BELONGING is a transnational initiative designed to enable young people to explore intercultural dialogue – grounded in the specificity of personal and social opportunities, as well as the challenges which arise around new migrations and the making of new communities.
Working in urban locations with young people from culturally mixed backgrounds – in London/Newham, Lisbon suburb/Casal da Boba and Paris/20th arrondissement, the project organized a series of video workshops, one in each location, with key local partners*.
“I got to know some things about the people close to me that I did not know before.”
Focusing on themes around migration, identities and the making of new communities, BELONGING explored how young people talk about belonging – how layered migrations shape communities, and how young people manage multiple, flexible identities while belonging to more than one place.
Working with creative video artists and film-makers — in small groups — the project led to each young participant making his/her own film on the subject of his/her choice. The objective was to deliver youth voices and perspectives on these major issues, through video, and to ensure that these voices are heard by different audiences – their local community as well as maistream audiences, institutions and policy makers in the 3 country locations.
The 43 short films which resulted from the workshops provide an interesting picture of life today and a valuable insight into the contemporary thoughts of young people in city contexts. Interestingly, the films show how the idea of belonging has been interpreted in a wider sense in both Portugal and France: in both locations, belonging is at different times about neighbourhoods, about social experiences, and about personal existential attitudes. It is not just a matter of cultural identities, as in the London case.
Watch the entire series of videos on Runnymede, Intelligence for a multi-ethnic Britain.
