In May, Mosaic is featuring snapshots of Active Global Citizens who take action toward a more just and peaceful world in their daily lives. How do you contribute? Let us know!

‘Hunger Issues’ addressed the right of every individual to be free of hunger. The goal of this Mosaic project by CISV Pittsburgh was to educate the JB and local youth about hunger issues in Pittsburgh (which are also relevant on a global scale). A hunger activity along with an informational presentation on hunger challenged participants to consider how hunger affects their local population and how they can help those in need.

This story is about a Mosaic project which took place in Jacksonville, USA in 2011. The project replicated a CISV Village for local community children in 5th grade representing different cultural, school or other community groups, every socio-economic level as well as all areas of the county.

On March 5th, only 2 weeks ago, your newsfeed may have been filled with friends sharing the KONY 2012 video. The rapid sharing and praise was also quickly followed by criticism which ranged from questioning the facts that the video presented, criticism on oversimplifying a complex issue, and further questioning about the organisation, its motives and its funding. Regardless of personal opinions surrounding the video it has demonstrated 2 incredible things...

In March and April Regional Mosaic Trainings will take place at three Regional Training Forums, in Egypt, Guatemala and Philippines. Here you find all necessary information...

In 2009 CISV USA and CISV Canada began talking about the idea of doing a joint project between the two countries. They quickly realized that a common issue that they faced was member retention of JBers (Junior Branch members) ages 18-25. The idea of Summit was raised as a medium to develop this age group.
In 2011 the project was realized...

A group of CISVers in Munich (Germany) decided to bring together young people to present the greatest festivities of their native countries to one another. The idea of this project was to help the kids and youth developing an understanding that even though traditions can be quite different, what is always the same is the unity with friends and family, the joy and warmth of the celebration.

Read about this inspiring project on sustainable development initiated by CISV Norway in collaboration with CISV Colombia!

"Die Welt bei uns in Lörrach" - "The world with us in Lörrach" has not only been the first but also the most successful Mosaic project in Germany so far. Inspired by "national nights" in CISV camps the Chapter asked parents and kids of different cultural backgrounds to present their native country to local kids. Not just the German kids enjoyed learning about other countries, but also the "foreigners" appreciated the interest in their origin. The project started off with 17 participants and has now reached the peak of over 50. Italy, Lithuania, Nepal, Peru... the cultural diversity in this small city is impressive.
How about you? Who lives in your neighbourhood?

Here a short video about the project. A Lithuanian women turned out to be a famous singer in her country. She is singing in the video.

RTF Austria Mosaic 2011 from Safiya Dhanani on Vimeo.

Have a look at this amazing and huge environmental project run by CISV Indonesia.

Who would have expected a woman to become the 'mother of a revolution' in a society in which women were traditionally treated unequally? A week ago, 32-year-old Tawakkul Karman, mother of three, was honoured with the Nobel Peace Prize because of her courage and initiative taken in Yemen during recent uprisings. Karman has a vision of a more just and peaceful society – a vision we, in CISV, can only support.

Imagine the population of the world was turned into a small community of 100 people, keeping the same proportions we have today...
In the Miniature Earth project numbers and facts are presented based on this assumption thus making it much easier for individuals to understand and value their own social, cultural and economic situation in straight relation to others.
Did you know that almost half of the people live without basic sanitation, 18 of a hundred without direct access to water? Only 8 of a hundred have internet access – don’t we just take all this for granted?
 

The International Mosaic Committee is excited to announce that the 2012 Regional Mosaic Trainings will take place at three Regional Training Forums, in Egypt, Guatemala and Philippines. For the people that can't wait to attend our Regional Trainings you can still attend this year RTF in Gratz.

This week, the The International Mosaic Committee (IMC) meets in Bali, Indonesia. The committee is looking for motivated, committed and Mosaic-experienced people to work as Trainee members of our committee during the 2011-2012 year. Interested? Read on. 

The IMC is looking for individuals who are interested in sharing their positive experiences with Mosaic. We believe that you can inspire other individuals and chapters around the world to take action in their communities through Mosaic. So, we would really appreciate if you would like to help us by sharing your Mosaic story.

In the age of Facebook and Twitter feeds, most of us have developed a certain survival mechanism around selecting which pieces of media we consume. I mean by this, that since we simply can't read every article, watch every video or listen to every song that pops up on our Facebook feeds or on our favourite blogs, that we learn how to make quick judgments. Watch this. Skip that. And so on.

When I came across this video, on a friend's Facebook wall, about a project by a group of high school students in Massachusetts, I almost chose to skip it. 15 minutes seemed kind of long. But I liked the name of the project and was pulled in by the simple caption that accompanies the video: This year, I was part of a pilot program at my public school. So I watched.

Seven people from Japan, Thailand, Indonesia and New Zeeland tells their thoughts and views about the Mosaic program.
 

The Swedish Mosaic Committee made this really nice movie that shows different Mosaic projects from different parts of the world. Have a look, show it to your friends and tell the world about the great peace educational work that people and chapters are doing!

