Susannah Iheme and Billy Prim standing in front of an old building

Organising Artistic Self-Empowerment Spaces



In the OASES project, partners from 10 countries worked together on the question: How can youth encounters be designed to empower participants to unleash their creative potential; to create artworks in transnational collaboration around themes of shared meaning; and to effect change in their local environments and in a globalised world?
The OASES publication is linked below; the OASES tools can be found on http://www.rrcgn.de/en/oases-tools/.

The OASES project brought together 6 member organisations of the international ROOTS & ROUTES network and 4 new partner organisations. Together they pooled a wide range of different experience in organising international youth events, artistic residencies and workshops.

In the first phase of the OASES project, we gathered experiences and good practices towards the goal formulated in the project title: How can we best organise artistic self-empowerment spaces for young people?

We worked to create frameworks in which artistic practices, exchanges between individuals, and self- and mutual empowerment can flourish.

In the second phase of the OASES project, we organised pilot projects in five countries of the consortium: International Youth Exchanges with four or more partner countries and an artistic/thematic focus.

In the final phase of the project, we shared and evaluated the results of the pilot projects and worked together on outcomes that can help both consortium members and external organisations interested in arts-based (international) youth work to deliver quality work in the future. In the process, quality criteria, guidelines, and tools for international youth work were developed.

OASES for Change is coordinated by ROOTS & ROUTES Cologne e. V. (Germany); partner organisations include Blues Derneği (Istanbul/Turkiye), Centro di Creazione e Cultura (Florence/Italy), Empreinte (Lille/France), Kaunas Cultural Centre of Various Nations (Kaunas/Lithuania), Royal Court Liverpool (UK), Stichting Lloydscompany (Rotterdam/The Netherlands), Street Dance Center (Salzburg/Austria), SMouTh – Synergy of Music Theatre (Larissa/Greece) and Subjective Values Foundation (Budapest/Hungary).

OASES for Change is funded by Erasmus+ as a Strategic Partnership in the Field of Youth.

Related: News

Related: Publications

Related: Organisations

Streetdance Center Salzburg

Streetdance Center Salzburg (SDC) is a non-profit association which was founded in 1999 in order to promote diversity conscious youth work via dance, to create a platform that unites people from various generations and backgrounds, and to elevate and empower young people to pursue and share their passion for dance and music.

ROOTS & ROUTES Cologne e. V. (RRCGN)

ROOTS & ROUTES Cologne e. V. (RRCGN) is a non-profit association that promotes cultural and social diversity in arts and media, strengthening of diversity conscious youth work as well as promotion of international exchanges and international youth mobility.

Centro di Creazione e Cultura

Centro di Creazione e Cultura (CCC) is a Florence-based association focused on artistic education and creation, aimed at fostering mobility and professional growth of talented emerging artists.

Synergy of Music Theatre (S.Mou.Th.)

Synergy of Music Theatre (S.Mou.Th.) is a non-profit organization, whose workforce is a group of dedicated, experienced and emerging artists.

Kaunas Cultural Centre of Various Nations

Kaunas Cultural Centre of Various Nations (lt. Kauno įvairių tautų kultūrų centras - KITKC) is a non-profit cultural and educational organization dedicated to promotion of cultural diversity, shaping intercultural relations and dialogue between people of different nationalities and developing such values as tolerance and respect in the civil society.

Subjective Values Foundation (SVF)

Subjective Values Foundation – in Hungarian language: Szubjektiv Értékek Alapítvány – is active in the fields of the arts, poverty, talent-scouting, anti-racism, diversity, cycling and sustainability.