Flying Giraffes: How Nonviolent Communication Can Help Young People Spread Their Wings was an international Erasmus+ training course designed for youth workers who wanted to develop creative and engaging ways of supporting young people in emotional intelligence, empathy, and communication.
The project demonstrated how Nonviolent Communication (NVC) can be taught through play, creativity, and experiential learning. It focused on expressing feelings and needs not only through words, but also through movement, theatre, games, and various forms of creative expression.
One of the project’s unique features was the active involvement of participants in co-creating educational tools tailored to the needs of different target groups. Participants not only explored new methods but also shared their own practices and experiences from their daily work with young people, all grounded in the principles of Nonviolent Communication. This collaborative approach transformed the training into a space for mutual learning, exchange of good practices, and the development of practical tools that can be applied in diverse educational settings.
Throughout the training, participants acquired practical methods and activities that they could immediately integrate into their work with young people. These approaches support adolescents in developing emotional awareness, recognising and expressing their needs, and building healthy, respectful relationships.
The entire learning process was facilitated by Paulina Orbitowska-Fernandez, a Certified Trainer of Nonviolent Communication (CNVC). Alongside sharing her extensive knowledge and experience, she created a safe, inclusive, and playful learning environment that encouraged creativity, experimentation, authentic connection, and learning through direct experience.
Flying Giraffes also became a meeting point for practitioners already working with Nonviolent Communication. Participants inspired one another, exchanged experiences, developed new ideas together, and built an international network of collaboration that has continued beyond the end of the training.
A particularly valuable contribution to the project came from Ilaria Fresa from Nomadways (France). Throughout the entire training, she created graphic recordings (visual notes) that documented not only the group process but also the key learning points, practices, and exercises explored during the course.
Through her remarkable ability to synthesise complex ideas into visual form, Ilaria captured not only the essence of the project itself but also the spirit of Nonviolent Communication—its values, processes, and its way of fostering relationships based on empathy, authenticity, and mutual respect.
These visual notes are one of the tangible outcomes of the project and are available as open educational resources. They can be freely downloaded and used by educators, trainers, youth workers, facilitators, and anyone interested in applying Nonviolent Communication in education, youth work, and personal development.
👉 Download the visual notes here: https://www.fundacjamudita.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Flying-Giraffes-Visual-Notes_.pdf
Flying Giraffes was funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union, supporting international cooperation and the professional development of youth workers across Europe.
