Crossing Borders

By Maryam Alaouie Everybody loves food, but have you ever tried a slice of discussion? A sip of chat? Have you ever just felt so full after a delicious dialogue? If yes, you definitely want to hear about our new ‘recipes for conversation’!  On the 13th of February, Crossing Borders was in Berlin for the kick-off meeting of our brand-new European project ‘Food for Change’. In partnership with CRN from Germany, Euro-net from Italy, Kainotomia from Greece, Novo Mundo Azul from Portugal, and Active Youth from Lithuania the project offers an innovative food-based approach to dialogue and social issues using universal concepts like food. The project is based on dinners that involve young people cooking together, sharing food, and with the help of the ‘recipes for conversation’ which will be provided for the participants, initiating conversations that allow the youth to share their stories on personal, societal, and political issues that affect their everyday lives with peers on a local and European scale. With this project, we aim to develop innovative food-based methods to engage youth in intercultural dialogue that contributes to the social inclusion of marginalized youth, who are affected by poverty, disabilities, discrimination, or mental health issues. By participating in the dialogue dinners, they will gain social and professional competencies that we expect can strengthen their employability. Furthermore, ‘Food for Change’ is promoting two of the main values of Crossing Borders which are the importance of storytelling and highlighting the cultural diversity of food. We believe, through these dinners, that sharing food and stories will enhance the youth’s feelings of community and belonging. In addition to cultivating the mental health of these participants, the dinners also have a positive impact on the participants’ physical well-being with healthy seasonal food recipes they can cook together and learn to use in their daily lives. Being a part of a community will make us more resilient during difficult times in our lives, imagine all this…with food? The perfect recipe to a fulfilling evening! Stay tuned to hear more about how this project will develop on all of our social media platforms!

by Mia Brygger, Project associate   A depiction of my maiden voyage, as a representative for Crossing Borders, travelling to Estonia for the finalization of an Erasmus+ strategic partnership project, that aims at enabling teachers to include more design thinking into their work. In collaboration with Educraftor, Tartu Kunstikool, Tallinna Kunstigümnaasium (TKG) and Modern Didactics Centre, we met at TKG outside of Tallinn for a three day “meet and let’s finish a two-year project in style”. My week started at CPH airport. The day before. Project coordinator from Crossing Borders and all-round hard worker, Rosie, had invited me to Estonia to take part in the last stages of the project. Who was I to say no to that?! It was an opportunity to witness firsthand how a project collaboration between nations and schools can result in new ways of educating youth, and of course, a great way to discover a new cultural setting. The trip was quite a learning experience for me. Fun, challenging and eye-opening. With lots of crazy events along the way. Creepy portraits and bumpy hallways  The hotel itself was an tale worth telling; St. Olav, located in the Old Town (Vanalinn) part of Tallinn, was an old building propped up between a strip club/karaoke bar and a beauty salon. Four floors, each floor consisting of long winding hallways and staircases leading to other staircases and bumpier hallways. You could easily trip over dusty, antique furniture scattered throughout the hotel or get lost staring at the creepy portrait gallery decorating each hallway. The whole vibe of the hotel was one of mystery, murder and aristocratic oppulence. That is, if this was the 19th century. In 2023 it seemed more rundown than luxurious. It did prove a novelty stay and an entertaining topic of conversation, though.   Lazy craftmanship or fun for the whole family? Night tour in old town Assistant duties and cheese on fish?The next morning we went to Tallinna Kunstigümnaasium, a few kilometres north of Tallinn, where we would meet up with the partners and go over the results of the project. Rosie was kind enough to pay for our transportation all week; I didn’t get to repay her generosity except for being a willing assistant, who was always ready to carry whatever s%¤#, she couldn’t be bothered to carry. Just kidding, she always asked, if I would carry her s¤%+. That’s the life of an assistant, I guess. The first day at the school was a hectic one, with presentations from the partners and a online audience tuning in from all parts of the world: Italy, Marocco, Georgia, Jamaica, Poland etc. The day ended with lunch in the school cafeteria, where we were served fish covered in what appeared to be cheddar cheese. Weird choice for a fish dish, but it tasted okay. Anna, the project manager and a teacher at TKG, suggested we all have dinner together at Olde Hanse that same night; A medieval restaurant serving centuries old recipes (but not centuries old food). Not joking, the food was some of the best, I’ve ever had and unlike anything I’ve ever tasted. As a civilian, that has never been involved with an Erasmus+ project before, I was delighted to spend time with the partners and share cultural experiences with each other. We crossed borders indeed and had a lot of fun.   