The main objective of the youth exchange “Don’t fear to differ! Empowering intercultural dialogue in Europe” is to introduce young people to the changing cultural map of Europe and to promote intercultural dialogue as an effective way of tackling the marginalization of certain groups of people and counteracting hate speech. Through intercultural dialogue youth from six different European countries will develop soft skills such as intercultural competencies, cultural awareness, and social interactions. In this way, the project will contribute to combating hate speech, overcoming all forms of stereotypes and prejudices, and making young people more tolerant of people of different social, cultural, and religious backgrounds.
The implementation of this project will lead to improvement of the quality of youth work in the field of social and cultural activities through the cooperation of youth organizations in the field of culture from different European countries, increasing the capacity of young people in their personal and professional realization; developing young people’s soft skills by working in a team to counteract the negative consequences of hate speech, intolerance, and disrespect.
The main topics of youth exchange “Don’t fear to differ!” аre:
-Culture and migration
-Discrimination and intolerance
-Fight against hate speech
-Tolerance
-Developing soft skills and competences
-Developing critical thinking, social, and leadership competencies
Methodology: non-formal education: discussions, presentations, workshops, exchange of experience, good practices in the field of cultural diversity, creative activity, teamwork, simulations, role-playing games, development of future Erasmus + projects.
Venue: Gabrovo city, Uzana region
Duration: 7 days (12-18 July 2021)
Countries involved: Bulgaria, Italy, Romania, North Macedonia, Lithuania, Czech Republic
Participants: 32 young people from 6 European countries
The project is funded by the European Commission under the Erasmus+ program.