We are looking for 25 participants to join the training “QUTIE” a queer training for intersectional education which will take place from 5 to 11 December 2024 near Bern, Switzerland.
QUTIE, an Overview
How can we support queer youth in times of rising right-wing extremism, anti-feminist and anti-queer backlash, war and climate crisis? Queer young people experience multiple crises at once these days: While queerness is more visible in society, queerphobia is alive and thriving in many forms. Especially marginalized queer young people are affected, e.g. queer youth with disabilities, queer youth in (semi-)authoritarian states, queer refugees and migrants and queer BIPOC youth.
It is important and crucial for queer education to be intersectional. In times of crisis, we need to build solidarity and alliances with other social movements in order to be stronger and to empower marginalized queer youth, e.g. with the climate movement, the anti-colonial and antiracist movements, the feminist movement or the disability rights movement.
What is it About?
QUTIE is a skillshare about lessons learned and ways forward. With this skillshare, we want to share with each other tools, skills and approaches we have had towards queer youth work and queer education. The skillshare will include sessions on:
- Group dynamics, barriers and conflicts in (international) queer youth projects: Challenges and learnings around how to create safer and empowering spaces for and with queer youth. We will discuss together about experience we have had with (international) queer youth projects.
- How to create solidarity with other social movements: We will share our experiences and approaches to creating alliance with other social movements. We will discuss how intersectionality can bring us forward in queer youth work.
Objectives
- Exchange and discuss queer education tools, skills and approaches that we have tried out in the past years.
- Reflect on and discuss group dynamics, conflicts and barriers in (international) queer youth projects.
- Bring queer youth workers together for networking and creating follow-up projects.
Participant’s profile
The project has space for 25 participants. All participants selected for this project should meet the following criteria:
- Be 18 years old or older
- Live in one of the countries of our partner organisations: Switzerland, Germany, Armenia, Poland, Kosovo, Morocco, Latvia.
- Be able to work in English
- Have experience with queer youth work or activism
- Be able to attend for the full duration of the seminar
- If somehow possible and feasible, be committed to come to the training without flying, and to travel instead by overland route.
We explicitly encourage participants of all classes, educational backgrounds, genders, sexual orientations, abilities and ethnic backgrounds to apply.
Logistics, financial conditions and sustainability
Simple life: The seminar will take place in a scouts center with very simple living conditions. You will sleep in a room shared with other people. We will ask you to bring your own sleeping bag + pillow and we will do our best to provide them for those for whom it’s not possible to bring. Showers are shared
with other people as well, we will make a shower schedule.
Money, money, money: We can cover all essential costs of the program (including food, travel costs up to a maximum amount, visa costs, accommodation and seminar) through a grant by the Swiss government agency Movetia. Your sending organisation might ask for a small participation fee.
Sustainable food: The food we provide will be vegan. This is not just a practical decision, but also an ideological one: SCI believes in the values of sustainability and climate justice – and if we want to contribute to a more peaceful planet, we need to give up on industrialized animal agriculture and its
destructive effects on our planet.
Sustainable travels: This is also why we ask you to come to this training through more sustainable means of transport rather than flying (e.g. by train or bus), if somehow possible. We will give you more guidance on how you can reach the venue, once you are accepted to the seminar.
How to apply?
Please read the CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS. In the document, you will find all the information (requirements, financial conditions, etc.).
You can apply by filling out this application form. All those accepted will later receive a detailed infosheet (incl. info on how to get to the venue, how to book your travels, more info about the agenda of the project). The deadline for applying is 6 October 2024.
If you have any questions regarding the project and your application, don’t hesitate to contact Monica (monica@cqs.berlin) or Deno (honey@cqs.berlin). We are looking forward to your application quties!
The team,
Deno, Monica, Hassandra and the SCI Switzerland team
This project is financially supported by Movetia. Movetia promotes exchange, mobility and cooperation within the fields of education, training and youth work – in Switzerland, Europe and worldwide. Thanks to Movetia, we will cover 100% your food, accommodation and insurance, as well as all organisational costs (training materials, etc.) up to the lump sum limit.
*If you are a participant living in Switzerland, to participate in international seminars or trainings, you only need to become a member of SCI Switzerland. The travel costs, your participation fee, food, and accommodation are covered by SCI Switzerland and Movetia.
