PRIDE is a Strategic Partnership in the youth field, which builds on the concept of Transformative Learning, Resilience and Co- Creation to develop an innovative tool to prevent radicalisation amongst young migrants. Motto: We need to ensure that we stop people, especially young people, from developing violent and extremist attitudes in the first place. (Tibor Navracsis, Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport) What is it about? PRIDE tackles the threat of radicalisation amongst young migrants and empowers them to manage the process of migration in a purposeful and positive way. Who profits from it? It will be an important tool for youth organisations who organise mobilities and serve refugees and other migrants. It will help the society to deal with migration positively, de-stigmatize migrants and benefit from the positive potential of migration and the freedom of establishment within the European Union. What is the underlying reasoning? There is a multitude of factors that contribute to the process of radicalisation, such as a sense of grievance, the availability of radical narratives and ideologies, a missing sense of achievement, self-efficacy and belonging. At the core of many of these factors lies an identity crisis, which is particularly harmful for young people, as youth is the period where the identity is beginning to stabilize. One of the main contributors to this crisis is migration, entailing a significant change in the societal environment. What are the activities? The young people contributing to PRIDE, together with youth workers from the participating organisations, will observe and analyse the influence of migration on identity development and discover ways to help migrants to manage this process in a purposeful, self-directed way. Migration exists in the form of voluntary and involuntary migration. The latter is the widely discussed issue of flight or labour-migration, the former the popular Erasmus youth mobilities. We argue that the side-effects of mobility are structurally identical for both groups, but differ in the perception and the result of the process. The participating organisations will bring together groups of migrants from different backgrounds and different types of migration. The young people themselves will discover similarities and differences in their mobility experience and discover and discuss ways to understand and manage the period of disorientation, that is an essential element of the learning and acculturation process. Intellectual Output Based on these results, young People and youth workers will develop a set of tools, that will be tested and applied with various groups of migrants. Why does it work? The theory behind PRIDE is the well-established concept of Transformative Learning (TL). This concept, which is mostly used in the work environment and change-management, can also be applied to any type of significant change. It has the particular strength to be based on the young person’s own competences. It thereby helps to develop a sense of self-efficacy, which is in itself an important antagonist to radicalisation. Why is it new? The project contains several innovative elements: • The application of TL in the field of migration has not been analysed systematically before. • Bringing together voluntary and involuntary migrants is a new approach, which has the added advantage of de-stigmatising refugees and other involuntary migrants. • The dependence on the migrant’s inherent competences is also a novel element in the prevention of radicalisation. • This competence will be brought to life by the again innovative co-creational approach to problem description and solution. Value for money The project will receive valuable input from young volunteers, who will donate their time and competences. It builds on another KA 2 program with a related approach in a school environment (CHRIS). Dissemination and sustained use will be assured by the inclusion in the support programs for Erasmus mobilities, mostly EVS. What will happen next? The tools developed by PRIDE will subsequently be used by the participating organisations and presented to other stakeholders in multiplying events. They will become part of the supporting programme of Erasmus mobilities such as the European Voluntary Service. They can be an important element of the returnee engagement. Participants are taught to observe and understand the process of TL during their own mobility experience. By disseminating the concept amongst their peers, they will contribute to the support of young migrants long after the end of the project. The partnership The partnership consists of one knowledge partner, one partner in charge of quality control and evaluation, four youth organisation and one secondary school. The partners come from 5 different countries. The partnership is meant to be dominated by the young migrants, who are regardes as migration experts.
(PR)IDE is a strategic partnership in the youth sector that uses the concept of transformative learning to avoid radicalisation among refugees. (PR)IDE seeks to empower refugees to deal positively with the migration experience through mutual exchange. The focus is especially on the importance of finding and stabilizing one's own identity with regard to migration (voluntary as well as involuntary migration). Based on the perception from professional exchange, participation of affected persons and as well as from field research with small groups, several tools will be developed which will be tested in practice within the framework of the project. The project has dealt intensively with the development of resilience in times of change and the prevention of radicalisation. The project approach focuses on learning and developing identity. The term "learning" refers to all dimensions of learning and in this case aims at a transformation of perspectives, emotions and behaviour. The increased resilience will enable young people to protect their own identity in times of change and to face possible discrimination and marginalisation in a stronger way. In our work it turned out that the consideration of emotions was the key to success. The project partners worked together with a local youth group consisting of about 10 migrants, refugees and young adults with a voluntary migration experience, located in Sweden, Germany, Austria and Slovenia during the project period and involved the young people intensively in the process of co-creation. In October 2018 a big learning activity took place in Berlin, where all youth groups got to know each other and worked together in different workshops. The following project results were developed: IO1 is a summary of the innovative approach to the problem of radicalisation prevention using the concept of transformative learning. The publication captures the underlying reasoning from a scientific approach. IO2 is a manual for youth workers. The publication was originally intended for young people themselves, but during the project process we determined that the material should be addressed to youth workers and volunteers who want to use the concept of (PR)IDE to unite groups of migrants and refugees, who have experienced voluntary and involuntary migration. This guide can also be used as a teaching tool for international volunteers and interns, who want to discover the dimension of their intercultural experience. IO3 is a collection of media, designed to enable any youth organisation to introduce the concept of (PR)IDE to support the target group of young migrants and prevent radicalisation, consisting of an online course; a collection of best practice examples from other youth organisations; a Facebook group for all participants of the online course and YouTube videos. IO4 is a handbook for teachers on how schools can prevent radicalisation among young people. The school's part in this work is very different to non-formal youth work. IO5 is a policy paper that outlines how and what political support and commitment is needed, to support youth organisations in making radicalisation prevention more effective and it is aimed at youth organisations that want to stabilise their work through support from the authorities. Its visibility and its contribution to the solution will be more urgent. Impact: 93% of participants said that the learning activity in Berlin influenced their own behaviour. 94% of the participants told their friends and/or family about the project and the results. 87% feel they are part of the (PR)IDE community. 96% wish to see the other participants of the project again. The greatest impact at local or regional level is the creation of a network of young people who haven’t had any overlaps in their lives to name, but have had similar life experiences. Since the work with the youth groups did not end at the local level but was brought together through an international learning activity, it was possible to imitate an international network based in Europe. At the European level, (PR)IDE has promoted a better understanding of the need for social inclusion, empowerment and prevention of discrimination, especially among the group of refugees and migrants, among groups who have not yet addressed intercultural conflicts and diversity.