Loesje crosses the Mediterranean

Loesje will cross the Mediterranean through a project, connecting local Loesje groups and the organisations Development No Borders (Egypt), One Voice (Israel), Juzoor Youth Parliament (Palestine), KID Pina (Slovenia), Xchange Scotland (UK) and Loesje e.V. (Germany). 

The aim of the project is the mobilization and empowerment of young people by improving conditions for freedom of expression; providing tools, trainings and networking that encourage Dialogue, Diversity, Democracy and Development. The aim will be achieved by spreading the Loesje creative writing methodology, which supports active citizenship, freedom of expression in a tolerant and open-minded way. 

To kick off the project, representatives from the participating organizations met in the breezy month of November in the Scottish mountains in order to share our best practices and to plan the project. We shared and learned the best methods for peace building and non-formal education from different sides of the Mediterranean. 

The participating organizations were given an introduction to the Loesje methods of poster making, while others shared their experiences with using Loesje methods in their work. 

Throughout our stay, other than being inspired everyday by the beauty of the nature, we were followed and interviewed by a film crew which is documenting the whole process of the project. 

After returning to our countries we keep working on preparing the next stages of the projects. In order to give more people a chance to get to know Loesje better, a version of the Loesje Handbook is being translated as we speak in all languages of the participating organizations. 

During the month of March Loesje e.V will host 36 participants from the participating NGOs and give them the opportunity to learn, discuss, share experiences and practice the creative methods of Loesje; creative text writing, poster selection and lay out. We will practically work with the Human Rights ‘Freedom of Speech’ and ‘Freedom of Expression’, and stimulate intercultural dialogue. 

If you are interested in taking part click here. You can find the application form here.

The project Loesje crosses the Mediterranean is supported by the Anna Lindh Foundation and the Youth in Action Programme of the European Commission.