The Active Memories Project (ACTMEM) utilized storytelling methodologies to foster cross-border youth experiences and comparisons, aiming to develop resilience, creativity, and community awareness. The project facilitated intergenerational communication and communication, promoting intergenerational understanding and communication during time of crisis such as the pandemic. The ACTMEM project achieved its objectives by creating a blended training path based on storytelling methodologies, a manual for youth leaders, and an open narrative space, which provided practical guidance and supported youth involvement. • Transforming the experience of the pandemic into an opportunity for the development of self-confidence and key competences among young people • Promoting inclusive, creative and innovative approaches to storytelling among young people, so as to combat social isolation and reinforce their resilience in response to the times of crisis • Fostering the participation of young people in civil society by spreading good practices related to solidarity actions in times of crisis; • Promoting the EU values among young people and in particular active citizenship and the pillar of being united in diversity.
The project idea stems from the will to promote a radical change of perspective towards the perception of being young in times of pandemic: from victims of unhappy circumstances limiting their freedom to move, meet, learn and discover, to protagonists of an absolutely exceptional historical era, who showed a great capacity to react and reinvent themselves and whose stories deserve to be recorded and told as sources of inspiration for the present and future generations. Active memories project aimed to create an innovative learning experience using storytelling techniques to combat isolation and increase key competencies such as initiative, social and civic participation, and intercultural awareness. The project targets youth experiencing isolation, those with fewer possibilities and economic and social obstacles, youth leaders, and youth organizations that need to engage them in active citizenship and self- expression so that the response of the European youth to these difficulties is recovery and resilience.