SILENCE HATE
Changing words changes the world
Silence Hate, Changing words changes the world is co-funded by the Rights, Equality and Citizenship (REC) Programme of the European Union. The general objective of the project is to combat and prevent online hate speech against migrants and refugees by developing new and creative counter-narratives. The countries that are involved are: Belgium, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Poland, United Kingdom.BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES
Online hate speech is a worrying and complex phenomenon, which has deep cultural and social roots and brings new questions and challenges to the issue of freedom of expression on the web. Only a collective commitment at the cultural and educational levels can be the basis to counter it, while promoting at the same time freedom and participation. It is necessary to foster an environment where everybody is able to express their opinions but it is crucial that the media and the people take a stand and show that hate speech cannot be tolerated. The general objective of the project is to combat and prevent online hate speech against migrants and refugees by developing new and creative counter-narratives.
Schools and media have a vital role to play in challenging hostility and prejudice, encouraging social solidarity and helping to promote understanding and empathy with others. Instead of focusing only on the possible negative consequences of the use of the internet, the idea is to explore the opportunities offered by modern technologies and innovative media productions for intercultural dialogue. Media literacy has a crucial role, because of media portrayals' influence on public perception and attitudes and, especially for sensitive topics such as migration, it’s important to be aware of the effects of the information flow. In the era of social media the need for promoting a critical approach and correct use of media is even more urgent. Part of the solution is giving people the tools to bring about change themselves.
Photography Workshop
This photography workshop for young refugees implemented by Karpos is meant to have a capacity building aspect through the art of photography and in particular of portrait photography. It took place at a refugee camp not far from Athens and gave the opportunity to the refugees who participated to discover the art of photography, through which they got the opportunity to develop new relationships amongst them but also with the locals who live there. The final outcome of this workshop is an event where the participants photographed the residents of the camp with their families and friends. The people that were photographed received their printed portraits at the end of the day.
This event was also repeated at the Municipal Market of Kypseli, in Central Athens where the young photographers offered to people who were in the area to take their portraits and give them their photos at the end as a souvenir for the day.
Skills gained from this process
Hard Skills: Photography techniques, portrait photography, organizing an event, coordination of groups, language skills
Soft Skills: Intercultural communication, Community engagement, Integration
A 3 step process:
- The photography workshop
- The preparation for the day
- The Final event
You can see the final event called ''Portrait Day'', in this short film directed by Maria Leonida.
TEACHERS TRAINING
Under the Silence Hate program, on the 24th and 25th of November Karpos organized a training workshop for teachers and educators. The workshop’s main aim was to provide a theoretical framework regarding hate speech as well as to introduce tools for the participants to use in their class in order to address hate speech issues. Our methodology was based on introducing a variety of media, alternative nariations and a choice in technological equipment, while at the same time keeping a balance between analogue and digital means.
INTRO ACTIVITIES
EVENTS
- Diversity & Stereotypes Through Film, Comics & Videogames
- Italy - Greece: Education as a response to racism
Thank you so much for the big turnout and the great interest that you showed for our final event for the european program ''Silence Hate, chaning words changes the world'' that took place on Thursday 28/11/2019 at the Serafio Hall in Athens.
Karpos, one of the 6 european partners of the project, presented the workshops that we designed and all the rest of the productions and the actions of the program. Finally the toolkit for educators and teachers was presented which included all the workshops that were designed and implemented around the issues of diversity, stereotypes and the development of counter-narratives.
After our presentation our guest, professor Anrew Burn, talked about stereotypes and diversity in pop culture and how mainstream audiovisual productions can be a tool of understanding diversity in every level- gender, minority groups etc.- and how using gamification as a method can inspire youngsters and students to understand with a hands on approach those issues.
Karpos organized the event on Sunday 9/12 at K44. We were very happy to hear Francesca Cesarrotti’s intervention on the legal framework concerning the education of refugees and migrants in Italy the last few years. From Greece our guest speaker Mrs Elena Karagianni who has extensive field experience spoke on the conditions of education in the refugee camps, the positive results and the problems they face as well. Mr Kostis Papaioannou spoke on the subject of education in relation to racism and integration placing it in a sociopolitical context. Mr Nikos Meggrelis coordinated the conversation.
After the the very interesting debate, two interactive workshops followed with the general title «One image, many narrations». «Painting your f’eelings» led by Alessandra Falconi gave the opportunity to the audience to use paint and colors to express themselves and their feelings on an image projected on the wall and thus create a new narrative. «The blind painter» led by Maria Leonida paired up the audience, where one person is describing a photo using non-stereotypical phrases and the other one ‘the blind painter’ has to paint it as realistically as possible and in the end the put the painting and the photo side by side.
