With this post we are continuing to inform You about our international projects that are frozen now because of the Covid pandemic. This Project will start at its full from the 1st September 2021.
What is polarization in simple words?
Polarization happens when people become divided into contrasting groups. … Outside science, polarization usually refers to how people think, especially when two views emerge that drive people apart, kind of like two opposing magnets.
The Capacity Building project “EuroMed Youth work for Intercultural Democratic Citizenship Preventing Polarisation” appears as a reflection on the role of youth work in preventing extreme polarisation affecting our communities and specially involving young people.
The main aim of the Project is to exchange best practices and develop innovative methodological approaches and practical tools through which youth workers, youth leaders and educators may engage with young people to explore root causes and develop competences to prevent polarisation and extremism through democratic citizenship and human rights education.
Through the project we are going to:
- analyse the role of youth work addressing the causes, consequences and dynamics of polarisation;
- build youth work competences to prevent extreme polarisation among youth groups;
- develop innovative youth work methodological approaches and practical tools to prevent polarisation;
- establish cooperation strategies and synergies among youth work organisations preventing polarisation in the Euro-Mediterranean area.
Events in our societies have brought the consortium of youth work organisations from Tunisia – Inno-Peace, Lebanon – Dialogue for Life and Reconciliation (DLR), Catalonia – Association of Human Rights Educators – AHEAD and Estonia – Trajectory@ to analyse the complexity of addressing polarisation within the youth work perspective and its potential to prevent its dynamics.
The project is supported by the European Commission Capacity Building in the field of Youth (CBY) Programme.
The programme includes the exchange of good practices as well as the development of initiatives in cooperation with other civil society actors. Among the de-polarisation methodologies that will be shared along the project there will be experiences in the development of Dialogue Circles, Living Libraries, Citizen Cohesion Spaces, Appreciative Dialogues …
The Project will include:
- The capacity-building event in Barcelona, hosted by the Catalan partner AHEAD – Association of Human Rights Educators;
- Local events, run in each partnership member’s context in Tunisia, in Lebanon, in Catalonia and in Estonia;
- And Innovation Practices meting in Tunisia, hosted by the Tunisian partner Inno-Peace;
- A number of coordination and preparation meetings online and offline.
In Estonia, we are looking for participants, contributors and collaborators for this Project in order to get involved in the preparation of the local or/and national event(s) as well as for participation in two international meetings. The Call will be launched by summer 2021.
