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Let's ACT for Inclusion!

2020-1-PT02-KA105-0067442020Youth mobilityfinalized
Countries: PT|PL|LT|AL|ES|BG|TR · Grant: €22,800
Disabilities - special needsInclusion - equityCreativity and culture

Objectives

Social inclusion works in different phases, which are knowing, understanding, accepting, inserting, and involving. Inclusion is not just the act of including and that's it. Inclusion is cooperation, it is helping and being there for the most vulnerable when needed. It is also respect, we must respect differences and make things easier to break down barriers of inequality. Inclusion is valuing differences, we all have differences and always have something to learn from each other. Inclusion is improvement, improvement for all of us. Today about 80 million people in the European Union, one-sixth of its population, are disabled. They are often prevented from enjoying full social and economic participation because of attitudinal and context-related barriers. In addition, the poverty rate among people with disabilities is 70% higher than average. While the Member States are primarily responsible for action on disability, the European Union complements their actions and creates the conditions for further progress, and aims to ensure that all people with disabilities can use their basic human right to active inclusion and full participation in society. Some 53% of Europeans believe that discrimination on the grounds of disability or age is widespread in the European Union. The Commission ensures full implementation of the European Union directive promoting diversity and combating discrimination through awareness-raising activities at national and Union level, as well as promoting the work of non-governmental organizations in this area. The issue of disability must be seen in a broader way, and the fights for rights should not be fought only by those who experience it at close range. We should see this discussion as an opportunity to evaluate some human values, such as resilience and empathy. Through artistic practice, it is possible to open up space to absorb the teachings of the world and improve living in society, respecting the differences, the limits and characteristics of each person, without reducing most people to stereotypes. Art helps to express what cannot be achieved only with words. As a collective being, the human being not only appreciates the object of creation, but also wants others to appreciate it; this human desire denotes in art the aspect of collectivity. This transforming and inclusive character of art constitutes a tool for working with people with disabilities and for their inclusion, for this public has specificities that lead us to a new look for differentiated methodologies. By exploring the methodological character of art we also find a socializing factor, and socialization is an indispensable tool for the acquisition of social inclusion. One of the main goals of this project was to create a performance that was a mixture of artistic expressions, which could provide participants and spectators with a journey through the world of special young people, through dance, movement, music and storytelling in constant interaction with the audience. The performance focused on the story of a child with a disability and aimed to make these children known so that they could create bonds of friendship with others. The inclusive performance experience was based on an experiential pedagogy in which the audience participated in the creation of the final product. The process was seen as an essential tool for acquiring skills to promote harmonious living with difference, a tool that significantly influenced the regular work of the youth workers. Experiencing, sharing, feeling and transmitting was promoted in a joint construction in which everyone had an active and "special" participation. After a deep exploration of this theme, with different techniques that helped the youth workers to understand the other side, their role in social interactions and the different ways to solve social issues; the participants had a different vision of the reality of these people, the problems they face, their expectations and fears, but mainly, the role they could play in the effective integration of these people in the community as youth workers and active agents of a change of mentalities. The purpose of this project was to put all stakeholders in dialogue and provide a time and space for sharing and contributing to the construction of a more inclusive society and emerged from a perspective of (in)training, awareness, promotion and sharing of good practices.

Project partners (7)