"STARS: empowering & creating new job opportunities" is a project that links youth from the Canary Islands (Spain), the Solomon Islands (Oceania) and Indonesia (Asia). The project involves NGOs, public bodies and education institutions in order to create a Tool Kit that will help our isolated youngsters to get empowered (thanks to their cultural heritage and myths related to stars) and create new job opportunities (thanks to training of skills needed to develop astro tourism products). STARS Tool Kit will be designed using astro tourism, sustainable tourism and youth work experience of partners from 3 continents. This method will potentiate astro tourism product creation using the culural heritage (star, moon and stars-related myths, legends, beliefs and rituals) as a youth empowerment tool and an opportunity for new job creation. There are planned both transnational and local activities developed by youth workers and youth. During multiple project activities wich include training and assesment, a wide range of promotional materials will be created as well. The proposal is a result of the previous islander youth network projects that have been created since 2014.
In STARS, meanwhile stargazing, we want to tell what the sky meant to the previous generations by local legends in the Canary Island, Balinese and Solomon Island cultural heritage. We aim to gather good practices and methods that boost astro tourism´s empowering potential (linking it to non formal education) and provide practical information on how to work with astro tourism (based on cultural legends and beliefs) as a youth empowerment tool.
We spend lots of hours looking at the mobile and PC screens… and don´t even notice that 60% of Europeans can no longer see the Milky Way. Astro focuses on the observation and appreciation of naturally occurring celestial phenomena. It entails travelling to places with possibly “less light pollution” and “hunting” for stars and star counts being two of the most popular activities. Discovering and promoting the potential of astro tourism linked to cultural activities is highly relevant in islands.
<< Background >> We spend lots of hours looking at the mobile and PC screens… and don´t even notice that 60% of Europeans can no longer see the Milky Way. Astro focuses on the observation and appreciation of naturally occurring celestial phenomena. It entails travelling to places with possibly “less light pollution” and “hunting” for stars and star counts being two of the most popular activities. Discovering and promoting the potential of astro tourism linked to cultural activities is highly relevant in islands. << Objectives >> In STARS, meanwhile stargazing, we want to tell what the sky meant to the previous generations by local legends in the Canary Island, Balinese and Solomon Island cultural heritage. We aim to gather good practices and methods that boost astro tourism´s empowering potential (linking it to non formal education) and provide practical information on how to work with astro tourism (based on cultural legends and beliefs) as a youth empowerment tool. << Implementation >> STARS is an innovative project that links the natural heritage (stars), cultural heritage (star-related legends) and the modernity (sustainable/astro tourism, such tools as lazer light to pin stars). During the project we followed steps to create STARS method by developing local star-related legend search, testing it during a TC and job shadowing, spreading it with local Multiplier Courses and stakeholders as well as finally promoting STARS tool kit to our island youth workers and youth. << Results >> The project result is STARS method described in STARS tool kit in 3 languages with “cool” NFL methods that youth workers and youngsters can use when creating astro tourism activities and – with specific examples an experiences from the partners – showing the added value to employability and empowerment that comes with such activities. Besides, one of our videos collected 1 million views and we have an ongoing sustainability plan to continue STARS activities after the end of the project.