EU.YOU.GO is an international youth exchange involving young people from five European countries (Italy, Spain, Greece, Poland, and Portugal), which will take place from July 11 to 22, 2024, in Ferreira do Alentejo.
The Association Check-IN is organizing this exchange as part of the “European Youth Goals”. Between 2021 and 2027, we are working on five goals: Connecting the EU with Youth (YG1), boosting rural Youth (YG6), creating quality education (YG8), engaging Youth Organizations and Youth Programs (YG11), and inclusive societies (YG3). In 2024, we are adding Mental Health & Well-being (YG5).
This youth exchange aims to provide participants with new perspectives on the European Youth Goals through art, which will later be expressed to the local community through sculpture, dance, theater, and music. This exchange seeks to raise young people’s awareness about the future of Europe. The main goal of this project is to cross borders, overcome social and economic barriers, and find common values among diverse cultures, opening the minds of young people to interculturality and the European Youth Goals.
During these 10 days, the young participants will have the opportunity to engage in activities that stimulate creativity through body expression, sound, visual arts, and multimedia, representing the cultural diversity present. The exchange will conclude with a presentation to the local community, showcasing what we have worked on during these days in Ferreira do Alentejo.
This project has been approved by the Erasmus + Youth in Action National Agency, with reference: 2023-1-PT02-KA151-YOU-000114731. We have the highly committed support of the Municipality of Ferreira and the Portuguese Institute of Sport and Youth, as well as the partnership of four European entities and other local entities.
For more information: check-in@checkin.org.pt
Facilitators:
António Pinto
Antonio Pinto, a young musician and artist, embarked on his musical journey at the age of 17 when he started playing the bass guitar. Antonio’s artistic exploration began at the Escola Artística António Arroio, where he initially pursued graphic design. However, his passion for music soon took precedence, leading him to immerse himself in Hot Clube Portugal’s dynamic environment, where he honed his skills in drums, piano, guitar, and vocals. Currently he is involved in his solo project and two bands, Zaratan and Diagonal.
Maria Kopke
Maria Kopke is a Brazilian/Portuguese performer and writer, with training in music and theatre, and a master’s degree in Comparative Studies. With a knack for storytelling, she had experience in songwriting, scriptwriting, directing, teaching, and has fiction and non-fiction work published by both Portuguese and international publications. In all her work, she strives to use art as a tool for building bridges and creating opportunities for dialogue.
Sara Baptista
Sara was born in Portugal and traveled around Europe to learn about life and art. She is a dance, theater and music performer and a movement and dance teacher and facilitator. Sara believes everyone has been a dancer since the moment of birth and that dancing and art in general are powerful tools to reconnect the human beings with their essence of creative living beings who are part of this big, complex and beautiful ecosystem called Earth.
Sarah Pinto
Sarah Pinto is a multidisciplinary artist based in Lisbon. Graduated in International Relations in 2015, she has experience in different areas such as language teacher, facilitator in workshops and Erasmus+ Youth Exchanges, tourism and commerce. Sarah explores visual arts as a way to reconnect with ourselves, others and nature, creating to express feelings and emotions.
EU.YOU.GO is an international youth exchange involving young people from 6 different countries (Latvia, Italy, Spain, Greece, Poland and Portugal), which takes place from the 24th of July to the 4th of August, in Ferreira do Alenetejo. During 10 days we will celebrate the European Year of Youth and stimulating creativity, through body, sound, plastic, scenic and multimedia expression, representing the cultural diversity present there.
The Check-IN Association develops this exchange as part of the “European Youth Goals”. Between 2021 and 2027, we worked on 4 goals: the European Union Connected with Youth (YG1), how to boost rural Youth (YG6), create quality education (YG8), involve Youth organizations and Youth Programs (YG11). And in 2023, we added Information & Constructive Dialogue (YG4). Using materials from the European Youth Goals, a show will be produced that will be presented at the Municipality Garden. You can count on music, dance, street entertainment, plastic interventions and most importantly, lots of joy and fun! We invite everyone to be present at the event organized by the team made up of participants from different countries, members of the Check-In Association and professionals from the various artistic fields who will coordinate the production of the final show.
