Amari kultura

Project description
Please describe the motivation for your project and explain why it should be funded.
Throughout centuries, the survival of Roma culture in Europe was conveyed via artistic means – including oral history,
storytelling, music, dance, jewellery tradition, Romani language – that became the founding of Roma identities and
narratives for both the community itself as well as for non-Roma. However, nowadays more and more Roma choose to stay
silent about their Roma identities due to racism, discrimination and antigypsyism. This is the situation especially in Finland,
which was ranked as one of the most racist countries in the EU in the survey by FRA, the European Union Agency for
Fundamental Rights, and not very different in Estonia and Lithuania either. In this project, Roma youth from Finland, Estonia
and Lithuania will reminisce their cultural heritage, reflect it through the present youth culture and share it for the Roma
community as well as for non-Roma in Finland and Baltic states.
What are the objectives you would like to achieve and concrete results you would like to produce? How are these
objectives linked to the priorities you have selected ?
The objectives of the project are:
1) to increase Roma youth’s knowledge of their own culture
2) to reflect the Roma heritage through the present youth culture
3) to update some of the clichés associated with the Roma culture through artistic means

As a concrete result of the project, Roma youth's knowledge of their own culture has deepened as they have interviewed the
elders of their family and documented the collected stories. They have participated art camps where they have jointly dealed
with different forms of art that arise from the participants and their histories, and created art shaping today’s Roma culture.
Along with the art camps they have jointly produced artistic performances, which are presented for the Roma communities
as well as for non-Roma audiencies in Finland, Estonia and Lithuania.
The objectives are directly linked to the selected priority, which is promoting active citizenship, young people’s sense of
initiative and youth entrepreneurship, including social entrepreneurship. Roma youth are at the bottom in the Roma
communities due to their age. Many aspects of the Roma culture are based on respecting the elderly, and most of the
customs and rules are somehow connected to this. Knowledge is thought as something that accumulates to the elder people
with age and experience, and therefore elderly people represent the whole community. This is likely to result in tensions
within the Roma communities, as many of the younger Roma are more educated and know more than the elder generations
- albeit they may have less understanding. In this project, Roma youth are given the change to articulate their own vision on
Roma culture and heritage.
The EU Roma strategic framework 2020-2030 aims to give all Roma the opportunity to realise their full potential. Therefore,
Roma is one of the topics that can be specifically addressed in Erasmus+ projects. The objectives of the project directly
contribute to the Roma minorities in Finland, Estonia and Lithuania. Furthermore, the objectives are linked to the selected
theme of cultural heritage. For Roma people, the cultural heritage is a basis guiding ethics and morals, forming cultural
communities, and increasing ethnic cohesion and the sense of identity. In some European countries, such as Spain, the
Roma heritage is an appreciated piece of Spanish narrative. It is common knowledge that flamenco for example is a art form
developed within the Roma (gitano) subculture in Andalusia. In Finland, Estonia and Lithuania, the national narrative
however does not recognise cultural heritage of Roma minority. Finally, the objectives are linked to the selected theme of
creativity, arts and culture. Roma culture has enriched Europe with its music, dance and other art forms for centuries. In this
project, Roma youth learn about their own history, traditions, values and current life through the use of multi-art forms.
What makes your proposal innovative?
This is the first cooperation partnership (KA220) for all of the partner organisations. It is important that Roma organisations
themselves prepare, apply and implement projects as too often the pro-Roma projects are given to big NGOS, who are
using the Roma community only as puppets, but nor for real representation.
Roma youth all over the Europe are at risk of social exclusion and have fewer opportunities compared to their peers. Despite
the low level of education, employment and language skills, Roma youth have motivation and capacities to create their own
projects. This project is planned by Roma youth for Roma youth.
Regardless of where they live, the Roma have the right to their cultural heritage, as well as right to develop and maintain
their art and culture. However, the story of Roma visual arts and aesthetics has not been incorporated into the national
narratives. Promotion of Roma art and culture can be easily justified as they are based on the idea of ensuring availability
and accessibility of and inclusion in art and cultural services among the ordinary Roma population. However, Roma art and
culture has to be produced and performed by Roma themselves. Therefore opportunities for art and cultural activities must
be improved and artistically talented Roma youth supported and encouraged, especially as they are underrepresented in the
basic education in arts. In a same vein, it is important to increase the production of contents aimed specifically at the Roma,
and to introduce the art and cultural richness of Roma to a broader audience, as it will make the Roma culture familiar,
which reduces confrontation. Broader and updated knowledge on the Roma culture is critically needed as the typical medi

