The “Leading with P.R.I.D.E. – People. Rights. Identities. Diversity. Europe” Training Course came as a follow up of the “P.R.I.D.E.” Youth Exchange, implemented in Vienna in June 2017, when, together with 40 young people from 8 different European countries, we had been focusing on breaking the stereotypes surrounding the LGBTIQ+ community, exploring the diversity of the community itself and increasing the interest in LGBTIQ+ rights and inclusion amongst youth.
The Training Course was focused on how to enhance the leadership skills of the LGBTIQ+ community. Additionally, since the power of social media leverages the influence of educating the general public, the aim of stronger leadership skills was joined with a focus on how to gain more visibility, engage and educate youth towards social inclusion through social media. The activity took place during the EuroPride Rainbow Parade and EuroPride Village in Vienna, where participants had the opportunity to engage with and interview young leaders from the LGBTIQ+ community or supporters of the community from organisations, companies, NGOs and municipalities.
The objectives of the training course were the following:
O1: Reviewing and enhancing leadership skills, with a focus on the LGBTIQ+ community both as leaders and public, through peer to peer assessment.
O2: Sharing experiences and good practices of activities and projects for inclusion and leadership of LGBTIQ+ community.
O3: Exploring the best ways to gain visibility engaging youth, and to empower and educate them towards social inclusion through social media.
O4: Analysing each partner ́s country experiences with LGBTIQ+ rights & leadership
O5: Fostering collaboration at European level, within the Erasmus+ framework, between NGOs active in Human Rights, LGBTIQ+ Rights, equality and minorities
The project was founded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Commission and met the objectives pursued by the Erasmus+ Programme in the field of youth, more specifically:
– improved the level of key competences and skills of young people, including those with fewer opportunities
– promoted participation in democratic life in Europe and the labour market, active citizenship, intercultural dialogue, social inclusion and solidarity;
– contributed to meeting the objectives of ET 2020 by promoting equity, social cohesion, and active citizenship;
– promoted European values in accordance with Article 2 of the Treaty on the European Union: respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities. Leading with PRIDE for us means working on a more inclusive society, where the opportunities do not depend on sexual orientation. It means: together with people fighting for rights, recognising identities, appreciating diversity in Europe. Because for us, love is love.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1oiAobFjJAlLa-NoepGF0v3Uwk5zKnspA