ROLEPLAYING HUMAN RIGHTS

PROJECT OBJECTIVES

The value of education for young people by young people has always been a central concept of the youth work within the Council of Europe and the youth organisations working with the "Youth" programme (now Erasmus+ Youth).
The strong influence of the peer groups determines to a great extent the success of the non-formal education.
The project will focus on role-playing as educational strategy that emphasizes the social nature of learning, and consider the cooperative behavior as a stimulus for young people both socially and intellectually.
The project aims to give new instruments to youth leaders involved in social work to fight all types of intolerance or discrimination and in defense of human rights, increasing their capacity of working and planning the work with young people on peer group education projects based on role-playing.
The activities under the project will cover both the theoretical background on peer group education, as well as different project approaches, methods, quotes and stories of the participants.
The training and exchange will permit to the youth workers and youth leaders to choose the most appropriate way to implement a programme of peer group education based on non formal methods with a special focus on role-play, to empower young people to build in their own social context the Europe of tomorrow with dignity for all its people.

PROJECT ACTIVITIES

1) Preparatory work (1 month)
Each partner organisation's representative will make a preparatory work in order to plan training activities, exchange and mutual learning that will all take place at a later stage of the project.
The preparatory work will allow the definition of 'Guidelines' through the use of criteria of analysis and by highlighting good practices that each partner organisation has delivered in its own social and territorial context, particularly focusing on successfully activities in the field of peer education and non formal education, and especially looking at role-play.

2) Exchange of good practices (3 months)
Each partner organisation will follow the Guidelines in its own country as defined by each team in the preparatory visit in order to proceed towards identification, analysis and sharing of those good practices targeting young people with regard to thematics such as human rights and anti- discrimation through actions of peer education and non formal education.
Good practices will be shared online and later on each partner will verify in its own environment, at least one good practice chosen among those indicated by the other partners.

3) Training activities, mutual learning , cooperation on human rights and anti discrimination (10 days)
Delivery of a 15-day meeting at the 'receiving organisation's' (Italy) to both youth leaders and youth workers.
The following activities will be held during the meeting:
- exchange of ideas and opinions about shared good practices , discussion on outcome of good practices which each partner organisation has experimented in each own environment;
- capacity building of a new experimental path of peer-education , based on role play and finalised to enhance capacity of intervention in both the social and educational area of each partner organisation , targeting local youth on the thematics of promotion and safeguarding of human rights and anti discrimination;
- organisation and delivery of a public event focusing on role-play through a one-day performance of a selected role-play which will involve youngsters aged 16-30.

4) Promotion, communication and dissemination (1month)
Each partner organisation will organise one day dedicated to the promotion and social communication of the theme concerning human rights and European citizenship of young people through peer education and role-play at a local level, engaging with young students from secondary level schools and university students from social studies.