The main aim of this project is to raise awareness of the shared value of diversity, thereby contributing to the creation of an inclusive society in participating countries. Youth from various countries will come together during the project activities to connect over stories.
With this youth exchange, we would like to continue the practices we have started with organising our first youth exchange in June 2018. Share your story! Youth Exchange was an engaging experience for youth interested in storytelling and the sharing of cultures! In 2019, we organised "Story Hunting: Theatre as a tool to share values", which was an improved version of "Share Your Story!". We noticed that many youngsters were keen to share their stories and improve their competencies through theatre methods, which were fun and engaging. That's how we've got the idea of the exchanges. Some dancers and youth musicians involved in the exchange suggested that we hold another exchange focused on music and dance. With this music-and-dance edition exchange, we would like to take our ideas about sharing cultural diversity through artistic methods to the next level. This time, we will use music and dance to foster sharing, cultural exchange, and learning about diversity. Music and dance provide a good basis for discussing important issues on the modern social, cultural, and political agenda. Music and dance offer an opportunity to express in ways that are open to interpretation, as well as provide storytellers with a broader toolkit to reach their communities. During the youth exchange, we would like to encourage youth to dance their stories and express them through music, and to invite the wider public to dance the stories together and make music together.
The project has the following specific objectives at its core:
- Raise awareness of diversity and send a message: “Celebrate diversity!” With the youth exchanges, we want to show that there is nothing shameful about our differences; instead, we can embrace, appreciate, and celebrate them!
- Develop cultural awareness and expression by exploring music and dance as key ways of communication. With this youth exchange, we would like to encourage youth to tell their stories and express their authentic selves. Every person has a story to share!
- Encourage youth to explore various opportunities that dance and music offer for the expression of their own values and the values of their communities
- Increase the sense of initiative and entrepreneurship through involvement in the creation of a public dance performance
With this project, we aim to foster understanding of different cultures by appreciating their differences and becoming active members of an inclusive society that respects human dignity and cultural diversity.
Activities
The 11-day youth exchange focuses on storytelling through dance and on sharing cultures through our traditional dances. In this youth exchange, the idea is to share ideas through diversity, storytelling, and artistic methods to deepen knowledge of cultural differences and combat discrimination. We would like to send a message with this youth exchange: "Dance your story!" With this youth exchange, we would like to welcome everybody in the Catfarm community to promote living in harmony, use dance as a tool to bring out the best in yourself, and increase awareness of diversity around us.
All 30 participants of the exchange correspond to the following criteria/have the following background:
- Motivated to participate in the youth exchange and contribute to it as much as possible with one’s own ideas and dissemination of learning.
- Aged 16-26;
- Interested in the topic of the exchange and the language of dance as a way to talk about it;
- Eager to learn and have experience of communicating with other young people in an international environment;
Impact
The project is designed to impact not only the group of young people but also a wide range of stakeholders and the wider public. The participants will learn about various positive attitudes, which will be practical recommendations for implementing in daily life, even beyond the youth exchange. The project will impact the Catfarm community and also the local community in Poussan, which is rarely exposed to internationals and different cultures. In addition, we will organise and invite local youth to our final events/performances. We want to foster eco-friendly attitudes in the participants. We will travel to the project by train to minimise CO2 emissions. We expect this impact to occur not only locally during the exchanges but also in the participants' communities and on an international scale. We expect the youth from this youth exchange to organise and create new youth exchanges with other countries across Europe.
Coordinator: Stichting Adventures of the Valparaiso
• Start date 01-05-2020 • End date 31-07-2021
• ASOCIACION CULTURAL Y MEDIOAMBIENTAL PERMACULTURA CANTABRIA 🇪🇸 Spain • Catfarm Education 🇫🇷 France • Mano Europa 🇱🇹 Lithuania • ORIEL APS 🇮🇹 Italy • SDRUZHENIE WALK TOGETHER 🇧🇬 Bulgaria
2020-1-NL02-KA105-002955