Mellem Education is an organisation born in Denmark in May 2012 that provides educational experiences in the form of trainings, workshops and events that focus primarily on freedom, democracy, conflict management, equality, decision making, intercultural and interfaith dialogue.
We have experience in organising and facilitating events on both the national and international level. So far our trainings have taken place in countries such as Denmark, Hungary, Germany, Poland, Armenia, Georgia, France, Netherlands, Sweden, Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, Tunisia and the US.
We see a great need for our work in today’s times. There is already a lot of conflict and division in the world; on a larger scale – between nations, cultures and religious groups, and also on a smaller scale – at schools, workplaces, between groups and between individuals. Many of these conflicts and divisions continue when we identify with one group or one ideology – that we are right and they are wrong; that we are good and they are bad. We rarely take a chance to explore who is the ‘we’ and who are ‘they’, and what is the nature of the gap between us?
Mellem in Danish means between, and our aim is to open up a space for dialogue and mutual understanding by exploring that gap in between. Our trainings use interactive group activities that are followed by reflections. These reflections are the doorway into understanding the other, because they bring each individual to confronting dilemmas in themselves. This means bringing the individual into seeing ‘the other’ in themselves, such that they can no longer externalise the ‘bad’ or the ‘wrong’ in someone else. We then allow the judgement of right/wrong, good/bad to dissolve such that we can see ourselves in each other.
Through these activities, participants have the opportunity to reflect on different behaviors, to question assumed boundaries, cultural differences and beliefs and to look from different perspectives. Through this exploration they learn about topics such as freedom, democracy or equality from within their own experience rather than conceptually. From this experiential understanding a more grounded action or change can come, better understanding of others, more openness, and availability for dialogue and cooperation.
Societies are becoming more divided while simultaneously becoming more connected. The ‘between’ is the potential to transform divisions into connections, and that is where you will find us.