How share with young people values of freedom, tolerance and democracy?
How to support the youth workers in the prevention of radicalism and marginalization?
32 participants – 27 youth workers and leaders, 3 trainers and 2 support staff – coming from Greece, Poland, Portugal, Italy, Albania, Spain, Portugal, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey and Bulgaria met each other to work on the topic of the prevention of the phenomena of Islamophobia and radicalism.
From the 11th to 18th June 2017, the training course SALAAM – preventing the rise of radicalism and Islamophobia through Art has been held in the Eco-villaggio solidale “Fiori di Campo”.
The training course SALAAM aims at providing youth workers with effective tools to prevent the social exclusion of young people which may bring to radicalism. Youth workers play an important role in our society, especially in empowering and activating synergies useful to involve youth in active citizenship and prevention on any potential marginalization.
In this framework, SALAAM has increased the youth workers’ capabilities to work for a global integration of migrants and youngsters with fewer opportunities by using non formal and innovative educational tools, in particular Art and the Reciprocal Maieutic Approach by Danilo Dolci.
Moreover, the training course has provided tools to fight against Islamophobia, a growing phenomenon in the European communities because of fears, stereotypes and ignorance of migration flows. The 7 creative working days were composed of group-building and outdoor activities, Creative Thinking and artistic workshops allowing to all the participants to actively contribute to the contents of the training programme.
In order to deepen the topic of the reception system of migrants, a visit to the Centro Astalli in Palermo has been organized. At the end of the visit, the method of Living Library has been organized by involving a group of young migrant who shared their own life experience. The Living Library is an innovative, simple and concrete way to promote dialogue, reduce prejudices, break stereotypes and foster understanding between people of different ages, gender, lifestyles and cultural background. The difference is that reading the books during this method does not have to go through the pages, but … talk to them, because books are people.
This process has activated an honest exchange of visions and the results has been fruitful for both the groups involved.
Finally, on the 16th June 2017 participants organized a performance based on the Theatre of Oppressed. This methodology has allowed to catch the attention of people on acts of discrimination leading to marginalization migrants and other people. Moreover, an exhibition of the results of the creative workshops – with pictures and comics on social topics – has been presented.
SALAAM – preventing the rise of radicalism and Islamophobia through Art is a project funded by the program Erasmus+ KA1: Mobility of youth workers.
The partnership holds together 13 organisations:
- Coordinator:Centro per lo Sviluppo Creativo “Danilo Dolci” (Italy);
- Fondacia Savremennost (Bulgaria);
- Inter Alia (Greece);
- Scola Profissional Do Montijo (Portugal);
- Fundacja Wspierania Rozwoju Innowacji i Kreatywnosci “InnCrea”(Poland);
- Ayuntamiento De Murcia (Spain);
- Lykia Izcilik Ve Doga Sporlari Kulubu Dernegi (Turkey);
- Pertej Barrierave (Albania);
- Youth center Derbent (Bosnia and Herzegovina);
- Mladiinfo Montenegro (Montenegro);
- Montenegrin Association for New Technologies – MANT (Montenegro);
- Iuventa Nevladina Organizacija Udruzenje (Serbia);
- Student Association of Serbia (Serbia).
For further information, please contact alberto.biondo@danilodolci.org.