PARTICIPATORY PHOTOGRAPHY FOR INTERCULTURAL LEARNING

PARTICIPATORY PHOTOGRAPHY FOR INTERCULTURAL LEARNING

Day 1 Introduction and ice-breaking Day 1 of the exchange was about getting to know each other, discovering the new learning environment in which we would be able to interact, play and create, setting learning goals and exchanging experiences. We start our day with some funny and necessary non-formal activities such as: Name games, ice-barkers and energizers followed by a great teambuilding activity. In the afternoon session every national group represent its country, culture and the organization through Theatre play, handmade puppets and stories, songs and dances and poetry. As a last activity of every day we continued the day evaluating and measuring results of activities in a personal and organizational level.

Activities and topics addressed during the day: → Getting to know each other,Teambuilding activities → Administrative session: Presentation of the internal rules.Presenting the daily activies program → Presentation of each national group → Daily evaluation. Group reflection.

Day 2 Creation and Active participation During the 2nd Day, we reflected about the main topic of the exchange project: Active participation of youth to the community life in the countries of young participant. The debates, studies and presentations were made in every national group and were followed by discussions and an effective Questions & Answers session about this important topic. The afternoon was about interculturality and creation! Divided in intercultural teams we created a logo for the exchange then we voted for the best one and choose as the logo of our youth exchange project.

Activities and topics addressed during the day: → Presentation of the study realized by each national group in the local communities regarding the active participation of youth to the community life. →Creation of a logo for the project → Daily evaluation. Group reflection.

Day 3 Make a change through photography In the first session of Day 3, we had a workshop and a presentation about Youthpass certificate which help us to be aware of the competences that we will obtain or developed thanks to this exchange project and also the importance and advantages of this certificate in the future professional life. The session on Youthpass certificate was organized as an interactive activity. The participants were divided in 8 equal groups. The activity room was prepared with 8 working tables, each table having 4 tasks. Each group had 10 minutes to fulfill the tasks as a group. After 10 minutes, each group moved to another table. The activity continues like that until every group fulfills all the tasks, from each working table. The tasks corresponding to each working table were corresponding to the 8 key competences. Thus the participants could understand each key competence what does it mean and how they could acquire/ improve these fields of competences. The exercise was follows by a theoretic presentation about Youthpass and Erasmus+ programs for youth (EVS, training courses for youth workers etc).

Continuing the day we had an interesting workshop on "Participatory photography" and "photovoice", a non-formal method that we would use during the exchange. Starting from these methods, in order to better understand how they can make themselves heard by photography, the participants were divided in smaller working groups and each group had an exclusion topic that they have to create awareness about by photography (for example how to create awareness about the problems faced by a group of young people with disability or how to show the needs/ problems that a group of Rroma young people are facing). Each photo had to be accompanied by a text, to transmit the message of the photography.

Before our diner time as we did in everyday we had an individual reflection time and a daily evaluation in small groups.

Activities and topics addressed during the day: →Youthpass certificate presentation. Individual learning plan →Workshop on "Participatory photography" →Workshop on "photo-voice" method →Daily evaluation. Group reflection. →Intercultural night (Netherlands)

Day 4 All about photography and social inclusion In the morning session of Day 4 we had "World café" about social inclusion: Divided in different intercultural teams we discussed different cases of discriminated minorities in the societies and the participants presented the photography’s taken within the “participatory photography" session. This workshop let us to share personal stories and experiences and practicing ours photography skills.

In the afternoon thanks to a professional photographer we learned more about technical aspects of photography: ways to realize artistic photography’s, editing photos & videos, etc. The trainer who was a person with disabilities share with us his riche and interesting personal and professional experiences. One aspect achieved by the professional photographer in his intervention, was about the inclusive role of the photography: how the photography can be used in the social integration process and against discrimination.

Activities and topics addressed during the day: →Workshop "World café" about social inclusion →Workshop about the use of a professional camera.

→Daily evaluation. Group reflection. →Intercultural night (Poland)

Day 5 Share, Discover and Learn In this day we held the launching conference of our youth exchange. During this meeting in which participate the students and young people from local community and local authorities first we heard a detailed presentation about the aims and objectives of this youth exchange, then every national group represent its members and the sending organization. The ceremony continues with a meeting with the local authorities and debate about the youth participation to the community life. The day continues with an amazing activity: Treasure Hunt! Divided in intercultural groups we had chance to passe whole afternoon in our group to discuss, discover the Calimanesti city, meet with local community and even some tourists from the other regions of our hosting country and to discuss with them. It was such a diverting and rewarding afternoon!

