Blended Youth Mobility in Italy

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The first mobility of the COSMIC project took place from the 17th–25th of August in Cala D'Ambra Camping in San Teodoro, Sardinia Italy.  

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The goal of this mobility was to develop participants’ knowledge and skills on how to employ art as a tool of contrasting stereotypes and prejudices and promoting a positive understanding of diversity among the youth. 

Unfortunately because of the Covid-19 situation, the Spanish group couldn’t attend at the very last minute. Even in these peculiar circumstances, the mobility included a multicultural participant group from Germany and Italy. 

The first day, the 17th was Arrivals-day and the 25th Departures-day. All activities and workshops were held in a fantastic location, right next to the camping place near the sea. Every day of activity was open with energizers and ice-breaking game, and closed with evaluation sessions, in which participants could share their impressions and feedback about the activities held. During the mobility, the participants had the chance to enjoy some free time, explore local culture and traditions, have a study visit in San Teodoro, and contribute to a “Clean the beach” activity. 

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The trainers used Ice-Breaking games to get to know each other, learn the other names, and implemented team-building exercises. The project “COSMIC” and the partners involved were introduced. An expectation tree, with the participant’s expectations, fears, and contributions toward the project was developed and they were asked to create their own rules for the duration of the mobility and to create a safe and comfortable working atmosphere for everyone. At the end of the day, the participants were introduced to the use of Art in the frame of Non-Formal Education and the role of art as a vehicle of inclusive non-formal education. 

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The participants, divided into groups, took part in a brainstorming exercise, where they thought about the different kinds of Art which could be used as vehicles of cultural expression. Participants shared their thoughts with the rest and through this, the understanding of how to exploit this aspect of Art in the context of educational programs targeted at the youth was fostered. The same groups gathered together again and discussed the role of art as a tool of contrasting stereotypes and prejudice among the youth, using as “guide” the following questions: “What do you think are stereotypes and prejudice?”, “Why do stereotypes and prejudice still exist in the societies in the 21st century?” and “How can art be used as a tool of intercultural dialogue to contrast stereotypes and prejudice among the youth?”. Afterward, every group had time to present their results.  

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An open space activity was implemented where participants could choose a group to join for discussion and exchange of ideas between three topics: “Artistic expression as the voice of sustainability and eco-change”, “Cinematography as a tool for migrant inclusion” and “Consequences of not including migrants and solutions”.  

A presentation of European good practices in the use of Art as an instrument of contrast to prejudice and discrimination towards migrants and refugees among young people found in each country followed by a discussion about the different methods and how the participants could improve them took place. 

Abilities in employing Art methods as an instrument to fostering the development of inclusion, tolerance, and non-discrimination attitudes at the level of the youth were developed and straighten by working in groups on one of the following fields: theater, music, dance, and visual art. After the group work, the results were presented to others by implementing the planned and imagined activities with them. 

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The German and Italian participants had the chance to develop original tools of education through Arts focused on contrasting stereotypes and prejudices at the level of the youth. After brainstorming in groups, they developed ideas and created their workshop with the main goal to fight stereotypes and prejudices through the method of Art and lead to inclusion within the society.  

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A “Theater of the Oppressed” session was also implemented, a forum theater against prejudices and stereotypes. Therefore a group of volunteer actors left and prepared a scene on the given topic and the rest did some trust and theater exercises. Afterward, the actor group played their play several times. The first time, as they planned, then the auditory group was allowed to interrupt and to change the play by telling them how to react or what to say. In the end, some actors were exchanged by other volunteers and replayed the scene differently. 

After the theater, there was a long and intensive discussion about stereotypes and prejudices, which some of the participants experienced themselves.   

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Within the “COSMICtalks” session, the four pillars of Education has been explored: “Learning to know”, “Learning to do”, “Learning to live together” and “Learning to be”. after the pillar presentation, participants elaborated according to a presentation which also would include a method of Art and include the audience.  

During the project management session, participants in groups created their four-day project with a focus on specifying the aim, topic, target group, program, activities, and countries involved. They also needed to set the financial frame. After developing the projects, the participants presented them and answered questions and comments, taking feedback from the other teams. 

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In a creative session, they discussed in pairs, what Art is for them as individuals, picking a card of the game “Dixit”, which should represent their point of view. This way participants would understand that there is an infinite number of different opinions, views, and attitudes. Each one had 1minute to present the card and the reasons behind their decision to their pair. After everyone was paired up and listened to everyone’s mindset explanation, a circle was made and the participants tried to remember each of the cards.  

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During the final evaluation of the mobility, several feedback posters we created and filled by all participants and they had the opportunity to reflect on the past week and to summarize the project. They were engaged in a discussion over the quality of the activity and the learning outcomes achieved. In the end, everyone received their Youth Pass certificate.  

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During the mobility, the German team had the chance to present their country and to host the first international night. Besides the typical food and drinks, the night included an interesting and funny presentation of the country followed by a quiz, German music was presented as well as a video about German stereotypes. The evening program was the Italian Intercultural night, where the Italian group cooked a delicious typical Italian dinner.  

The blended mobility was received very positively by everyone and the participants are already looking forward to the next implementation. The participants actively discussed, learned, exchanged ideas, and developed on the topic of migration inclusion through Art as a method of Non-Formal Education.  

The next mobilities planned are about Storytelling and Sport as methods of inclusion! 

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The photos and videos of our first blended youth mobility that happened in San Teodoro in Sardegna from the 17th to the 25th August 2020 :