Over the past two years, the main priority of governments around the world has been to deal with the health and economic consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic. The epidemic had a profound impact on social and community life by isolating people from each other for long periods of time.
The unprecedented situation has a particularly negative impact on the more vulnerable groups, such as the youth, whose personal growth is based on social relationships.
The ReCAP project aims to support the active social inclusion and civic participation of young people (14 - 29), through non-formal learning activities and the use of specific artistic means. Special emphasis is placed on young people with fewer opportunities, such as girls, NEETs, people with a migrant background, minorities.
Within the framework of the project, an analysis of the needs of disadvantaged youth in terms of their opportunities to participate and be included in the life of the community after the pandemic is foreseen, which will give a better understanding of the necessary measures and policies aimed at them.
A team of 2 'Youth Workers' will be supported who offer mentoring, encouragement and support to young people. Together with them, the partners will develop new practical tools and resources based on the use of art methods.
In Bulgaria the project is implemented by Center for Sustainable Communities Development, Sofia.
ACTIVITIES
- LOCAL CONTEXT NEEDS ANALYSIS - explores the social problems the pandemic has caused or exacerbated among youth.
NOVEMBER - DECEMBER 2022: a questionnaire jointly developed by the partners will be distributed among 20 local stakeholders from Breznik and Radomir, who work with youth from the target group - 14-29 years old.
JANUARY 2023 – A CSCD expert will prepare an analysis of the responses and a summary report for Bulgaria, which will subsequently become part of a summary partner report.
- CREATION OF AN ARTISTIC AND CULTURAL TOOLKIT FOR YOUTH WORKERS AND TRAINING OF TRAINERS
The team of two youth workers will describe and systematize the specific Bulgarian experience in using different artistic tools /activities/, based on the results of the preliminary needs analysis. At an 8-day "Training of Trainers" (TOT) in Italy, youth workers from all countries participating in the consortium, under the guidance of the partner team La Piccionaia, will design a set of tools to support subsequent work with local youth. On the last day of the ToT, each national team will prepare an Action Plan that incorporates the tools and techniques learned - performing arts, photography, music, etc. and which is tailored to local needs.
In Bulgaria, the youth workers will test the Action Plan within 6-8 months together with 15 young people from the town of Breznik, aged 14-29. Young people will be prepared to express through art and creativity their social and individual traumas related to the pandemic and their needs for inclusion and sharing. By using their creativity, the youth will be enabled to share feelings that are sometimes difficult to express.
- DEVELOPING A ROAD MAP FOR YOUTH SOCIAL INCLUSION THROUGH ART AND CREATIVITY
The youth workers team will prepare a "Road Map for Youth Social Inclusion through Art and Creativity in a Post-Pandemic Period", including the techniques developed and tested under their guidance for 6 to 8 months with the group of 15 local youths. Lessons learned, strengths and weaknesses of methods will be analysed, and recommendations and guidelines for working with young people, especially from vulnerable groups, will be developed. At the end of the testing, the youth will have improved their self-esteem, their way of relating to others and maintaining social relations, which creates conditions for their social inclusion and activation. Their reactions and feedback on the local approach will be essential to assess the quality of the method and draw effective road maps to support the reconstruction of social cohesion for the most vulnerable (and often more marginalized) groups, which is not only important but also innovative. European policy priorities over the past two years have been focused on addressing the health and economic consequences of this pandemic, and the social problems that the pandemic has brought to our societies are less obvious in the short term and have therefore been largely neglected.
Each Road Map will be produced in an online version, in English and in Bulgarian.
- ORGANISATION OF A LOCAL MULTIPLIER EVENT
The event will be organized in Breznik or in Radomir at the beginning of 2024, and at it the young people who participated in the development and testing of the Road Map will present the developed toolkit - their artistic works and the Road Map to local stakeholders.
The idea is to organize the event, as well as the exhibition of artistic works, in a public space (city streets or squares, museums, public buildings, shops, libraries, public parks, buses, etc.). This approach will sensitize citizens to the social negative effects of COVID 19 and the need to care for the most vulnerable members of society. Public places are the symbol of social aggregation and it is from here that society can rebuild social relations. The exposition can also be interactive and involve the viewers in the action.
The target groups are citizens, youth organizations, municipal councils responsible for youth policies, municipal youth information centers, schools, associations that work with vulnerable youth.