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Circus 4 Inclusion and Resilience of Communities and Organizations

2020-1-ES02-KA105-0147972020Youth mobilityfinalized
Countries: ES|BE|FI|PT|FR|IT · Grant: €6,328
Disabilities - special needsInclusion - equityCreativity and culture

Objectives

We believe that Europe, and the world in general, needs more than ever a real social inclusion that begins with an awareness of cultural and condition differences, moving towards the search for inclusive methodologies. Many citizens of European countries do not want (or do not know how) to include social groups at risk of exclusion, largely because of prejudices, based on race, sexual orientation, cultural differences, religion, etc. that still manifest themselves in our society, and the increased consensus of extremist parties that we are suffering in some countries is an alarming trend that reflects this low attitude to inclusion. We believe that art can be a way of expressing feelings, emotions and differences and, at the same time, it is a tool that can facilitate the acceptance of each other, since it is a universal language and all individuals can be connected through it. Being our expert organisation in circus activities for the inclusion of different target groups, we proposed to some international schools with which we have worked, if they felt the need to exchange the practises used at the local level in an international seminar, so that they are more visible and can be applied in the other communities. We think that the project can pool youth workers and young circus artist newcomers in the social field of different European countries to work to achieve social inclusion. There are several European circus networks but they always focus more on the performative part, while we think that the circus can be an artistic tool aimed at improving social inclusion, complementing the actions of our organisations at the local level. As there are neophytes in the social theme but with circus training, the first thing we have done is the detection of social groups at risk of exclusion, focussing especially on young people with disabilities and those who come from depressed geographical areas, whether urban or rural. We wanted to reflect on how to support the inclusion of young people with fewer opportunities through circus techniques, while sharing good practises and tools from organisations with active experience in the field. Support youth workers and newcomers in the social field, providing new interesting tools for social inclusion, focussing in particular on circus techniques, in order to apply their skills to support self-development and social development, in particular dealing with young people with fewer opportunities. The specific objectives of the project are: -Create awareness about the problems faced by young people with fewer opportunities every day in different countries and how the circus can empower young people, through the actions of expert leaders in each community involved -Highlight the importance of youth work as an enrichment in the education of young people, in particular the disadvantaged, who reinforce real and future social cohesion at the local and European level and reflect on the role of the other stakeholders involved in these processes - Propose a space for cooperation and development, aimed at exploring effective strategies and policies for social inclusion, thanks to the creation of networks with stakeholders at the local level, for a holistic application of the circus, both performative and educational. Promote Erasmus+ and the European Solidarity Corps in the field of the circus, building new partnerships and working on future projects, in order to contribute to creating a more egalitarian and inclusive society, as well as reaching the communities and the target group that do not yet participate in those EU opportunities (as well as in the next ones). With this project, we want to encourage people to reflect on marginalised groups, both in their immediate environment and in society in general. Our desire is that, at the end of the project, each participant can recognise that they are fighting against marginalisation and that they have acquired methods and practises that should improve their will and initiative to want to change their environment, with the ultimate goal of reducing social gaps.

Project partners (7)