SASTE AVEN!

Both of the participating organisations had limited international experience and they had not yet applied to any Erasmus+ projects. Gaining international experience is however important because the aim of the organisations is to support Roma youth whose international mobility is considerably lower compared to that of the majority population.

Primarily the participating organisations wanted to involve Roma youth in the creation of digital visual culture that reflects their Roma identity in a most international setting. In addition, they wanted to gain experience in organising international youth camps and learn about the Erasmus+ program.

The project consisted of three activities, 1) project coordination, 2) organisation of the Roma youth camps in Finland and in Serbia, and 3) publication of a virtual photo exhibition by the Roma youth themselves in the Instagram.

As a result of the project, two Finno-Serbian youth camps were held in June and August 2022. At the camps, Roma youth from both countries discovered new ways to express their Roma identity, and learned and applied digital and creative methods to express themselves. Between the camps, they took and collected photos, which they put together as a virtual photo exhibition published on Instagram in December 2022. Altogether, the exhibition was viewed more than 21 000 times in different social media channels by April 11, 2023. In addition, the two small Roma civil society organisations gained valuable experience in the international cooperation and Erasmus+ programme. For the Finnish Roma Association, the project paved the way to apply for new Erasmus+ projects, and as a result it now implements a national youth participation project and a new international small-scale partnership, and it will start a international cooperation partnership later on 2023. In a same vein, the Association Djurdjevdan became a partner of large Erasmus+ cooperation partnership led by Helsinki Deaconess Institute.