Hands on creativity!

Our project “Hands on Creativity” addresses to the youngsters of this time, who are living the digital boom, an important change that is influencing our lives. In fact, we spend much more time than before in front of a screen, at the laptop or using the smartphone, highly changing our lifestyle. The youth nowadays are living virtually, leaving out relationships, social interactions, hobbies, practicality. Everything is digitalized and automatized, Internet is where they “meet” and interact, there are no more distances, no more barriers. But what happen in the reality, in the “offline” world? We feel that there is a lack of interactions, of face to face communication and also practicality is missing. Internet and the digital world are great achievements, but we need to use them carefully. Through this project we want to let the youth face with a world where they have to use the hands again (and their mind!), stimulating their creativity and consequentially the interaction with the others. Learning to do things manually is seen as a positive tool, as a solution to reduce the “online” addiction and to stimulate communication. We want to bring together youngsters from different countries and let them work together and being present together. We want to urge them towards “offline” activities and interests, such as handicrafts, painting, sculpture, decoupage, stitching, graffiti etc. Real life means experiences, pleasures and fun, not virtual life.

OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT:
• Get to learn new techniques and methods, which involve the usage of the hands (like paintings, ceramics, working with clay, graffiti, stitching etc.);
• To create a physical space to share typical Arts or handicrafts traditions to discover new cultures;
• To develop a positive and open attitudes towards other cultures and countries through creativity;
• To stimulate the youth in finding others ways to spend their free time, doing things with the hands and being “offline”;
• To give to the young people the right tools to communicate, create, participate, interact and express themselves;
• To implement the youth’s personal skills and improve their competences through non-formal education.

DATES: 26th June – 3rd July 2016 (flexible)
LOCATION: Castelfiorentino a town nearby Florence, Tuscany, Italy.
PARTICIPATING COUNTRIES: Erasmus+ Programme Countries
PARTICIPANTS: 4 + 1 leader, 5 in total per country. The participants will be 18-25, whilst the leader can be up to 28 and needs to have experiences with youth exchanges.
COSTS: travel costs according to distance to Castelfiorentino and 100% food and accommodation will be covered by Erasmus+ Program according to 2015 user’s guide.
APPLICATION: In order to become our partners, please fill the document “Partner Info” attached and send it before the 17th of January. We are aiming to apply for the February deadline.
CONTACT: Martina Saladino - martinasalad@gmail.com