Young migrants and refugees have entered European countries but they haven’t entered the public sphere. When they do, it is as characters in other people’s stories - desperate faces, surging hoards and floating bodies - something ‘other’. We rarely hear from young refugees as experts or legitimate voices - even when the news agenda concerns their country of origin. Migrants, it seems are only allowed to be migrants. There are many organisations, media-makers and activists across Europe who want to change this. ‘Displaced In Media’ will bring them together to create a collaborative infrastructure that supports the training of a new generation of young citizen journalists drawn from Europe’s refugee and migrant diasporas. At the heart of this will be 9 organisations working with young refugees and media across Europe: European Cultural Foundation (Amsterdam); ZEMOS98 (Seville); Association of Creative Initiatives “ę” (Warsaw); Les Têtes de l’Art (Marseille); MODE Istanbul; Fanzingo (Stockholm); Kurziv (Croatia); Here to Support (Amsterdam) and The British Film Institute - Future Film (London). This community of practice - who have already designed the ‘Displaced in Media’ together - will focus on four linked areas of activity, which correspond directly to the objectives of the Erasmus+ programme. First, we will organise and participate in a 5-day residential training course for 9 organisations, 9 other facilitators who have experience of working with young refugees and media and 9 refugee citizen journalists. Second, we will develop, test and distribute a shared methodology - useful for all organisations seeking to work with refugees and media in Europe. It will be developed in a training course and a transnational partner meeting.Third, to show the value of this work, we will collect and spread 100 videos made by refugees which are known to and made by participating organisations. Fourth, in a multiplier event, we will contribute to wider policy debates about how european governments create the conditions that enable Europe’s new citizens to become a part of the public sphere. All over Europe people who work with media and young people are drawn to working with refugees and migrants. But this practice is often isolated - many groups are going through the same issues and challenges, but distance, language differences and time are all barriers to them learning from one another - and stop policymakers learning from them. This is why we need to work transnationally and we are committed to building stronger networks of like-minded organisations and sharing methods. It is also why our approach - whether we are learning from one another, with policy makers, experts or refugees - is one of peer learning. The great refugee crisis is a new event - there are no clear answers to how europeans should best welcome and live with their new neighbours. It is only through learning from one another that we can find the answers together. Learning gathered from and interrogated by many organisations working together creates knowledge which endures. All organisations involved in Displaced in Media are committed to using, sharing and putting into practice what they learn and sharing it within their networks. It is this commitment to extending and applying what is learnt in this project, which will make it more sustainable and in turn will ensure that ultimately, some of Europe’s newest inhabitants, also become its active, visible and more equal citizens.
Young migrants and refugees have entered European countries but they haven’t entered the public sphere. When they do, it is as characters in other people’s stories - desperate faces, surging hoards and floating bodies - something ‘other’. We rarely hear from young refugees as experts or legitimate voices, even when the news agenda concerns their country of origin. Migrants, it seems, are only allowed to be migrants. Across Europe, individuals and collectives of journalists, media makers, cultural mediators, activists, teachers and researchers are trying to break through the power structures that stop the most disadvantaged from being heard. They are paving the way for the production of media in their own community in a bottom up and inclusive way. They are setting up their own platforms where alternative voices are highlighted and they are making links to mainstream media and other important platforms. Through the strategic partnership Displaced in Media some of these practices were connected and enabled to exchange knowledge, methodologies and experiences. This community of practice is creating an infrastructure that allows underrepresented perspectives to be heard in the public sphere. From this emerged contacts and networks, a pool of knowledge and educational methodologies, channels and strategies to reach general audiences, and also increased awareness among policymakers. At the heart of community this were nine organisations working with young refugees and media across Europe: European Cultural Foundation (Amsterdam); ZEMOS98 (Seville); Association of Creative Initiatives “ę” (Warsaw); Les Têtes de l’Art (Marseille); MODE Istanbul; Fanzingo (Stockholm); Kurziv (Croatia); Here to Support (Amsterdam) and The British Film Institute - Future Film (London). This community of practice - who designed the ‘Displaced in Media’ together - focussed on four linked areas of activity, which corresponded to the objectives of the Erasmus+ programme. First, we hosted, organised and participated in a 5-day residential training course refugee citizen journalists, young media-makers, activists interested in supporting the voices of refugees and migrants in the public sphere. Second, we developed, tested and distributed a collection of methods for supporting the voice and presence of refugees and migrants in the public sphere. The “Displaced in Media Recipe Book” is a useful tool for all organisations seeking to work with refugees and media in Europe. It was presented at the Media Education event and the British Film Institute and at many other occasions across Europe. Third, to show the value of this work, we collected and distributed 45 videos made by refugees and staged a two-day international ‘Encounter’ for activists and educators interested in helping migrants and refugees in positions of ‘authorship’ in the public realm. The videos were screened on dozens of film festivals, debates and other events and reached an online audience of over a hundred thousand viewers. Fourth, the magazine “Displaced in Media, Towards Better Media Representation and Inclusion of Migrants and Refugees in Europe” was produced based on the grassroots knowledge and needs within the community of practice. The magazine includes policy recommendations for media organisations, local policy makers and policy makers at the European level and contributes to wider policy debates about how european governments create the conditions that enable Europe’s new citizens to become a part of the public sphere and showcased amazing work from across Europe. It was presented at the Policy Forum in Marseille and distributed to relevant stakeholders. Learning gathered from and interrogated by many organisations working together creates knowledge which endures. All organisations involved in Displaced in Media are committed to using, sharing and putting into practice what they learn and sharing it within their networks. It is this commitment to extending and applying what is learnt in this project, which will make it more sustainable and in turn will ensure that ultimately, some of Europe’s newest inhabitants, also become its active, visible and more equal citizens.