Activities and topics addressed during the day: →Exchange launching conference →Treasure Hunt in Calimanesti and Caciulata. →Daily evaluation. Group reflection. →Intercultural night (France)

Day 6 Discovering the nature et the people surrounding The Day 6 of exchange was full of adventures, colors, smiles and new scenes of life! First we go to meet and discover the rroma community in a rural zone of Valcea County. It was a great opportunity for us to meet the rroma people living in Romania, to discuss with them and to ask them about the issues that they face in their life as a minority in Romania. We took a lot of photography’s of the beauty and crudeness of their life in order to increase the awareness of the others regarding this community during the exhibition that we planned to do in the project. Then we go to discover the multiethnic city of Sibiu where we took also the photography’s for our photo exhibition. This amazing day ended by Intermediary evaluation of the exchange.

Activities and topics addressed during the day: →Workshop of urban and rural photography: documentary visit to Valea lui Stan(rural rroma community),Sibiu(multi-ethnical community) and Racovita(rural rroma community). →Intermediary evaluation

Day 7 Sharing images, experiences, ideas The day after our journey begin with sharing the images and the anecdotes that we had collected during the 6th day in our intercultural teams. The diversity of presentations and ideas give us the occasion to have a debate about the main topics of project such as: photography, social inclusion, youth, active participation, rroma community, interculturality, multiethnicity, etc. The day continues with two interesting workshops on immigration an communication proposed by the participants.

The participants share their personal stories, and had a reflection time about these two topics.

Activities and topics addressed during the day: →Presentation of documentary visit to rroma communities and Sibiu County. →Workshop about immigration and interculturality →Workshop on communication → Daily evaluation. Group reflection. →Intercultural night (Italy)

Day 8 With the aim to take photos and videos about nature and be aware and involved in the environment protection we made a trip to the one the most beautiful national parks of Romania: Cozia national park. This trip was an opportunity for us to make a connection with the nature, its beauty and it’s calm. Furthermore we get more information about this national park and we tried to identify the issues with which this piece of romanian nature cope, most of them coming unfortunately from the humans.

Activities and topics addressed during the day: →Hiking trip in Cozia Park →Daily evaluation. Group reflection.

Day 9 A day for "active participation" Time to prepare our photo exhibition! The photos are ready but it’s not enough… , in order to give multiple meanings to singular images, we need to conceptualizing the problems of community on which we focused for identifying the issues, themes, or theories that emerge. Like photographies, the ideas and the messages were various. This method was a good time for us to practicing our media skills, to take a time for reflection and enjoy the final product which was going to be exposed for a big public (the local commuity but also the tourists). The afternoon was about learning to learn,cooperation, communication, creativity and sport all of this collected under one topic: Open Space. The participants proposed and shared topics of interest for the others. We learned a lot from each other!

Activities and topics addressed during the day: →Photo exhibition preparation →Open space activity →Daily evaluation. Group reflection. →Intercultural night (Bulgaria)

Day 10 Photo exhibition The big day has arrived! The project resulted in almost 140 photos being taken, with written interpretations provided by participants. The exhibition took place in Calimanesti tourist information center, entrance free for public. We spent whole morning in this center in order to prepare our exhibition and to discuss with the visitors about our photography’s, telling them the story of each photo and the meaning that it contain for us, and sometimes the reason for which we choose that to expose.

Activities and topics addressed during the day: →Photo exhibition: presentation of the photos/ videos realized within the project activities Treasure Hunt in Rm Valcea. Visit to the place where will be organized the photo exhibition.

Participation in a TV show: presentation of the project →Daily evaluation. Group reflection Intercultural night (Romania)

Day 11 Evaluation and dissemination In the last day of the exchange, we completed the planning of our next actions in personal and organizational level when going back home and we identified our outcomes and learning’s from this project. As well new possibilities were exchanged and created for upcoming projects in local, national and international level. Then we take an individual reflection time to fill the individual evaluation formula of the project and we continued the evaluation with some non-formal methods.

The end of the day was time to receive our Youthpass certificates, a happy and sad moment in the same time because we knew that our riche and colorful journey is arrived come to an end... But we go home with the luggage’s full of experiences, new knowledge’s, sweet memories, new friendships and new objectives for the future.

→Project dissemination, Project follow up: planning of future projects →Final Evaluation of the project →Youthpass certificate ceremony