Presentation [Follow-Up Activities] - Active Rainbow Project 2016

ACTIVERAINBOW2016Follow-up implementation of workshops byparticipants & partner organizations

WELCOME Active Rainbow is a long-term Erasmus+ project which mission is to promote social inclusion and combat discrimination of LGBTQIA+Active Rainbow Project 2016 people in society. The project brought together 40 young people from Lithuania, Bulgaria, Romania, Italy, Latvia, Greece, Spain and The Netherlands. During the 10 days event, participants worked on their self-awareness and personal growth, while creating their own informal educational tools connected to the topic. One of the main aims of the project was the organization of workshops after the youth exchange by participants in their local communities. In their initiatives, participants were supported by the partner organizations. Below is a brief presentation of the collective results from each country. Enjoy! Location & workshop What was organizers? implemented? How was the event How many people Was the purpose of implemented? attended? the event achieved? 2

LITHUANIA Connection bridge @LGL office by Elena, Modesta, Eglė, Justina 3 We implemented the \"connection bridge\" workshop. Additionally, we introduced VAK styles, disambiguation between facts and observations and feedback schema. The connection bridge is sort of strategy game with two teams. Players used paper, scissors and duck-tape. Afterwards, we had a debriefing and feedback. We separated tasks before the event and supported each other. 8 people Our goal was to give participants a chance to reflect on their communication \"habits\"/styles, to find for themselves how they can make communication with others more effective. For us, we missed each other and tried to have fun. I think we did well. Active Rainbow Project 2016

LITHUANIA Pasaka (Fairytale) @LGL office by 5 people We did the fairytale workshop, that Elen's team has created during the project, in which people create Elena, Modesta, their own queer versions of well known fairytales. Eglė, Justina It was really easy. We've just written the names of the fairytales on one group of papers and different identities on others and gave them for the people to pick. We also made some tea and put some cookies on the plates and that was it. We didn't need any other support. The purpose was to spend some quality time with our community and have fun and we really did! This workshop was much better, everyone were so engaged in creating the fairytales and drawing and that was a success.Active Rainbow Project 2016 4

GREECE @Hellenic Youth Participation 25 people Through this follow up workshop, we office by Eva, Erianna, Anna, wanted to spread the message for Panagiotis, Leonidas social inclusion of LGBTQIA+ people and also to inform people about The workshop for Sexuality Terminology, The LGBTQIA+ privilege and discrimination. I believe Fairytales, Intersectionality Board Game we achieved the purpose, mostly because people who came were We used non typical learning method and we delivered 3 interested about the subject even workshops. We worked as a team and separated the though most of them did not belong roles. We talked with the director of HYP and asked her to the LGBTQIA+ community and about some material we needed, like paper tape, A4 didn't have a lot of information before blank papers and some copies and she kindly provided about sexual orientation and gender for us. identity.Active Rainbow Project 2016 5

GREECE 4th Sexuality Festival @Aristotle University of 36 people Thessaloniki by Panagiotis and Anna Creative writing, Experimental activity about stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination, Guided fantasy. We cooperated and did the workshops for two days. We found non-directivity to be very helpful and let people express themselves, without judging, but by actively listening to them and being accepting. We divided the tasks equally: one would give the intro speech and the other would give the instructions for the activity and we would both accompany and support the participants throughout the workshops.Active Rainbow Project 2016 6

GREECE 4th Sexuality Festival Our purpose was to make people look at things from a 7 different perspective, be more open minded and experience discrimination in a safe space, so that they can understand how some groups of people are privileged and some others not so much. Another goal of course, was to make people have fun. I think we were able to achieve our goals at a great extent. After all the activities we were having discussions with the participants about how they experienced the whole process and most of them found it very interesting and enlightening. We had people of different age groups (some of them were even 70 years old) and sexual orientations, so I think we managed to show them different points of view. Active Rainbow Project 2016

LATVIA What is ART @Mozaīka office by Anna and Laura 8 True/False questions, TEDx Talk video, sharing and discussion, presentation Used materials - visual (video). Approx. 10 people We hoped for more people to attend, but for those who attended, it was very valuable in the end, since the information which was shared was new to them and clarified very well. Active Rainbow Project 2016

ITALY Rainbow Day @Circolo Arci Stranamore - Pinerolo by Lea, Alessandro, 9 Carlo, Fabiana, Lorenzo, Davide, Fabiano Gender Terminology workshop, \"Stepping Stones - a game about Intersectionality” and projection of videos we made during Active Rainbow project. Additionally, we had sharing and discussion with the participants about our experience in Ommen, Erasmus +, LGBTQIA+ issues etc. 12 people Active Rainbow Project 2016

