Description
The project is aimed at young people at risk in shelters and those institutionalized in educational centres. It will promote personal and social development with using the arts, combining artistic and psychosocial components, and promote socio-professional integration. It also aims to be a pilot project, contributing to the debate on public policy and new models of integration of young people in situations of vulnerability. To achieve these objectives, there will be training activities on social, personal and academic skills, combined with artistic workshops, which complement existing processes already used in shelters and educational centres, and involving their technicians in these activities. The proposals address the need for better use of school facilities, for strengthening the links between the school and the job market, for the promotion of inclusion actions through culture, and for better access to information technology. It is anticipated that these activities will contribute to the structuring of life projects of young beneficiaries and an improved understanding of the social and economic circumstances in which they operate.
Summary of project results
The project target group are 65 young people institutionalized in Educational Centres. The Education Tutelary Law regulates the acts qualified as crimes committed by young people between 12 and 16. The institutionalisation of young people in Educational Centres is the most serious penalty provided for by law. These young people belong mostly to unstructured households, where the socialisation arena is marked by relationships of a conflictual nature and affective deprivation. The educational background of these young people is often marked by school failure and drop-out. Alongside their socio-economic context, due to their life itineraries, young people lack personal and social skills which is seen as a determining risk factor for their social integration. The project aimed at promoting art as an instrument for the socio-professional integration of young people in Educational Centres. 77 young people from 4 Educational Centres were involved in the project: they were trained on arts (4 different artistic ateliers) and participated in storytelling methodologies (32 have accepted to transcribe their life narratives to biographical videos) allowing them to reflect on their past life itineraries and build new life projects (with coach support). 48 have also developed their personal and social competencies (140 training sessions in total). The project objectives were achieved insofar as the evaluation carried out showed that the participants improved their personal and social skills, which should facilitate their social and professional integration (and reduce risk of exclusion and deviant behaviours). The acquisition of technical skills in various artistic areas has also enriched the range of professional skills of young people, and to widen the scope for integration into the labour market. The participants' feedback and content of the artistic products also prove that the young people found in the art mechanisms facilitating their emotional expression. The promoter NGO and its partners report a more in-depth knowledge of the target group, of the context in which the Educational Centres work and of the community intervention. On the other hand, the methodologies and tools used in the project were refined and adapted to new contexts and situations.
Summary of bilateral results