U.R.BANKSY - Transforming Urban Realities - infopack

Youth Exchange Rustavi, Georgia 7-15 October, 2017

Project Context

Rustavi

Transformative actions focuses on understanding own or others' lived experiences of being deprived of opportunities and rights. Then developing a critique of social/political realities – “critical consciousness” – and becoming engaged in change towards social justice.

The City RUSTAVI is very close to the capital - Tbilisi, there are "Marshutkas" every minute going to Tbilisi taking you there in 30-40 minutes.

The city itself is quite old - first gets mentioned in 5-4 centuries B.C. but as many settlements in Caucasus, it got destroyed in 13th Century. When Soviets took over, they re-built the city again but in their style - economic and not so ergonomic matchbox-shaped buildings all around. They built this city so that it could accommodate workers who were working at Rustavi Metallurgic Factory. After USSR fell, the factory, like almost all the industries in Georgia, stopped, so the city quickly went to poverty. It could use our touches, couldn't it?

We believe there’s a need to stand up for human rights that is not only about the documents but it’s about our lives and realities and it also involves taking non-violent action. For this, art offers a brilliant medium. It has always been a key towards development. It’s our firm belief that art is a universal language, capable of delivering messages about equality to any member of society. Art can be perceived by anybody without the necessity of having any university degree, social status or salary. Graffiti and street art, we believe it’s a very vehicle to deliver youth messages to streets, to neighborhoods, to urban communities.

"U.R.BANKSY - Transforming Urban Realities" - is a 9 days youth exchange together with advanced planning visit which will host 35 participants and 7 group leaders in a post-industrial, post-soviet city of Rustavi in Georgia.

Our aim is to raise awareness about human rights issues and promote equality and democracy through creative expression, such as graffiti and street art. Our vision is to create space to reflect, exchange stories on the issues that young people are facing nowadays in our communities and engage in transformative social change through using non-violent activism such as graffiti.

To remind you, the objectives of the youth exchange are: • to reflect on and discuss human rights issues young people are facing in Europe nowadays; • to share and discuss practices of human rights activism and creative non-violent activism; • to promote activism and campaigning skills through creativity; • to gain practical skills in graffiti, street art and other creative methods; • to create interaction and an atmosphere for sharing and generating new ideas; • to create a comfortable atmosphere to express self through public performance, graffiti and street art; • to spread youth voices through graffiti and street art; • to discover each others cultures, identities, circles; • to foster intercultural dialogue and celebrate multiculturalism and diversity; • to promote human rights and democracy as European added values.

Before the youth exchange there will be an advanced planning visit, which will host 1 group leader and 1 participant from each country to plan the youth exchange in more details and then report it back to the youth group.

The youth exchange will bring together 42 participants, 6 from each country (5+1).

We will be accommodated in ISCR - International Scout Center Rustavi, which is on the margin of the town surrounded by a nice yard and easily connected to the capital.

The lodging is more dormitory style, we will have a conference room to work together and other spaces to socialise.

You can see more here: http://iscr.ge/ We will shape the programme during the advanced planning visit in a more concrete way, we will do our best to incorporate your ideas to it.

Most probably the flow will look like this: 1. Arrival; 2. Icebreakers; 3. Teambuilding; 4. Human Rights and Democracy - how do we understand it?

5. Human Rights Issues in Europe, what are our experiences?

6. Issues in Rustavi, meeting the locals, experiencing the city; 7. Making an intervention with our art; 8. Evaluation of our intervention; 9. What to do next? Follow-up project planning together.

During the programme we will for sure bring some informal fun activities as well, and participants are free to contribute to any part of the programme as well. Bring some snacks and drinks from your community to share it with others.

Travel Arrangements The sending organisation or participants themselves will buy flights tickets and then it will be reimbursed. All prices need to be accepted by the coordinator before any purchase is made, a screenshot from the website can be sent to us in advance and we will approve or decline within 48 hours, all attempts will be made to answer these emails as soon as possible. Tickets purchased without prior consent could result in no reimbursement for travel costs.

The travel budget per each participant from: DO NOT THROW YOUR BOARDING PASSES! Georgia 20 EUR All boarding passes, invoices and travel documents Armenia 180 EUR must be kept and submitted after the project in Romania, Ukraine 275 EUR original format and must also be emailed to the Estonia, Finland 360 EUR responsible officer of the host organisation before the Norway 530 EUR project. Travel costs which exceed the limit will be the responsibility of the participants or the sending organisations.

Please note that all the participants are required to have the travel insurance, but costs are the responsibility of the participant and/or sending organisation. The participants will be later on provided a detailed information on how to get to the venue.

The reimbursement will most likely occur via the bank transfer, please bring your bank account numbers with.

You will be consulted in advance on how to get from the airport to the centre. For the participants travelling to Kutaisi airport, there's a direct bus connection to Tbilisi, which you can check out on www.georgianbus.com To get to Rustavi from Tbilisi, use this guide: https://goo.gl/8uXWYt Contact the Georgian group if you need more guidance.

The travel dates for the youth exchange: 06.10.2017 and 16.10.2017. You are required to arrive on 06th of June and depart on 16th.

Partner Organisations Youth for Peace and Equality GE information.ype@gmail.com www.ype-ngo.org +995579351717

NGO "Stella" UA www.ngo-stella.org info@ngo-stella.org +380977156420

Olemisen Balanssiar RY nargiza.vehanen@gmail.com FI +358440501698

Youth Europa Estonia www.youtheuropa.org EE info@youthweuropa.org +37258168665

Shokkin Group Norge NO http://www.shokkingroupnorge.com/ marit@shokkin.org +4745471630 Armenian Youth League AM

რუსთავი

btw, Georgian language has an alphabet.

www.armenianyouthleague.webs.com

ayl.armenia@gmail.com +37455534300

Asociatia idei si proiecte RO pentru tineri activi www.ipta.ro beniamin.branzas@ipta.ro +40756973846

Before you proceed...

Please, read the information that we have provided here, ask the sending organisation or directly the group leader if you have any questions.

Miscommunication may result in various unpleasant situations, like risking the reimbursement, or false expectations, or coming underdressed to a themed party.

Be ready to become an activist.

Thanks for being a factor of change in Europe!

Thanks for attention!

designed by Nika Bakhsoliani.