Youth Exchange Ortona - September 2011

Name: Oltre la linea d’ombra – Beyond the shadow line

Duration: 22 September – 3 October 2011

Location: Ortona, Italy

Organizers: CSV Chieti

Supporters: Youth in Action Programme (Action 1.1)

Romanian participants:

- Adrian Cocardan (M – team leader)

- Alexandra Maria Ionescu (F)

- Veronica Ganaciuc (F)

- Diana Svet (F)

- Antonio Ionescu (M)

- Maria Baston (F)

Theme:

Taking inspiration from a famous novel by J. Conrad, the project “Oltre la linea d’ombra – Beyond the shadow line” brought together 6 groups of young people from 6 different Contries (Italy, Croatia, United Kingdom, Romania, Turkey and France), each composed by 5 participants between 18 and 30 years old plus 1 group leader, to promote a reflection on issues related to the transition between youth and adulthood and to foster the intercultural dialogue on the different ways in which this transition is experienced in personal and cultural level in different European countries.

The main tool that facilitated the active participation and stimulated the intercultural exchange among the young participants was a theatre workshop (that ended with a live performance), intended to be:

- instrument of creativity and research, strongly rooted in personal experience and open debate between young people from different countries, highlighting social issues of European interest;

- construction of theatrical practice that enable young people to learn methods and techniques of expression may be re-used in the future;

- experience of involvement of the local community that hosts the international youth exchange, in order to ensure a positive impact of the project also at local level.

The main instrument of active involvement, but not exclusively, of the young people participating in the international exchange was a path/theatre workshop that aimed to be the "shadow line" of young people from different European countries in order to establish identity, relationships and common experiences that could become a common heritage in terms of personal growth, both as a collective dimension.

The young participants had the chance to see the life and activities of voluntary organizations of the territory where the project took place, through special field trips included in the exchange program, in order to highlight the importance of volunteering as an expression of active citizenship for the construction of a social solidarity, promoting dialogue and exchange of best practices between different ways to volunteer in several European countries, during the "2011 European Year of Volunteering."