International Mobility Project, A Tool For The Local Development

Taking a look at the principles of a local development project, one of the main concerns is an adequate social cohesion to foster synergies between inhabitants, social actors and local organizations. Indeed individualism and consumerism are a threat to the values of community life. Precarious relations, identity and economy condemn social plans of actions to incapacity if the society does not regain its inclusion capacity.

Intercultural learning through mobility projects are a leverage to face these precarities. Behind the initiative of joining social actors and inhabitants of a certain area together, there is a desire to promote citizenship, to foster cooperation and solidarity, to fight against exclusion and to promote citizens mobility.

 

Franco-German-Algerian Social Workers Training- August 2001 - Bejaia

The intercultural approach of international mobility can be a significant pathway to mobilization. International mobility projects with an intercultural dimension give the occasion to youngsters, counselors and social actors to compare their personal and professional experiences within an international context. Further these exchanges will have an impact at the local level.

 

Promoting European Citizenship

Behind the initiative of encouraging social actors to organize intercultural exchange in their turn, Une Terre Culturelle intends to promote European identity and to fight exclusion through by fostering young citizens mobility.

Through exchanges organized by Une Terre Culturelle, and at a time where the construction of Europe seems at a dead end, Une Terre Culturelle hopes to enable youngsters to become aware of the existence of a European identity and to take an active part in the construction of this new European Area. Une Terre Culturelle is willing to increase communication and exchanges opportunities between people of different cultures, regardless of their socio-economic background (religion, gender, race, ethnicity). The construction of Europe and opening up to the globalized world should not become another factor of exclusion.

Following the example of youth work camps, Une Terre Culturelle’s projects are also based on bringing people together for building a common good. The results might be less visible however those initiatives allow our society to go forward, at a local level as well as at the international level.

By working together and learning to understand each other better, we can build a stronger world and Europe and one which is more enriched. Then we will be able to hope for the fall of all sorts of prejudices and all forms of discrimination poisoning our modern society.

Through its projects, Une Terre Culturelle, its partners and members attempt to develop the idea that working together enable to open people minds and enlarge their horizons. Such action contributes to the development of our societies. We learn from each other while constantly keeping the principle of reciprocity in mind « I am coming to your place to know your history, your culture, your social realities. And you too, you are coming in our place, to discover our reality and our culture… I teach you what I know and you are teaching me what you know. Therefore I will know myself better, you will know yourself better and we will understand each other better ».

 

A Tool For the Local Development

These exchanges give youngsters, counselors and social actors, the occasion to confront their professional and personal experiences within an international context . Further they also have a significant impact at a local level.

By living such experience out of the school environment, youngsters see their horizon brighten. They share it with others with a new state of mind involving responsibility and action.

By sharing experiences and discovering new teaching methods, social actors use/apply what they learnt at a local level in innovating projects. Thus they contribute to the development of their neighborhoods and are able to respond to specific issues to multicultural neighborhood in a better way.

General Objectives

Promoting mutual understanding between populations and breaking prejudices
Discovering different cultures and their social realities.
Promoting youth mobility through the European territory and the Mediterranean basin
Sharing experiences between social actors
Promoting European citizenship
Pedagogy in intercultural learning

Operational Objectives

Creating an international network of structures and organisations intervening in our countries’ multicultural areas
Playing a multiplying role
Working on neighborhoods’ issues within an intercultural context
Thinking of innovative tools and new ways for the development of disadvantaged areas
Offering training on intercultural methods (non verbal communication, active pedagogy, linguistic animation)
Achieving projects jointly with citizen coming from different countries