S-L – FALCA FEMINIST. Fera Ferotge – LABORATORI D’INNOVACIÓ SOCIAL I DIGITAL

S-L: FALCA FEMINIST

Participating entity: Fera Ferotge

Description of the project: Creation of a wedge against sexist and LGTBIphobic violence for its diffusion in daytime and nighttime leisure spaces in the Osona region.

Studes: Social projects and ICT. 3rd course Degree in Social Education

Course: 2023-2024

Participants: young people from Fera Fertoge

Objectives:

To promote attitudes and criteria against sexist and LGTBphobic violence through the creation of a commercial to be broadcasted in leisure spaces.
Create a cooperative work community.
Improve the social and digital skills of the participants.

Reflections of UVic students

This project gives us the opportunity to visit different spaces, to know the social cooperative of the Fera Ferotge from the inside with the educators as well as with the young participants. However, it gives the opportunity to the people who have participated in the project to explore the University of Vic, its spaces and facilities and the community of people we are immersed. That is why we value that this project takes into account everyone and encourages the participation of all, in a bidirectional way.
Decisions have been made in a horizontal manner, taking into account all the members of the group and valuing each issue or proposal that has arisen throughout the process.
We went to meet the youth at La Fera Ferotge. We organized three ice-breaking activities. Later, we split into two groups. One group was in charge of creating the lyrics for the song, and the other group was responsible for creating the base. We didn’t manage to come up with many lyrics because it was difficult for the youth to understand what we wanted the lyrics to be about. There was a significant language barrier, and some participants were more motivated than others. The group working on the base created a very suitable base for the reality of the youth. We left that session with a different perspective, as seeing the youth feeling very out of context, their lack of interest, and the fact that they didn’t understand the reason for being there confused us a bit.
We met with the youth at UVic so they could see the music room and start creating a base and lyrics. After spending some time playing instruments and looking at bases that could be useful, we listened to songs from one of the youth. This young person is a singer and has several tracks. Then, we got one of his bases. Finally, we started working on the lyrics. As an improvement, we think we could have created activities with the youth using the spaces and materials in the music room, as we were left with a sense of discomfort due to the lack of commitment.
Different topics are put on the table: Leadership, the role of the beast/students/young people, demotivation, roles that we have assumed (or not) within the work team, non-palpable learning, lack of optimism, remuneration with learning from this project, evaluation of the subject… With this small parenthesis we have been able to understand, value and change course some of the attitudes, learning, responsibilities that we are living until today for the entity, the young participants and ourselves as a team.
From the beginning, we were faced with the situation that we did not have young people, which prevented us from carrying out the initial assessment. Despite this initial difficulty, the previous diagnosis allowed us to understand the context of action in detail. We were able to identify the specific needs and some of the characteristics of the young people. This diagnostic process provided us with a solid basis on which to plan future actions, even though we did not have youth involved from the outset. However, it should be noted that this lack of participants somewhat destabilized the start of the project, as we struggled to understand how to carry out a co-operative project without youth.
The follow-up evaluation took place on the day when a blockage appeared as a group, caused by lack of motivation, lack of understanding with the entity, lack of defined roles within the group and a generalized malaise. Faced with this situation, we chose to meet with the tutor, who helped us to mediate the situation and provided us with positive and encouraging points of view. Thanks to this small parenthesis, we were able to understand, value and change the course of some attitudes and learning. We also talked about all the non-palpable learnings, something that concerns us a lot as we consider that we have done a lot of work that is not reflected as such. However, these learnings are reflected in each one of us after creating this space of trust to expose our concerns and recognize the shortcomings and responsibilities that we are living to this day for the entity, the young participants and ourselves as a team. We consider this process of stopping, breathing and reflecting as a great follow-up tool to be able to continue with the project, reencountering the initial motivation with which we undertook this initiative.
Regarding the final evaluation, we organized a small snack with the youth as a project closing, with the aim of creating a more relaxed and informal space where they could share their feedback on how they experienced the entire process. This format allowed us to establish more fluid and open communication, where the youth felt comfortable expressing their opinions and feelings. During this meeting, the participants told us that they felt very comfortable from the beginning of the program. They particularly highlighted the welcoming atmosphere we provided and the constant support they received throughout the project. These positive evaluations fill us with satisfaction and confirm that we have succeeded in creating a welcoming and trustworthy environment, which is essential for the personal development and learning of the youth. However, as a suggestion for improvement and to promote the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), we thought it would have been a good idea to involve the youth in the creation and editing of the final project video. This would have allowed them to acquire new digital skills, which are very important in today’s world, while also increasing their participation and commitment to the project.
During this brief but intense time, we have had the opportunity to create a PHC project that has proven to have an impact beyond the service itself. The main objective of creating a feminist wedge has been achieved, but as a group, we agree that the process has been much more meaningful and enriching than the result.
