The Joint Report of the Council and the Commission on the implementation of the renewed framework for European cooperation in the youth field (2010-2018) underlines the strong consequences for young people, especially those coming from contexts of exclusion. Given the current vulnerable socio-political environment in Europe, the Ubuntu - Building Bridges For Peace (UBBFP) aims help to promote and restore human dignity, in situations in which it has been wounded or diminished, by empowering servant leaders turning experiences and contexts of injustice and social exclusion into experiences of justice and social inclusion, reinforcing social cohesion and a sense of belonging. The metaphor of the "bridge builder" best summarizes this program. Evidence shows that violations to human dignity often result in humiliation, resentment, fragmentation and violence, therefore, we seek the reversing of these situations, through people and organizations that promote the restoration of dignity, respecting the values of truth, of justice, of interdependence, of equity and of reconciliation. The mission of the Ubuntu - Building Bridges For Peace - is to create a drive in changemakers around the world to constantly improve themselves and their communities through develop the sense of interdependence. Using non-formal education strategies based on the Ubuntu Method that rests on 5 fundamental values: self-knowledge, self-confidence, resilience, empathy and service, the UBBFP is a relevant proposal aiming at fostering social inclusion of young adults through the development of the Ubuntu values through peer learning, social, civic, intercultural and social entrepreneurship competences. For instance, to many second-generation immigrants, UBBFP is a mean of integration and recovery of identity, as they do not fully identify with their European country or their parent’s country of origin. Through positive role models, integration support, a strong network of partners and peers that support them during a journey of different forms of leadership training. Ubuntu helps these individuals finding their place in the European society, while also reconnecting with and taking in their roots. A key part of the program is selecting and supporting leaders from within the target communities, who will then return to transform their respective communities. This method of action has been adopted and implemented in Portugal bringing together socially excluded groups with extraordinarily positive results. Transferred to Guine-Bissau the Ubuntu Method has had an important impact in the reconciliation initiative of the nation. The target groups are young adults from areas of social exclusion, young adults with a migrant background, including second-generation immigrants, newly arrived immigrants and young refugees. It is developed in non-formal education contexts, and delivered in seminars with guest speakers, conferences about leadership and social entrepreneurship, workshops, residential weekends and special initiatives. Its innovative methodologies provide stakeholders with a general introduction to the principles of the Ubuntu, leading as Mandela, civic courage, overcoming hurdles, conflict management, pardon and reconciliation, building bridges, self- awareness and human relations, and social entrepreneurship competences. The project consortium will develop materials in English, Portuguese and Spanish. These materials will provide trainers with ready-to-use materials and real life illustrations on how to use the Ubuntu method. The intellectual outputs envisaged are: an Ubuntu Book containing an introduction to the philosophical principles of Ubuntu; a Ubuntu Trainer's Manual containing step by step instructions and guidance on how to set up the academy, how to choose potential leaders, and a complete guide to the different sessions part of the Ubuntu course; a Toolbox of audio-visual materials, accessible online, to enhance the Ubuntu sessions described in the Trainer's Guide; a Social Entrepreneurship Manual, to develop specific skills to generate innovative ideas and to elaborate implementable Ubuntu social projects; Pilot workshops to test the outputs with the target groups, a total number of 300 participants from a pool of target groups and end users, partner organizations, policy makers and interested parties. Developed at a grassroots level this project may enable a ripple multiplier effect impacting deeply and positively on the target groups, recipients of the project’s intellectual outputs and the facilitating organizations, its end users. To be disseminated in Europe and beyond, this project aims at ensuring its relevance and its sustainability beyond the project’s funded period.
The Ubuntu Bridges for Peace project emerges within the strategic partnership for innovation funded by the Erasmus+ Youth in Action Program, to disseminate knowledge on the Ubuntu method underpinning the Ubuntu Leaders Academy project and to allow its replication around the world. The Ubuntu Leaders Academy is a non-formal education program, unconstrained and free, promoted by Instituto Padre António Vieira (IPAV). It integrates a flexible training program, constantly updated and focused on a lifelong learning experience. With a focus on servant leadership, Ubuntu Leaders Academy is directed to the training of young people who want to promote their leadership competences focused on the service of the promotion and restoration of human dignity, incontexts where it is diminished or menaced. As an action model based on the promotion of service-focused leadership, the Ubuntu Leaders Academy underlines the urgency of inspiring bridge builders and the need to promote an ethic of care. The Ubuntu Leaders Academy is already replicated in 13 countries on 4 continents, impacting about 3200 young people and trainers from social organizations that develop training in the areas of youth and adult education. In Portugal, the Ubuntu methodology has now reached the formal public education and certification system, with the methodology being adapted by the national education system - taking the Ubuntu Leaders Academies to 54 public schools - and by different universities, which are currently working in replicate the methodology. The project developed four intellectual outputs: an essay on Ubuntu, a pratical manual for setting up the Ubuntu Leaders Academy, an Ubuntu Social Entrepreneurship Manual and a Website containing all of the project´s content in three languages: Portuguese, Spanish and English. The project partners are the Instituto Padre António Vieira, the Tomillo Foundation, the Socratic Dialogue Institute, JRS Hellas, Everis Consultancy and Forum Estudante. The opportunity to develop and lead this project is of tremendous importance to those who has witnessed the great transformative power that the Ubuntu method has had on the participants in the Ubuntu Leaders Academy all over the world. To share it is therefore a mission and also a responsibility.