PROJECT OVERVIEW WOmen in Resistance in 20th century (WORTH) is a project fundend by the European Union within the program Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV)Program. The WORTH project aims to raise public awareness and increase knowledge and understanding of the historical narrative of women's resistance during the 20th Century in Europe. The project involves five non governmental organisations experienced in European projects design and implementation from Italy, Slovenia, Portugal, Poland and Romania allowing a broad perspective and a transnational reflection on the topic. The project focuses on resistance during the 20th century and the role it played in democratic transition, providing a more inclusive vision and a EU dimension on common history, fostering an international culture of remembrance and giving a more gender balanced understanding of history. The Background: untold and unheard Resistance: The needs assessment in european civil society of the countries involved in the partnerships has clearly highlighted the necessity to promote and adopt a perspective that respects gender balance more effectively, including female historical narrative. These results have raised awareness through the importance of granting a continuos education regarding the history transmission and testimonies especially when it comes to the role that actors as women played, and that cannot be forgotten or marginalized. Infact, the main objective is to enhance the role of women who were at the forefront of the struggle and resistance against totalitarian regimes, promoting a shift towards a more balanced understanding of history that respects gender equality. The partnership has decided to focus on the role of women and the valorization of their contribution to the fight against oppression and totalitarian regimes because historical narratives often only highlight male figures, as history has predominantly been written by men, leaving a biased and favorable perspective towards them. The untold and unheard resistance of women in the 20th century in Europe is a significant aspect of history that deserves attention and recognition. Throughout the tumultuous events of the 20th century, women played a crucial role in fighting for freedom, equality, and human rights. However, their contributions and stories have often been overlooked or marginalized in historical narratives dominated by male perspectives. The WORTH project - Women in Resistance in the 20th Century - seeks to address this gap by raising public awareness and increasing knowledge about the historical narrative of female resistance. Our main objective infact is to highlight the role of women in the forefront of the struggle against totalitarian regimes, aiming to foster a more balanced and inclusive understanding of history that respects gender equality. By focusing on the experiences and contributions of women, the project aims to prevent their stories from fading into obscurity and to ensure that they are preserved for future generations.
PROJECT ASPIRATIONS Throughout the 20th century, women played a very important social, civic, and political role in all European countries and various contexts. However, in the democratic transition, their presence and contributions were no less significant than those of men. WORTH intends to have an impact on various beneficiaries, namely the target group of the activities: young people and the general community and civil society. In order to have the expected impact partnerships will organize commemorative and disseminations events in the project implementation allowing to reach the key project impact while raising awareness among EU citizens, especially young people, on the role of women in the complex and mostly unknown Eu history of resistance. Infact, the project involves various activities targeted primarily at young people and students, utilizing non-formal educationmethods and gamification techniques. These activities, such as Urban Trekking and the Human Library events, aim to stimulate reflection and engage participants in an interactive and participatory manner. By combining local events with international conferences and seminars, the project creates a space for sharing experiences and fostering a broader understanding of European history. The project will, therefore:
Bring youngsters closer to EU history of XX century related to totalitarian regimes, with its characteristics, similarities and differences among countries;
Spark youngsters’ curiosity on women’s contributions and achievements through their roles in Resistance.
This is possible thanks to the creation of a pan-European consortium and network of the five different organisations involved in the project belonging to different field of activities aiming at boostering the sense of responsibility towards the democracy and freedom rights that all EU citizens should embrace. Remember about Rememberance: Remembrance is the act of remembering or commemorating something or someone, often associated with honoring the memory of a particular event or person. It is a way to pay tribute and acknowledge the significance of past occurrences or individuals. Our democracy is too fragile and his foundations taken for granted, to preserve his power the next generation of leaders should take care of it now, and for this reason we put our effort in young people since they are the next generation already today. Awareness throught the fights that lead to democracy is fundamental both for remembering to not forget our history and the courage of people that fought for it and lost their lifes and aslo recognize the value behind their fight. WORTH Project has also a strong civic value, since is fostering the active citizenships and has a strong educational role in it. WORTH aims to enlarge the network and reach new communities, going forward in the awareness-raising and educational action on the rights, freedoms and achievements that have led to the European Union as it is today. The goal is to make local communities closer to the EU, reflecting on the topic of the past which mirrors on our present societies, our view of the role of the woman and who are the female Resistants in today’s societies. This project is extremely important because full and equal recognition of rights and freedoms has not yet been fully achieved. Women continue to struggle against discrimination and to assert a gender perspective in all aspects of public and private life, including within the European Union.
ACTIVITIES The choice of the target group influences the selection of methods and activities that will be adopted in order to engage young people and enable them to actively participate in debates, world cafés, conversations with Living Books, Urban Trekking around the cities of 5 European countries. For example, participatory and engaging approaches and techniques, as Human Library and Urban Trekking, perfectly adapt to the target group chosen and there is also a great use of gamification principles and practices. The five partner organizations involved have chosen to focus on organizing activities primarily targeting young people and students because it is essential that they do not forget the lessons of the past. For this reason, non-formal education and gamification methods have been adopted. The goal is to stimulate reflection through innovative participatory and engaging methods, which are complementary to the formal approach of history books. Small scale local events, as Human Library and Urban Trekking represents, will create a connection between participants, local historical events and European history; they will be mixed with international conferences and seminars which will bring together the experiences in the single countries, creating a space to reflect on lessons and role models for today. The Human Library method was chosen as the leading method for the project's activities to activate and sensitize young EU citizens to fundamental rights and tolerance. This activity facilitates the active way of engagement for the target group and participants allowing the spread of testimonies in a non conventional way. The Human Library is a unique space where individuals are made available to readers, akin to borrowing books. It's a space that embraces and welcomes differences, challenging inquiries, valuing them, and providing thoughtful responses. With the tool of direct storytelling, the aim is to connect the Living Books to the involved participants, most preferable young people and young generations. Them, the readers, have the unique opportunity to interact directly with the witnesses in small groups and in a confidential and comfortable environment. That will enable them to develop a sense of community and motivate them to create a more EU based integration on its core values. The Ubran Trekking will be organized and take place in each of the five countries. The main aim is to bring people to cultural and remembrance places through the cities and make them discover important places and sites connected to the women history during the Resistance.
Discovering these spots in the cities and the way you get to discover them raise awareness of the links between past and present. The Urban Trekking will make great use of gamification and gamified-based learning with the support of the application as ActionBound, so to provide again an engaging and participatory methods.
Project 101091165 - WORTH Funded by the European Union