Urban Guide
Project Launch
4YOUNG Association announces the launching of the project “COLOR BLIND”, project financed with the support of the European Commission through “Youth In Action” program, 3.1a subaction – Youth exchange.
“COLOR BLIND” will keep its activities in Paulesti, between 5 - 12 April, 2012.
The purpose of the project is the inclusive growth of the communities using the fight against stereotypes related to the Rroma ethnicity.
The project aims to a change of the community’s attitude against the Rroma ethnicity, a change in the participants’ attitude against the cultural diversity represented by the other participants, a change produced in theirselves, a change in their family behaviour, at their workplace, in the society.
“Color Blind” is a positive practice in the intercultural education domain, an initiative that succeeds in making a change at the mental level, of the attitudes related to the cohabitation of many ethnicities, cultures, confessions, producing an authentic opening towards otherness, accepting it and the respect to the diversity.
Bringing in contact young people with the age between 18-25, from 8 countries: Romania, Egypt, Italy, Macedonia, Poland, Israel, Turkey, Georgia, coming from different cultural, ethnic, and religious environment, it will be created a multiethnic environment that encourages the intercultural dialogue which will allow the knowledge, abilities, and skills accumulation, necessary for an active intervention in the community of all the participants of the project against any form of discrimination.
In the current context, in which efforts are demanded for the integrations of the rroma people from all the actors that play on the politic and social scene, the themes of the project “Color Blind”, those being cultural diversity and Rroma ethnicity, will help the participants from 8 countries not only to discover a common cultural language, but also to live a positive experience, rewarding and that opens for them the sight to otherness.
40 young people will experience the specific working methods of nonformal education based on active and participative learning, that helps at the intercultural education of the participants, bringing in close-up the meaning of “equity” of it as an antidote of the racism, xenophobia, exclusion and marginalization.
Participants will learn that other points of view can also be very valid and maybe as correct as their own perspective, once they are evaluated with other’s criteria.
The understanding of the other through its historical route and the analysis of its position in the actual society, working during the activities in cultural heterogeneous groups, preparing together the street performance, young people will experience and learn true solidarity, believing in the power of cooperation. Intercultural learning in this context is a way of discovering their own capacity of action. Thereby, the feeling of tolerance and understanding of the diversity will develop.
At the end of the youth exchange, through the street performance that will be held on 10 April 2012 in Ploiesti, the participants will express themselves with a FlashMob.
“COLOR BLIND” gives new possibilities of achievement, expression and aspiration to the participants.
We hope that by achieving the main goal of the project, we will prove that intercultural education is a factor of social change in the sense of evolution towards a truly intercultural society, in which diversity in equity will be the normality state wanted.
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