Arts aNd Theatre for YounG peOple NEeds

"Arts aNd Theatre for YounG peOple NEeds" (A.N.T.Y.G.O.N.E.) was a two-year Erasmus+ project focused on theatre and performing arts as tools to foster the social inclusion of young people, based o...

A.N.T.Y.G.O.N.E. aims at using theatre and performing arts as positive mechanisms to engage, connect and empower young people and to trigger new processes in youth policies implementation. The project had three overall objectives : 1/ to increase the social inclusion of young people through theatre, building on the European values of acceptance of diversity and tolerance, and the promotion of intercultural dialogue as represented by Antigone and Aeneas' Greek myths; 2/ to give young people a space where they can use theatre to foster self-esteem, self-consciousness and confidence in a new and stimulating environment; 3/ to offer staff working with youth in theatres and NGOs a tool (the A.N.T.Y.G.O.N.E. toolkit) which enables deeper understanding of their target groups, and increases their professional skills in the field of art and social inclusion.

The project was conducted through several activities : C1 – TRAIN-THE-TRAINERS in Palermo, Italy (October 2022) : A crucial training session in which La Guilla theatre, father of A.N.T.Y.G.O.N.E. methodology, trained the entire consortium (artists, cultural, youth and social workers) to the methodology. 3 WORK PACKAGES (2021-2023) : - WP1/ Literature Review and Methodological Framework included much research regarding theatre, performing arts and social inclusion in each of the partner countries. That research was conducted through reading, and through online focus groups involving around 40 professionals and researchers in the field. - WP2/ Design of A.N.T.Y.G.O.N.E. Toolkit included a few months working directly with youngsters and different target groups. After being trained in Palermo, each partner conducted pilot sessions, implementing A.N.T.Y.G.O.N.E. method with different target groups. This enabled each partner to adapt the methodology to his/her own work and environment, to foster the integration of participants, to nourish the methodology itself, and to give feedback to systematise the method in the Toolkit. - WP3/ Recommendations for Practitioners and Comparative Analysis included more feedback and thinking from partner organisations regarding our work with the A.N.T.Y.G.O.N.E. method. If WP2 (Toolkit) looks more like a step-by-step method, WP3 is a reflection and recommendations on how to adapt the methodology to a diversity of contexts. 4 MULTIPLIER EVENTS (September – October 2023) Each partner organised a final conference or event at the end of the project, gathering at least 30 participants and aiming at disseminating the project results.

As mentioned above, there are 3 concrete outputs on the A.N.T.Y.G.O.N.E. project, all free available online in .pdf versions : - WP1 is a Literature Review and a Methodological Framework anaylising each partner countries’ context in terms of theatre, performing arts and social inclusion. It was published in English; - WP2 is the A.N.T.Y.G.O.N.E. Toolkit, a systematisation of the methodology thanks to the pilot sessions in all partner countries, where 93 participants, including people with fewer opportunies were trained in the A.N.T.Y.G.O.N.E. method. It was published into English and translated in all partner languages (French, Italian, Slovak and Serbian); - WP3 is the A.N.T.Y.G.O.N.E. Recommendations for Practitioners and Comparative Analysis, where theatre staff and youth workers can find useful tips to work with theatre techniques and youth with fewer opportunities, from the concrete experience of each partner organisation. It was also published in English and translated into all partner languages (French, Italian, Slovak and Serbian).