ARTS AND ACTION
THE PROJECT
The project would address "social exclusion" through arts (music, poetry, photography, story telling, painting) and action (volunteering). Through the project young people would learn to develop themselves and caring and compassionate citizens as well as developing skills that would be transferable.
The objective of this project is to involve 60 YP (16-30 years of age) in 3 countries in order to:
1) Explore what YP understand by social exclusion (through the use of the arts and interview techniques)
2) Provide them with first hand insight into how groups who are less fortunate overcome adversity (through interviewing)
3) Reduce isolation, builds community connections and increase employability skills in YP (through volunteering and skills development).
4) Raise awareness of social issues and attitudes in each country (through the use of arts, exhibitions and events)
5) Encourage YP to come together and share their learning (through international get together where YP can exchange reflections, best practice)
The issues and needs we want to address are:
1) Lack of social cohesion. Many young people felt worried about the way in which an influx of migration was being reported in the press. "This is only a trigger, it has been around for a long time - our society has always had divides. I feel that this is an issue here" (English YP). We want to help YP identify what issues society faces when it comes to cohesion (be it race base, age based, ability based)
2) Lack of youth empowerment. Young people feel powerless to change their situation. In this project we would like to highlighting the link (and opportunity) between YP and the impact that they have on societal cohesion. For example, Poland, a country of some 38.5m inhabitants, has enjoyed almost uninterrupted economic growth since the collapse of communism in 1989 and it is experiencing its longest period of prosperity for centuries. It has a population is both ageing and shrinking because of emigration and one of the lowest fertility rates on the continent. Youth unemployment – well above the OECD average at 24 per cent – is not conducive to reversing these trends. By illustrating how young people can both reduce isolation and find meaningful potential work opportunities, we hope to redress this trend. We also want to focus on the development of youth leadership skills especially when it comes to taking care of the socially excluded members of society.
3) Lack of skills. This is especially the common at a time when YP can easily disconnect from the world of work, especially those with fewer opportunities and perceived barriers to enter a good University course/career/job. We want to help them develop good employability habits and skills and provide opportunities where they can put them into practice (through volunteering)
4) Lack of voice. Many YP feel that they do not have a voice and presence in society. This project is about celebrating YP and society - we will do this through the creation of art (music, photography, illustration etc) in the service of others. We would like to spread good practice around youth participation to partners who have not such a broad experience and create a web presence for the project so it can have an extended reach.
IMAGE GALLERY
