Young people face many barriers that can hinder their access to the arts and culture, such as a lack of family support, a low-income background, preconceptions of what the arts are and who they are for, as well as an individual’s concept of identity. Youth workers are often semi-formal gatekeepers that notice difficulties of young peple (isolation, exclusion, lack of self-esteem, drug use, bullying and violence-related behaviors, depression) that have an effect in drop-out form school and university education, lack of achieving personal potential and barriers to active participation in the civil society. It is a European priority to promote mental well-being and inclusion of young people. This implies that youth policies should work towards reducing inequalities within groups of young people and towards positive mental health and well being of young people. ART4US mission is to use the power of the arts to transform lives of young people (mixed-ability youth) and promote mental wellbeing and inclusion. The project pairs the capacity building needs of youth workers regarding mental health, inclusion and the arts and young people, bringing together youth with a wide range of skills and abilities to create art, drama, digital filmmaking and dance. ART4US will take a multi-artform creative connecting the project to seven countries across EU: Greece (K.ANE), UK (SAFE and Point Europa), Ireland (Smashing Times), Netherlands (Inthecity), France (DkBell) and Spain (INTRAS). ART4US aims to the provision of mental health-informed and inclusive youth work practices with the interdisciplinary collaboration organizations and professionals and to promote mental health and inclusion of young people through the use of creative/artistic approaches. ART4US objectives are to: i) foster the capacity building of youth workers through exchange of knowledge and development of innovative practice-based methodologies in order to promote positive mental health and inclusion ii) reach-out and empower young people with mixed-abilities (incl. disabilities/special needs) iii) promote positive mental health and inclusion for young people using participatory art approaches and creative media iv) support youth in acquiring digital and art skills and key competences that foster their personal and professional development and transition in the labour market v) empower young people in overcoming disparities, building their confidence and consequently be active members vi) raise awareness regarding mental health and wellbeing of young people, with young people, in local, national and European levels vii) fight against stigma, racism, bullying and intolerance of difference and promote intercultural dialogue viii) facilitate cooperation and networking and promote better communication with the wider community in local, regional, national and EU levels ix) develop youth work methods with an opportunity to influence local, national, EU youth practice and policies and address current training needs The project targets directly a) youth workers/art facilitators and b) young people (mixed-abilities, NEETS, young people with fewer opportunities). Moreover, the project indirectly targets stakeholders, policy-makers in the field of youth, interdisciplinary organizations and professionals working with young people and the general public that will be addressed through the dissemination events. Intellectual Outputs for the project are: IO1- ART4US State of the Art Report, IO2 - Curicculum and Art-workshop models, IO3 - ART4US e-learning training package. Multiplier events planned are: External workshops, National Events, Final Transnational ART4US Festival Transnational Training activities are: a Short-term joint staff training event, a training for Trainers addressed to youth workers and a Blended Mobility for young people. The main results will be the provision of innovative training tools for the promotion of mental wellbeing and inclusion among young people through measured effectiveness of ART4US practice, empowered capacity of youth workers through innovative curricula and art-media approaches and the influence on policy makers related to mental health informed youth practices using art media approaches.
Through ART4US activities the project aims to provide informed mental health and inclusive youth work practices, as well as to promote mental health and inclusion of young people using creative/artistic approaches. ART4US objectives to: • encourage the capacity building of youth workers by exchanging of knowledge and developing innovative practice-based methodologies to foster positive mental health and inclusion • empower young people with mixed-abilitites (incl. disabilities/special needs) • promote positive mental health and inclusion for young people using participatory art approaches and creative media • support youth in acquiring digital and art skills as well as key competences that will encourage their personal and professional development and transition in the labour market • empower young people in overcoming disparities, building their confidence and consequently be active members • raise awareness regarding mental health and wellbeing of young people, through young people, in local, national and European levels • fight against stigma, racism, bullying and intolerance of difference, promoting intercultural dialogue • facilitate cooperation and networking and foster better communication with the wider community in local, regional, national and EU levels • develop youth work methods with an opportunity to influence local, national, EU youth practice
ART4US uses the power of the arts to transform lives of young people, promoting mental wellbeing and social inclusion for young people in order to cure the need that have been addressed in the initial phase of the proposal. More specifically, the needs that have been address are: • The lack of family support to young people’s choices, a low-income background that minimizes their potential, the dispute and chase of young’s people identity along with the developing and rebuilding procedure that challenges their existence • The preconceptions that young people have around what arts are and who are referring to. • The difficulties that young people faces such as isolation, exclusion, lack of self-esteem, drug use, bullying and violence-related behaviors, depression • The high levels of dropping-out form school and university education, lack of achieving personal potential and barriers to active participation in the civil society. • The low levels of mental well-being of young people • The lack of youth policies on reducing inequalities within groups of young people and promoting mental health and their wellbeing