ACT4CONSENT

<< Background >>Across all EU Member States, the importance of consent is steadily increasing, as it is recognized both as a fundamental human right and as a topic that must increasingly be addressed in the education of young people. Today, consent extends across many areas of life: from interpersonal relationships to digital communication. Raising awareness of this crucial issue among young people helps to foster a culture of respect, self-empowerment, and open communication.Despite its significance, however, the topic of consent has not been adequately incorporated into the curricula of education systems and youth work in many European countries. As a result, young people often rely on informal sources such as peers, the media, and the internet for information. Moreover, social norms and values that perpetuate harmful beliefs and attitudes about sexuality and relationships can make young people particularly vulnerable.For these reasons, ACT4CONSENT has developed a new educational approach to support secondary school teachers, youth educators, young people, and parents in addressing and working on the topic of consent actively yet sensitively.<< Objectives >>The key objectives of the project were to:(1) Increase awareness and understanding of the concept of consent: to ensure that all clearly understand what consent is and why it is important in all types of relationships. (2) Develop communication skills: Through drama and storytelling activities, all parties involved can practice communicating boundaries, desires, and feelings in a safe and supportive environment.(3) Build empathy and respect: By exploring different scenarios and perspectives through drama and storytelling, all parties involved can develop a greater sense of empathy and respect for others.(4) Address harmful societal norms and values: challenge harmful societal norms and values that perpetuate harmful beliefs and attitudes about sex and relationships and encourage critical thinking and reflection on these issues.(5) Foster a sense of community: Through group activities and discussions, foster a sense of community and support among all parties involved where everyone feels comfortable and respected.(6) Provide support and resources: to provide all parties involved with the resources and support they need to continue learning about and promoting consent education in their school and wider community.<< Implementation >>In its individual phases, ACT4CONSENT comprised the following main activities:(1) Development, testing, evaluation, adaptation, and translation activities: Resources for a creative educational approach were created to address consent in secondary education and to support teachers and youth workers in working directly with young people on the topic using active, experience-based methods. All materials are available for free download in 7 languages on the project website, www.act4consent.eu. They can be flexibly adapted to the own needs.(2) Dissemination and implementation activities: Information material (animated video, newsletter, and press releases from each partner organization) to present the project goals and results; the project website was created to provide information about the progress results of the project, Facebook was actively used to publish updates on the project, and target group-specific events were held for teachers and young people or parents. The diverse activities led to intensive discussions, raised awareness of the topic of consent in the partner institutions, schools, and among the public. The project contributes to the development of attitudes such as respect, openness, and tolerance.<< Results >>The following concrete results were produced within the ACT4CONSENT project:(1) ACT4CONSENT CPD Programme consisting of 6 modules providing 30 hours of F2F and self-directed learning.(2) Handbook for teachers consisting of 20 classroom-based activities -10 activities that use drama techniques and 10 activities that use storytelling techniques addressing topics related to consent.(3) Resources for parents: 8 short videos (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXvaz6i6XX0&list=PLOew_q29P48kzu9fBPtjY48DLsIM2UsZM) and 8 tipsheets.(4) Resources for students: 8 short videos (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_k7ZlXItY0&list=PLOew_q29P48k10W_mDA4hkOk6QH9SXhB8) and 8 tipsheets.(5) One animation video (https://youtu.be/D1HifFP7KT4).All these materials are available for free at www.act4consent.eu.All resources can be used in a wide variety of contexts, including school and non-school learning spaces, different educational areas, and with young people aged 15–18. With some adaptation, they can also be used partly for younger children. Throughout the project, all partners contributed actively to the dissemination of ACT4CONSENT results, with over 220 activities and nearly 70,000 people reached, ensuring both local and European visibility.