 

Wael Ghonim is a Google executive who helped jumpstart Egypt's democratic revolution with a Facebook page memorializing a victim of the regime's violence.

Here, There and Everywhere: Learn more about Mosaic and become a Mosaic trainee at the Regional Training Forums in Dallas, Perth and Vllnius. Sign up now!

Cairo: During these turbulent days in Egypt, the International Mosaic Committee, together with the Egyptian Mosaic Committee, are proud to share this short video, which comes from a recent Mosaic training that took place in Cairo last month. Mosaic believes in building communities through education; it is our hope that it can play a part in building a more just and peaceful Egypt over the next generation.

People from Indonesia, Greenland, Israel and Norway shares Three Words from their Mosaic experience.

Graz: It was in Italy 2008 when, after some ideas have been discussed years before, a graspable idea for a Mosaic project in Graz came up. In fall the same year, a group of friends, all but one with strong CISV background, came together to give birth to the project "Culture Beat. Viel Graz - ein Rhythmus". It should be a camp for youth living in Graz with all different kinds of background, socio-economical, migrant, cultural, religious, lifestyle, etc. The overall goal was to raise awareness for Graz as a multicultural city and awaken a desire to actively contribute to the city's atmosphere.

BÅSTAD-BJÄRE: It all started as a thought, a thought about why the society is as it is and how I and everyone around me is being a part of it. The next step was the thought about norms in the society and especially norms around relationships, sex, sexuality and gender identity. It became a Mosaic project named, Sexual Healing.

The CISV Youth Art Exhibit was be a community event that took place in Victoria, BC. Youth, both from CISV and several community organizations submitted their art work on the theme of Sustaining Peace. The art was then be displayed over the course an evening alongside short descriptions about how the art work reflected the theme. 

At AIM 2005 in Thailand the CISV International board took the brave and the important decision to approve Mosaic as a programme. Since then we have seen a big development in the programme. This year we have done an evaluation based on our projects in the last three years. At AIM in Berlin this year, Per and Ico, respectively former and present IMC chair, presented the results to the board and now we would like to share them also with all the CISV community.

VIDEO: Ben from the US basically explains why he likes Mosaic and what good things can come out of it!

Tokyo: Mosaic projects aspire to build community through education. By harnessing the power of Peace Education, Mosaic engages people in local issues that matter to them. Mosaic projects are easy to do, but to really do them well, project coordinators and staff need training. Mosaic is like a tool. And like any tool, you need to learn how to use if you want to use it well.

Beirut: Lebanon has always been an extremely diverse country – counting over 10 different cultures in terms of background, faiths and languages. The reason I mention is due to the curious aspect of diversity: over the years it has been disfigured and as a result become a source of conflict, rather than growth. This is where CISV, and more importantly, Mosaic comes in: “We appreciate the similarities between people and value their differences”. Instead of respecting and celebrating Diversity, it is used as a tool for manipulation.

Inspiration. Some weeks ago we asked our friends on Facebook to share with us suggestions of books and films that inspire active global citizenship and creative community collaborations. Thanks to the kind contribution of Linnea, Babsi, Monica and Gail we have come up with this incredibly inspiring list of resources that are really worth reading and watching. We hope that they will inspire all of us to take initiative in our communities and become agents of change!

Campinas: The first Mosaic project in Campinas, Seeding Culture, was a joint project of the Campinas chapter and NAS (Social Support Group). NAS is located in a poor neighborhood of Campinas and helps not only children but their families as well. They have a library with some books for older kids, but just a few books for children.

Inspiration: at JB Lebanon's National Junior Branch Meeting in September, the participants were asked what it was that they would like to see worked on this year with CISV. After some long discussions, we decided to get to the core: Inspiration.

VIDEO: People from Austria, Spain, Finland and Norway shares Three Words from their Mosaic experience.

Victoria: What about giving Juniors the chance to practice in their local community all the things they learned in their summer programmes? This is exactly what happened thanks to the Mosaic project that took place in Victoria, Canada. The Juniors organized a so called “Photo Exhibit”, a combination of photos and films. They partnered with several other organizations in Victoria that are involved in international and intercultural youth programmes. They invited those youth programmes to share their photos and films about what they do with the community.

Big Ideas: Mosaic is an amazing programme. It is constantly developing and growing, learning from its experiences and improving itself in the process. And although it mostly relies on the amazing work of volunteers like you and I, it also needs to extend outside of its bubble and learn from other organizations that share similar visions and goals.

Announcement: The International Mosaic Committee is excited to announce four 2011 Regional Mosaic Trainings that will take place in Lithuania, Austria, USA and Australia. Regional Mosaic Trainings are interactive three-day workshops that build attitudes, skills and knowledge for active global citizenship at the community level. These workshops are challenging and inspiring, and leave participants feeling empowered to be agents of change.

Berlin: Ideas on what people would like to change within their local community and how they would do it. Everything starts with an idea, and when you have your idea you can turn it into reality. To make a Mosaic you need to find something you’d like to change in your local community and you also need to figure out how you’re going to do it.

