Kickoff Meeting report
As part of the Mob in Med! project run by REF - Réseau Euromed France and Jeunesses Med, in partnership with Mana Chuma Teatro, 22 young Euro-Mediterranean people have been selected to take part in the project. This group will take part in a cycle of workshops to create an awareness and advocacy campaign around the obstacles to mobility faced by young people in the Mediterranean. This meeting is the first in a cycle of 4 online workshops, which will be followed by a three-day face-to-face meeting in Reggio Calabria, Italy.
Word cloud workshop
Participants were asked to answer 3 questions:
- What does "mobility" mean to you?
Freedom, accessibility, discovery, interculturality, exchange, movement, encounter and connection are the words that come up most often.
- As a young person, what's the biggest obstacle to mobility in the Mediterranean?
Unquestionably, the most frequently mentioned word is "visa", followed by discrimination and racism, lack of infrastructure, financial obstacles and unfavorable migration legislation.
- What are your expectations for this project?
The expectations expressed are mainly to develop new advocacy skills, share experiences, promote Mediterranean solidarity and meet new people.
Partner presentation
REF is a French network of 39 independent associations and unions committed to the Mediterranean. It covers a wide range of issues (human rights, culture, democracy, youth, social and climate justice, etc.) and is geographically anchored in the Mediterranean. For REF, the Mediterranean represents a whole, not two shores separated by a sea.
Jeunesses Med is a project supported by REF since 2015. It was born out of the observation that while young people were described as agents of change in institutional discourse, little space was devoted to them, and young people's voices were sometimes not heard, or at least not listened to very much.
The Jeunesses Med network brings together 200 members and focuses on 5 key themes: employment and training, social and climate justice, mobility and migration, freedom of expression and creation, and civic participation. The aim is to create a community of young people who exchange, strengthen and cooperate with each other, carrying common messages, joint actions and advocacy.
Mana Chuma Teatro (MCT) is an Italian theater company based in Reggio Calabria (southern Italy) and Messina (Sicily).
MCT's main mission is to tell the contemporary story of southern Italy through new dramaturgy and citizen theater, drawing on stories, figures and styles from local and Mediterranean tradition.
The idea is to give a voice to people on the margins of society, to those who have no voice or to injustices, by trying to explore new languages. Indeed, MCT is also a collective of multidisciplinary artists: theater, music, sound design, video, photography, film, dance, interactive technologies...
Presentation of Mob in Med!
Context
The Mob in Med! project was born of the observation by REF, Jeunesses Med and MCT of the obstacles to young people's mobility in the various regional activities they carry out.
For example, every 18 months, REF and Jeunesses Med organize a meeting that brings together 80 young Mediterranean people involved in their countries' civil societies. Every year, getting these young people to attend these meetings is a real obstacle course. At the last meeting organized in Reggio Calabria last June in partnership with MCT, one Turkish, two Syrian, three Lebanese and three Tunisian participants were unable to travel to Reggio Calabria, as they were unable to obtain their visas. Two participants from Gaza were also unable to attend the meeting due to the conflict situation in the Middle East.
The role of the group of 22 participants
The aim is to build a campaign for and by young people. The campaign must be participatory, and faithfully reflect the obstacles experienced by young people.
The group of 22 young participants will help build the awareness and advocacy campaign. To this end, the participants will take part in a cycle of workshops enabling them to build the campaign while developing their skills in terms of advocacy and awareness campaign construction.
Deliverables
- 1 graphic and educational booklet with illustrations of the young people's testimonials (around ten testimonials, in 2 languages: French and English).
- 4 videos with a regional focus
Details will be worked out by participants during the workshops.
Calendar
- January 2025 - Campaign editorial line (online) - provided by REF
- February 2025 - Advocacy workshop - (online) by Engagé.e.s et Déterminé.e.s
- March 2025 - Communication and dissemination workshop - (online) provided by MCT
- May 2025 - 3-day workshop in Reggio Calabria :
o Finalize the graphic booklet
o Produce the 4 videos
o Meet Calabrian civil society actors
- June-December 2025 - campaign broadcasting
Photolangage workshop
The participants present introduced themselves through a photolangage workshop. The aim was to choose a photo representing them (place, cause, them, activity, etc.) and explain why they had chosen this photo.
This workshop enabled participants to meet and get to know each other.