This project was approved by the National Agency Erasmus + Youth in Action, with the reference: 2021-1-PT02-KA151-YOU-000012019. We count on the highly committed support of the Alcoutim City Council and also of the Portuguese Institute of Sports and Youth, the partnership of 5 European entities and other local entities.
More information: info@checkin.org.pt
APV - Ferreira do Alentejo, 7 to 9 of July 2023
We hosted in Ferreira do Alentejo the team leaders for the APV of EU.YOU.GO. We visited the facilities, definied the final schedule and organised a conference to present the youth exchange. With us we had Dra. Ana Rute Sousa, the Councilor for Youth of the Municipality of Ferreira do Alentejo.
Youth Exchange - 24th of July to 04th of August
Day 1
Our participants arrived in Ferreira do Alentejo. Coming from 6 different countries – Portugal, Spain, Italy, Poland, Greece and Latvia – they didn’t know each other, so it was a very high priority to do some name games! We started with a game that promotes association: in a circle, each participant said their name out loud with a gesture, and then the whole group repeated the name and the gesture. After learning the game, it was time to learn how to write them in the second game: each participant had to find a new friend whose name has a letter in common with his own name. The first to write his own name borrowing letters from others won the game! Of course, this task was most difficult for those who had a bigger name or strange letters, but everyone managed to finish it! As it is very important to know not only the names, but also some other things about each other, the third activity was a speed dating. Facing each other, participants shared their thoughts and opinions about different questions, which could go from “what’s your childhood dream?” to “do you see the glass half empty or half full?”. The second part of the morning was the opportunity to start building the teamwork spirit. Participants were faced with an impossible task to complete: the Mission Impossible! With 20 tasks to complete under 15 minutes, they had to, for example, create an hym to the project, dance zorba or say good morning in four different languages. However, they managed to complete all the tasks and prove that the mission impossible is, actually, possible!
The afternoon was the first dive into the topic of the project. Firstly, we discussed some logistics, such as the schedule, the rules, the different opportunities through the Erasmus+ program and also sharing their contributions, expectations and fears for the upcoming days! The last activity of the day was a dramatization of the European Youth Goals that we are focusing our project on: Our youth exchange was focused on the following EYG: RETIRAR ESSA PARTE A VERMELHO Connect youth with EU (YG1), Quality learning (YG8), Youth Organizations & European Programs (YG11) and Inclusive Societies (YG3), while the 2023 edition pays special attention to Information and Constructive Dialogue (YG4). Splitted in groups, participants though of small theater plays to represent the YG they’re exploring and then performed it – the audience had to guess which YG they were talking about. With the activities finished, it was time for reflection groups and have some free time before dinner. Then, it was time to have dinner and a free night to rest from this intense first day in Portugal.
Day 2
Our day started with an energizer outside, to enjoy the beautiful weather Ferreira do Alentejo has to offer.
After that, was time to start working again WITH in our project. The first activity of the day was the creation of the EU.YOU.GO country. And what does this mean? That, in groups, our participants delved into topics such as government, flag, culture, constitution and anthem and made them reflect the values that should be address in which of these topics.
The second part of the morning was the first time they had to work in their national teams. This was because they had to analyze where their countries stand in terms of the European youth goals. Through an online questionary previously prepared, the participants accessed some data and had the responsibility to draw some graphics and conclusions that seemed to them the most important to share. Then, they presented their findings and observations with the whole group and it was interesting to note the differences or similarities between the countries!
The afternoon was the time to give an official start to our project. To engage the local population, we organized the EUYOUGO Conference, where we talked about our project and our work, and promoted and invited everyone to the final show of the project. From the Youth Department of the Municipality of Ferreira do Alentejo, we were glad to have with us Dra. Ana Rute Sousa, who welcomed the participants in the town. To finalize our conference, we discussed the YG4 – Information and Constructive Dialogue and, for this specific topic, we invited Dra. Diana Almeida, from Instituto Português para a Juventude e Desporto, who talked with us about the importance of these topics and how we can collectively address them.
The Conference finished a bit earlier, which gave us some free time to rest before dinner, WHICH WAS VERY WELL RECEIVED because tonight is Intercultural Night! The first countries on stage were Portugal, Latvia and Greece. All the participants from these countries promoted very well typical food and games from their countries, and everyone had a great time together!
Day 3
As everyday, we start the morning outside with some energizers and today Italian team is the responsible one for this!
