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Description
The problem to which this project responds is the lack of a global perspective in conducting anti-discrimination activities in Poland. Changes in the structure of Polish society are taking place much faster than changes in the mentality and the way of thinking about people coming from outside Poland with a skin colour other than white. 1 in 30 people in the world is a migrant and this is an increasing trend. Therefore, in this project we include global aspects in our anti-discrimination work. We emphasise that racism is not only about acts of aggression, but also about the global economic system. Among others, we address the project to teachers and activists, as we have been working with these groups for many years. Our target audience is also young people and librarians from the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Province. As part of the project, we run several educational series, including training courses, webinars, mailing courses, World Cafe meetings and mentoring for female teachers. We create materials for online self-education: podcasts, videos, articles, mailing courses and a poster publication for self-reflection. We give a voice to minority groups, including people with migrant experience, people from the Roma community and the African minority in Poland. These activities are both a continuation of our previous educational activities and an extension of them by including new target groups and using new working methods and tools.
Summary of project results
The project aimed to solve the problem of growing discrimination and prejudice against non-white, migrant and refugee groups in Polish society. Migration trends and the refugee phenomenon are one of the main challenges and require us to shape and nurture the idea of global solidarity and respect for human rights. The project was intended to face challenges related to differences in approaches to aid and discriminatory attitudes towards various national groups. One of the main challenges was the need to counteract stereotypes and racism, which are often manifested in Polish public space, especially towards non-white communities, including Afro-Polish women and men. The project was also intended to respond to the difficulties associated with introducing anti-discrimination topics into schools, where political changes made it difficult to address these issues. The decreasing space for anti-discrimination education in schools and the lack of appropriate educational materials were the key problems that the project tried to solve. In addition to supporting teachers, the project aimed to engage young people and the wider society through educational activities, including online courses and stationary workshops. The aim was to shape attitudes conducive to responding to prejudice and discrimination and to build readiness to support diversity and respect human rights, which is crucial in the context of global migration trends.
As part of the project, we conducted 4 educational cycles addressed to activists and teachers from all over Poland, as well as to library employees and young people from the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship. These series included stationary training sessions, webinars, mailing courses, and expert consultations. As part of the cycles, participants carried out multiplier activities in their local communities. We have also created educational materials available on social media and on our website. A short educational film about migration was created, supplemented with a discussion card for conducting classes, 5 substantive articles on topics related to discrimination based on place of origin and post-colonial narrative, 8 episodes of the podcast "Tolerance is not enough" and a poster publication. We organized a number of online events: 3 open webinars on racism, Islamophobia and Romophobia, a world cafe discussion, and an email course on the role of language. People from the discussed minority groups were involved in these activities. As part of institutional development, we conducted a total of 4 development, evaluation and integration meetings, 2 substantive training and a meeting of the trainer network with supervision. A PAH educational website was also created with the option of logging in and automating the issuance of certificates in school programs.
In the project, we trained 890 people on topics related to counteracting discrimination, and we directly involved 954 people in our activities. Over 35 thousand people watched our film and podcast episodes. As a result of the project, the people we trained in educational cycles who conduct social and educational activities on a daily basis benefited significantly - they received knowledge, substantive support and inspiring materials from us, as well as motivation to act. As a result, as part of the project, 43 people recruited in educational cycles organized 63 local activities with the participation of 3,136 recipients. Most of these people will continue to multiply the knowledge they have acquired during classes and workshops they conduct in schools, libraries, cultural centers, organizations and informal groups. However, the materials created in the project will remain with us both as educational tools and with Internet users. The implementation of the project allowed for a significant expansion of knowledge and awareness of global sources of discrimination and inspired participants to take action for equality and solidarity in their local communities.