We A.R. – We Against Rumors

Background Racism and intolerance are on the rise in Europe and episodes of discrimination directly affect young people on multiple levels: 53.8% experienced discrimination at school, 50.5% when looking for a job, 42.4% in the workplace, 29.2% when looking for accommodation, 26.6% in health care, 24.9% in restaurants or pubs, 24% in the cinema, etc. According to the European Youth Forum report "Multiple discrimination and young people in Europe" (2015), discrimination also directly affects young people on multiple levels. For this reason, the "WE A.R." project aimed to transform youth centres, schools and youth organisations into innovative "anti-rumour centres", fostering the role of youth workers, educators and young people as leaders of positive change in their local communities. Specifically, the planned actions focus on equipping youth workers and young people with knowledge and practical skills to apply the anti-rumour methodology in educational contexts as an effective tool to counteract problems related to discrimination, invisible racism, inclusion and diversity. Objectives The project was designed to strengthen the relationship between youth groups and local stakeholders (including schools, local administrations and civil society organisations) in order to implement anti-rumour measures in local communities and thus raise awareness among young people and others about the impact of discriminatory behaviour. This effect was planned to be monitored even after the end of the project, with the partner continuing to work with the anti-rumour methodology and also following up on the policy recommendations developed. The main objective of the project was to promote the Anti-Rumour Strategy in youth organisations and educational settings as a tool to address issues of equity, diversity and inclusion and to engage young people in creating more inclusive, intercultural and just societies. Implementation In order to achieve the proposed objectives, to provide youth workers and educators with practical, creative and innovative tools/skills to address the challenges of diversity and inclusion, to foster the competences and role of young people in the fight against intolerance and to promote collaborative approaches aimed at developing inclusive educational environments, we have implemented an international training on the anti-rumour strategy and local networking, developed a MOOC on how to work with young people on the issue of rumours, discrimination, interculturality using the anti-rumour strategy and created a policy recommendation document with guidelines and practical solutions for building stronger local networks between youth groups, schools and public authorities in order to promote social inclusion, diversity and tolerance in local communities. Achievements The MOOC, being hosted on the youth-mooc.eu platform, with more than 5000 people subscribed and enrolled in other online courses developed by Cazalla Intercultural, will be accessible, free and open to anyone who wishes to complete the course, in a self-taught way. The second major outcome of the project was the policy recommendations that are being used by partners at local level to monitor the implementation of the suggested tips presented in the document. In addition, the document serves local entities to collaborate in different actions at local level and to strengthen the associative field. 2 pilot workshops designed for young people in order to raise awareness on the issue of rumours, discrimination and the theory and practices to highlight and contour rumours by young people as anti-rumour agents. 2 dissemination events to which partners have invited local networks, decision-makers, young people and stakeholders to share the results of the project, present the results, the MOOC and policy recommendations and provide a space to discuss and reach concrete solutions in the community.