After, it was time to start with the workshops! During the morning, we introduced the 4 workshops available this year (music, theater, dance and visual arts) and the fantastic facilitators team (Marco and António, Maria, Sara and Sarah).
During the morning, each one of them had 30min to explain to the participants what are their ideas for the workshops and proposed some exercises to exemplify what participants can expect if decided to join them. After all the four presentations, participants splitted themselves according to their preferences.
Then, after lunch, it was time to start the workshops. The facilitators are still exploring the territory to see the best they can perform with our participants. On the visual arts workshops, participants started by exploring the connectivity between words and art, namely, starting painting and drawing a person based on words and adjectives. The theater group explored exercises that made them aware of space, body and the group as a whole. The music workshop was focusing in polyrhythms and exploring the expectations of participants and how could the workshop be shaped in a way that everyone develop some skills and be happy in participate and perform. The dance group was learning that everybody can dance and that every movement can be dance. This was made with movement exercises to feel space, impulses, passing and feeding the group energy and balance.
After this day full of new experiences and expectations, it was time for the second part of intercultural night. Tonight on stage we had Spain, Poland and Italy, who presented us with local foods and traditions.
Day 4
It wouldn’t make sense for our participants to spend ten days in Ferreira do Alentejo and not have the chance to get to know the town. Therefore, this morning, in collaboration with the Municipality and the Youth Department, participants spent the morning in the museum, where the guide explained the History that surrounds us, and the influences in Ferreira and the legends around it.
In the afternoon was finally time to enjoy time in the swimming pool. After dinner, participants choose to have free time to spend the way they preferred.
Days 5, 6, 7 and 8 - Workshops
After having time to rest, it was time for an intense ride! The next four days were fully dedicated to the workshops. After introductions, participants did some more exercises to explore their capacities and skills. Later, they decided what they would like to prepare to present in the final show.
The facilitators also opted for a collaborative final show, which means that the groups usually used these days to gather together (for instance, dance and theater spent one afternoon together), to join forces in creating an awesome performance.
Dance
The dance workshop started by stretching and warming up the body through different dances and movements that explore speed, density, flow and weight. Later, they used an exercise in pairs to feel the weight and lightness of movements and understand dance as a response to others’ impulses and communication. On this first approach to dance, participants also took the components of elements – water, earth, fire and air – to create a short choreography.
The new day was the day for floorwork. To begin with, there was a mirroring the partner exercise, to explore movement and concentration. They also met the music workshop, to learn how to improvise a dance according to the music played. In the afternoon it was proposed to work as a choir, in order to build a deep sense of listening and improvising in group – creating a body made of individual bodies that follow a common path – becoming a collective (like the groups of birds flying together, etc). To end this second day, there was an exercise of movement meditation, which is to dance the inner body and express emotions.
The next day was the day to work with inner impulses, and explore different qualities of dance such as speed, flow, weight and density of movement. The participants also got together with the visual arts group, so they could understand how others perceive dance and what’s happening on the stage, making sure that their intentions when dancing are well received by the audience. After that, they also got together with the theater workshop, to share efforts in constructing a choreography that represents emotions and their physical representations.
After the learnings of these three days, participants of the dance workshop got together to decide what they want to perform on the final show and rehearse in bigger and smaller groups.
Visual Arts
The visual arts started by exploring the concept of the 7 elements of visual arts. Later, they explore those concepts by observing one grafitti present on the walls of the venue. Other exercise was about collaborative art, where each one of them started a drawing and, after one minute, passed it to the next one, who would continue the drawing, until all the members of the workshop contributed in all the drawings. Another exercise about collaborative art was drawing and painting, altogether, a long piece of paper, without verbal communication.
On the next day was time to use our hands differently. The proposal was to use clay to build different architectonic elements present in Ferreira do Alentejo, who could be use as decoration of the stage of the final show or souvenirs for those who attended the show. The participants also got together with the theater group to explore shapes, which include drawing their colleagues during their theater exercises, for instance.
The workshops continue on the stage, so participants could feel the space and get inspiration to decorate it. They also joined the dance workshop, where they assisted to four dances about the elements and then had to create a collaborative painting based on what they watched. Later, it was time to join the music workshop and draw some music instruments.
