HIT – Heroes of Inclusion and Transformation
15/10/2017 – 14/05/2019 (19 months)
Human beings who are not free or not able to express emotions, are manipulable. On the long run suppression of emotions is sickening corporeally and psychically.
Our modern rationalist culture places the so-called “negative emotions” like grief, anger, pain and anxiety under a taboo. So-called “positive emotions” like curiousness and joy are desired. Tabooing and sanctioning of “negative emotions” lead to an emotional jam. To submit to order and authority and to attack and marginalize others is the outcome very often and thus forms a basis for generalisation, prejudice, hatred, radicalism, terrorism and violent actionism. In our culture there is no protected space, in which these “negative emotions” can be expressed and reintegrated again in a way, which makes sense.
In this way HIT is a project for the integration of social relevant shadow themes. Inclusion and transformation refer to the shadow sides within ourselves as well as to the shadow (marginalized) people in society. Heroes want to express that people doing this work deserve more appreciation by society.
This project enables to experience the topics of our clients within ourselves, thus having a sharper view on our own identity. This can serve as basis for deepening, expanding and fine-tuning of our own set of methods in dealing with current social shadow topics (competition, fear of change etc.) and allows to work on them and to transform them personally in a group, training and developing new abilities like carrying out conflicts, courage for innovation, thus integrating these and allowing inclusion.
The main objective of “HIT – Heroes of Inclusion and Transformation” project is to extend and develop educators’ competences, and to promote social inclusion and empowerment. The project is focused on creating an online manual of different methods for people, who work in the field of adult education, especially in non-formal education of those who are disadvantaged or vulnerable. On the one hand, these methods come from Hero’s journey process by Paul Rebillot and our own experience with this holistic process, on the other hand they will be developed and adjusted according to the biggest challenges our society is facing today as well as to the current needs of people we work with.
Within the project we will develop, practice, explain and describe methods of non-formal education that bring together educational, expressive (art, drama, music, dance), therapeutical and prevention techniques in order to help people in finding the orientation in their life. These methods will refer to the 5 steps of Hero’s journey process. Each of 5 partner organisations will concentrate on one step of the process and try to connect the basic structure of this step with its own practical work in the field of non-formal education and methods/techniques in use, and to describe it. Our goal is to integrate each step of Hero’s journey process with own methods already in use. The outcome will be condensed to a stand-alone method/workshop and into a chapter for the PDF manual of methods for professionals in the field of non-formal education, which comes from our personal experience combined with common work, but the methods are free to adapt according to educator´s or learners´ needs. The 6th partner organisation will be responsible for guiding/facilitating the workshops, supervision of the manual-building process as well as for writing the introductory and final chapter.
Besides our own educational work and Transnational project meetings we will implement 2 Short-term joint staff training events (training and workshop) that are crucial in order to reach, develop, implement, test and shape concrete methods for the Manual. We will organise Multiplier Event – HIT Conference where we will present our Manual to other professionals and interested activists.
The result of the project will be an open educational resource – Manual for Heroes of Inclusion and Transformation in an online version (PDF file) disseminated via internet, organisations’ websites, social networks, eventually by allied websites in 7 language mutations.
Manual will be addressed to educators, trainers, teachers, counselors, therapists, social workers, social, cultural and artistic activists working with marginalized people or people striving to find, express and live their identity, as well as to NGOs, organisations and institutions active in the field of education etc.
Great range of partners with different target groups in the field of non-formal education ensures a more comprehensive approach to creating an Intellectual output. Transnational character of this project will have a far-reaching and significant impact on dissemination of the project outputs at the European level.
The partnership is made up of 6 organisations:
Divadlo bez domova (Slovakia)
Adventure Life (Austria)
Spolek divadelních ochotníků Alois Jirásek (Czech Republic)
Asociación cultural, social, de salud y bienestar ACUNAGUA (Spain)
LGB Youth Support Group “COME OUT” (Serbia)
The Reykjavik Academy (Iceland)
HIT project is implemented under the Key Action 2 (Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices – Strategic Partnerships in the field of adult education) of the Erasmus+ Programme.
The project “HIT – Heroes of Inclusion and Transformation” with reference number 2017-1-SK01-KA204-035403 is implemented with support from the European Commission. This communication reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission and National Agencies cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
