Large Dogs Don't Bark

Project facts

Project promoter:
Villa Decius Association
Project Number:
PL05-0523
Target groups
Children ,
Young adults
Status:
Completed
Initial project cost:
€87,500
Final project cost:
€79,732
From EEA Grants:
€ 68,662
The project is carried out in:
Poland

More information

Description

“Large Dogs Don't Bark" is an extension of the Applicant's existing efforts to promote tolerance and equal opportunities in local communities and to counteract discrimination and hate speech by employing self-irony, comedy, music and film. The project offers 5 five-day critical observation workshops and music workshops for youth and teachers w 5 small communities in Poland; the existing website will be extended, a project publication will be released, and improvised plays will be staged with the involvement of project participants and a video clip will be recorded. The project will tap into the creative potential of youth in small communities in order to effectively fight discrimination and hate speech in disadvantaged groups, to encourage young people to take part in public life actively and to promote best practice. Project participants will include professional comedians, musicians and filmmakers who will be stewards of artistic quality of the activities.

Summary of project results

"The study done by the Villa Decius Association before the project implementation and the experiences resulting from the previous project “Hip hop haters stop!"" show that there are large disparities between civic activities of inhabitants of big cities and towns and those living in small communities and rural areas. In smaller communities, access to culture and afterschool educational activities is limited and that is why the talent and potential of young people often remains unnoticed and unused. As a result, people living in small communities do not get involved in civic and community activities. The study also shows a growing problem of hate speech. Teachers are not trained to cope with the problem, neither do they have professional educational materials to help them counteract hate speech properly. The aim of the project was to encourage young people from small communities and their teachers to get involved in art activities and to take part in public life. The project also aimed to counteract discrimination and hate speech using improvisations, music and videos. 195 young people participated in the project implementation. They learned how to use the new media knowingly and how to identify hate speech in them. They also learned how to react to discriminatory behaviour, both in everyday life and on the Internet. The project implementation included critical observation workshops and music workshops for students of secondary schools in small communities. Workshop participants prepared performances and showed them in schools. Videos were made of each workshop and professional music video promoting counteracting hate speech was prepared. A handbook with scenarios of educational activities related to the project theme was published. The project beneficiaries were students and teachers from small towns and villages in the following voivodships: Lower Silesian, Małopolskie, Masovian, Podlaskie, Pomeranian, Zachodniopomorskie and Warmińsko-Mazurskie. There were three project partners: Moma film Foundation was responsible for coordinating workshops and providing logistics for the shows and for making videos; Association of Creative Initiatives “Windą w bok"" contacted schools and educational institutions and cooperated in designing the Internet portal; Stand Up Polska conducted critical observation workshops and improvisations."

Summary of bilateral results