Inclusive CommUNITY Storytelling

-Peter Forbes, conservationist

“Inclusive CommUNITY Storytelling” was an 8-day training course dedicated to enhancing participants' storytelling skills for inclusion, enabling them to create impactful projects that empower youth to advocate for diversity and inclusion within their communities.

Participants joined an international group of 24 passionate youth leaders, all embarking on a life-changing journey that blended professional growth with personal reflection. Throughout the course, they came to understand how their personal stories could serve as catalysts for positive change, inspiring them to advocate for themselves and others.

PROJECT OBJECTIVES:

• equip participants with impactful storytelling techniques that promote diversity and inclusion in their communities

• increase participants’ knowledge and skills in the diversity and inclusion fields

• train participants in the use of different storytelling tools and resources

• develop future storytelling for inclusion projects and activities

• increase the international dimension of storytelling and youth work

• encourage empathy, inclusion and non-discrimination

• establish the importance of storytelling for inclusion in youth work

WHY STORYTELLING?

As communities grow increasingly diverse, the need for constructive communication, cultural tolerance, and understanding has become urgent. Discriminatory narratives and divisive media continue to deepen social divides and stall progress toward unity.

Storytelling offers a powerful way to counter these trends. By sharing personal narratives, individuals can express their truths and the emotional depth of their experiences, fostering empathy and mutual understanding. This participatory approach allows listeners to connect with others on a human level, challenging biases and broadening perspectives.

Ultimately, storytelling can promote a culture of inclusion by amplifying marginalized voices and celebrating diversity. By breaking down barriers and building trust, it fosters a community identity where tolerance is not just valued but lived, helping communities bridge divides and create a shared, inclusive future.

ACTIVITIES:

Our training course used non-formal education methods and experiential learning to train youth workers. We also followed human rights education approach combined with traditional storytelling techniques. Participants also took a human-centric approach to storytelling by focusing on:

• learning about diversity and inclusion mechanisms

• developing values and reinforcing attitudes and behaviors that upheld inclusion

• acquiring skills to apply storytelling for inclusion in practical ways in daily life and taking action to defend and promote diversity and inclusion

Project activities:

• required the active involvement of participants

• were adapted to the demonstrated needs of participants, partner organizations, and youths

• were hands-on with opportunities for reflection, following David Kolb’s experiential learning cycle

• incorporated participants’ own skills, experiences, and knowledge

• incorporated open-ended learning so that multiple and complex answers to problems were not only possible but expected

All activities progressively built on each other so that by the end, participants had a grasp of inclusive storytelling and how they could apply it to their own youth work.

DISSEMINATION:

To ensure the project's impact was far reaching, ONDE, the project partners and the participants implemented diverse dissemination activities both online and locally. Some of these include:

• local storytelling workshop in Lecce for 27 youths, using stories to combat personal fears

• digital stories playlist on YouTube with participant created content

• project video created by participants

• storytelling workshop in Poland

• podcast about the project for a Spanish university radio

• “Inclusive CommUNITY Stories” e-book

• various articles and social media content throughout the web

• an “Inclusive CommUNITY Storytelling” Facebook group

• the “Reflections” booklet highlighting the project, methodology, and results

PARTICIPATING PARTNERS / COUNTRIES:

Officina Nuova Dimensione Europea (ONDE) APS - Italy

DreamTeam AMKE - Greece

ILA - Netherlands

MSK - Poland

Inspira! - Portugal

ILÊWASI - Spain

To learn more about this training course and follow-up results, please download the official booklet below.