During the visit, volunteers from two communities met offline for the first time, got an opportunity to share their goals and programs and do a creative workshop together.

Karine Aroyan, who was the program mentor for volunteers in Artik and Stepanavan cultural centers, led a creative workshop with young people to make the introduction of participants more interesting and productive.

Karine is sure that such visits promote decentralization of art and culture and contribute to the strengthening connection between communities: “We used the idea of “Drink & Draw” comics and assigned participants two exercises. Part of the group were assigned to use a “TV screen” to tell any message about their community which wasn't supposed to be real. For the other group we gave a divided four-part sheet of paper where one of the members must start a story, which other members were to continue, and as a result they created a complete story together. This kind of exercise helps young people to talk about the subjects that disturb them”.

The second part of the study trip was a visit to “Gyumri Youth House” open youth center, where volunteers of Artik and Stepanavan cultural centers exchanged their ideas and programs with volunteers and young colleagues of the center. The meeting was aimed to motivate volunteers to use the community resources and create more opportunities for self-education․