STAR E is a European Partnership project for the development of innovation funded by Key Action 2 of the Erasmus + program of the European Union. It is carried out from August 2017 to July 2020 by a consortium of 8 partner organizations from 8 EU countries and coordinated by ICJA Freiwilligenaustausch weltweit in Berlin, Germany ( www.icja.de).
Before you accuse me…take a look at yourself!
Where does racism start and how can we as Youth and Voluntary Service Organizations deal with it? Is it a phenomenon that we can study and condemn in the behavior and attitude of others without questioning our own behavior and attitudes? Are our organizations a racism-free “safe zone” or are we also affected – maybe without knowing it? What educational programs, tools, and change processes do we need in order to become more authentic and active in the struggle against racism? These and other questions mark the beginning of the STAR E project in summer 2017 and are the reasons which make this project unique compared to others. The main goal is to confront racism at all levels of activities and structures of the participating and other youth and voluntary service organizations in Europe. The main innovative element is that the project activities inter-relate the field of anti-racism training and the concept of anti-racism oriented change management of youth NGOs. For the next three years, the participating organizations will work together against racism and undergo a self-critical reflection and change process.
The Star E partnership meeting in ICELAND
The project STAR E foresees 6 partnership meetings, two per year, to share experiences and further develop methods and tools to be applied and tested in the respective organizations’ contexts and activities. The second partnership meeting will be hosted by AUS – ICYE Iceland and take place in Reykjavik from 11-13 April 2018. The 17 participants and experts are from Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Slovakia and the United Kingdom. Guests are expected from ICYE National Committees of Austria, Italy, Russia, and Switzerland. During the meeting, a one day workshop will focus on change management to support the racism-critical organizational development of the participating organizations. The substantive debate and development of innovative tools and methods are supported by the expert organization SOCIUS, based in Berlin, who, in addition to expertise, has experience in networking and carrying out activities at the European level. https://socius.de/
Expected results
As a tangible result over the course of the three years, two publications with methods, tools and materials will be developed and presented to multipliers in each of the countries. One focusing on methods to raise awareness about racism in international youth work activities and one focusing on change management tools to deal with racism in the structures of youth organizations. It is expected that the publications will be used by youth and voluntary service organizations from all over Europe to raise their anti-racist profile and coherence of activities.
What's still planned?
After the meeting in Iceland, further partner meetings will take place: in October 2018 in the United Kingdom, in March 2019 in Finland, in October 2019 in Slovakia. A joint closing event will take place in spring 2020 in Denmark.
