Last week we met in Ljubljana for the Kick-off meeting of Empatheatry. With the project we aim to increase accessibility of theatre activities for youth with fewer opportunities and thus encourage their holistic development. We want to empower youth workers, theatre pedagogues and similar profiles in their work with youth and develop quality methods through interdisciplinary cooperation for use in developing inclusive theatre workshops. We want to offer young people an experience of creative international cooperation, addressing their emotional development and active citizenship.
We started the 1. Transnational project meeting with getting to know each other and with the presentation of individual partner organizations.
Our partners are doing amazing things in their fields:
TADA (short for ToekomstATELIERdelAvenir) is a network that involves citizens, civil society and businesses in the integration and emancipation of Brussels’ socially most vulnerable teenagers and their entourage.
In Brussels, TADA supports more than 2000 socially vulnerable teenagers through a network that intensively coaches them during many years. Through their weekend schools and their alumni network, TADA offers extra-scholarly activities that set the learning (-bar) high, while equally fostering the wellbeing of the child.
La Xixa Teatre is a non-profit organisation created in 2010, oriented towards the research, development and multiplication of theatrical tools and popular education as a means of social transformation. They are a multidisciplinary and multicultural group of collaborators trained in the field of social sciences, pedagogy, and art. They carry out workshops for diverse groups, training of trainers and artistic actions at local and international level.
Društvo IMPRO is the central organization of improvisational theatre in Slovenia, both in the field of development and implementation of performance practices of improv theatre as well as pedagogical methods that derive from this theatre direction. They are recognized as one of the most important organizations in the field of theatre cultural and artistic education for children and youth.
Redial is an innovative and forward-thinking voluntary and community sector organisation working in the field of social inclusion based in Dublin and working within different communities in Ireland. Their vision is to create inclusive learning communities which empower learners from every background to develop skills, overcome barriers to inclusion, and realize their potential.
We continued the meeting with reviewing each of the work packages. We talked about all the activities, interviews, international and local training, workshops. We also discussed the topic of dissemination and the website proposal and agreed on the details of administration and reporting and set the date for our next online meeting.
We invited our partners to Ljubljana Castle, where Veronika Hana from Društvo Impro prepared an interactive tour for us.
It was energizing to meet with the partners in person, as the face-to-face interaction boosted motivation for further work. We are happy about the collaborative spirit that emerged and look forward to a productive working relationship ahead.
