Project dates: 24th of August – 3rd of September 2019

Project place: Banja Luka (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and Crnomelj (Slovenia)

Deadline for applying: URGENT!

 

 

 

ABOUT THE PROJECT 

The theme of this year’s Convention is ‘Sing for your soul – music for social change’, a project that aims to promote self-empowerment and intercultural learning through music.

Do you enjoy singing? Playing music? Do you sing in the shower only, pretend to sing while just opening your mouth as you were told you don’t know how to sing when you were younger? Are you next Freddie or Aretha?

In any of the cases, this is the event for YOU! 

Voice is a deep part of who you are. Voice is an essential part of communication. Voice is ever-evolving.

Being in touch with your own authentic voice is something many people struggle with. They say life is a learning process, yet sometimes we have difficulty expressing ourselves. Whether it be not speaking up in a work meeting, to objecting to an idea, or miscommunication, due to lack of clarity, we sometimes will sell ourselves short.

Music is a part of all of us: it allows us to connect across cultures, upbringing, and with our own authentic voice. Music is bringing us closer to others but also ourselves. Everybody has a unique voice but we are very often discouraged from using it with the explanation that we are not talented enough, for singing for example.

We will not be claiming that it is not correct, we are claiming that everybody can be an important piece of a puzzle only if empowered to do so.

This project is about empowerment, learning about others through music and singing and interacting with other communities with the purpose to make a change.

The idea of this project is to empower people to be strong and make them understand that each one of us can contribute to societal development in their own way. The difference will be that we will do it through singing using the concept of music education for empowering young people.

In the current state of affairs of Europe, societies are more and more divided and 25.9 million young people aged between 15 and 29 are at risk of poverty or social exclusion. In such a world, the most miserable and tragic thing is not the lack of bread or roof, but the feeling of being no-one, the feeling of not being anyone, the lack of identification, the lack of self esteem.

It is important to know – we are not defined by our looks, number of likes or others’ praising in public. It is us who are defining the strength we have within. In YEU we believe that our own voices can support us in being stronger.

Music can fight these feelings and accompany young people to understand that they’re not alone: to play music in an orchestra or sing in a choir can bring harmony, thus becoming a social process of integration and inclusion that helps young people to develop a sense of community. This sense of belonging develops by being part of a group that recognises itself as interconnected and that pursues the same objective. And this is what can change lives.

On the level of intercultural dialogue – one can learn about Others through their culture. As in previous projects, we want to focus on the everyday lives of common people – what are the issues that are important to them, what are they singing about in their traditional songs.

Through learning about the culture, music and lyrics, our participants will, on one hand, learn about themselves and on another, cultures that are usually not so close to them (or they are taught to despise or even hate) will become more understandable.

This project will be done at international level in order to have the participants understand the full of its powers – together, they will be exploring the narratives of each others society and cultural aspects while exploring their own capacities.

YEU believes that music can accompany young people to understand that they’re not alone: to play music is a social process of integration and inclusion that helps to develop a sense of community.
Therefore we want to encourage young people to use their voice to express their authentic soul and connect with other cultures.

Participants will wear intercultural and gender glasses to work on traditional songs and design alternative narratives that take into account the challenges of modern society and reflects a more equal and inclusive perspective.

 

Objectives:

  • to empower young people to develop self-esteem, empathy and confidence through musical education
  • to promote intercultural dialogue and social inclusion through learning about music and songs typical of other cultures

 

Expected results:

  • Participants learning new creative non formal education methodologies (related to music) to implement in their local communities
  • Create a manual of musical education (for youth organizations, schools, and artists) with examples of good practices for the improvement of intercultural dialogue and prevention of social exclusion. 

 

 

 

PARTICIPANTS’ PROFILE

  • Interested in the topics of the project and committed to engaging throughout the whole process
  • Aged between 18-30
  • Willing to act as multipliers and committed to putting in practice similar follow up programmes in their communities
  • Willing to share their experience with CID

 

 

 

ACCOMMODATION and FINANCES:

All costs related to accommodation and food will be covered by the hosting organization.

YEU will cover 70% of the travel costs in accordance with 250 EUR maximum travel costs limits. 

 

 

PARTICIPATION FEE: NONE

SENDING FEE: 500 MKD

 

 

APPLY HERE!