Our Story
Dreaming OPEnly is an informal group of 5 youth workers from 4 different countries, who met during ESC volunteering projects. The group was founded in September 2020 in order to write and develop the project #Voices4Weapons which took place in Leipzig, Germany, in October 2021, being the first project organized by our group.
Each group member has experience in international youth projects, as a participant, leader, facilitator and as an organizer. What brought us together was our common passion for youth work and youth empowerment through the tools of non-formal education, our belief in the positive impact of intercultural learning experiences and our common interest in topics like social inclusion, the fight against discrimination of any kind, and sustainable lifestyles. So we decided to collect our competencies and experiences to create projects about topics that we are passionate about.
“The world citizen is a small leaf on the giant tree of life. They do not see a difference between the branch they were born on and the remaining branches on the tree, because they understand well that we are all connected to the same roots.”
Who we are
We believe in the idea of social and political empowerment through arts and culture, and we are advocates of the role of individuals in bringing about social changes that can lead to fairer and more sustainable societies. We want to empower young people and raise their awareness about social and environmental topics through participation in a youth culture that they are passionate about.
“Our cultures teach us that in turning to each other, we become disruptive to old realities and hospitable to new ones.”