Hard-at-work-Rosie Happy partners Cheesy fish dish Previous Next Reality sets in and we paint cats!The following day we had a group meeting with the partners to divide the last tasks of the project. I was also discovering that working with other organizations and people from different cultural backgrounds is inspiring and fun. It can be challenging at times, but it’s a wonderful lesson in compromise and camaraderie. Even though my tasks were limited, Rosie had been considered enough to forget to bring a bag for her computer, so the least I could do, was act as her pack mule. The day ended back at the hotel, before we set out for the evening’s grand adventure: A paint class! Anna had arranged for the remaining partners (and the sole assistant present: me) to take a paint class. I would like to say, that it was great fun (and it was), but mostly it was fun, because everyone was really on point in sarcastingly stating, how exhaustingly difficult the class was. The inferiority complexes setting in, while we were trying to mix colors and getting the composition right, were punctured by the snarky laughter, that followed our feeble attempts at creating art. At least we got to take our painting home with us. I will use mine as a torture device, should I ever need one.   Rosie was having a bad angle day Creative genius at work Artsty kids and goodbye to the partnersOn our last day at TKG we wrapped up the final tasks and had an early lunch. And then a concert followed. With high expectations in tow, we set off…. towards the gym where student bands were ready to blow us away with cover versions of Amy Winehouse and Arctic Monkeys songs. They did good, and mostly hit the right notes, but there was one group, that delighted us all. A group consisting of five young women; sheathed in punkish attire and piles of make-up, took to the scene and started performing……an Estonian folk song..? Okay. Not what I was expecting, but their dedication to the performance and the goth-like girl with long, dark hair, in a Slayer t-shirt, playing the triangle with such detached focus and intensity, blew my Nordic mind. That was exactly the Baltic vibes, I had hoped to encounter in Estonia. Time to reflect and head homeOn our last night, Rosie and I had a magnificent dinner at Rataskaevu 16, where we gorged on elk roast and fancy desserts with various sirups and fruits. Not a bad way to end a successful trip. We headed home for the last time to our murder-mystery hotel and

by Melina Niraki and Soraya Boumediene, project coordinators Ghanaian diplomat Kofi Annan said “No one is born a good citizen; no nation is born a democracy. (Rather both are processes that continue to evolve over a lifetime.) Young people must be included from birth. A society that cuts off from its youth severs its lifeline.”  From there, a healthy democracy should include youth in the decision-making process. However, it is often said young people are not interested in democracy, that they are disconnected from it and that they don’t have faith in it anymore or that they never did.  How to develop young people’s curiosity about democracy? How to make them want to be part of the decision making process? How to make them aware of the role they have to play? How do they become active citizens conscious of global issues? Crossing Borders tried to meet this challenge. On the 21st of November 2022, I assisted in the final competition of the Democracy Class in Copenhagen. It took place in Aula, the biggest room in Union which can accommodate up to 150 people. We had prepared the room for the occasion which looked like a conference room. 90 students from Adventure Efterskolen, boarding school in Southern Denmark participated in the event.  The students participating in Democracy Class for the final event had been divided into groups and their responsibility was to create their own political parties from scratch, present their political program, as well as debate with each other with the aim of their political party to prevail and possibly win one of the available monetary prizes. The final event was divided into two stages. The first one invited group representatives to announce their political party program whereas the second one was solely focused on debating, under the watchful eye of the jury and CB facilitators. As you can imagine, speaking in English on a stage in front of a hundred people is not a simple exercise… It was really impressive to see the students defending their political ideas and trying to make them shine over the others. Especially because it allows us to see justice and this is the only way for society to thrive. It was nice to see the participants really involved in what they were doing; after all, what could be more effective than directly asking youth to speak for themselves and with their own words, about subjects concerning them? The debate was led by the jury: Simon Dalsgaard, member of the Danish Institute for Parties and Democracy, Mads Grønne Bärenholdt, PHD student in adolescence loneliness, former community science teacher, and member of the ø party, Garba Diallo, CB Director. Three monetary awards were at stake for the three winning parties to spend on activities or cultural projects of their own. A way to make them responsible and aware that their decisions have societal consequences. Many topics were discussed: gender and LGBTQ policies, migration policy, social benefits, healthcare, environmental policies, integration. Students actually had things to say about most of them, which showed their commitment but also their involvement in the exercise. And by extension in the democratic process and in society’s issues. Conclusion:  Not all parties won a prize but all the students were able to gain creativity and to hopefully ignite their curiosity about democracy. What is sure is that democracy won that day. For a moment the youth, supposedly disinterested in democracy, made it live and believed in it. And once again Crossing Borders contributed to the education and empowerment of young people to become active global citizens. It’s exactly for moments like this, that drive us, that we fight everyday, in order hopefully to make the world a better place. This final event was part of a project funded by the Danish Ministry of Culture, including 4 workshops and a final event, facilitated by Crossing Borders coordinators.

