An Erasmus+ Youth Exchange took place in La Reunion Island on 10-17 March, 2020
The project "Embrace Cultural Diversity!” was initiated by the young people from Rèunion , Belgium, and Georgia to discuss the cultures, their role in the everyday lives of the young people, and to learn more about diversity and commonalities for achieving better understanding within their multicultural communities. Thus, the young people decided to organise the Youth Exchange that promotes intercultural understanding for combatting the tendencies of cultural alienation and radicalisation among the most vulnerable parts of the society and for the creation of the opportunity of interaction among the cultures, traditions, religions, and geographic areas.
The project idea is that direct contact to different cultures raises the cultural sensitivity of the young people. While there are many opportunities for getting in touch with different cultures, it does not always happen in a respectful and peaceful way. Nowadays it is evident that there is a need for reconciling different cultures and religions, and styles of life. The young people are the stakeholders who have the potential to contribute to creating a better and inclusive future for all.
The joint project of Reunion, Belgium, and Georgia, three places from different spots on the Earth, bring to the fore differences and commonalities expressed in persons, languages, religions, food and folk traditions, cultural heritage and history. The learning exchange together provides an example for other people by sharing the achieved results in a creative way. Creativity promotes visibility and exactly this kind of artistic and creative approach will be used to reach as many young people as possible for motivating them to open up for intercultural dialogue and to combat the rampant
stereotypes. By different means of non-formal learning, cultural workshops, food cooking, engaging in the traditional crafts, direct contact with the locals, and exchange of cultures, this youth exchange will help its participants and target groups to foster the intercultural learning, tolerance, and respect via direct and applicative ways. In doing so, the promoted objectives are:
1. Intercultural learning among the young people of Reunion, Belgium, and Georgia;
2. Identifying what separates and what unites different cultures;
3. Combatting the stereotypes related to cultures, religions, beliefs, and gender;
4. Encouraging the own initiatives of the young people;
5. Raising awareness about different cultures, traditions, folklore, and food;
6. Promoting inclusive language, combatting hate speech;
7. Learning about the local successful examples of intercultural coexistence and promoting in the participant countries.
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