On the 23rd – 25th of September 2024 Hope For Children CRC Policy Center organized a learning, teaching and training activity (LTTA) on the use of dance and art-based methodologies to support youth at risk of social exclusion, with a specific focus on migrant youth in the framework of our ongoing Erasmus+ project the HeArts of Youth on the European University (EUC) premises. The training program aimed at building the capacities of youth workers who work with migrant youth. The techniques that were taught during the training mainly drew on dance and art-based approaches, as instruments to help migrant youth face difficult situations and promote inclusivity. The training was completed with huge success since all the trainees gained valuable skills and learnt useful techniques to use in their professional environment with young migrants in the future.
The training was designed as capacity building, to expand the participating youth workers’ skills, and provide them with more tools and knowledge to use art and dance-based techniques and methods to carry out workshops for youth migrants. Approximately 40 youth workers from the project’s partner countries - Belgium, France, Italy and Cyprus - who work with asylum seekers, refugees and other migrants have attended the training.
Prior to the local training, two HFC’s staff members, together with participants from the other partner organizations, attended a training of Trainers (ToT) in Palermo, Italy, and gained knowledge on the benefits of art and dance-based approaches for their target audience like migrant children, adolescents and young adults under their care.
The trainers then transferred the skills and knowledge gained locally to the LTTA participants in Cyprus. This included teaching and learning the importance of art and dance-based tools for fostering social inclusion of young migrants, and the training also enabled the participants to acquire knowledge on how to utilize art and dance-based methodologies in their work and transfer the benefits of these approaches to young migrants.
Nadezhda Belinska, Psychologist at the Hope For Children shelter for unaccompanied minors said that the LTTA was a unique opportunity for youth workers to gather priceless experience.
'This training and the whole project provide valuable tools to be used with young migrants. It was so enriching and empowering to have the chance to pass this knowledge on to other people who will then reproduce everything that has been done. It's an amazing experience to connect and exchange knowledge and discuss challenges with people from different cultural and professional background said Ms. Belinska.
Eleni Papaioannou, Social Worker and Support Officer at the Hope For Children shelter, emphasized the social impact that the workshops will have on young migrants, enhancing their inclusion and well-being.
‘This experience for me was so special and priceless as it is a process that will help everyone working with young migrants to use important tools and knowledge. This project fosters inclusivity and respect and it aims to empower and boost self-esteem. From my experience, this project has a lot to offer not only to the young migrants but also to all professionals that will be trained to implement it afterwards,’ said Ms. Papaioannou.
The next phase of the project is for the trainees to implement workshops with young migrants, based on the knowledge and skills they developed on the use of dance and art-based tools with the target group. The workshops will be coordinated and monitored by the HFC project managers and trainers.
If you want to know more about the HeArts of Youth project and its actions, visit the website here!