Roots and Borders - Let's decolonize non-formal youth work!

You will learn how:

- To bring together different perspectives on the topic of decolonization, migration and borders

- To approach young people and provide knowledge through non-formal education methods

- To use conflict resolution methods such as Restorative Circles in order to mediate in sensitive dispute situations

- To promote tolerance and better understanding of cultures and what helps us to better understand the perspectives and stories of others

- To develop critical thinking and grow awareness of the situation of people with a migratory background

A look at today's maps shows that only a few overseas territories remain from the worldwide presence of former colonial powers. Nevertheless, centuries of European expansion have left far-reaching after-effects that are still visible in the everyday culture and memory of both Europeans and former colonies today. They prove that the chapter of colonialism is far from closed. In fact, the formal achievement of sovereignty rights was only one important building block in a highly complex decolonization process that describes not only the political but also the cultural, economic and social emancipation of former colonies from their former conquerors.

Attitudes and narratives that still represent a colonial view of the world are an integral part of public discourses in Europe, but also of private expressions of opinion. European educational systems also often reproduce the worldview of colonial masters in a very unreflective way.

Slowly, the topic of decolonization is finding its way into the formal and non-formal educational landscape. Nevertheless, we see a need to go deeper into this topic and to accompany professionals of youth work on this path.

In this year’s edition of the Roots and Borders training, we would like to exchange with youth workers and experts on this topic, look at already proven methods from a new angle, and jointly develop new methods that address the issue of decolonisation in youth work. These jointly developed or adapted methods will be made available to a broader audience in an online toolbox. Therefor we would like to encourage people who are active in youth work and/or are already working with the topic of decolonization (in education or research) to participate in our training.

Roots and Borders has already existed as an educational project for several years, dealing with the topics of migration, identity, and the demarcation through borders. Since 2018, an international youth meeting has taken place annually. In 2022, a training for youth work multipliers was also held for the first time.

In the spirit of the Roots and Borders project, we also want to shed light in the current edition on the situation of people with diverse backgrounds who have experienced the fate of flight and war. By presenting various methods of non-formal education we want to show youth work professionals how they can bring the mentioned topics closer to young people .  In doing so, we will deal with the method of participatory photography. Furthermore, we will work with the method of Restorative Circles, which allows to create a deeper understanding of opposing opinions in a community. Additionally, we are also going to deal with the concepts of identity and migration. Participants will get the chance to benefit from the different experiences of the trainers and participants with youth work.