VOICE UP - Oral histories from queer communities

Voice Up - Oral Histories from Queer Communities is a training course designed for youth workers, educators, and social workers active in non-formal learning and youth work. The project promotes oral history and community-driven archiving as innovative tools to enhance youth engagement, critical thinking, and intercultural learning. Through practical training, participants will gain technical skills in conducting oral history interviews, digital archiving, and collecting personal narratives, fostering community-building, intergenerational dialogue, and inclusion.

The training course, hosted over seven days, brings together 30 youth workers from 18 organizations across Europe. The methodology includes non-formal education, experiential learning, peer-to-peer knowledge sharing, and digital storytelling techniques. Participants will engage in structured exercises, facilitated debates, and creative workshops to explore how oral history can counteract symbolic annihilation and give visibility to marginalized voices, particularly from LGBTIQ+ communities.

By developing community-based digital memory projects, participants will enhance digital literacy, self-expression, and historical awareness. The project also addresses the lack of practical yet innovative civic engagement methods in youth work, equipping youth professionals with accessible tools to empower young people and inspire activism.

The expected impact includes improved competencies in community-centered youth work, expanded professional networks, and increased capacities of partner organizations to engage in international collaborations. Participants will return home with new methodologies for promoting social inclusion, community identity, and historical preservation, ensuring wider dissemination of project results.

This training is ideal for youth workers seeking new tools for fostering participation and diversity within their communities. It aligns with Erasmus+ priorities by strengthening youth engagement, non-formal learning, and digital storytelling for social change.