Attaining Visibility! Youth and public space – Creative space strategies as innovative tools in youthwork The project responds to the need of young people to attain visibility in public space and, by this means, to increase their influence and impact in the formation of public opinion and in the sphere of the political discourse. Young people and youth workers from different programme and partner countries are invited to discuss, rethink and put in action the relationship between youth and public space and the chances of youth to participate in political, social and cultural processes in their respective countries. On the basis of our particular experiences with this topic we can investigate existing space strategies as they can be found in different cultural fields like city planning, architecture, arts, creative activism, urban interventions in their legal and illegal manifestations etc. and transform them into strong tools and methods of efficient youthwork capable of creating new opportunities and new spaces for motivation, activation and participation of young people in different countries and in the process of formation of a democratic European identity. The 11-days-training and networking course will take place from October, 8-18 in Strausberg, a small town at the periphery of Berlin. The distance between Berlin and Strausberg is about 30 minutes with public transport. On the huge area which includes forest, historical ruins, workshops, seminar rooms and accommodation facilities the receiving organisation FUSION-Intercultural Projects Berlin e.V. in co-operation with the Kulturlabor Trial&Error e.V. works in the framework of a project named “Andere Welt” (“Other World”) which connects cultural and ecological aspects and aims to construct a cultural interface between urban metropolitan and rural cultural forms where new methods of non-formal education and new forms of cultural practice will be explored and trained. The course comprises theoretical exploration, excursions and practical training. We will discuss and deepen the topic with experts, visit examples of good practice in Berlin and develop practical skills together with artists in the workshops through methods of non-formal education, upcycling, open-source and d.i.y. The result of the training and networking course will be a package of methods and tools which can be applied by the participants in their youthwork in their countries and furthermore the construction of an international network for collaboration in order to unfold the theoretical and practical implications of the topic in the future in different formats of cooperation-projects. What will we do during the 11 days of the course? The participants will report on the availability of public space for the demands of young people in their countries and about their own practices and activities. This will give us a survey of the role and chances of young people in the actual cultural and political situation of different European regions. We will hear experts who are involved in the topic: political actors, scientific actors, cultural and educational practitioners. We will try to draft a clear image of the needs of young people concerning the use of public space, of the official offers provided by society and of the opportunities to occupy and use public spaces for the genuine demands of young people. We will visit locations in Berlin where this occupation – in a legal or illegal action form - has already taken place and see the results. We will try – in experimental form – to develop ideas and practical methods to transform different spaces of the “Andere Welt” – area in Strausberg into action and communication spaces for young people using the artistic infrastructure of the workshops that are located on the area. We will translate creative and artistical strategies and methods of intervention into public space into practical tools for contemporary youthwork. In the end we will design a plan for future network cooperation for the conceptual development and practical use of the topic in an international context. And last but not least, in order to keep the complex and challenging programme running inspirationally and smoothly, we will have parties, barbecues, campfire, movie nights, clubbing in Berlin and a vital and exhilarating communication.