This year, we took the Living Library on a trip across the country, as part of the national “Dialogue of Change” project. We started with the Dobrogea area, when we went to Constanța, where we organized a debate with young people, local authorities and non-governmental organizations, to talk about non-discrimination and human rights, and formed a new network of practitioners of the Living Library method.
We started our day on Friday in Constanța listening to what it means to work in the field of social inclusion from guests such as Marinela Grigore, who told us more about the perspective of social assistance institutions; Carmen Dumitrescu, who talked to us about her work in the field of equal opportunities from the perspective of the Local Council; Ana Petcu, vice-president of the Youth Federation of Constanța, told us about the problems and needs of young people in Constanța, Mariana Gâju, mayor of Cumpăna, told us more about the problems and needs identified in the rural environment; Cristina Fodor spoke about the perspective of civil society and the work she does at the Red Cross; and Alina Lebidov, representative of the Poarta Albă Penitentiary, told us about her work in this institution, about Social Reintegration and about intersectionality.
The event on October 28th was centered around the needs we have, institutionally and personally, in terms of human rights/non-discrimination. We wanted the speech to be inclusive, intersectional and focused on several discrimination criteria, and we were happy that young people from placement centers, young students, and civically involved young people were also present in the room.
During the panel discussion, there was a lot of talk about accessibility, equal opportunities, the perspective from the rural environment in the county, the perception of the people who end up in the prisons, of the young people in placement centers, but also about the needs we have. After listening to what our guests from the institutions told us, we divided into working groups and moved to tables for a public café, where we collected these needs, among which are the support of young people in social housing, the free distribution of condoms and menstrual hygiene products in schools, the preparation of young people from disadvantaged communities regarding university entrance exams, the organization of crime prevention actions.
After this debate, we have facilitated a training course in the Living Library method with young people and teachers from Constanța, who will continue to organize this type of events in order to deconstruct stereotypes.
The training course in the Living Library facilitated last week had no other way to end than with an event where we could be at & read living books.
Several of the people who participated told us that they were able to deconstruct some stereotypes regarding young people in foster care, for example: “I thought they couldn’t have a good life there and that the staff didn’t pay attention to their needs, but I discovered that I was wrong”.
These events are part of the “Dialogue of Change” project, financed by Erasmus+, a program of the European Union.