The fourth day was spent in creating origami to decorate the stage. They also discussed the possibility of performing live drawing and live painting during the show, and decided who would do what.
Theater
The theater workshop started with a challenge to the participants: introduce themselves with movement S and then exploring some theoretical knowledge and concepts on how to be on a stage. Also, the participants worked around the concept of “ubuntu” (which means I am because you are), as a way of move and interact on stage.
The next day was dedicated to elements of storytelling and how to use words to work on a performance. After these experiences, participants debriefed which ones they felt would be a better suit to use on the final performance. In the afternoon, it was time to get together with the visual arts group, to work in shapes and human sculptures, and understand how their work on stage is perceived by those who are watching (audience).
The workshop continued on the following day by adding emotions. The exercises were based on adding movement PARAMETERS to words and sentences, and then adding emotion to it. After that, the group got together with the music group, in order to let the participants express themselves on stage and the musicians could create a soundtrack to the movements they were watching. In the afternoon was time to reunite with the dance workshop, in order to share efforts in constructing a choreography that represents emotions and their physical representations. After this intense meetings THERE was also time to DO some improvisation exercises and brainstorming ideas for the final performance.
The last day before the performance was to work on what they would bring on stage. This included preparing a structure for the performance and working on first and final scenes and how to glue them together with the other workshops’ groups.
Music
The music workshop started their work by experiment to create music with different objects that are not music instruments. Later, they practiced rhythm exercises and understood the basic concepts of music and how frustration is part of the creative process. They also had the opportunity to do their own solo performance and listen to themselves.
On the next day, the participants reflected on the work they did and how to continue from there towards a performance. They explore different exercises, even if goofy or disconnected, to understand in which direction participants were more comfortable to go with. Later, they joined the dance workshop and were challange to create music to flow with the dance their colleagues were doing. On this day, they also explore the concept of silence and why it is important for the music creation process.
The work with other groups continued, this time with the theater workshop, while also creating music that would match the performance of their colleagues. Some other exercises include the exploration of a soundtrack and rhythm. The group also visited the stage where the final show will happen, to ensure details like acoustic and position of instruments.
The next day was time to create the final performance and create ideas for music and understand how to collaborate more for the final show. A lot of creative work was done in order to establish the music to be played and the roles and tasks which participants would take during the final show.
Day 9
This was the day of the final show. Participants were excited but also nervous. They spent the whole day in rehearsals – first in their workshops, then altogether, deciding the final order of the show and its’ rhythm and flow. The decoration of the stage was done by the visual arts workshop, and the staff from the Municipality helped with the lightening and music installation. Before the show, participants also took their time to breathe and be confident in the work they developed in the past days.
The spectacle ended up being a success, as a lot of people appeared, curious to see what the foreigners prepared. Everyone enjoyed to see the different dances and performances.
After, everyone used the rest of the night to celebrate the success of the show.
Day 10
After such a success, this day was a reflection day on the whole youth exchange and their participation and engagement in all the process. It was also time for final evaluation and final goodbyes.
EU.YOU.GO é um intercâmbio juvenil internacional que envolve jovens provenientes de 6 países diferentes (Letónia, Itália, Espanha, Grécia, Malta e Portugal), que se realiza de 29 de Julho a 9 de Agosto, em Alcoutim. Durante 10 dias vamos celebrar o Ano Europeu da Juventude e estimulando a criatividade, através da expressão corporal, sonora, plástica, cénica e multimédia, representarem a diversidade cultural ali presente.
A Associação Check-IN desenvolve este intercâmbio inserido nos “European Youth Goals”. Entre o ano de 2021 e 2027, trabalhamos 4 objetivos: a União Europeia Conectada com os Jovens (YG1), como impulsionar a Juventude rural (YG6), criar uma educação de qualidade (YG8), envolver as organizações de Juventude e Programas para Jovens (YG11). E em 2022, acrescentamos as Sociedades Inclusivas (YG3). Com recurso a materiais do European Youth Goals será produzido um espetáculo que será apresentado no Castelo de Alcoutim, dia 7 de Agosto, pelas 22h, para o qual todos estão convidados a assistir gratuitamente. Podem contar com música, dança, animação de rua, intervenções plásticas e mais importante que tudo muita alegria e diversão! Convidamos todos a estarem presentes no evento organizado pela equipa constituída pelos participantes dos vários países, membros da Associação Check-In e profissionais das diversas vertentes artísticas que irão coordenar a produção do espetáculo final.
