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X-Course Humanity Project

Starting Position
When looked at closely, it is impossible to imagine the current political debate about peacekeeping and peacemaking measures without the International Humanitarian Law and Geneva Conventions. Daily reports in the media about armed conflicts, ethnic cleansing, torture and abuse in every corner of the globe bear witness to endless human suffering. Ever since 9/11, if not before, it has become clear how important universal recognition of the basic rules of human coexistence is for us, because national and international conflict situations have become oblivious to national boundaries. The reciprocal effects and complexities of national, ethnic and religious conflict situations touch on the lives of people here at home.
The basic rules of the International Humanitarian Law and Geneva Conventions form the core of a canon of values which in turn form the foundations of human coexistence beyond all ideological and religious boundaries while at the same time encompassing common legal principles.
The values and agreements on which the International Humanitarian Law is based “will not bring us heaven on earth, but they will protect us from hell”, as the UN Secretary General once aptly put it.
It is all the more important, for the purpose of peace education, to communicate these values and rules and encourage young people to actively support these basic principles and to voice their support for them in the socio-political debate.

Mission Statement of X-Course Humanity Project
The underlying values and principles of the Geneva Conventions and International Humanitarian Law are at the heart of the debate. Values such as providing protection and help, the principle of mutual human respect, accepting responsibility for yourself and others are central to this.

The aim of the project is to heighten awareness of the ethical content of the International Humanitarian Law and at the same time to identify the basic rules and ideas in the real world inhabited by young people. This means a necessary livening-up of abstract concepts – the Geneva Conventions must be made real for young people in every sense.

Another aim is to support the learning process and to facilitate spheres of action and experience for the involvement of young people. They should have the experience of taking part with others in the development of an idea which began in Solferino and of being involved in the search for a way of implementing the fundamental humanitarian idea.

The Methodological Approach :“Not seek and ye shall find, but find and ye shall seek“
X-Course Humanity – the name sums up the programme. X-Course,...excursion,...a journey, an exploratory trip, an expedition into the “adventure of humanity“. This means a guided journey with the search for the as yet unknown destination “humanity”.
Equipment will be provided for this X-Course, which will help the participants in their search for ways to reach the destination “humanity”. Independent discovery, joint decision-making about which way to go and the experience of gaining ever greater insight into this unfamiliar subject area are the guiding methodological principles of this project.
Prototypes of tools have been created under the X-Course Humanity label which are appropriate to the level of understanding and experience of young people, in order to enable them to discover the values and principles of the Geneva Conventions and International Humanitarian Law and the positive effects for humanity.

The Tools
Three tools have been developed whose names reflect both the programme and the content.

Tool 1:
The Living Museum – Equipment case for the X-Course.
A compilation of exhibits from different eras of the work of the Red Cross in international conflicts, pictures and maps, “original costumes“ and accessories. By examining the “original” material and experiencing things from other people’s perspective (e.g. Henry Dunant, the women of Solferino), an insight into and understanding of the roots of Solferino can be gained.
Objective: To disseminate the origins, the roots of the Red Cross idea.

Tool 2:
The Workshop - X-Course box with creative material
Using classical methods of youth work (art, handicrafts, theatre etc.), young people can develop their understanding of values, of rules, of justice as the principle of cooperation between human beings. The creative process will facilitate investigation of and reflection on the subject.
Objective: To disseminate the subject of humanity of the Geneva Conventions through art/theatre.

Tool 3:
The Editorial Office – virtual studio for the X-Course
The editorial office documents the two above-mentioned tools and facilitates contact with the outside as an intermediary interface. The internet-based interactive platform created specially for this project (http://x-kurs.net) contains documentation relating to the individual project steps, and forms a growing fund of knowledge, opinions, ideas and results. The x-kurs.net site encourages examination of the subject and in principle has unlimited potential, even internationally. What’s more, a search software allows all kinds of searches to be carried out on the topics under discussion.
Objective: To disseminate the subject through technical media and stimulate debate.

All three tools come with instruction manuals, so-called X-Course Guides, which provide support, suggestions and information for each study group.

Organisation
The X-Course Humanity project can be implemented in schools, youth work institutions or youth groups in the form of project days. The number of participants should be between 15 and 25 young people. The length of the project can be varied. A duration of 2-3 days has proved to be successful, with week-long projects also a possibility, particularly in schools. As a rule the X-Course should be supported by trained disseminators, or so-called “friendly companions”. The friendly companion presents the project to the group and introduces them to the tools and their use. He or she provides initial support for the first steps and is on hand to give advice to the groups during the process if required. The project is largely based on principles of self-organisation, so that the young people can continue working independently, i.e. research the material and look for practical applications of the content.
Since all the results will be documented on the internet, advice could also be provided online, so that the friendly companion would not have to be with the group in person for the whole duration of the project.

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