By Soraya Boumediene, Intern at Crossing Borders

Following the successful conclusion of the above project, we are pleased to share below the process and outcome of the events from Narva, Through Copenhagen, Gothenburg to Latvia. Please, see the milestones of the project: Launch of the project on Kick-off meeting and high-level conference in Narva. On the 26th of August 2021 partners from Nordic – Baltic countries (Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) got together in the beautiful city of Narva, Estonia to launch a great initiative “Together towards green, sustainable and digital society of Nordic-Baltic region”. The project aimed at providing a conducive space for the partners and adult learners to promote green solutions and sustainability in the Nordic-Baltic region. The project also wants to contribute to achieving the SDGs and regional cooperation on a green future of the region. On arrival day project partners started own adventure by visiting Tallinn old town and non-formally discussed the concept of the Sustainable Development Goals in practice. On the way to Narva partners had an opportunity to meet and better know each other. This informal interaction created a solid ground for our Nordic-Baltic collaboration and development program on SDGs. Adult learners who were represented within delegations shared own expectations, thought and ideas how they could contribute to active citizens and multiplier in achievement of sustainable goals at local and regional levels. On the 27th of August, the project was officially launched in the form of a high-level conference on sustainable development “Global Conversation 2021”. Nordic- Baltic partners and other international participants were invited to explore major obstacles to the achievement of the UN SDGs in societies with growing youth unemployment, intensifying climate change and ever deeper economic, social and racial divisions. Additionally, to that in the frame of working groups and speed dating among the adult learners with experts were discussing the role and importance of gender equality and accessible education, intercultural dialogue in healing divides and reconciling societies. An international conference became an opportunity to reaffirm the significance of the importance of collaboration between Nordic and Baltic actors in the field of education who work for a greener, socially sustainable, and digitally integrated region. The conference connected regional networks among practitioners, policymakers, civil society organisations, international donors.    The results of the meeting can be found on the official webpage: https://www.unsdg.ee/kick-off-conference/ The results of the meeting can be found on the official webpage: https://www.unsdg.ee/kick-off-conference/ First Workshop session “Getting closer with UN SDGs” took place on the 3.12-5.12.2021 in Helsinki, Finland On the 3rd of December 2021 the adult learner and experts on sustainable development and civil society issues gathered in the beautiful capital of Finland, Helsinki, for the first workshop session “Getting closer with UN SDGs”. The main objective of the workshop session for participants was to learn from each other while also hearing from adults and vulnerable group representatives about their own perspectives on relevant sustainable development issues and key questions like how we could improve gender equality within society, how to make education accessible to all and protect local community life form the challenges what are influencing their everyday life, like consequences of climate change, discrimination and inequalities, transition into green growth economy and waste management Moreover, to that partners had gathered to develop examples, tasks, and guidelines for inclusion of adult learners into the project’s main output, an educational toolkit “Civil society in building a green sustainable and digital future of the Nordic-Baltic region” and web resource, an intensive amount of work (including group tasks, creative challenges, conversation exercises, innovative approaches developed by the target group, etc.) was done during the workshops. At the end of the program partners conducted exchange session on best practices. The workshop was divided into two parts: to gather and develop educational materials, examples, guidelines and methodology for educational toolkit and to exchange of best practices by partners and invited experts to practise on outcome gained skills and materials with wider groups and communities. The workshop session was led by Anneli Ohvril (Executive Director, Let’s Do It World) and Ingrid Nielsen (independent expert on Environmental Question and renewable energy expert) and Jenni Kauppila (Advocacy office of UNA Finland). Training sessions were filled with a huge number of interactive exercises aimed at developing teamwork and gaining new knowledge about climate change, circular economy was interlinked and sustainable development. The room where the event took place was animated with vibrant, lively discussions on Integrating SDGs into strategies and practices: how to construct social change, led by Ingrid Nielsen. Event materials and results of the meeting you could find on this page. First Transnational partners and experts meeting “Together towards green, sustainable and digital society” in Copenhagen, Denmark contributed to the process of development of educational toolkit and web-resource. The first transnational meeting of partners and experts “Together towards a Green, Sustainable and Digital Society” took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, from 11-13th of March 2022. Facilitated by Crossing Borders Director Garba Diallo, the meeting began with a brief introduction of the host organisation Crossing Borders and its own activities on the global goals.  