25 April to 3 May, 2023, Marrakesh- Morocco
“Unpop that Populism” Youth Exchange, 25 April to 3 May 2023, Marrakesh- Morocco
The Youth Exchange offered a unique opportunity for 35 young people from Morocco, Jordan, Egypt, Romania, Spain, France, and Turkey to explore realities of populism from different perspectives tackling the commonalities and differences in each country. Also, they learn how to think critically to detect the effects of populism from human rights perspective, particularly the populism that develops a polarizing message dividing people into two groups; the ‘us’ and the ‘them’.
Throughout the exchange, participants were able to develop their competencies (skill, knowledge and attitudes) in the following fields:
Participants were able to apply what they had learned through designing and executing a series of social media campaigns.
This project was hosted by Coconut work, a network of youth work organizations in Europe and co-funded by the European Union under Erasmus plus Programme.
Testimony of Desert Bloom participants:
Thank you, Desert Bloom, for giving us such a great chance to learn about Populism. We discussed many forms of populism, national realities, populist discourse, and got the chance to do our own campaigns. We enjoyed the Team building activities that built bonds as well as improved communication, collaboration, and cohesion among us. Now, we are able to distinguish different forms of populism and learn how populism haunts the democratic world today. We became aware of how populism can have a left-wing or right-wing agenda and it can range from persuasive politics to a dangerous agenda that creates internal and external conflict, negates climate change and rejects human rights. We also learned how to build our resilience, conduct Advocacy campaigns and to think critically. We had many fruitful discussions; we shared our realities and ideas. On the third day we continued our discussions tackling different national realities and cultures. The intercultural night was unforgettable, we presented different types of populism in our country. Also, we presented different aspects of Jordanian culture; we wore Jordanian traditional dresses, danced the Dabka, and gave out Jordanian Souvenirs. Participants enjoyed Jordanian thyme, spices, arabic gum and the famous Jameed (dried yogurt).
On the fifth day, we did a field visit to Essaouira city. We explored the Moroccan culture and interacted with local community.
The 6th day focuses on populist discourse, how to critically evaluate it and act when hearing fake information. Additionally, four participants delivered their own workshops. We enjoyed the Critical Thinking and “Wheel of life" workshops.
The last two days were dedicated to practicing what we had learned. We were divided into groups and each group was asked to design its own social media campaign. Groups created artistic e-posters with nice messages such as "Be a Global Citizen, Exchange Culture '', " Connect globally, Learn Locally", "So much of who we are is where we have been and who we have met", "Explore new Horizons, Expand your Mind".
Jordan team:
Please check the Exchange video.
https://youtu.be/OC6zFPRt6Ms
