Creative Global
Institut equalita ran the "Kreativ Global" project from February 2022 to January 2024 together with Büro für Kultur- und Medienprojekte gGmbH. In the two-year project, we encouraged young people in NRW to participate as "Global Change Agents" in the positive shaping of a common future. During implementation, the focus was on direct exchange with young artists from the Global South. The project's focal points were implemented in workshops, performances and joint activities lasting several days. These are linked to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) - the 17 goals for sustainable development.
In addition to global justice, Kreativ Global focuses on SDG 13, climate protection measures, and SDG 5, gender equality. This gives young people a platform to get into the topics and the opportunity to actively contribute. The project enables a change of perspective, gives the Global South a platform for equal inclusion and brings complex global contexts to a tangible, everyday level.
Project Results
In the two years of the project, over 600 young people from NRW took part in workshops with a total of seven groups from the Global South, including TNT (El Salvador), IYASA (Zimbabwe), M.U.K.A.-project (South Africa), Nablus Circus School (Palestine), Arena y Esteras (Peru), KCC (Tanzania), Red Nose Juniors (India) and Teatro Trono (Bolivia). The performances were attended by several thousand pupils, teachers and parents.
Together with their peers, the young people in NRW worked on the topics of SDG 13 (climate action) and SDG 5 (gender equality). New knowledge was gathered and reports were given on the situations in the participants' respective countries, the effects of climate change and gender inequality. The participants reflected on their life situation, experienced a change of perspective and then worked together to find solutions for positively shaping our future. The exchange resulted in joint performances, posters, videos, reports in school newspapers, printed T-shirts with the slogan "One World" in various languages, planting trees, going to demonstrations together and much more.
In two training courses and two network meetings, the participating teachers, educators and cultural workers from the ten educational institutions in NRW were successfully qualified as multipliers for the cultural peer learning approach. We were able to gain a lot of experience by exchanging ideas with each other and through the input of various speakers, including from Germanwatch e.V. and Eine-Welt-Netzwerk NRW, as well as the KinderKulturKarawane support association.
On behalf of the coordinating institutions, we would like to thank the great artistic groups from the Global South, our cooperation partners from NRW and the participating young people, and of course the Stiftung Umwelt und Entwicklung (SUE) NRW for co-financing.
Project Goals
In the KREATIV GLOBAL project, young people from North Rhine-Westphalia, in exchange with young artists and activists from countries in the Global South, deal with the global context with a focus on SDGs 13 (climate protection measures) and SDG 5 (gender equality). Both are subject areas that are of acute social and environmental relevance and are in turn correlated with the other SDGs. In joint approaches through artistic actions and mini-performances from the fields of theatre, music and dance, backgrounds and worldviews are addressed by the young people and questions about their own attitude in the field of tension between globalized youth culture and regional roots are pursued.
The project aims to create awareness of global justice among young people through intercultural dialogue and enable a change of perspective. Young people learn to put themselves in the position of others and to analyze complex global relationships and their own role.
Through the artistic reflection of complex issues, the groups from the Global South also reach people in our society who have had little contact with them up to now. We have often experienced that groups from the Global South, who in turn come from marginalized social backgrounds, can address young people in particular with reduced educational opportunities with their authentic form of "knowledge transfer" and motivate them in the sense of "Global Change Agents". to become active yourself. This encounter promotes social and intercultural competence and, above all, the ability to act.
In addition, the project not only opens up new ways of communicating global learning and the topics of sustainable development, but also offers young people access to art and culture. Schoolchildren in particular from socially disadvantaged life situations experience the possibilities offered by cultural forms of expression and try themselves out in an artistic sense. In this way, cultural education becomes participatory in a global context.
Target Groups and Activities
The primary target group are children and young people (between 12 and 19 years) from educational and cultural institutions. In North Rhine-Westphalia in particular, there is an existing diverse active network of schools and youth centres, adult education centers and one-world and cultural initiatives, which the project aims to strengthen and expand. From this circle, 10 partner organizations take part in the project and carry out the measures, especially annual workshops with the southern groups. These school and educational institutions have the opportunity to take part in 3-day performances and workshops by young artists from the Global South. The preparation takes place via a digital pool of methods, which contains selected materials and e-learning, as well as online meetings with the southern partners involved.
