HIT – Heroes of Inclusion and Transformation Erasmus Project

Project Title

HIT – Heroes of Inclusion and Transformation

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 adult education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2017

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Inclusion – equity; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Access for disadvantaged

Project Summary

Human beings who are not free or not able to express feelings, are manipulable. On the long run suppression of emotions is sickening corporeally and psychically. Our modern rationalist culture places the so-called “negative emotions” like grief, anger, pain and anxiety under a taboo. So-called “positive feelings” like curiousness and joy are desired. Tabooing and sanctioning of “negative feelings” lead to an emotional jam. To submit to order and authority and to attack and marginalize others is the outcome very often and thus forms a basis for generalisation, prejudice, hatred, radicalism, terrorism and violent actionism. In our culture there is no protected space, in which these “negative feelings” can be expressed and reintegrated again in a way which makes sense.
In this way HIT was a project for the integration of social relevant shadow themes. Inclusion and transformation refer to the shadow sides within ourselves as well as to the shadow (marginalized) people in society. Heroes wants to express that people doing this work deserve more appreciation by society.
This project enabled its participants to experience the topics of their target groups within themselves, thus having a sharper view on their own identity. This served as basis for deepening, expanding and fine-tuning of their own set of methods in dealing with current social shadow topics (competition, fear of change etc.) and allowed to work on them and to transform them personally in a group, training and developing new abilities like carrying out conflicts, courage for innovation, thus integrating these and allowing inclusion.
The main objective of “HIT – Heroes of Inclusion and Integration” project was to extend and develop educators’ competences, and to promote social inclusion and empowerment. The project was focused on creating an online publication (e-book in PDF) of different approches for people, who work in the field of adult education, especially in non-formal education of those who are disadvantaged or vulnerable. On the one hand, these approaches come from Hero’s journey process by Paul Rebillot and our own experience with this holistic process, on the other hand they were developed and adjusted according to our practical work as well as to the needs of people we work with.
Within the project we have developed, practiced, explained and described approaches of non-formal education that bring together educational, expressive (art, drama, music, dance), therapeutical and prevention techniques in order to help people in finding the orientation in their life. These approaches refer to the 5 steps of Hero’s journey process and to the Cycle of basic feelings. Each of 5 partner organisations concentrated on one step of Hero’s journey process and connected the basic structure of this step with its own practical work in the field of non-formal education and approaches / methods / techniques in use, and described it. Our goal was to integrate each step of Hero’s journey process with own methods already in use. The outcome is condensed into a chapter for the PDF publication of approaches for professionals in the field of non-formal education which comes from our personal experience combined with common work, but the approaches are free to adapt according to educators’ or learners’ needs. The 6th partner organisation was responsible for guiding / facilitating the workshops, supervision of the book-building process, editing the book as well as for writing comments, notes, the Introduction and Results chapter.
Besides our own educational work and transnational project meetings we have implemented 2 Short-term joint staff training events (workshops) that were crucial in order to reach, develop, implement, test and shape concrete approaches and techniques for the publication. We have organised Multiplier Event – Conference HIT where we presented presented our results and output to other professionals and learners.
The intellectual output of the project is an open educational resource – “Among Heroes and Demons” – in an online version (PDF) disseminated via internet, organisations’ websites, social networks, and by allied websites in 7 language mutations.
Online publication is addressed to educators, trainers, teachers, counselors, therapists, social workers, social, cultural and artistic activists working with marginalized people or people striving to find, express and live their identity, as well as to NGOs, organisations and institutions active in the field of education.
The partnership was made up of 6 organisations: Divadlo bez domova (Slovakia), Adventure Life (Austria), Spolek divadelních ochotniků Alois Jirásek (Czech Republic), Asociación Acunagua (Spain), IZADJI (Serbia) and ReykjavíkurAkademían (Iceland). Great range of partners with different target groups in the field of non-formal education ensured a more comprehensive approach to creating an Intellectual output. Transnational character had a significant impact on dissemination.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 194185 Eur

Project Coordinator

Divadlo bez domova & Country: SK

Project Partners

• Adventure Life (Charitable association)
• Grupa “IZADJI”
• ReykjavíkurAkademían ses.
• Spolek divadelnich ochotniku Alois Jirasek
• Asociación cultural, social, de salud y bienestar ACUNAGUA