Strategic Partnership for Creativity
In the wake of COVID-19, a lot of young Europeans face the unique challenge of managing their personal development and transition to adulthood amid more uncertainties than usual. This is why the knowledge and practices of senior citizens are becoming increasingly important to young people: their knowledge and practices can aid young peoples’ survival during these unprecedented and challenging times. So therefore intergenerational thinking and action are essential for addressing challenges faced by local communities in times of increasing global uncertainty.
In our project “Suitcase of my life”, we want to bridge this gap and promote intergenerational dialogue and learning through biographic work, art and creativity. And as the arts have proven to be a powerful tool in supporting reconciliation, rehabilitation, and reintegration, we want to use art and creativity to create dialogical spaces and to initiate intergenerational work and a collaborative learning process on eye level.
Young and elder people are matched on a 1:1 basis, and together they work on individual “Suitcase of my life” (with physical distance if necessary): They share their life experiences, and create objects, photos, videos, audio files, drawings etc. that stand for the various experiences they made. In the end, each participant will have created his own individual “Suitcase of my life” with the support of the matched person. The participants will be supported by project partners through training, online tutorials on art and creative techniques and by providing creative art boxes with lots of material and tools.
The “suitcases of life” produced by the intergenerational couples will be displayed in travelling exhibitions in Germany, Cyprus, North Macedonia and Spain in order to start an intergenerational dialogue on a community level. Through his creative and artist approach, we create new room and opportunities for young and elder people to meet on eye level, to rediscover the joy of learning together and learning from one another about how to stay healthy and safe, and share stories of resilience, strengthen their bonds and acquire new knowledge and skills. This will also help to reduce inhibitions and prejudice between the groups and promote intergenerational respect and solidarity.
During its lifetime, the “Suitcase of my life” project is going to develop four core intellectual outputs:
1. IO1. Research Report on Intergenerational Dialogue and Learning Through Creative Work
2. IO2. Curricula and project handbook and toolbox “Suitcase of my life”
3. IO3. Physical travelling exhibition “Suitcase of my life”
4. IO4. Virtual exhibition “Suitcase ofmy life” and social mediacampaign
Project title: “Suitcase of my life”: Promoting intergenerational dialogue through biographic work, art and creativity
Programme: Erasmus+
Key Action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices
Action Type: Strategic Partnerships for Creativity
Project identification/ contract number: 2020-1-DE04-KA227-YOU-020842
Start: 01-03-2021 – End: 28-02-2023
Coordinator: Gemeinsam leben und lernen in Europa e.V., Germany
Partners: ILEWASI Centro de investigación, defensa y promoción de los derechos de los niños niñas y adolescentes, Spain
SEAL CYPRUS, Cyprus
Multikultura, North Macedonia