Youth and social circus is a measure of intervention based on the combination of circus arts, sports and social-pedagogy. It targets the young but also various at-risk groups in order to support the empowerment and emancipation of individuals and assist with participants’ personal and social development by nurturing their self-esteem and trust in others, as well as by helping them to acquire social skills, express their creativity and realize their potential and become active citizens. In this approach, the primary goal is not to learn the circus arts, but rather to create social change because it helps individuals assume their place in a society. Various studies indicate that the socio-pedagogical and welfare impacts of social circus are undeniable. Due to these positive impacts, the surveys show that there is a growing need of formally educated youth and social circus professionals having not only knowledge in circus arts but also possessing a deep knowledge of pedagogy to work with the young and with people with fewer opportunities in the society. The project produces the first research based European full-degree curriculum of 180 ECTS in EQF level 6 of Youth and Social Circus Pedagogy with five national implementation plans to respond both to the shortage of the professionals and qualitative needs. After the project the programme begins at least in the partner organizations and it is expected to get adapted to other organizations and countries as well. It is possible for the students either to carry out the studies in one European country or construct the whole study programme by choosing the suitable modules from the European offer and that will be validated in each European country according to the Bologna declaration. The curriculum is free of charge and available to all Youth and Social Circus Schools, universities and NGO´s in social and education sector that would like to expand their activity to the youth and social circus instructor education. The programme includes a model for validation of prior formal, non formal and informal learning and a model for a personal study plan that supports both employability and mobility in Europe. This project bases on research and cooperation between four European universities, five social circus schools and European youth and social circus network Caravan. As the youth and social circus will also be part of official research based teacher education programmes in higher education institutions, the quality and the esteem of youth and social circus training is expected to rise significantly. This way the project improves and extends the offer of European high quality learning opportunities. The participants are social circus school trainers, pedagogical experts and social circus directors from 5 partner countries (Finland, Sweden, Ireland, France and Chezh republic), including the project partners: universities, youth and social circus schools and the international association «CARAVAN », a network in Brussels that gathers 22 youth and social circus schools, coming from 14 European countries and 1 Middle East country, Afganistan. The end-users, the young students of youth and social circus will also take part in planning, evaluation and developing the programme. As result of the project the future youth and social circus instructors, circus schools, various social and educational professionals will benefit from this project, enabling them to be equally educated in Europe as circus trainers, in order to work efficiently with the young and with different learners as well as to expand their employment potential around Europe. Due to the new European wide offer of youth and social circus pedagogy, the most benefitting target group are the young, notably those who are at the risk of marginalization, who will have new opportunities to join the Youth and Social Circus where the participants can develop various skills and potentials and maintain their physical and mental wellbeing in a learning environment that is professional, sportive, artistic, safe and fun. By transferring their new personal strengths and potentials gained at youth and social circus to other life contexts in education, employment and personal life, the young have better chances to join their societies as active citizens, that in turn will have a positive impact on the inclusion and harmonization of the population at local, regional, national and European levels.
The project wanted to respond to quantitative needs by providing a high-quality study programme for qualified professionals in youth and social circus and to create equal opportunities in the circus instructor sector. In addition to the curriculum, the project wanted to provide a model for the documentation and validation of prior learning, which includes not only formal and non-formal but also informal learning that is essential for performing artists who learn their skills mainly beyond the formal education system. In this way, the project also wanted to foster and achieve recognition and esteem from the circus sector and provide the labour market with skilled and qualified youth and social circus instructors. In higher education, the aim was to establish a new research-based instructor training programme to be further developed by transnational and multi-disciplinary research in the fields of, for example, education, sports science, social sciences, and the arts. One aim was also to improve the wellbeing of the young who were the secondary target group. The project wanted to create new empowering pathways to inclusion for young and marginalised individuals and to encourage them to take up physical activity and sports.
As circus artists can now attend formal professional education, which has been missing in youth and social circus, the goal of this project was to create the first formal higher education programme for youth and social circus teachers that also takes advantage of European mobility. The demand for youth and social circus has grown for decades, causing a shortage of qualified professionals around Europe. The aim of the project, carried out in five partner countries, was to respond to both qualitative and quantitative needs in youth and social circus by creating a curriculum that opens a new educational programme and improves the career prospects of youth and social circus instructors. The outcomes of the project support both employability and mobility in Europe, which is essential for the professional development of youth and social circus artists. In this way, the project improves and extends the offering of high-quality learning opportunities in Europe. The aim was also to benefit the young, especially those who are in a risk of marginalisation. Their need was to get new opportunities for joining youth and social circuses where they can develop their potential in an excellent, research-based, and professional learning environment.