QUTIE training, a queer training for intersectional education (in Bern)

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.

How to apply?

Please read the CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS. In the document, you will find all the information (requirements, financial conditions, etc.).

More information: https://scich.org/participate-in-the-qutie-training-in-bern-a-queer-training-for-intersectional-education/