The project aims to map myths and distortions of historical facts among youth and deconstruct them through the tools of historic-civic education. Myths and distortions are carriers of stereotypes but, in many cases, young people accept them as truths and don’t question them. They become easy targets for groups spreading myths, which youth is not able to recognize as such. This behavior leads to the growth of prejudices and stereotypes, hate speech and radicalization. The inability to critically understand information becomes even more worrying in internet era because these myths can easily reach young people through social media. Through the project, we will get to know better what are the most relevant myths for youth, which topics to tackle and become more successful in our work. We will focus on myths from the past, covering the topics of antisemitism and Holocaust denial, anti-Gypsysm and Roma discrimination, anti-Muslim propaganda and xenophobia. We will consider nowadays myths and discuss how our societies are using these same patterns to create new “enemies and scapegoats”, with a focus on anti-migrant and anti-refugees propaganda. Main objective: by deconstructing popular myths and distortions of historical facts, the project will contribute to giving to young people the tools to combat radicalization, prejudices, and stereotypes and to decrease the attraction for populism and authoritarianism among European youth. Specific objectives: increase the capacity of the partners to work with youth on resisting popular myths and distortions of historical facts; combat the spreading of fake news and other forms of online disinformation; counter myths and distortions with narrations based on historical facts; speak against discrimination, segregation and racism; fight manipulation and propaganda; develop critical thinking and media literacy; strengthen democracy and promote the European values. Number and profile of participants: on the transnational meetings: 10 participants, 2 representatives per partner organizations; on the blended mobilities: 25 participants aged 14 to 18 and 19 to 25. On the training: 25 youth workers and teachers. On the multiplier events: 30 participants per each local event, 150 in total, among youth workers, teachers, youth, other organizations working with youth, representatives of museums, educational centers, other stakeholders and broader public. Activities: kick-off, first blended mobility, second blended mobility, second transnational meeting, creation of videos and toolkit, training, third transnational meeting, multiplier events, fourth transnational meeting. Tangible results: videos and toolkit. Intangible results: increase the capacities and the competences in youth work of 5 European organizations, by generating innovative approaches to address the myths and historical distortions shared among youth; enhance the international cooperation and strengthen the networking of the involved organizations; promote innovation and development of targeted methodologies for dealing with the project's topics; increase the ability of the organizations’ staff to deal with the project's topics both in their local community and on the international and European level. Longer term benefits: 1) participating organizations: developing more modern and motivating curricula for the youth they are working with in their everyday activities; starting to use innovative and multimedia tools for dealing with the topics as the ones tackled in the project; getting new knowledge about the topics of the project; be more able to counter popular myths and historical distortions in their local communities and, in a broader perspective, to prevent radicalization among youth, fight prejudices and stereotypes; developing their network among European partners and different institutions; capacitate members and staff in preparing and implementing complex European funded projects; improving the staff abilities in collaborating with other NGOs and different institutions and stakeholders from different European countries; increasing the visibility and the credibility of the organization both on local and European levels; make new partners for future projects and developing future collaborations 2) youth workers and teachers: getting new methods, tools and skills to work on the project's topics; increase their positive impact on their local communities; improving their curricula and abilities; motivate them in create similar project or taking part in future similar project; have more modern and innovative skills and methods to work with young people; improve their daily work and the capacities of their organizations; getting new connections, collaboration opportunities and contacts
The main objective of the project was: to deconstruct popular myths and distortions of historical facts, to contribute to giving young people the tools to combat radicalization, prejudices, and stereotypes and to decrease the attraction for populism and authoritarianism among European youth. Specific objectives of the project were: to increase the capacity of the partners to work with youth on resisting popular myths and distortions of historical facts; combat the spreading of fake news and other forms of online disinformation; counter myths and distortions with narrations based on historical facts; speak against discrimination, segregation and racism; fight manipulation and propaganda; develop critical thinking and media literacy; strengthen democracy and promote European values.
The project was created because the coordinator and the partners wanted to work more on mapping and deconstructing myths and distortions of historical facts among youth and improve their capacities to work on these topics. Besides that, they wanted to create new materials, methods, and tools that would allow them to work on these topics in an innovative and modern way. The partners started from the belief that myths and distortions are carriers of stereotypes but, in many cases, young people accept them as truths and do not question them. They become easy targets for groups spreading myths, which youth are not able to recognize as such. This behavior leads to the growth of prejudices and stereotypes, hate speech, and radicalization. The inability to critically understand information becomes even more worrying in the era of social media because these myths can easily reach young people through social media channels. Besides these reasons for applying the project, the partners identified in the beginning, that one of the motivations to work more on this topic was the Covid-19 pandemic and all myths, distortions, and fake news that were present in the public space, media, and social networks. This convinced the partners that this project is really needed and that youth workers and teachers need new methods and tools to combat these issues. The biggest accent we put on was the development of critical thinking, media literacy, and the prevention of stereotypes and discrimination in young people. The project answered the needs of the organizations to address past, contemporary and debated topics such as myths and distortions and their connection with the growth of populism, discrimination, and radicalization. The partners noticed a growing radicalization among youth, a growing belief in populism, and increasing fake news and hate speech. They felt they were missing the tools to counter these tendencies and felt unable to reach these radicalizing youth.