Este projeto foi aprovado pela Agência Nacional Erasmus + Juventude em Ação, com a referência: 2021-1-PT02-KA151-YOU-000012019. Contamos com o apoio altamente comprometido da Câmara Municipal de Alcoutim e ainda do Instituto Português do Desporto e Juventude, a parceria de 5 entidades europeias e outras entidades locais.
Mais informações: info@checkin.org.p
Partners
International partners
– UpBeat Music – Malta
– OMIX – Spain
– Pleasure – Italy
– NEOI – Greece
National Partners
– Alcoutim City Council
– Portuguese Institute of Sport and Youth
Co-financed
– National Agency for Erasmus+ Program Management: 2021-1-PT02-KA151-YOU-000012019
Programme
Diary
Team Leaders Meeting
On July 3, an online Preparation meeting was held. During this meeting, we had the opportunity to know the Team Leaders of each international partner, the young participants and share the project’s logistics. It was a very productive meeting that we managed to successfully prepare the entire project.
See you soon 😉
Youth Exchange
Day 1
Finally, it was time to start our Youth Exchange. After a long time of travelling to this small village surrounded by Guadiana River and in the border with Spain, the participants rested and are ready to start to know each other. For that, we played some games with them. The first game was super easy. Each participant said their name and associated a gesture from an activity they particularly enjoy to do. Then, everybody repeated the name and the gesture. The second game was a letter exchange, so everybody, after learning the names, could learn how to write them. Each participant had to find a new friend whose name has a letter in common with his own name. The first to write his own name borrowing letters from others won the game! Of course, this task was most difficult for those who had a bigger name or strange letters, but everyone managed to finish it! The last activity was a team building challenge called Mission Impossible! The group faced a lot of different tasks they needed to complete in group! For example, they learnt to dance the zorba, they created an anthem for this youth exchange and had to write EUYOUGO with human letters. Fortunately, they proved the mission impossible to be possible and finished all those difficult tasks together.
After this first part of the morning, it was time to discover more about the program of the youth exchange. Check-IN prepared a Presentation Tour, where participants travelled around four different stations. In those, they discovered in more detail what was going to happen in which day and presented their questions about things that might not have been clear for them. They also did some paper work necessary and learnt about the Erasmus opportunities. Finally, the last stop on the tour was about logistic aspects of the project, and basic rules they need to follow so everybody could enjoy the next days! Before lunch there was still time to reflect on the journey ahead of them in Alcoutim. Everyone shared their expectations, contributions and fears. For example, they had expectations to meet new people, learn more about each other’s’ culture and discover more about the European youth goals, whilst they feared the heat or not being able to sleep. After lunch, there was some time to rest and then to start working on the topic of the European youth goals (EYG). Our youth exchange was focused on the following EYG: Connect youth with EU (YG1), Quality learning (YG8), Youth Organizations & European Programs (YG11) and Inclusive Societies (YG3). The participants were split into groups, and which had the task to write about what each of these goals represented to them and in which ways they can be developed and implemented. After present their work to the rest of the group, it was time for reflection groups and have some free time before dinner. Then, it was time to have dinner and a free night to rest from this intense first day in Portugal.
Day 2
The second day started with an amazing energizer. Everyone is still making progresses into getting to know each other and to know everyone’s names.
Then, it was time to start with an activity related to the European youth goals that was also a team building activity. The participants had to create the EUYOUGO country, and, for that, they needed to work together to create an anthem, a constitution, a government, the culture, and the flag. They shared the ideas with the whole group and everyone agreed on the suggestions, so the EUYOUGO country was officially established!
The following activity was about the good practices they know about a specific youth goal. This is a nice way to wrap about the discussion the group had until this point and to introduce a bit the next activity. But before, it was lunch time.
After lunch, there was time to rest a bit and enjoy the local beach or just relax on the shadow. To get into the mood to develop some more work, the participants had an energizer. The activity of this afternoon was about the YG3 – Inclusive Societies. The participants worked in groups and discussed what an inclusive society means for them and what was is “must have” in any society so it is assumed as inclusive.