representation of the Roma culture is quite one dimensional, largely leaning on old clichés.
How is this project complementary to other initiatives already carried out by the participating organisations?
All three organisations are established actors representing the Roma civil societies in their respective countries. They are
small in terms of staff number or annual income, but they have references on the publicly funded projects. However their
experience on transnational cooperation is limited. Finnish Roma Association has already gained experience in small-scale
partnerships along with the Erasmus+ projects, while the other partners have not yet. All partner organisations are members
and participants in the various European Roma networks and eager to strengthen their international collaboration.
All partner organisations work in the field of youth. Along with the project they will raise their capacity of nonformal learning
activities, such as participatory and creative methods, the social, civic and multicultural skills, not to mention
internationalisation. As such, the project will contribute to the success of the partner organisations and their youth workers,
but especially to their target groups, notably the Roma youth.
How is your proposal suitable for creating synergies between different fields of education, training, youth and sport or how
does it have a strong potential impact on one or more of those fields?
The project creates synergies by double mainstreaming strategy. This means that the partners and the project are able to
bring the Roma affairs into the mainstream youth work while simultaneously introducing the best practices of general youth
work into the Roma youth work.
Furthermore, synergies are sought with the ongoing Finno-Macedonian KA220-ADU project conducted by the Finnish Roma
association.

How does the proposal bring added value at European level through results that would not be attained by activities carried
out in a single country?
This geographic scope is motivated by the anticipation that stronger regional co-operation could make the voice of the
Roma population in the Nordic and Baltic countries more pronounced in the European fora. Finland, Estonia and Lithuania
have small Roma population compared to many other European countries, such as Romania, Bulgaria or Hungary, and the
very smallness is often used as a justification for the limited scope of measures taken. From the point of view of human
rights and minority rights, the size of the population should not play a role in the enforcement of those rights. It is important
for the partner organisations to learn to work in international settings, as they cannot really influence the national Roma
policies separate from the EU Roma policies.
As the project involves Roma youth from three countries in the creation of artistic content that reflects their Roma identity,
the transnational partnership allows them to learn what it means to belong to a larger European Roma community that
shares the same cultural values (with minor local variations), as well as the discrimination by the majority population.

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Call 2022 Round 2 KA2
KA220-YOU - Cooperation partnerships in youth
Form ID KA220-YOU-58459816 Deadline (Brussels Time) 04 Oct 2022 12:00:00