Big Ideas: This August, Mosaic International celebrates its fifth birthday. The project-based community education programme was first created by a small group of educators over a three-day workshop in Milan in 2004. This group believed that vibrant, just and peaceful communities are built through education.

Big Ideas: Yesterday was a Saturday, and there was a light mist of rain across the town where I live, and I woke up early so I could go to the farmers market. The market takes place weekly at the showgrounds, in a number of big tin sheds, but you have to be there before 10am if you want to get the best produce. I hadn’t had any breakfast, so first of all I stopped off at a little stall near the entrance for a hot chocolate and a slice of cake with elderflower and dates.

Buenos Aires: This project worked to provide participants with the attitudes, skills and knowledge that would ensure their success in this year’s community projects. We planned a one-day workshop that would help them gain these attitudes, skills and knowledge. Eleven youth came to spend a Saturday with us. We had the chance to help them start planning their community project.

People Profiles: My name is Elisa and in 2008/2009 I was senior National Junior Representative of the Italian Junior Branch. I really wanted the JB to work on an interesting, concrete and actual theme and I thought that a Mosaic Project would be the best way to do it. So I gathered a bunch of interested JBers and we gave birth to a Mosaic Project about Human Rights.

Quito: In recent years Quito has improved its sanitation and environmental care, but this is primarily the work of the city officials and the Mayor. The role of the community in accomplishing significant changes has been amazingly small. The levels of pollution in certain parts of the city are shocking and, since adults have become passive. towards this situation, we thought this task should then be appointed to kids. 

Big Ideas: For the last year and a half my brain has been turned into an evaluation mode. I joined the International Mosaic Committee with a specific task: working on the design of a program evaluation. And despite what most of you might think, it’s been a very exciting and challenging time. Having worked on designing a program evaluation has been a huge challenge, and has made me revalue the role and the importance of evaluation.

Milan: This year the CISV chapter of Milan (Italy) decided to focus its attention on a really interesting theme: the power of television. Since television occupies a wide period of time of everyday life, the staff wanted to make participants learn about how much television actually affects every relationship we have. We often use television in our daily life and we probably haven’t thought about the actual influence it has on us. Can television be utilized in a positive way?

I was the Project Coordinator for the Mosaic project Tillsammans that took place in Malmö, Sweden. It was a week long day camp for children 10 to13 years-old from all over the city. Malmö is a very diverse place with people from all over the world so the idea was to cross the city's borders by using creative media like music, dance and drama. At the end of the week, the group put on a big performance for family and friends. We had 30 kids and 13 leaders that worked together. It was magic!

This is the video of the Mosaic Project "Killer Fashion Revolution" that took place in Finland in 2010.

Inspirations: The idea started in East London by a community worker of 25 years. He believed that it was time to find new ways to create change in society and wanted to create a space where people could come together to make that happen.This site reaches out to all ages and focuses on the small things we can do everyday that can add up to make a really big difference.

Helsinki: Killer Fashion Revolution is a project about transforming war related fashion to promote human rights. A lot of the clothes we wear are related to war without our knowing it. The idea of Killer Fashion Revolution is to track these clothes and transform them to new garments that promote human rights. By recycling some of our war related clothes and transforming them to promote human rights we take a stand for a more just world in a creative and fun way. 

Möndal: In the summer of 2009 CISV Möndal, Sweden arranged a Mosaic Project called Mosquito Camp. They were inspired of Mosquito Tactics, a book about Peace Education and the theme was Culture of Peace. They turned a traditional CISV camp into a Mosaic Project. Here are some thoughts from one of the Project Staff, Jesper Nilsson.

Inspirations: Ico Bertolani is the incoming chair of the International Mosaic Committee. He writes: If you believe that changing the world is a crazy mission for you, CISV and Mosaic, then you're in good company: "Only individuals that are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do".

Big Ideas: The top-ten in-demand jobs in 2010 did not exist in 2004. This means that schools today are today preparing young people for jobs that don't yet exist. One could ask, how this is possible? The ability to process knowledge and knowing how to learn combined with the research and analytical skills needed to face the future will not come only from what we do in classrooms...

Bogota: We are true believers that it is possible to impact positively the community we live in. Even though is not easy some times, with the right help it is possible, we have seen it… we have even taken part of it. It’s us locals doing something for the community we live in, an opportunity to give instead of just take. This project has all been a joint effort between the local Mosaic coordinators, an International Peoples Project and our Partner Organization, the School of Community Justice of the National University of Colombia. 

Victoria is one the most beautiful cities in Canada, but it has a growing problem with graffiti and tagging. It is difficult for small businesses to keep up with the taggers so having a mural is long time solution. It is far less likely for a tagger to tag a mural than a blank wall. CISV Victoria’s JB has painted a few murals, starting back in 200 with Local Work to help businesses cover up and deter graffiti.

Abidjan: Côte d’Ivoire is experiencing a crucial period in its troubled history, when key aspects of the 2007 Ouagadougou Peace Agreement in 2007 are to be fulfilled. The launch of the census in 2008 and the elections scheduled for 2009 are milestones in this process. The heads of government continue,very slowly,to help the country emerge from crisis. But these are all first steps in the right direction.