The process of creating a feminist wedge together with some young people and educators of the Fera Ferotge organization has allowed us to work collaboratively, favoring group cohesion and the development of transversal competencies such as adaptation, problem solving and critical thinking. In some moments we have learned to listen to each other and integrate different perspectives, which has enriched our perspective of feminism and its application in educational and social contexts.
During the process we have encountered several limitations such as lack of time. For the future, in this particular case we propose a better time planning, preferably in the long term, as well as the search for additional resources, such as collaborations with professionals in the audiovisual or music sector, in order to improve the final quality of the product and the organization.
We believe that any proposal must be adapted to the context and the specific reality. In this case, we debated a lot about whether the group of people chosen was the right one for the proposed project. After the experience, we still believe that the proposal could have been more successful with another group of people, since the fact that they came from such diverse realities meant that they had a different conception or perspective on the subject.
The language barrier has been a complication for the project in two different aspects, affecting two of the objectives set. On the one hand, it has affected communication with the youth of the organization, as we are not certain whether the purpose of the project has been fully understood. It has also affected the lack of fluid communication with them. On the other hand, it has impacted the creation of the jingle. This made it difficult to understand the social context of what we were working on, as well as the recording moment, when they had to sing in a language they didn’t know and were hardly aware of what they were saying.
We think that at all times, whenever it has been necessary, we have talked and tried to raise awareness among young people about gender violence, from the point of view of sensitivity and understanding. In relation to this, for the future, we believe that in the creation of a project it is necessary to previously inform the people with whom the project will be carried out in order to give meaning to what we do.
A debate arose over whether to include men’s voices in the feminist wedge. This discussion arose because while some of us felt that the wedge should be exclusively a platform for female voices, others felt that the inclusion of male voices could enrich the message and promote broader involvement in the struggle for gender equality. After careful deliberation, we decided to accept the prospect of incorporating the male voice into the wedge. This decision was based on the idea that men or cisgender people should also be an active part of the social change needed to eradicate gender-based violence and promote equality and a gender perspective. We believe that giving space to male voices in this context can help foster greater awareness and responsibility among men, as well as break down gender stereotypes that often perpetuate inequalities. Thus, the inclusion of men in the wedge not only broadens the reach of our message, but also reinforces the idea that the feminist struggle is a cause that benefits all of society.
Despite the low participation of young people, we value very positively the commitment of the few who have come, since they have attended every day and have been able to experience a different environment to which they are accustomed, such as the University. This has been an enriching experience for them. They have had the opportunity to learn about the academic world up close, interact with professionals and university students, and develop skills that will be useful to them in the future, such as effective communication, teamwork and problem solving. In addition, the fact that they were able to participate in the wedge, and have put their voices in it, has denoted illusion in them. Finally, this experience has given them the opportunity to build a network of links that has had a very positive impact on both the young people and on us.
As for our role as social educators, when working in a network, whether to create proposals or to coordinate with other professionals, we believe that leadership, adaptation and flexibility, anticipation, proactivity, initiative, communication, listening, individual responsibilities and the ability to make decisions are essential. These skills are essential to ensure the effectiveness, coordination and positive impact of the projects to be created by the community. Moreover, in any case, we think it is important to know the interests of the people with whom we will work, to motivate them, to take advantage of their abilities and skills, and to take them into account.
As a group self-evaluation, we would like to point out that at specific moments we have noticed a lack of leadership among us; however, we believe that we have been able to stop at various times and analyze what was going on. This process has been complicated also due to the lack of involvement and motivation on the part of the group members; we have learned that it is important that the people who carry out the project are involved and motivated, as well as maintaining constant and fluid communication with all the members of the project.
We believe that, at certain times, the roles assumed in the group have been very diverse and insufficient; however, we believe that we have been able to overcome and redirect it so that the project could finally meet most of the objectives.
We think that we have learned a lot, although it has been difficult to evaluate them, but finally, we all agree that what we value most is everything we have learned about socio-educational projects and how we would approach them in our professional future as social educators. In this regard, one of the most relevant lessons learned is that a good diagnosis is necessary to propose projects that are appropriate for the target people and for the context. In addition, we have learned that the ideology from which the projects are proposed is an important part of them. Also, we have been able to adapt to all the situations we have experienced during this process, as well as to the interests of the learners and the opinions of the educators of the entity. And finally, we have learned that it is essential that the objectives are achievable and appropriate to the context.