The joint project creates an awareness of the diversity of approaches in synergy between global learning and cultural education, which emphasizes the sustainability of the concept. Therefore, a second target group is the educational staff, teachers, heads of educational institutions, cultural workers, social workers and speakers as well as other stakeholders, who are reached through the annual training and network meeting and as multipliers: inside for intercultural learning methods and for education for sustainable development (BNE) can be gained.
A third target group are parents and families of those involved, as well as employees from schools and educational institutions. They are the audience of the performances as well as the listeners who learn about the content through the stories of the children and young people. These are inspired and motivated in their attitude and institutional ways towards a sustainable way of life and "whole institution approach".
The Partners from the Global South in 2022
TIEMPOS NUEVOS TEATRO Theater and Music, El Salvador
Tiempos Nuevos Teatro« (TNT) from El Salvador. is committed to women's rights, environmental protection, health and human rights. In the »Centro Cultural Jon Cortina«, TNT works artistically and creatively with the communities in the region and implements environmental projects. The consequences of climate change are also becoming increasingly noticeable in Central America. That's why TNT's involvement in this area will also have a say in stage production.
IYASA Dance Theatre, Zimbabwe
The INKULULEKO Yabatsha School of Arts (IYASA) from Zimbabwe is a multiple award-winning performing arts school for young people. IYASA has a talented and dedicated team of experienced and highly qualified artists in various disciplines. With workshops, training programs and performances, IYASA plays an essential role in the development and promotion of talent in the arts and culture.
M.U.K.A.-PROJECT Theater, South Africa
Hillbrow, a marginalized district in the center of Johannesburg, is densely populated and characterized by street crime: poverty, lack of prospects and violence against women are key issues in the everyday life of children and young people - as well as in the plays and workshops of the young actors from M.U.K.A- Project. Through theater work, they learn to express their worries and hopes creatively and to transform these feelings into something meaningful.
NABLUS CIRCUS SCHOOL Circus Theater, Palestine
In 2004, the organization "Assirk Assaghir" (The Little Circus) was founded, from which the "Nablus Circus School" developed in 2009: a place of freedom of expression, creativity and joy for children, young people and adults. Through circus and performing arts, the project aims to provide children and young people with a safe, educational space where they can explore their creativity and learn new skills.
ARENA Y ESTERAS Circus theater, Peru
The "Arena y Esteras" project combines social and artistic interests with political commitment in its circus theater productions. The group's productions often deal with traditional stories from Peru's indigenous population. The stories are staged with traditional and modern Latin American music and atmospheric lighting. Numerous circus elements such as juggling with clubs and balls or unicycles bring a lot of dynamism to the productions. The elaborately designed costumes often depict animals from the rainforest or mythical creatures.
KCC circus theater / dance, Tanzania
The Kigamboni Community Center (KCC) is an important contact point for children and young people from the large district of "Kigamboni", Tanzania in Dar es Salaam, a city with a population of 5 million. The center offers a wide range of activities, especially in the afternoon, to provide the community with extracurricular activities and prospects. Courses are offered in dance, acrobatics, music and handicrafts. There are also lessons on the SDGs, which are incorporated into the project's performances, among other things.
RED NOSE JUNIORS Clown Theater, India
"Red Nose Juniors" from Mumbai, India, was founded in 2016 with seven girls. The aim of these girls was to gain professional qualifications and thus be able to assert their place in society. To achieve this goal, they were professionally trained by Red Nose Entertainment in the art of clowning and learned how to make the audience laugh. Because these young clowns are convinced that "laughter is the best medicine".
With this motto, they have since performed in over 45 shows in different regions of India and internationally in countries like Sweden and Poland. In addition to clowning, they are also enthusiastic dancers and are delighted to be able to showcase their talent in Germany.
TEATRO TRONO Theater, Bolivia
Teatro Trono combines pantomime, musical interludes and forum theater based on Augusto Boal. In its productions, the group draws attention to social and socio-political issues. With elaborately designed, creative costumes and a high degree of acting talent, the group brings unique images to the stage, in which the messages become clear even without much language. The performances are accompanied by traditional Bolivian and contemporary music. When Teatro Trono stops by, it gets loud, colorful and multifaceted.
The project is funded by:
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