Submitted by: Fabio Santos
Describe your idea. What will you do?
This project will engage young people from across the globe in a creative dialogue about environmental issues.
The Trashcatchers will be divided into four phases: (we are requesting support from the Innovation Fund to run phases 1, 2 and 3).
Phase 1 will involve a mixed group of 10 young people living in the UK -- UK Trashcatchers. The group will be made of young refugees, ex-offenders, newly graduate performing artist and science students. This phase will take the young people in an intensive learning process (10 daylong sessions) mixing talks, discussion, research, arts and technical sessions. The UK group is currently working with Project Phakama UK, and are already experienced young performers and peer-leaders with knowledge of facilitating intercultural dialogues and multidisciplinary creative learning processes.
The daylong sessions will be divided into two parts:
1.Creative exploration of project's themes based on talks offered by specialist in the field (scientists, environmentalists, artists creating work based on the theme of global warming and recycling specialists).
2.Facilitation skills, filmmaking, photography and web management training. The UK Trashcathers will learn how to plan, film and edit moving image material and still photography. They will also devise a plan to manage the global dialogue, identify, recruit and manage other young people's contribution from around the globe -- Global Trashcatchers- via the Internet. The Trashcatchers website will be launched in Phase 1.
In Phase 2, two of the UK Trashcatchers, visiting partner organisations, will work with local young people (Global Trashcatchers).
The young UK group will visit and work / volunteer with organisations such as recycling centers, youth arts groups, secondary school and Higher Education institutions. Together with local young people, they will document their journey investigating innovative ideas and models of best practices in relation to recycling, ways of minimizing carbon emission and other solutions to environmental problems applied locally with specific focus (but not exclusively) on young people's initiatives.
The young UK group will share their skills by facilitating sessions putting into practice what they have learned in Phase 1. The UK Trashcatchers will share filmmaking and photography skills with the newly recruited Global Trashcatchers, so they can document together local projects / initiatives to be posted on the web and to feature later on in Phase 4. The Global Trashcatchers will be encouraged to disseminate the project's idea to their wider communities and recruit other participants.
Organisations the UK Trashcatchers will visit / develop partnerships with will be both from the UK and International.
Phase 3, via the Trashcatchers website, we will launch an international Trashcatchers web competition. Young people from around the globe (existing participants and new ones) will be invited to submit a short film, an album of stories and photography or a podcast documenting their involvement in a new or existing local project tackling environmental issues. They will also be asked to submit a short description of the project and the reason why 'they care'. Young people will be encouraged to approach their initiatives creatively and use a multitude of art forms to document their journey. It may include getting involved in the cleaning of a local street and the making of a large-scale artwork in a public wall showing messages of a cleaner environment, a tree-planting ceremony involving singing, dancing, drumming or drama, a book of poems developed in partnership with local recycling workers, a public feast with food harvested from a local allotment or any other project that exemplifies the wide spectrum of innovative ideas from across the globe.
The wider international audience will be invited via the Trashcatchers website, the UK and international partners' links and social networks such as facebook and myspace to vote on their favorite project. A final group of 10 Global Trashcatchers will be selected to take part in Phase 4 of the project in London.
The UK Trashcatchers and the 10 selected Global Trashcatchers will be supported to put together a portfolio reflecting their learning journey to be accessed and accredited at levels 2 and 3 by the Arts Awards.
Arts Award is a national qualification, which supports young people to develop as artists and arts leaders. Young people aged between 11-25 can achieve Arts Awards at levels 1, 2 and 3 on the national qualifications framework. Project Phakama UK is an Arts Awards centre and is currently negotiating with the Arts Awards the accreditation of young people we work with from outside the UK.
Phase 4 is the finally of the project, which will see the celebratory culmination of a creative global dialogue around environmental issues led by young people coming to fruition.
The Global Trashcatchers (the 10 winners of the web competition) will come to London to work together with the UK Trashcatchers to create a final event called the Trashcatchers Ball. Using rubbish, recycled material and found objects, we will lead the young people through the creation of beautiful costumes, sculptures and installations to be animated in an evening of celebration of recycling. All the material produced by the young people from around the globe will feature in the Trashcatchers Ball.
What will the benefits be?
The arts have the power to unlock creativity and innovation. Mix it with young people's desire for change and a lateral way of thinking and we will be on a road to a better world.
The Trashcatchers will be led by Project Phakama and the young UK Trashcatchers group and delivered in partnership with other organisations interested, or already involved, in the global dialogue around environmental issues. It will engage young people globally in a creative examination surrounding waste and consumerism and the idea of recycling as a potential solution. Through workshops and talks delivered by experts in the field, exchange visits, the Trashcatchers' website, short films, photography and the project's finale -- the Trashcatchers Ball -- young people from different parts of the globe will be encouraged to reassess the beauty and use of the things that at times get thrown away carelessly and imagine a world where the lack of resources make this an imperative. It will encourage young people to think creatively about practical actions to implement in their day-to-day lives and in their communities. It will enable young people from different cultures, countries and social backgrounds to exchange ideas and explore real solutions to a very urgent global problem.
The main benefit of this project will be the creative engagement of young people (our future leaders, consumers, scientists, artists) in a debate that often leaves them on the periphery. In addition, the project will enable young people from diverse countries to learn about different approaches to tackling environmental issues they wouldn't be able to otherwise.
The project aims to enhance its impact by collaborating with high profile organisations and individuals and to produce a documentary and a photography / stories' book with examples of good practices implemented by young people and communities in different parts of the planet. This material will then be disseminated to other organisations wanting to work with young people in similar ways. It will also be sent to policy-makers from all countries involved and beyond.
Who will you target?
We will target young people (16 to 25).
The UK Trashcatchers group will be made of young refugees, newly graduate performing artists, science students and ex-offenders.
For the Global Trashcatchers (young people contributing to the creative debate via the internet), we will draw on partners' networks to recruit diverse groups including for example: secondary and Higher education students from India, young performers from Brazil, young people interested / already involved in politics from Africa, filmmakers from Argentina, young graffiti artists from France, young poets from the UK and young fish men / women from Bangladesh.
A total of 10 Global Trashcatchers will be selected via a web competition to take part in Phase 4 of the project in London.
Is your idea linked to a particular town or region?
The project will be managed and run from London by Project phakama UK / UK Trashcatchers group. On a national scale we will be working with participants from County Durham, Leicester and Manchester.
Other participants (Global Trashcatchers) will be from countries as diverse as: Brazil, South Africa, India, New Zealand and France.
Phase 4 of the project, will be staged in London.
What kind of assistance would you like from others?
Building on our existing international network and experience in delivering intercultural collaborative processes, we would like to hear from any organisation interested in nominating Global Trashcatchers to take part in the project. We envisage that the project will offer further opportunities for collaborations and welcome feedback and suggestions from any individual or organisation especially from / with links in Canada, China, Russia and The USA.
