YOU'RE WELCOME
Start date: Jan 4, 2016,
End date: Jun 3, 2016
PROJECT
FINISHED
The project is called 'YOU'RE WELCOME' and focuses on the improvement of intercultural communication methods and awareness, hospitality and hostmanship. The phrase 'you're welcome' is a wordplay, as it for us both means 'welcome' to guests and foreigners into our home, our organisation and our country, but it also works as a response when someone says 'thank you' and you wish to highlight that 'the pleasure was all ours' and that any given favour or hospitable gesture was done effortlessly and as a great privilege. In light of recent public and political debate about refugees, asylum and general treatment of foreigners coming to Europe and Denmark, we find it highly relevant to prepare a project and conduct an activity that focuses on intercultural communication and especially hospitality and hostmanship. The objective is to inspire 59 young participants between the ages of 18 and 30 from Slovakia, Romania, Hungary, Lithuania, Denmark, Bulgaria, Greece and Poland to develop their ability to conduct and understand dynamics in intercultural communication in order to establish relations that e.g. can help them and others settle into a group (school, neighbourhood, work, society in general). The project focuses on the fostering of social inclusion specifically through communication + cognitive and behavioural mobility of the young people within EU. It is our goal that we start to aim towards a greater understanding of 'the other' in society, who is often labelled a 'threat' and an unknown factor instead of a potential and resourceful partner. Hospitality and hostmanship is a great way to 'equalise' power dynamics in a relationship and show your guest or partner that you are willing to listen, learn and adapt.We wish to improve the participants' awareness of intercultural communication, social dynamics and the importance of understanding different types of mind-sets and communicative patterns in order to form stronger partnerships and cooperation across the European continent/ world, across organisations and across groups of people in the future. The way and what we communicate are very important factors, when we try to establish relations in any setting, and therefore we believe that great hospitality and hostmanship are important virtues in our society. The way we communicate and understand others affects our relations with partners in every sphere of life, and we are ultimately dependent on great partnerships and cooperation in order for our European society to function and prosper. Young people (our participants) play a crucial part in defining and shaping our European future, and we believe that a focus on communication, hospitality and hostmanship fits a plan of mobility of young people within EU.We imagine that the results will manifest themselves in more open mind sets, better understanding of communication patterns, cultural traditions and perspectives on social and educational issues for the participants involved in the project. They will be better equipped to form new partnerships in social and professional settings across Europe, as they will be more aware of conducting communication with eye for the receiver and the message rather than just the messenger's own position and agenda.