ITALY Rainbow Day We used methods we learned in Ommen during the 10 project \"Active Rainbow\" (non-formal education). We used markers, flipchart and sheets of paper with \"the Gender Cake\" printed on (made by us and distributed to the participants) for the Gender Terminology workshop. Then we prepared the Stepping Stones workshop with chalks (that we used to draw on the floor), sheets of paper, little stones and some other objects we needed for the game. For the last part we used a computer and a projector to show the videos. The purpose was to put ourselves in the game, try to show what we learned during the Project and involve, give info and tell people something that they didn't know. We achieved this purpose. Active Rainbow Project 2016

SPAIN Trans and inter sex awareness journey @ High School \"IES Laurel de la Reina\" The team put all the efforts on making the activities by Elena, Javier, Alejandro, Victor and understandable and to create a great atmosphere for Joaquin children to feel comfortable to share and reflect as a group. The journey was a composition of two different activities. The first was 60 people the explanation of the goal of \"Trans Huellas Asociación\" (LGBTQ+ awareness) and the basic concepts \"sex\", \"body\", \"gender\", \"identity\", Explanations, \"orientation\", etc. And the second activity was the speech of two young visualization of trans from Granada about their difficulties in any field of life and a documentation workshop that related all the different experiences of all the people in the and discussions. room about their gender and sex identity.Active Rainbow Project 2016 11

NETHERLANDS Culture Night: Pakistan @ The HangOut office by James, Donya 12 Pakistani cuisine, documentary and talks of the culture, also in relation to the LGBTQIA+ community 20 people We applied having a mutual, non-directive yet themed conversation through the means of visual arts, ergo a documentary. Responsibilities were split evenly, guiding the evening was Donya’s task, James provided cuisine, and input in the talk. As for materials, we used the means necessary for projecting film, and a 'safe space' environment. Active Rainbow Project 2016

NETHERLANDS Culture Night: Pakistan The idea was to talk about Pakistani surrounding this theme. And to portray an culture, in relation to general LGTBQIA+ actual view of life within said community in themes, to and with people of Pakistani Pakistan. Of course, there was not nearly background, and those who are/aren't and enough time to delve as deep as one are interested/educated on these topics. would have perhaps liked to, but we got To ever so slightly uncover the possible the point of conversation across, so in that veil that could rest on the questions sense it is a success.Active Rainbow Project 2016 13

ROMANIA Queer images in the media @Accept office by Elena 10 people We discussed how LGBTQIA+ people are represented in the media in Romania: newspapers and TV. And also in United States, in movies and TV series. And we also had a practical activity, for the participants to create their own media representation of LGBTQIA+ people, how they imagine it. *Romania team also implemented a workshop on intersectionality. Though we don’t have further information about it. Active Rainbow Project 2016

BULGARIA Unfortunately, the Bulgarian Team didn’t in their organizational process, in order that we bring higher manage to implement their workshop awareness on the reality that exists in nowadays societies initiatives as originally planned. among the European countries, especially when connected to education system. At the end of the exchange in February 2016, the team planned to organize back in their local communities the “What The main challenge was the negative response from the is Art” workshop, connected to HIV awareness. The workshop principals in schools in Sofia and in other locations, who was created by participants during the exchange, two of them denied that the workshop take place in their schools, coming from Bulgaria. either it was to be delivered for one class or more classes. Participants used their own connections with high schools, The initial goal was to deliver this workshop in high schools in universities and student councils for a long time of period Bulgaria from their local communities, in order to bring without any concrete and motivating result. Their goal was to awareness to the topic among the youth and students. open a discussion about HIV in high school among young people, considering that education is a major factor for Although, the workshop didn’t take place, we consider it promoting social inclusion and preventing related stigma and essential to mention the main challenge that participants faced discrimination when it comes to people with HIV in Bulgaria. Active Rainbow Project 2016

CONCLUSION First of all, we congratulate all participants We acknowledge a great impact on for their significant contribution in their creating civil societies, in which young Active Rainbow Project 2016 own personal development and in their LGBTQIA+ people don’t have to hide their local communities, for spreading the identity, be mistreated in their lives or results of the project, their learnings and have less opportunities in their education, new informal educational tools beyond. job, family, peers etc. Out of the collective Empowering the young people for taking results, we consider that each person active participation in their communities involved in the follow-up activities one was one of the initial goals of the Active way or another had the chance to Rainbow Project. learn, become aware and embrace diversity and human beings for who In total, we reached: they are. - 176 people directly, who attended the follow-up events in the partner Olde Vechte Foundation works towards countries. creating a world that works for everybody. - approximately 4.025 people indirectly We will continue our work in supporting through the online promotion of the individual learning, growth and embracing events. initiatives for good causes, such as the promotion and respect of Human Rights Target group of the workshops was: for all. people with diverse gender identity and sexual orientation (LGBTQIA+ youth), From start till the end, we thank our youth workers, social workers and trainers partners for their cooperation, contribution who work in the spectrum or are involved and work towards the common mission in LGBTQIA+ organizations, people and journey of the project. interested in the topic. Thank you! Cathy Manousaki & Olde Vechte Team

Organized by: Supported by: Partners:This project has been funded with the support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author. The commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.