After partner cooperation part “getting to know each other” followed an interactive workshop on the Sustainable Development Goals, which was focusing mainly on climate change, green growth, clean Baltic Sea, waste management, sustainable lifestyle, environmental communication and sustainable cities and communities. Transnational meeting’s main goal was to contribute to the process of development of educational toolkit and web-resource, by collecting materials, best practices and new methodologies for adult learners and hearing adults & vulnerable groups own thoughts, ideas and experiences of on themes related with sustainable development. Also meeting was designed to evaluate a feedback from workshop session for target groups, meeting of partners and experts who have been working on development educational toolkit and web-resource as main practical outcome of the project. During the workshop, people focused on their neighbourhood and their personal relationship to the Sustainable Development Goals in a creative way, gaining new knowledge, methods and sharing experiences from different partner countries to address the issues raised. The second

By Maryam Alaouie, Journalist and Project Coordinator for Migrantour at Crossing Borders. Are you a tourist that hates walking on mainstream streets and loves discovering cities through the eyes of locals or immigrants? Or are you new to the city and longing to see its hidden gems? Or simply a native, that loves Copenhagen’s cultural diversity? Then this is the tour for you.  Stories give places meaning, which is what Migrantour is all about. Migrantour is a European solidarity project showcasing the richness of the cultural diversity and the history of migration in European cities today. It is intercultural walks with guides who share their stories of the city they call home, from their migrant perspectives. Migrantour was originally created in 2010 in Italy to promote a different kind of tourism, involving people with a history of migration, making city tours more personal, sustainable, and community-based than ever.    Over the years, Migrantour has developed and is now operating in 20 different cities around Europe including Barcelona, Brussels, Lisbon, Ljubljana, Utrecht, and more, and now finally in Copenhagen!  “I want participants to experience the contribution of migrants to Copenhagen, particularly Nørrebro…economic, cultural, and social,” says Alfred, one of our well-trained tour guides from Ghana.  Migrantour Copenhagen is coordinated by Crossing Borders since March 2021. Crossing Borders decided to bring the concept to Copenhagen as it resonates with their mission to create a safe space for dialogue and to bring people together across cultures to share their perspectives, says Garba Diallo, founding director of Crossing Borders.   “We decided to bring Migrantour to Copenhagen because of the fact that Copenhagen is a globalizing city which migration makes richer and more innovative,” answered Diallo, when asked why he decided to bring Migrantour to Copenhagen. “In today’s Copenhagen, we can meet people from every corner of the world, eat food, have drinks from Coffee to Chai to Mate to Ayran, and listen to music as something natural. We are making Copenhagen richer and more connected with herself and the rest of the world than ever,” continues Diallo.    Co-created by people with a migration background, Copenhagen Migrantour highlights the multiculturalism of the city. It helps connect people who are born in Copenhagen, migrants, and tourists, to each other and to the city, while empowering migrants to claim their place in the cultural heritage of the city.     Working together with experts, the tour guides have developed personal, yet insightful tours in one of the most colorful areas in Copenhagen, Nørrebro, a vibrant and hipster district that has been a home to many generations of migrants. The interactive walking tours are designed for tourist groups, university students and school classes who want to learn about Copenhagen from diverse, local perspectives.   For booking your tour and for more information kindly visit the Migrantour website at https://migrantoursdenmark.crossingborders.dk or reach out to Crossing Borders +45 21 63 94 32 for any inquiries.              Testimonials: “I have been in Copenhagen a few times before, but the tour gave me a new perspective of the city, uhm, not sure how to explain but you feel more connected to it somehow…”   – Tourist from Norway   “The tour was full of stories, history, and cozy narrow streets, loved it!”   – Newcomer to Denmark from France 

