By implemented this project, we wanted to achieve the following: 1. to exemplify the importance of folktales as a window into the oral histories that shaped the identity of minority groups inhabiting European cities, as a means to reducing bias and discrimination. 2. To produce and implement a participatory methodology for transdisciplinary pursuits: to work with and for the community. 3. To empower marginalized communities to shape how their oral histories are shared. 4. To develop innovative pedagogical material addressing issues of cultural heritage. 5. To foster awareness of common values through sharing a diverse set of folktales.
We applied for this project to address polarisation and the need to address discrimination and exclusion. We did that by by capitalising on the cultural richness of 4 purposefully selected cities through the collection and sharing the stories of marginalized groups, as for example, refugees. The 4 participating countries constitute either post-conflict societies where ethno-religious and other divisions are long-standing and entrenched or societies where migration has been on the rise, or both. Hence, collectively, they offer diverse contexts with different histories where collection of rich and diverse stories could occur from different groups.