In the era of Brexit, euro-scepticism, and increasing migration, Europe is suffering from a crisis in trust. In 2019, 46% of Europeans said they tend not to trust the European Union; in the same year, the most important issue facing the EU today was identified, by Europeans, as immigration (Eurobarometer, 2019). There is a pressing need to rebuild trust across Europe and help Europeans to reaffirm the meaning of European cooperation. The basis of that meaning can be found in Article 2 of the Treaty of the European Union: “the Union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities. These values are common to the Member States in a society in which pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between women and men prevail.” It is increasingly difficult to prioritise these founding values. They must be reestablished at a grassroots level — this is precisely why youth exchanges are so important. When young people come together to share their culture, language, and traditions with their European neighbours, a bond of empathy is created which can overcome limited perspectives. Things we do not know scare us. Knowing a person and their history inspires empathy. Youth exchanges create a common solidarity and cultural fluidity among future generations, as well as encouraging them to create their own projects. Yet where to find this common basis of trust? The idea of Europe is much older than the EU. Whether it’s in Shakespeare’s retelling of the Danish prince Hamlet or the Italian Romeo and Juliet or Goethe’s tale of the emigrating Iphignie, or even our shared myths and legends crossing borders and histories; the story of Europe is one of continuous cultural exchange. We will use the unique possibilities of theatre to tell our shared stories. By telling stories of individuals, theatre can generate empathy for problems that reach beyond the fate of individuals. While coordinating the youth exchange programs “Trust”, “Trust 2”, “Roots of Trust” and “Endecameron”, La Transplanisphère, along with its partners ExQuorum, KJT (Kinder&Jugend Theatre) Dortmund and Teatro Rigodon, have seen first-hand the benefits gained when young people learn from one another and discover new cultures, while actively formulating their European identity. Such exchanges provided a space to question intra and extra-European migration and to build bonds of trust between Europeans from diverse backgrounds. Trust Tour will evolve the previous exchanges into a strategic partnership project, the ultimate goal being to share our collective database of experience. The end result: refined methodologies and example theatrical performances made using each one, to inspire others to develop their own projects and teach them how to succeed in that endeavor. More than just assessing the activities of previous years, the project will re-explore and re-define the methods in question, keeping in mind the current political and social context. Some methodologies for youth exchanges already exist: “The Balkan Youth Exchange”, 2015; “Stronger for tomorrow”, 2017; “YES – Youth Exchange System”, 2017; “Be - Happy 3.0”, 2018. However, these manuals are text-based, whereas we will combine textual and video aids. Moreover, none focused specifically on the issue of migration, or incorporated a theatrical dimension. While youth exchange manuals focusing on migration have already been created ("Migration vs. Integration", 2016; “Theatre Fixing Connections”, 2016; “Theater of the Oppressed as a tool in Youth Exchanges”, 2017), the target audience in each case were young people with little knowledge of the topic, whereas we propose to bring together young people - students, citizens, emerging artists or migrants - to create a collaborative artistic piece. Certain projects have developed specific workshop games: “The Wall” for ToT on SimGame (2014) and “Suitcase” from the Strategic Partnership Safe Haven (2018). However, these tools focus on one part of a youth exchange, rather than a holistic overview. Due to the theatrical expertise of the partners, the end outputs will be both a methodological tool and an artistic production. The program of activities: -4 6-day mobility sessions, in the country of each partner organisation: before each session, the host partner defines their specific methodology. During the mobility session, the partners share this methodology and create a tutorial video. They also create a play using the methodology as an example and promotional tool. -4 Performances: At the end of each mobility session, the play is presented to an audience, and is also filmed to create a video production. -12 local multiplier events: after each mobility session, each partner will organise a local event in their own city post-mobility, to share the methodology and adapt it to their country.
With this project, we wanted to give an account of the experience we have had together with the members of this partnership over the last few years to develop a method to facilitate the setting up of workshops combining civic reflection and artistic creation within the framework of intercultural youth meetings. We wanted to be able to produce explanatory sheets that could be downloaded in pdf format, and tutorial videos, so that future users could easily set up these workshops without any specific prior training. We would like to share our experience with young people who are planning intercultural or international encounters, so that they can find resources to prepare their project and possible solutions to the problems they may encounter. This is to encourage project leaders to develop activities around the issue of interculturality, and to propose projects at the heart of this theme.
At a time of Brexit, Euroscepticism and increased migration, Europe is suffering from a crisis of confidence. In 2019, 46% of Europeans said they tend not to trust the European Union. In the same year, the most important problem facing the EU today was identified by Europeans as immigration (Eurobarometer, 2019). There is an urgent need to rebuild trust across Europe and to help Europeans reaffirm the meaning of European cooperation. The basis of this sense is found in Article 2 of the EU Treaty: 'The Union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities. These values are common to the Member States in a society based on pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between women and men. It is increasingly difficult to rank these founding values. They need to be re-established at the foundation of our societies - which is precisely why youth exchanges are so important. When young people come together to share their culture, language and traditions with their European neighbours, a bond of empathy is created that allows us to cross borders, both geographical and psychological. Things we don't know scare us. And fear is a source of violence, hatred and obscurantism. Knowing a person and their story inspires empathy. Youth exchanges create common solidarity and cultural fluidity among future generations, while encouraging them to create their own projects. By telling the stories of individuals, theatre can create empathy for issues that go beyond the fate of an individual. Universal notions and issues are accessed. Above all, we become aware of this universality! These exchanges provide a space to question intra- and extra-European migration and to create bonds of trust between Europeans of different backgrounds.