Description
The European Campaign against Hate Speech offers very few activities in Poland's regions. The project is designed to intensify the campaign against hate speech in Lower Silesia. It proposes measures to form a network of activists, leaders and youth workers who will engage in campaigning in Lower Silesia. “Stories of hatred" will be written up and shared to communicate the possible impacts of hate speech on the life of young people and to suggest ways of dealing with this phenomenon. The project also reaches out to perpetrators of hate speech and people affected by online hate speech by offering training conducted in organisations which are not active in the field of hate speech. The project will train activists and trainers, and Innovation Lab for Social Change will be established in which 50 activists will develop online and mobile tools to help counter hate speech. The project is implemented jointly with Amnesty International Norway.
Summary of project results
"Racist slogans against the Roma community were sprayed on billboards installed by an equal opportunities campaign in Głogów. The slogans were often repeated by young people who launched racist social media pages during the campaign. Discriminatory comments against people living in regenerated communities (families affected by unemployment and poverty) were found in local news portals. The project aimed at integrating existing initiatives against hate speech in Lower Silesia and developing trainers and young activists to run anti-hate speech education activities. The objective was met. A youth activist network has been created in Lower Silesian communities including Głogów, Bolesławiec, Wrocław, Złotoryja and Świdnica; young people received training; as part of peer education, a group of activists made a presentation about the problem of hate speech in their middle or high schools. A project website and an Online Helpdesk were created for individuals who had been experiencing online hate speech. An online anti-hate speech campaign was organised; a publication entitled Hate Stories in Polish and in English was published. Young people organised their own online campaigns, two radio shows were broadcast as well as two videos and three gifs about hate speech were created; an Innovation Lab for Social Change was held. The project participants were middle and secondary school students in Lower Silesia. The project was implemented in partnership with Amnesty International Norway, which helped develop publications and education materials based on Norwegian experience. Moreover, Amnesty International Norway was responsible for co-organising the study visit and the Innovation Lab for Social Change."
Summary of bilateral results
Measure B With intent to strengthen co-operation and learn more about new and effective work methods about combating hate speech among youth, a study visit to Norway was organised, attended by Association and local government representatives. Visit participants were presented with methods of working with young people in the field of xenophobia and discrimination preventing, with the local government's role in supporting such activities, and with activities and operation of youth centres. Local government representatives declared their support in preventing discrimination, racism, and hate speech in Poland. Furthermore, the Association acquired new partners, and planned a 2016 Polish-Norwegian youth exchange (duly completed) jointly with the Anti-Racist Center. Measure B Jointly with the new Partner, European Wergeland Centre, formerly responsible for co-ordinating the "NO HATE" campaign in Norway, a meeting of Polish and Norwegian young people was organised in Poland to enable experience exchange in the field of human rights peer education. Polish young people delivered a training course on preventing hate speech and peer education for their Norwegian colleagues. Training session participants designed curriculum layouts for classes to be delivered at schools, and planned an international youth exchange focusing on the topic of hate speech prevention.