EUtopia? -Diversity in Changing Europe

Recently a growing number of migrants and refugees from conflict areas has entered Europe, evoking both, political and moral dilemmas within the European Union and beyond. Although immigration has always been an integral part of European economic affluence and cultural heritage, recently it has increasingly been opposed. Further on, Europe is witnessing a rise of xenophobia and cultural stereotyping, escalating into political extremism and radicalism. What are the reasons behind changing attitudes and politics in Europe and how does this connect to the response towards contemporary refugees and migrants? How does Europe relate to diversity in the midst of prolonged economic downturn and eroding social cohesion? What are the perspectives of today’s young people from diverse backgrounds to grow up identifying themselves as jointly European? The training course aims at providing youth work practitioners with competences and tools to understand and better respond to the current realities of young people in changing Europe. The implications of the European migrant crisis is approached from the perspective of how it mirrors the contemporary problematic of dealing with diversity in Europe. The participants will have a chance to gain information and critically reflect on the topic from different angles together with colleagues from other countries, as well as to acquire transferable skills to facilitate young people’s proactive adaptation and empowerment. The activity will take place in Serbia, in the Western Balkan region, which has been the main transit area and a disputed border zone for today’s migration towards the European Union. The region itself has witnessed a large scale emigration and internal displacement of people as a consequence to the conflicts in the 90s, of which impact is still tangible today. The training is based on an existing concept developed and implemented twice by the Latvian National Agency for the Erasmus+: Youth in Action Programme. Aim: The aim of the activity is to provide youth workers with competences and tools to understand and better respond to contemporary realities of youth in changing Europe. Objectives: • to share multiple perspectives on the European migrant crisis and its implications on youth as well as to explore the socio-political interconnectedness of different aspects influencing the phenomenon; • to understand reasoning and motivation behind people’s views and attitudes, discover how public opinion is formed and encourage critical thinking; • to explore the concept of diversity, its limits and potentials; • to identify the role of youth work practitioners in promoting diversity; • to develop tools for promoting diversity and to support international cooperation among participants. Participants’ profile: We are looking for participants who: • are working directly with young people a setting of non-formal learning; • having awareness of diversity matters in Europe and their implications on young people in their local communities; • are prepared to invest time for prior learning before the training course (ca.10 hours in mid-May to the end of June 2016) ; • are over 18 years old; • are able to communicate effectively in English. The programme of activities will be carried out by two trainers: • Liga Rudzite (Latvia) https://www.salto-youth.net/tools/toy/liga-rudzite.2232/ and • Dragan Atanasov (The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) https://www.salto-youth.net/tools/toy/dragan-atanasov.1280/