People Power Partnership in Two Important European Events
In March, the Project People Power Partnership (PPP), in which the “Radu Stanca” National Theatre Sibiu is a partner, is involved in two important events related to the development of young people and their participation in artistic and social life. Besides these events, the artistic team will also present their most recent small-scale performances created in the framework of the project alongside British partners, Magna Vitae of Grimsby.
“The impact of the restrictions enforced in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic on EU educational, cultural, youth, and children and youth sports events. Impressions and action proposals based on the surveys and experience of People Power Partnership with youth from 11 European countries” - this was the topic of the presentation held by Matthias Rettner, representative of Aktionstheater Pan.OPTIKUM of Freiburg, PPP project leader.
The PPP team conducted their own studies and surveys among the project participants, which showed that many young people felt frustrated, discouraged, and indifferent, experienced depression, anxiety, felt they missed life and educational opportunities, and lack of trust in political decisionmakers.
To counteract the negative effects of the pandemic, People Power Partnership supports the need to promote direct meetings between young people, the development of opportunities such as exchanges of experience, the promotion of grants for young people in low GDP countries, facilitating their possibility to access international and individual independent worker exchanges, improving and extending Erasmus+, improving the promotion of EU programmes to reach the target group - young people.
Even during the pandemic, in the framework of the project PPP, auditions, workshops, and especially open-air performances, including during the 2021 edition of the Sibiu International Theatre Festival, were organized in person, which the youngsters appreciated.
Young People and the Future of Europe
The event entitled “Participation through creativity: How young people shape the future of Europe through cultural participation” will take place on Thursday, 31 March 2022, at 6 p.m., at the Representation of the State of Baden-Württemberg in Brussels.
“The impact of the restrictions enforced in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic on EU educational, cultural, youth, and children and youth sports events. Impressions and action proposals based on the surveys and experience of People Power Partnership with youth from 11 European countries” - this was the topic of the presentation held by Matthias Rettner, representative of Aktionstheater Pan.OPTIKUM of Freiburg, PPP project leader.
The PPP team conducted their own studies and surveys among the project participants, which showed that many young people felt frustrated, discouraged, and indifferent, experienced depression, anxiety, felt they missed life and educational opportunities, and lack of trust in political decisionmakers.
To counteract the negative effects of the pandemic, People Power Partnership supports the need to promote direct meetings between young people, the development of opportunities such as exchanges of experience, the promotion of grants for young people in low GDP countries, facilitating their possibility to access international and individual independent worker exchanges, improving and extending Erasmus+, improving the promotion of EU programmes to reach the target group - young people.
Even during the pandemic, in the framework of the project PPP, auditions, workshops, and especially open-air performances, including during the 2021 edition of the Sibiu International Theatre Festival, were organized in person, which the youngsters appreciated.
Young People and the Future of Europe
The event entitled “Participation through creativity: How young people shape the future of Europe through cultural participation” will take place on Thursday, 31 March 2022, at 6 p.m., at the Representation of the State of Baden-Württemberg in Brussels.
Through PPP, Freiburg Aktionstheater PAN.OPTIKUM and its project partners bring together youngsters from 11 European countries in a participatory cultural project. This way, the young people have the chance to create and to shape their own future and the future of Europe.
The event organizers state that ‘Performing arts offer a space where youngsters with different visions come together and talk about personal and social challenges. They are encouraged to get actively and creatively involved in our living together. Art can play a big role in our search for answers to these challenges, as it creates a new space and new multifaceted visions. The accent will fall on essential questions, such as: What are our values? How can mutual understanding be facilitated in a diverse society? How resistant is our democracy, what challenges can it face, who is undermining it? What is the base of European tolerance?’ All these topics will be discussed with representatives of EU institutions, Baden-Württemberg politicians, and representatives of the cultural scene.
The last small PPP production took place on 19 March 2022 in Great Britain in the framework of Grimsby Creates Noise Festival, after the programme of events had been postponed because of pandemic-induced restrictions. The show was livestreamed on the Facebook page People Power Partnership - Magna Vitae and can still be seen there. The performance included a young dancer from Sibiu, Florian Gavarici, one of the eight dancers representing TNRS in the project. He also performed in Mirror Images during FITS 2021 and in the small scale production in Lisbon, which was presented in the framework of Felizmente Ha Lugar Festival. His participation in the 7-18 March residence was supported by the partners that hosted the show and by the project leaders. The UK project partners, Magna Vitae Foundation, completed all the necessary steps to remain in PPP even after Brexit and together with the project leader, Aktionstheater PanOptikum, thus showed that art and culture recognise no borders.
