Tandem project manager Hatem Salama does one of his famous ice-breakers Tandem comes to Odesa From 23 to 27 September, 140 members of the Tandem family - participants from three Tandem programmes, alumni and the team - are coming together in Odesa. For the first time, we are trying something new – and logistically very challenging: we are gathering participants from three different programmes together in one location. Tandem Turkey, Tandem Ukraine and Tandem Shaml will all have their Final Meetings at the same time, in Odesa, a city with a strong feeling of locality and diverse cultural identities that we hope our participants will discover together. Photo by Olga Zarko We find it important to bring our network – the Tandem Family – together in this way to create as many opportunities as possible for encounters, exchanges, and making connections between people and our programmes. All our participants face similar issues and challenges, which they experience in different social and political contexts. This joint meeting will offer a space for everyone to discuss their experience and to learn from one another. Internal Agenda Flow The schedule for the five days will include: each programme’s Internal Meetings on 23 and 24 September, followed by a Network Day on 25 September, and two Exchange Days on 26 and 27 September. The Internal meetings will follow the usual Tandem methods and organisation, with each programme holding their final meeting in parallel. They will then all convene during the Network Day, in which they will also be joined by Tandem team members and alumni. There will be a chance to learn about the participants’ Tandem journeys, using our Most Significant Change method, and the afternoon will be devoted to discover Odesa and its local context, all together and joined by local guests. The last two days of the event will be Exchange Days, during which all participants will have the chance to share their experience, knowledge and passion through a series of workshops. There will be 16 sessions in total offered by 34 Tandemians, including screenings, interactive workshops and discussions covering a wide range of topics from implementing social art projects with disadvantaged groups or in official institutions, to alternative ways for rural tourism and different methods to work with in the performing arts. Downloads Tandem-Final-Meeting-Exchange-Days-Programme.pdfPress-Release-Tandem-Joint-Final-Meeting-in-Odesa.pdf While this event is not open to the public, we will share insights throughout our social media – you can follow us on Facebook and Instagram – and we will share further stories on the Tandem website.  Our partners Tandem is an initiative of European Cultural Foundation and MitOst e.V. Each programme round is implemented with regional partners: Anadolu Kültür (Tandem Turkey), Culture Resources (Tandem Shaml), Insha Osvita (Tandem Ukraine) and supported by various funders, Stiftung Mercator (Tandem Turkey), Robert Bosch Stiftung, Stichting DOEN and Mimeta (Tandem Shaml), German Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Tandem Ukraine). We would like to extend our thanks to our local partners and hosts in Odesa: NGO Art Travel: Tandem Ukraine 2016-17 participant and our local host for the meeting. Impact Hub Odessa: Our main venue for the meeting. One of the recent co-working spaces for the creative minds of Odesa to gather and produce together: IQ Space: Our venue for part of the Exchange Days sessions. Another cosy co-working space of the city. You can learn more about the various Tandem programmes on our dedicated page, or browse the map below to see which Tandem partnerships are coming to Odesa. Discover more about the Tandems coming to Odesa.