Empowered Girls Dialogue – Giving girls a voice for change through community dialogue – is one year project implemented by organization Project Soar and funded by Civil Society in Development (CISU). Crossing Borders’ global program coordinator Tatjana Stefanovic and project coordinator Pareeksha Pandeshwar Raghavendra had chance to visit HQ of Project Soar in Douar Laadam, around 30km from Marrakesh. During their visit, Soar coordinators and facilitators presented success stories of girls and their transformation from early school dropouts to gaining confidence and knowledge on their values, rights, body, and future goals by becoming Project Soar girls. Even more, they encourage their friends and neighbours to join the program. The few icebreaking games session by Tatjana to Project Soar girls were followed by an activity where they presented their learning from the training. It is indeed a community empowering! The session was ended with the Project Soar girls affirmation which is the best part of the day. The following day Tatjana and Pareeksha visited nearby village, Douar Igoudar, and attended Community Dialogue where the Project Soar girls first performed a beautiful skit on ‘Girl’s wish’. They have performed the same skit in front of communities which highlighted what a girl in Morocco goes through just because she is a ‘girl’. The story also depicts what girls wishes to be in her life and how it is suppressed by her own family because of her gender. Post the performance, there were debate and discussions between Soar girls and other stakeholders regarding gender bias. The whole session showcased girls’ challenges and perspective in the men dominant society in Morocco. It was empowering to see the orthodox girls who has managed to convince her parents to take part in Soar program. They were also advised to showcase the performance in front of their own parents to create more awareness. The following day started with a very interesting discussion with women facilitators from Byougra and Azrou regions. This discussion gave a perspective of women facilitators on Empowering Girls Dialogue program from the field itself. Many challenges, struggles, success stories were shared. These women facilitators were once a Project Soar girl and now facilitate the whole program in front of many people confidently. A big graduation party for Project Soar girls followed, where the parents (especially mothers) joined the celebration in Douar Laadam. All the Project Soar girls chanted affirmations right in front of their mothers and could sense their proud feeling by seeing their daughter on stage. There were some intense discussions between the mothers and daughters on girls being treated differently than boys.  In between all these discussions and debates, there were some lighter moments like singing Arabic songs, dancing to Bollywood songs, and playing fun games. It all ended with the graduation ceremony where the proud mothers presented certificate to their daughters who are ready to take the world! Testimonies: “I really enjoyed the Crossing Borders visit to project Soar HQ. Pareeksha and Tatjana were lovely. I had fruitful discussions with them and the Soar girls. It was a pleasure to have them with us for the Soar Community Dialogue on gender equality in Douar Igoudar. They had excellent conversations with the youth attendees, and they shared positive feedback regarding the community dialogues. They interacted with the play that was performed by Soar grads and Soar Club officers in an effective way. They attended another fruitful conversation with our facilitators and Soar girls who came to visit from Bouygra and Azrou Atlas. We really enjoyed that discussion and we came up with new ideas regarding what Soar girls need for next year, for example, a well-planned Soar Club schedule with specific dates and deadlines for various activities that the Soar girls will be choosing themselves, an art program where girls and boys will be holding acting, singing and drawing activities, IT training for boys and girls to learn about computer science, and training on how to prepare the Soar girls professionally for the labor market. We ended the visit with a very successful community meeting at HQ and a graduation ceremony where the Soar girls opened up about their experiences and personality changes that Soar in a Box helped with, with the Crossing Borders visitors, and where the visitors shared with us the joy of celebrating these success stories.” Warda Bouye, Soar program coordinator. “It is a pleasure and an honor to be here, especially to attend the Project Soar girls’ graduation. We experienced the Soar community dialogue, and that was amazing, the way how they managed to involve the other members of the community and rise this important topic of gender bias. We are bringing a lot of amazing stories with us, especially because we can see the change in the Soar girls after attending the Soar training and the curriculum of five modules in which they learn about their value, voice, body, right, and how they can put that into action.The graduation was so emotional and exciting, and it was great to see girls there with their mothers. It is amazing to see how they are proud of their daughters coming here to attend Soar training. I saw how it is important to include mothers in the dialogue. Project Soar is so empowering.” Tatjana, CB’s Global program coordinator.