1000Layers: Youth for creative identities Erasmus Project

Project Title

1000Layers: Youth for creative identities

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for youth

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Youth (Participation, Youth Work, Youth Policy) ; Inclusion – equity; Romas and/or other minorities

Project Summary

1000Layers is a two year strategic partnership involving 5 organizations in 4 countries: DW-RS (NL), Elan Interculturel (FR), YEU Cyprus (CY), Rooftop Theatre (CY) and La Xixa Teatre as project coordinator (SP).
CONTEXT AND NEEDS
Young people belonging to specific minority groups are particularly vulnerable, facing discrimination on the ground of their young age as well as other personal characteristic, such as sexual orientation, gender identity or ethnicity, among others. For those from particularly vulnerable groups such as LGBT Youths and young people from racial or ethnic minorities, their experiences of discrimination have a life-time impact and can have terrible consequences. For example, in 2016, the at-risk-of-poverty or social exclusion rate of young people born outside the EU was an alarming 50%. Social exclusion, discrimination and poverty have an enormous impact on the conformation of identity during adolescence and early Youth, settling the ground floor for young people to turn to violent radicalisation. Youth work has been recognized as a particular fertile space for prevention of violence, radicalisation and marginalization among Youth, by facilitating the development of soft skills and resilience to help young people cope and overcome difficult life situations.
1000Layers project proposes an innovative methodological approach – the Creative Identities Method – to fill in the current gaps on working with identity in Youth contexts. In particular, we wish to build on and contribute to current practices in addressing generic prevention of radicalisation leading to violence among Youth at the ground floor stage of Moghaddam’s six step model, building on EU recommendations and existing literature.
OBJECTIVES
1) Promote social inclusion, diversity and non-discrimination among young people through the Creative Identities Method (CIM)
2) Engage, connect and empower young people using the CIM in order to:
• Enhance critical thinking and media literacy among young
• Promote intercultural dialogue
• Fight against radicalization and violence among youth by providing alternatives to identity constructions based on single-story and victimhood narratives.
3) Contribute to quality and innovation in youth work by:
• creating participant-centred tools for youth workers based on the CIM
• supporting youth workers in developing and sharing effective methods to work with identity related complexities and conflicts, tackle racism and better reach marginalized young people.

TARGET GROUPS
Youth workers, young people (16-30), staff of partner organizations, organizations in the youth sector, policy and decision makers and youth experts. We expect to involve 400 participants from the different target groups in project activities, and disseminate the project to the over 10,000 people that compose our consortium’s social network base.
ACTIVITIES
The project main activities are:
– Continuous management, assessment and dissemination
– 4 transnational partner meetings
– Development of the Creative Identities Method (CIM)
– Development of two intellectual outputs: 1) 30 identity cards and 6 activities; 2) a youth worker handbook on CIM
– One joint staff training
– 8 local pilots to co-construct project outputs
– 8 local multipliers and a blended mobility
– An international final conference
METHODOLOGY
We will co-construct the “Creative Identities Method” together with young participants. The CIM will merge the most relevant tools of Process Identity Theory into embodied, participant-centred, creative methods commonly used in Youth work: Theatre of the Oppressed, Storytelling and Process Work. The CIM will provide tools for Youth workers to engage in identity exploration with young people and as generic prevention of radicalisation leading to violence.
RESULTS, IMPACT AND LONG-TERM BENEFITS
We will develop a new methodology and two outputs to explore identities in youth contexts in order to promote social inclusion, non-discrimination, critical thinking, critical media literacy, and resilience among young people. The outputs will support Youth workers and provide a resource for generic prevention to violent radicalisation. Outputs will be available for download in English and all project languages, from the project web, the Erasmus+ Results Platform and the SALTO-Youth Platform. At least 400 participants and 40 organizations active in the youth field will be trained and/or informed on the Creative Identities Method.
We expect to create and promote an inclusive and diverse vision of European identity, fighting single-story and victimhood narratives within identity constructions among young people. The Creative Identity Manifesto, created by young project participants, will promote this vision and will be broadly disseminated.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 129410 Eur

Project Coordinator

Associacio La Xixa Teatre & Country: ES

Project Partners

• NEOLEA GIA ANTALAGI KAI KATANOISI
• ELAN INTERCULTUREL
• DW-RS PRODUCTIES
• ROOFTOP THEATRE LIMITED