EN

Needs analysis
What needs do you want to address by implementing your project?
Roma youth of all the European countries live as an ethnic minority who face discrimination in their everyday lives. They are
at larger risk of social exclusion and systematics belong to the group of young people who have fewer opportunities
compared to their peers.
The Finnish welfare system meets the basic needs of the Roma community, such as health, housing and education, while
the situation in Estonia and Lithuania is worse. Still even in Finland, and much more so in Estonia and Lithuania, Roma
youth have lower educational attainment, higher employment and weaker health than the youth of majority population. Some
deal with crime and lack of contact outside the Roma community. What is worse however, is that in all three countries the
Roma youth face structural discrimination that may lead to them dropping out of school or being left without employment, for
example. In addition, they are faced with everyday discrimination that includes but is not limited to insults, threats, being
treated with less respect or being considered less capable.
Despite the pressures, the life of a Roma youth differs very little from the life of any young person. After all, they too are
spending increasing amounts of time online, engaging in the strongly visual culture encouraged by the social media.
However, as members of the Roma community, these youngsters have developed their own unique strategies for engaging
in and with the world that are different from those of the majority population.
The international mobility of the Roma youth is considerably lower compared to that of the majority population because the
Roma youth seldomly reach high enough level of education where the opportunity to study abroad is offered, and those few
who do, often face discouragement in the education. As such the Roma youth remain without an equal opportunity to learn
about acceptance and understanding of an array of different cultural and community perspectives. Additionally, it limits their
interest in global issues and broader general knowledge, not to mention their language skills.
Understanding and valuing Roma culture and heritage is important for the self-image of the Roma youth. The project
involves Roma youth from three countries in the creation of artistic content that reflects their Roma identity. The
transnational partnership allows them to learn, what it means to belong to a larger European Roma community that shares
the same cultural values (with minor local variations), as well as the discrimination by the majority population.
What are the target groups of the project?
The target groups of the project are Roma youth (18-29 years old) in Finland, Estonia and Lithuania. The size of the target
group is approximately 1800, among which 1400 in Finland, 100 in Estonia and 300 in Lithuania. The target group of the
project includes both traditional and non-traditional Roma.
The authorities do not know accurate number of Roma population, but there are estimations as follows: In Finland, the
population statistics are compiled annually based on the Population Register and taking an actual census is thus
unnecessary. However, the statistics do not provide any ethnicity-based information. The estimation by the Regional
Advisory Boards on Romani Affairs says that there are around 10 000 Roma people in Finland. As such, the number of age
cohort of Roma youth (18-29 years old) is approximately 1400. In Estonia, according to National Population Register only
649 persons identify themselves as Roma. According to an unoffical data, the number is somewhat higher, approximately
1000-1500. The number is likely to further increase due to migration from the UK (eg Brexit) and Latvia. However, the target
group of the current project is roughly 100 Roma youth in Estonia. In Lithuania, the census of 2021 says there are 2251
Roma, but the Council of Europe has estimated that the more accurate number is higher. Nevertheless, the target group of
the current project is roughly 300 Roma youth.
In Finland, there is only one Roma group, Kaale, who lives regionally divided, but share the traditional Roma customs. At
least half of the Roma youth lives in the metropolitan area. In Estonia, there are three Roma groups: Estonian Roma, Latvian
Roma and Russian Roma. In the Roma communities, eg in Valga, Roma people follow the Roma social system, while in the
Tallinn regions, communities are more integrated with the majority population. In Lithuania, most of the Roma have packed
to major cities, especially Vilnius, where many are living in substandard conditions.
How did you identify the needs of your partnership and those of your target groups?
The needs of partnership were identified in the planning sessions by comparing the strengths and challenges of the partner
organisations. The key needs of the partnership are built around sharing of best practices, learning new methods, and
increasing the international capacity of each partner organisation.
The needs of target groups were identified in the planning sessions by comparing the studies on Roma youth in Finland,
Estonia and Lithuania, as well as by comparing the in-depth knowledge and experiences of the three partner organisations.
Currently, there is up-to-date information available on the Roma youth, as the Roma Civil Monitor project (see more at
https://romacivilmonitoring.eu/) is currently preparing civil society monitoring reports on the quality of the national Roma
strategies in 26 European countries. The Finnish report compiled by the Finnish Roma association is already published and
the results of the Lithuanian country report were presented in the Roma Civil Monitor workshop in September 2022.
Estonian situation however is different as there is no specific action plan for the Roma population.
Furthermore, a specific comparison of opportunities of the Roma people in Nordic and Baltic countries to influence regional
and European Roma policy was published in 2021 by the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Stenroos et al 2021). The study
highlights the potential for Nordic and Baltic cooperation for the development of Roma policy at both the regional and
European level. Particular attention is paid to the participation of Roma youth.

How will this project address these needs?
In this project, the Roma youth are empowered. They will be involved in the creation of artistic content that reflects their own
Roma identity and is eventually expected to lead to strengthened self-image of the Roma youth. For this purpose, creative
methods are used as they have multiple benefits. They allow youth to express themselves, they promote thinking and
problem-solving as well as improve ability to focus, while at the same time they reduce stress and anxiety. When creative
methods are used in groups with goal-oriented actions, they link youth to the others with the same passion, give a sense of
purpose and eventually lead to feelings of accomplishment and pride. On the other hand, using creative methods can
compensate the low educational level and weak language skills among the Roma youth.
The language barriers are overcome by the Babylonian Confusion of Tongues, ie letting youth to communicate freely by
using all of their language skills as many of the Roma youth are multilingual or speak mixed languages. Some of the Roma
dialects are mutually understood between Roma from different countries and thus form their very own and unique lingua
franca. Furthermore, the Finnish and Estonian languages are closely related, which means that the speakers will recognise
about half of the words. Additionally, many Roma youth have learned English at school or at least through popular culture.
The youth workers will encourage the youth in using multiple languages.