More Than Words

More than Words is aiming at improving intercultural communication and training skills of educators, social workers, and all people being engaged as professionals or activists in supporting migrants and other minorities tackling problems of integration and communication. We will develop a pan European curriculum for non-verbal intercultural trainings, synthesizing the experiences of our partners in different areas of training and creativity, such as theatre, dance, humor therapy and storytelling. This project is crucial in terms of Europes relationship to migrant communities and other minorities, especially under the current political and social tensions all over in the Continent.

Integration of migrants and other minorities is not a simple question of willingness. Lacking of basic skills for communication strongly hinders the mutual understanding between migrants and other social groups. Communication barriers also include difficulties related to cultural differences even when people understand the language.

The integration of vulnerable groups in European societies is a challenge that transcends borders, and requires a pan-European, multi-agency strategy as a response. The main outcome of the project is therefore a European training module, offering new approaches for both governmental and non-governmental agencies in responding to these highly significant challenges.

Otherintellectual outputs will include a synthesis of good practices, an online platform of intercultural training, and a documentary film presenting the different stages of the project implementation. All these will be disseminated through local multiplier events allowing user organizations to benefit from the findings and methodologies.

More than Words will follow a three years long project circle oriented on work packages, intellectual outputs, milestones, staff trainings and transnational meetings. The leading of work packages will be divided among the partners, a system that will ensure that all partners will take an active role and responsibility in the implementation of the project. Work packages will take place parallel and in deep interaction with each other. Within them the main project activities will be as follows:
– organization of five staff trainings that, based on an initially prepared guideline and needs assessment, will present four methods of non-verbal intercultural training and their synthesis;
– creation of a pan European training module in strong interaction with the trainings, tested at local multiplier events;
– creation of an interactive platform of intercultural training;
– creation of the different parts of the documentary film all along the project circle;
– dissemination of the project?s results, among others, at the local multiplier events.

Our project is based on a strategic partnership of like-minded organizations across Europe, working with migrant and disadvantaged communities, to develop and share practice to create a collective working methodology in intercultural training. The project lead partner, Border Crossings is a UK-based organisation working in intercultural dialogue through vocational education and performing arts. It has developed strong creative methodologies to encourage understanding between cultures through theatre and creative learning practices.

The partners approach, experiences and areas of work are different and complementary. The partnership is composed of two main groups according to their main roles in the project: the needs assessment group is composed by 3 organisations having a direct experience dealing with the needs of migrants and vulnerable groups: Narud and AEL and dla Ziemi. The training providers group will contribute with their innovative methods of non-verbal intercultural training: Border Crossings for theatre performance, CRN for digital storytelling, Euro-Net for humor and clowning strategies and IKTE for dance and body movement therapy. They will provide the staff trainings, create the synthesizing training and report based on the needs and accompanied by the monitoring activities of the first group.

More than Words will have a direct impact on 87 participants of the trainings obtaining a certificate, on approximately 5000 people visiting and/or joining the online training platform, and on all the associated partners and organisations participating at the testing of the training module and signing the letter of intent to use this curriculum in their training activities. The project will have an important indirect impact on migrants and people in vulnerable situation benefiting of the new methods of empowerment to be used by the trainees of the workshops.

On the European level, the partners support and promote an inclusive approach to European citizenship and the common values of freedom, tolerance and non-discrimination through education.