The project «YOU ARE WELCOME: European Network for Integration of Refugees at Local Level and Combating Hate Speech» was funded with the support of the European Union under the Programme

“Europe for Citizens”Applicable to the Strand 2 – Measure 2.2 “Networks of Towns”

Four events have been carried out within this project:

Event 1

Participation: The event involved 122 citizens, including 84 participants from Dresden (Germany), 10 participants from Prague (Czech Republic), 4 participants from Helsingor (Denmark), 15 participants from Thessaloniki (Greece), 2 participants from Budapest (Hungary), 1 participant from Kriva Palanka (Northern Macedonia), 2 participants from Bratislava (Slovakia) and 4 participants from Oldham (United Kingdom).

Location / Dates: The event took place in Dresden, Germany, from 7/04/2017-10/04/2017.

Short description: The aim of the event was to bring for the first time all the representatives of all partners together and discuss the aims, activities & methods, outputs and expected outcomes of the project as well as to invite citizens from Dresden and third-country nationals and introduce them the project. The activities aimed to encourage native citizens from Dresden, international participants and third-country nationals that live in Dresden to interact with each other culturally and socially in the first public event under the title “Voices & Images of a New Land” at Johannstädter Kulturtreff. The event included the following activities: i) art exhibition “Fragments of Memories” with artworks by artists from Germany, Syria and Bulgaria, ii) concert “Orient meets Occident” -duet of an Ukrainian piano player and a Syrian oud player, iii) screenings of the short films“Voices & Images of a New Land” and“My Right is Your Right” produced byJKPeV, iv) documentary film screening“Dresden Refuge” produced by Europa Transit, v) round-table discussion on migration, stereotypes against refugees and migrants and how to tackle HateSpeech.

Event 2

Participation: The event involved 324 citizens, including 11 participants from Dresden (Germany), 2 participants from Prague (Czech Republic), 2 participants from Helsingor (Denmark), 218 participants from Thessaloniki (Greece), 3 participants from Budapest (Hungary), 81 participants from Kumanovo (NorthernMacedonia), 2 participants from Bratislava (Slovakia) and 5 participants from Oldham (UnitedKingdom).

Location / Dates: The event took place in Thessaloniki, Greece from 24/11/2017 to 27/11/2017 at the Museum of the Roman Forum.

Short description: The aim of the 2nd transnational event was to raise awareness about the
YOU ARE WELCOME project and the migration issue. The transnational workshop and lecture “Otherness Dialogue” was facilitated by Dr. Rita Julia Sebestyen from Otherness project. A presentationbytheorganizingpartnerfromThessaloniki,AddArtwasgivenabouttheirlocalart workshop where Greek pupils and refugee children worked with comic artists and in the end, they created their Super Hero illustrated by the Greek comic artists. A study-visit to the refugee centre ARSIS that takes care of unaccompanied minors who are asylum seekers. Activities: i) photo exhibition “Dreaming of a New Life” by the Iranian photographer and film director Morteza Jafari that documented the arrival of refugees and migrants to the Aegean islands, ii) illustration exhibition “Human Right – Human Wrong”, where comic artists and illustrators from Greece displayed their work which reflected the topic of Human Rights, iii) postcard campaign against Hate Speech under the title “Human Right – Human Wrong”, the postcards are illustrated by the same artists of the exhibition and convey Human Rights messages, – the postcards were distributed to all the guests and the guests then were asked to send these postcards to their friends and relatives from their countries in order to achieve a bigger impact, iv) the female vocal group Pleiadesperformed melodies from different regions and countries all over the world about migration, v) screening of the documentary film “School on the Move” – a documentary film about involving refugee children that live in a refugeecampinGreecetobeinvolvedinananimationfilmandlearnaboutanimationfilms,vi) screening of short animation films about Human Rights by TAF (Thessaloniki Animation Festival).

Event 3

Participation: The event involved 230 citizens, including 8 participants from Dresden (Germany), 8 participants from Prague (Czech Republic), 12 participants from Helsingor (Denmark), 8 participants from Thessaloniki (Greece), 133 participants from Budapest (Hungary),8 participant from Kumanovo(NorthernMacedonia),51 participants from Bratislava (Slovakia) and 2 participants from Oldham (UnitedKingdom).

Location / Dates: The event took place at Patyolat in Budapest, Hungary from 23/05/2018to 26/05/2018.

Short description: The aim of the event was to follow up on the current progress of the project and to assess the impact made with regard to the project objectives such as combatting migrant stigmatisation and Hate Speech. During the event the project partners discussed the current sociopolitical situation in Hungary and the state’s migration and integration policies. The Amnesty International Hungary gave a presentation on the current, and past, refugee & migrant situation in Hungary. A study-visit to the Hungarian Helsinki Committee was held, iv) Meeting a refugee from Afghanistan living in Budapest for the last 9 years, v) Lecture on the history of migration in Hungary and its past and present attitudes towards migrants and refugees by by Prof. Michael Miller from the Central European University, vi) Study-visit to Aurora, a social community space, vii) presentation by the refugee organisation Menedék about their work with refugees. The public event took place at Patyolat in Budapest, Hungary (25th of May 2018) which included the following activities: i) short video about a local theatre workshop organized by Glaser Jakab Foundation – the organizer of the public event in Budapest , ii) screening of a short video about theIdomeni Refugee Camp produced by AddArt NGO from Thessaloniki, iii) music concert by Kardos Dani Duo, iv) Mickey Yonas: I’m Angelina Jolie, a physical theatre performance questioning societal ideas and viewpoints by a theatre group from Israel, v) screening of the Hungarian film “TheCitizen”.

Event 4

Participation: The event involved 230 citizens, including 8 participants from Dresden (Germany), 8 participants from Prague (Czech Republic), 12 participants from Helsingor (Denmark), 8 participants from Thessaloniki (Greece), 133 participants from Budapest (Hungary),8 participants from Kumanovo (NorthernMacedonia), 51 participants from Bratislava (Slovakia) and 2 participants from Oldham (UnitedKingdom).

Location / Dates: The event took place in Dresden, Germany from 16/11/2018 to 19/11/2018.

Short description:

The aim of the event was to summarise and evaluate what the project partners have done so far and present the Guidebook which includes information about the migration and integration policies of the project partners, best practices to involve third- country nationals and native citizens through local art workshops and events and the local campaigns against Hate-Speech. The 4th transnational meeting and final event included the “NO HATE Film Festival” at Museum Technische Sammlungen in Dresden, Germany (16- 18 November 2018) which included the following activities: i) choir Dresdner Kneipenchor that sang songs from all over the world and act locally in Dresden, ii) introductory documentary film: “Waiting for the Summer‘s Return” directed by Barbara Lubich, iii) 9 Documentary film screenings which are about conflicts or wars witnessed by 9 different European cities; the documentary films were directed by Xuban Intxausti, v) „Street Stories“ photo exhibition by a Syrian and Palestinian photographer which document the daily life of refugees in 2 refugee camps in Lebanon, vi) Travelling exhibition- “PLEASE OPEN! Crates of Knowledge” which is about the qualities and qualifications that refugees bring with them, vii) WELCOME short film screenings produced by the project partners, vii) 3 workshops: 1) storytelling workshop, 2) Hate-speech online, 3) Zine workshop, viii) Round-table discussion about the rise of populism in Europe and the division between the countries of the EU, ix) Solo dance performance “Mirror” about identity by the Ivorian performer Jean-PaulMehansio.