|
World Youth Reconciliation Project
An international network for local and global reconciliation"
is a loose association of groups and individuals around the world
seeking to coordinate their various, diverse activities directed
towards the common broad goal of reconciliation. It has been formed
in part in response to the events of September 11 and their aftermath
and the apparent impotence of the international institutions for
the establishment and maintenance of peace and reflects a sense
that there is a need for a robust infrastructure at the level of
civil society that allows community to come into direct contact
with each other.
The network will be formally inaugurated at a conference in London
in September 2003, at which a formal structure which can facilitate
open, democratic collaborations among diverse groups will be considered.
It has also given rise to a number of specific projects. The World
Youth Reconciliation Project, or "WYR", The World Youth
Reconciliation Project aims to bring together young people to address
the problems of hostility and lack of understanding and mutual respect
among people of different cultures throughout the world.
WYR will include a range of events, themes and projects that converge
at a festival to be held in late 2004. These will involve active
collaborations among young people living in different settings and
in each case aim to produce specific, enduring outcomes. Following
the festival, a workshop will be held in the setting of a live-in
camp to consolidate the achievements of the process and to assist
in the development of a structure that can promote the development
of a continuing program of activities.
Aims
WYR aims:
1. to assist in the development
of greater understanding among youth from diverse cultures;
2. to establish networks between
communities involving young people that may otherwise not be in
communication with one another; and
3. to create an environment in which
young people can collaborate in the pursuit of global reconciliation.
It seeks to contribute to the realisation of these aims by:
1. organising a Youth Reconciliation
Festival, which will take the form of a series of active collaborations
among young people, developed over time and converging on a series
of public events in Melbourne in early 2004; and subsequently
2. holding a live-in workshop, or camp,
to establish a continuing framework that will promote ongoing youth
activities directed towards reconciliation on a local and global
scaleParticipants
Like the global reconciliation network, WYR is an open, collaborative
project. It seeks to involve young people from around the world,
with a particular focus on Australia and the Asia Pacific region.
Particular attention will be given to ensuring that a wide range
of cultures, local regions and community groups are represented,
including schools, indigenous groups and different community based
cultural organisations. Although no specific age range has been
set, it is planned that the activities will appeal predominantly
to people aged between 12 and 25.
WYR will involve a festival and a camp-workshop. The festival -
which will take the form of a series of collaborative activities
occurring over some months converging on a series of public showings
in late 2004 - will aim at a diverse group of young people and will
emphasise global reconciliation and cross-cultural pride and acceptance
in a laid-back, fun setting. Following the conclusion of the festival
process these issues will be examined in further detail at a camp-workshop,
which will focus especially on the development of a framework that
will enable participants to continue to work actively to make a
difference within their own communities.
The festival will involve a series of projects or "themes"
using different media, occurring in different settings and involving
a range of groups of young people. These projects will bring young
people together around music, theatre, video, the visual arts, writing,
discussion and other activities. Each project will be coordinated
by an experienced practitioner, many of whom will have particular
skills in education.
The projects will come together at a series of public presentations
in late 2004, which will themselves include international music,
theatre, dance, film, food etc., together with lectures and discussion
around the theme of the celebration of world cultures and the need
for global reconciliation. An emphasis will be placed on interactive
workshops to enable participants to engage with each other actively
around these subjects in small groups and to provide opportunities
for dialogue and individual expression.
Camp
Following the public festival, a workshop in the setting of a camp
will be held to enable a smaller group of young people to share
their cultural backgrounds with one another in the form of discussion
groups and workshops in an intimate, residential setting and to
explore ways to promote acceptance of difference within their local
communities. This camp, which will extend over 4-5 days, will also
provide an opportunity for participants in the festival to evaluate
its success and to consider the possibilities for establishing an
ongoing process to continue the work it has initiated. Particular
attention will be given to the development of another festival in
a different city.
Outcomes
The principal outcome of WYR will be the development of conditions
for harmony between people from different cultural, political, racial
and religious backgrounds, emerging our of the experience of working
together on particular projects. The existence of widespread divisions
and hostility separating people around the world is disheartening
for young people, who often feel unable to make any response themselves,
and in some cases, themselves mimic this hostility within their
own local communities in the form of intolerance, discrimination
and racism. Bringing people together in small communities in cooperative
projects will help counter negative images, enhance communication
and overcome the sources of hostility. The experience of participating
in a festival or workshops itself will lead to an increase in understanding
and cross-cultural harmony and tolerance which those attending will
continue to practice in their daily lives.
The specific activities that are generated in relation to the festival,
such as artistic works, the video the tile installation and written
materials, will provide a concrete embodiment and symbol of the
processes that produced them and will continue to represent the
aims of the project.
At the public festival and the camp which follows a framework will
be developed to facilitate continuing forms of cooperation and ways
of bringing people from different communities and cultures together.
This process will make use of the resources of the global reconciliation
network to provide opportunities for continuing communication through
its web site to promote the further development of networks and
outreach programs, participation in specific projects in different
areas, and other follow-up activities.
It is intended to use the opportunities presented by this project
to develop a network of relationships to facilitate the continuation
of the youth reconciliation festival as a recurring event.
Depending on the availability of funding, consideration will also
be given to developing other processes to encourage continuing contact
between young people from different cultures and backgrounds.
Further information
Further information can be obtained by contacting:
|
Address:
|
Paul Komesaroff,
Director Monash Centre for the Study of Ethics in Medicine
and Society
Monash University Department of Medicine
Alfred Hospital
Commercial Road
Prahran, Victoria 3181 Australia.
|
|
Fax:
|
(613) 9521 2124
|
|
e-mail:
|
paul.komesaroff@med.monash.edu.au
|
|
