Facing homophobia for an inclusive job Erasmus Project

Project Title

Facing homophobia for an inclusive job

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 2016

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Labour market issues incl. career guidance / youth unemployment; Inclusion – equity

Project Summary

CONTEXT
We have operated in 3 countries, Italy, Slovenia and Spain, where discrimination against LGBTI people is perceived by 20% of people in Italy, 16% in Slovenia, 21% in Greece, according to “ILGA Europe, Annual Review of the Human Rights Situation of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex People in Europe 2014”.
Following these data our 3 organisations, with previous common work and experience, decided to start the FHOFIJ project.

OBJECTIVES
We kept the same objectives of the planned project and succeeded in reaching them after 26 months of work:
– we have reached quality improvements and internationalisation in our organisations by experimenting new methods to defend LGBTI rights.
– We have improved activists and professionals’ quality of work sharing these methods with them.
– We have started to strengthen cooperation between the world of adult education and the world of work, but with difficulty to involve private companies at large.

ORGANISATIONS
22 staff’s members participated from:
– Giolli cooperative aims at creating a more peaceful, fair and democratic world using mainly Boal’s theatre method, Paulo Freire’s pedagogical approach, Active no-violence, Community Development Approach. We also have been working since the beginning with marginalised groups (prisoners, psychiatric patients, migrants…) youth, workers, unions, citizens around different issues.
– Since 1997 the mission of KID PiNA has been to offer quality educational, cultural, artistic and research activities in order to promote social development based on individual responsibility, critical thinking and sustainable living.
– Hellenic Youth Participation tands for intercultural dialogue, non-formal education, mutual understanding and solidarity. The main aim of the group is to inspire and stimulate European citizens to become active parts of their local and European community.

ACTIVITIES
– 4 training assignments where we learned the 5 method (T.O., Loesje, video, assertiveness, anti-rumours)
– local networking: meetings with local stakeholders to involve them in the project were held in the 3 towns
– 6 national training (in Termoli, Monza, Firenze, Parma, Trento, Koper) and 1 in Germany, about the integrate approach or one of the 5 methods
– 6 national seminars (Parma, Bergamo, Nafplios, Tricala and 2 in Koper) with relevant stakeholders to debate the LGBTI inclusion issue. One more is foreseen in March 2019 at Bologna
– 8 Forum-Theatre plays for local stakeholders: 5 in Italy, 1 in Slovenia and 2 in Greece. One replay has been organised in Milan end of February 2019.
– 2 Image-Theatre and 2 Invisible-Theatre actions in public spaces (Koper, Nafplios, Salonikki)
– 10 Video-Book presentations, for professionals, activists and adult education providers (in Casaltone (3), Bergamo, Rimini, Firenze, Maribor (2), Koper, Athens)

METHODS
We have been using a participatory approach and 5 methods:
1) Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed
2) Social-changing multimedia
3) The creative writing method “Loesje developed”
4) Assertiveness training
5) Anti-rumours training
More info: https://www.giollicoop.it/index.php/english
https://loesje.org/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feminist_psychology#Assertiveness_training
http://www.antirumores.com/eng/project.html

TANGIBLE OUTPUTS
– 1 Project website available in English with summary in the other 3 languages of the partners
– 1 project Facebook
– 1 Educational book, 72 pages, in EN/FR/SP and 3 partners languages, put online
– 6 Newsletters in EN, translated into the 3 partners’ languages
– 1 Educational video with English subtitles
– 3 Forum-Theatre plays and scripts about LGBTI discrimination at workplace
– 1 common Guidelines sent to Public Authorities and other stakeholders, about how to improve the LGBTI inclusion at workplace.

IMPACT AND LONG TERM BENEFITS
– Improved skills in the 5 methods and their mutual contamination and internationalisation is the main impact on participants and partner organisations.
– A diffusion of sensitiveness to HHRR and LGBTI inclusion has affect the main stakeholders and citizens.
– At local, regional, national level strengthened networks and collaboration with our organisations, LGBTI movement and Local Authorities.
– The collaboration with Prof. Anna Lorenzetti and University of Bergamo, the City Hall of Parma, the public organisation KHETI (Greece) and the LGBTI organisations Colour Youth (Greece) and Legebitra (Slovenia) are going further and new projects has been developed (one submitted for funding).
– The 2 years of common work among us have reinforced our collaboration and will bring to new ideas and projects.
– The handbook and video will remain online as tools for other professionals, activists and organisations interested in the topic.
– The 40 activists and professionals trained in the 4 events are going to use their skills in their daily work. We are in touch and want to involve them in further activities like a new seminar in Bologna March 2019

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 64150 Eur

Project Coordinator

Giolli società cooperativa sociale – centro permanente di ricerca e sperimentazione teatrale sui metodi Boal e Freire & Country: IT

Project Partners

• Kulturno izobrazevalno drustvo PiNA
• Hellenic Youth Participation