Together We Can
A project focused on strengthening intercultural competence among youth workers through non-formal education and ICT-based methods.
Our project was funded and implemented by the European Union and the Spanish National Agency (INJUVE).
We live in a time when more people choose to live outside of their home country than ever before. Over the years, around 72 million migrants have made their home in Europe. The European Union alone is home to more than 33 million people born outside of the EU. In addition, the most recent Eurostat figures show that more than 17 million citizens have moved from their country of birth within the EU to live in another EU country.
Demand for migrant workers to fill gaps in local labour markets is expected to rise as Europe’s population ages. Conflicts in the Middle East are forcing more refugees to seek safety in the EU. European societies are becoming increasingly ethnically and culturally mixed, and this trend is growing. However, even though societies are more mixed, conflicts between people from different cultures still exist, and in many areas cultures are becoming more divided.
The current situation requires more contemporary competences, methods and tools to be used by youth workers who already work with people from different cultures, in order to improve communication and cooperation for peaceful living together. If this does not happen, young people will continue to build stereotypes and prejudices, which will lead to hate speech, discrimination, conflicts and, in some cases, ghettoisation.
It is a fact that most learning experiences occur in formal environments, but non-formal education is a very important complement and a space where young people, if appropriately educated and motivated, can achieve great transformations in their lives. However, the lack of resources and competences that youth workers often face can affect the final impact and results of these learning experiences. Various researches have also shown that when people have enriching experiences with other cultures, they are more likely to embrace diversity.
The idea of this project comes from the need to provide various methods and tools that youth workers from culturally mixed areas can effectively use in order to develop their competences for working with young people from different cultural backgrounds.
The project’s target group includes NGO trainers, facilitators, mentors, coaches, project managers and coordinators who are working in culturally mixed areas and directly with youth on a daily basis. The project will gather participants from 10 countries.
The core activity of the project is a 7-day training course where the participants will:
- Discover various pedagogical approaches and methods;
- Analyse different aspects of culture and interculturality;
- Explore the migration situation, integration challenges and opportunities;
- Analyse the youth work situation, youth work competences, portfolios and different online and offline tools and approaches.
Methodology:
The training will be built on a participatory and “learner-centred” approach, where participants will experience various teaching methods and approaches throughout the course, which they can later apply in their own work.
The main aim of this project is to increase the competences of youth workers in intercultural communication and cooperation, and to provide a variety of teaching methods and pedagogical approaches that they can transfer into their local realities while working with young people on a daily basis.
More specific objectives arising from this general aim are:
- To recognise the unique importance of each culture, emphasising shared values and pluralistic identity.
- To increase intercultural awareness and understanding of different communication styles and approaches in multicultural areas by exchanging views and experiences.
- To promote tolerance, equity and solidarity among different cultures, nationalities, ethnic and religious groups, in line with Human Rights principles.
- To develop positive attitudes and behaviours that lead to less discrimination and more positive intercultural relations.
- To experience existing and alternative methods and tools for intercultural education in youth work.
- To improve participants’ facilitation skills, teaching methods and pedagogical approaches for working with youth.
- To inspire youth workers to implement new projects and activities for intercultural learning and cooperation in their communities and organisations.
- To promote the Erasmus+ programme and EU-developed tools and platforms as resources for youth workers for mutual learning and cooperation.
- To empower youth workers to use different formal and non-formal methods in order to improve their educational approach with young people.
- To develop their ICT skills for better project management and wider dissemination of information to larger communities.
