarus in 2024 with the aim of introducing the component of healthy lifestyles in the main school subjects, class hours, elective and other classes among pupils of 6-7 and 8-10 grades.
The 20 videos succinctly reveal key concepts and accessibly demonstrate reliable and relevant information in a fun and interactive way, while the methodological manual provides a detailed description of all the videos and offers educators practical recommendations on how to use them.
As a result of the workshop, 20 volunteers from seven cities of the Republic of Belarus deepened their knowledge in the field of coaching and peer coaching to conduct trainings in schools, teen-friendly centers and summer health camps.
Volunteers’ training activities reach a wide range of young people, including those with experience of breaking the law or at high risk of alcohol or drug use. Thus, at least 2,000 young people will be reached with prevention work by the beginning of summer 2025.
The experts at the seminar were Dmitry Subtselny (Chairman of BelAU), Valentina Shukan (Member of the Board of BelAU, consultant on puberty and reproductive health for young men in centers for adolescents), Alexander Alexeev (Member of the Board of BelAU, expert in the field of non-formal life skills education for young people), Yesenia Koshepa (expert of BelAU, coordinator of Dance4life program).
Also, Tigran Yepoyan, UNESCO Advisor on Education and Health for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, addressed the participants with a welcoming speech.
Photos and material for this article courtesy of the Belarusian Association of UNESCO Clubs. For more information on the BelAU, see the following link.