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Description
“Conexio” is a citizenship education project that aims the participation of citizens in civic activities, through arts. The activities are aimed at 20 youngsters (ages 15 to 24) in a social exclusion context. It aims to trigger a process to contribute to the development of an identity sense and community bounds, in Piedade Jovem neighborhood (São Miguel island, Açores), through actions of education, reflection, artistic transformation of the neighborhood and community involvement. The lack of an identity sense and the lack of sense of appropriation/accountability for the common spaces are the needs that the project intends to tackle. The project has the duration of 18 months and encompasses 3 phases: Planning | Execution | Evaluation. The execution forecasts non formal education activities for an active and responsible citizenship through education by arts (Plastics, Music, Performative, digital, etc.).
Summary of project results
The main objective of this project was to foster a sense of identity and community in the Piedade Jovem neighborhood, situated in the Azores on São Miguel Island, by engaging at least 20 young people in citizenship education, reflection, artistic transformation of the neighborhood, and community involvement. Specifically, the project aimed to educate these young residents, aged 15 to 24, in citizenship and community participation over 18 months using a non-formal approach based on various artistic expressions.
The project consisted in the implementation of a total of 86 sessions, divided into processes and activities, distributed in different components: workshops with citizenship education dynamics (50 sessions); design and production of 4 murals (13 sessions) and 5 community initiatives (23 sessions). Due to the context of COVID-19, it was not possible to carry out other planned activities, such as the design and production of documentaries and theatrical performances.
In general, the intervention in the Piedade Jovem neighborhood was groundbreaking, with a series of proposals made by young people throughout the intervention. The showpiece of the project and its results were undoubtedly the murals, as they reflected the issues that the target group had been addressing over time and mobilized the community in three ways: involving the children and youth of the neighborhood in their creation (painting), engaging a group of unemployed youth to protect the murals, and gaining the community''s approval. The murals became a point of attraction for everyone (youth, project team, and the community at large) who wanted to identify the Conexio project as an artistic transformation project.
In parallel with the main intervention group, a volunteer group made up entirely of women from the neighborhood began to take shape. These volunteers met regularly with the Conexio team. This became the starting point for the women''s empowerment work, which was integrated into the work with the young people in terms of equal opportunities and active citizenship.
In quantitative terms, the following was achieved:
- 5 civic initiatives led by supported NGOs;
- 5 people educated in civic rights;
- 1 awareness raising campaign carried out;
- 25% share of target group showing civic concerns.
Regarding capacity building, the promoter conducted a needs assessment and prepared an action plan.