This night was also the first intercultural night. Portugal and Latvia had the honor to inaugurate and present their countries, through some interactive games and showing dances and sharing food.
Day 3
This morning was a special one. We had the privilege to be received by councilwoman from Alcoutim, at the Alcoutim castle. She welcomed us to the village and explained a bit of its history and its importance. It was really important for the participants to understand more of the history of the place where they are.
Back to our headquarters, it was time to present the findings about the stage of the youth goals in each and every country. The participants shared a questionary with friends and collected some results, that they previously shared with the group. This was an important activity to understand better what work has been done and what can be improved to reach the European youth goals.
After lunch and some resting. It was the perfect time to start to think about the final performance that was scheduled to be done at the Alcoutim Castel. So, before everyone had to choose in which workshop they wanted to participate – theater, music, dance or communication – they had the opportunity to be introduced to all of the workshops and some activities in each. This afternoon was dedicated to the theater workshop. The whole group had the chance to do some exercises to explore their body and the space, and to get introduce to the activities they would further develop.
The end of the afternoon was free – some enjoyed the beach, others decided to sleep because another long night was coming. The stage today was for Italy and Greece, who presented us with local foods and traditions.
Day 4
The initial workshops continue! After energizers, the morning was dedicated to the music workshop. The participants were introduced to the basics of music and challenged to search for sounds in the most simple and basic things – for example, throwing a stone into the water and record the sound, close the door and record the sound, etc. After they completed this task, they gather again all together and mixed the sounds to originate a simple music/rhythm.
After the lunch break, it was time to introduce the dance workshop. The main idea was to explore different types of music and let each participant express themselves through the body movements.
This night was the last intercultural night from the project and the stage was for Spain and Malta, the only ones left. They presented us with some quizzes and fun facts about their countries and brought some food to share!
Day 5
Today was finally time to chose the workshops that the participants would enroll until the end of the youth exchange, in order to prepare the final show at the castle.
After these choices, they started to work on their groups.
The music group started by explore the instruments they had with them – improved drums, a piano and a musical keyboard, etc. The theater group deepen the exercise they did in the introductory workshop, exploring the notions of body, movement, voice, etc. The dance group explore different genres and discuss in each one the participants felt more comfortable to work in for the spectacle while the communication group started to prepare and plan some interviews with the locals and spread the communication materials through the village, such as the flyers and posters.
After the dinner, there was a concert in the village and everyone decided to gather together and enjoy the night there.
Day 6
We are in the middle of the youth exchange and the morning was dedicated to escape from the intense work rhythm. The participants had the opportunity to learn more about the culture and history of the village and enjoy watersports in the river. The municipality offered a guided visit to the castle, where were some archeological findings in the region. In the river, the participants did kayak and took the opportunity to paddle to Sanlúcar del Guadiana, the town on the other side of the river, in Spain.
In the afternoon, the activities in the workshops continue, so the next day they could finally start the working on the final show.
As the day was very tiring, the night was free and some participants used this opportunity for a night swim in the beach.
Day 7 & Day 8
The final show is approaching and everyone is very excited but nervous about it. The music workshop did a lot of progresses. Together, they created a melody and a poem about youth goals and self-discover. This took a lot of time to be as perfect as possible and to let everyone find their role – some participants played different instruments, others had to sing or do some choir.
The dance group started to work in pairs or in trios – they had freedom to choose the song and dance style and develop a choreography from there. With the help of the facilitator, things started to come together so they had a lot of different dances to present on the final show. The theater group continue with improvisation exercises that explored the capacity of telling a story with talking, only with gestures, because the participants don’t speak Portuguese and the viewers of the show don’t speak English.
The communication group collected some pictures and also some footage from Alcoutim to include in the final videos to promote the youth exchange.
Day 9
Today is the day! Participants can’t wait to show to the people from Alcoutim what they have been preparing for the show. The day passed in a rush, with everyone adjusting the final details. They had to look for some costumes to do their performances and decide, all together, the order of the acts. They also used the day to breathe and be confident in the work they developed in the past days.
The spectacle ended up being at the school, and a lot of people appeared, curious to see what the foreigners prepared. Everyone enjoyed to see the different dances and performances and listen to the original music prepared specifically for this youth exchange.
After, everyone used the rest of the night to celebrate the success of the show.
You can watch the show here
