URBEX II: Exploit the educational power of Urban Exploration

<< Background >>We applied for UrbEX II because the exploration of urban space is an innovative and powerful tool to promote engagement, to foster inclusion and to develop a participatory culture, notably among the target group of youths. With UrbEX we created and experimented with new tools of youth engagement which focused on concrete experiences centered on their local environment and on the urban public space. Young people, by interacting with the main elements composing an urban district, learned to face new urban challenges, to valorize their own living space and to come up with creative ideas to improve their cities and their local environment. The participatory urban exploration implemented through the Urbex approach was in this framework a low-threshold, non-formal learning process. It promoted the empowerment of youths as it boosted skills such as attention to detail, social and digital competences, civic and intercultural awareness, critical thinking, capacity to express their vision for society and their own future. Empowering them through UrbEX provided positive instruments to face the local challenges with the right key in understanding and experimenting new forms of participation and civic actions. << Objectives >>The implementation of URBEX II achieved three main objectives: Firstly, to promote the active participation and engagement of five local groups of youths by providing them with non-formal learning opportunities of exploration and appreciation of the urban space. The learning opportunities offered a combination of analogue methods and digital learning and were also low-threshold designed to engage youths at risk of exclusion in particular. Secondly, to develop a creative educational model based on the neighbourhood as a learning space and use it to train youth workers, teachers and professionals from the social and educational sectors. Thirdly, to create an international network of youth organisations, schools, educational and social organizations interested in using urban exploration as an educational strategy. The network ensured the dissemination and long-term use of the UrbEX project results and still ensures a continuous exchange of knowledge between the actors. Thanks to the UrbEX approach, 30 professionals from the five participating countries and 60 young people at risk of social exclusion, were supported to develop and test urban exploration methods and tools in order to engage young people in new and effective ways.<< Implementation >>In addition to the three project results, UrbEX implemented local laboratories in the five participating cities which have been developed and implemented with associated local organisations. Besides this, UrbEX provided two international exchange meetings/ learning activities for four days in Palermo: The first one for professionals working with youths, so youth workers, educators, teachers etc., and the second one for young people from 5 different cities. Both exchange meetings were implemented to test and complement the Urbex project results with practical and international experiences. Beside, they also promoted learning opportunities for the exploration and use of public space, using Palermo, Capo district as an example. Regular communication between the UrbEX staff through monthly partner meetings and additionally four Transnational Partner meetings, dissemination of the project results through five Multiplier Events in each participating city completed the project led by the German organisation Tesserae in partnership with Bond of Union (Italy), 4Change (Portugal), ZEMOS98 (Spain) and Nomadways (France). << Results >>The URBEX II project produced three main outputs: Firstly, the “handbook of urban exploration for youths”: It is a freely available digital publication for youth workers, educators, teachers, local activists, urbanists and social and educational sector workers - for all professionals working with youths. This publication focuses on urban exploration as an educational model with a specific attention on young people at risk of social exclusion. It contains three chapters about a. the neighbourhood as a learning space model, b. five steps of an urban exploration project, c. tools and methods of urban exploration. The handbook was tested, completed and further developed by youth workers during an international exchange meeting with 20 youth workers. Secondly, within UrbEX we produced the freely available “Toolkit ItinerAnts” which supports the exploration of urban areas with young people. ItinerAnts is a newly developed, playful adventure game with different phases which can be adapted to different local contexts. The toolkit was tested, completed and further developed by youth workers and young participants during the local laboratories in the 5 participating cities and during the international exchange meeting with 20 youths from 5 different cities. Thirdly, we created an UrbEX network which is visible on a web platform (UrbEX website) and has an interactive online group (Telegram). The network focuses on urban exploration in the field of youth, strengthening the relationships between different education actors in different european countries, providing the exchange of knowledge, skills and resources. The UrbEX network comprises currently 20 members.