Back to search

MORE Intercultural competences: sensitizing on personal and social identity towards migration topic for increasing quality in youth work

2023-1-CY02-KA153-YOU-0001436552023Mobility of youth workersongoing
Countries: CY|SE|ES|IT|AM|BA|DE · Grant: €34,193.54
European identity and valuesBridging intercultural, intergenerational and social divideReception and integration of refugees and migrants

Objectives

The "MORE Intercultural competences" Training Course aimed to bring together 28 education professionals such as youth workers, trainers and teachers in order to equip them with knowledge, skills and attitudes which they can use with their target groups. The greater goal is that after the end of the project they will contribute to the development of a generation of young people who are more aware, open and ready to face different challenges. Through the experimentation of role-playing MORE the participants were able to reflect on migration also by virtue of a European context where one young person in three is at risk of poverty and social exclusion and where for many there is no possibility of access to social rights. A continent where for many people there is a problem of continuous discrimination, an experience of prejudice and hate crimes. In this context, training professionals are increasingly called upon to address these issues - in this case a migratory phenomena - as crucial social and inclusion challenges for the future of the continent. Therefore we believe we have made a contribution so that trained youth workers can work the social and personal dynamics in response to migratory processes which include but are not limited to prejudices, stereotypes, fears and integration processes. The game was presented as a useful means to respond to micro-conflict situations to which everyone is called to manage in their professional environment. All the training was built around the guide question "Why are modern societies/European society afraid of migration?" asking participants to think critically, trying to give an answer. The activities were focused on two major chapters: personal identity and social identity. In particular, the participants had the opportunity to reflect on the two aspects mentioned above, trying to understand how each of them contributes to developing these often contradictory feelings towards the topic of migration. The Training Course content was able to explore the complex links between identity, politics, society and history. The programme of activities was focused on working with participants to develop knowledge, skills and attitudes on issues that may be crucial in their daily work with young people. In particular, great importance was given to the reflection on the mechanisms linked to the stereotyped construction of reality, to the aspects linked to discriminatory mechanisms and how to respond to them, to the recognition of the centrality of human rights and how to translate them into practical methodologies, with specific reference to the game role in which the participants were asked to try their hand. An important objective of the project was to work on the attitudinal aspects of the participants, such as openness and willingness to relate to issues such as identity and culture with an open attitude and ready to consider different perspectives. It was important to focus on the theme of personal and social identity linked with the new generations to critically deconstruct the negative aspects and strengthen the positive ones regarding identity issues, so that a generation of citizens is formed who invests their time in promoting the realisation of the rights of all young people in Europe, including the most marginalised and excluded.

Project partners (7)