Up4Diversity: scientific training for educators to be upstanders against violence towards LGBTIQ+ youth
The MEDIS research group (since 2023 IMSE, Social Impact and Education) from the Department of Pedagogy at the URV has led one of the 5 unique projects selected in the REC-RDIS-DISC-AG-2019 call by the European Commission to promote the effective implementation of the non-discrimination principle. The project is called UP4Diversity. Empowering youth and those who work with them to become active defenders of preventing violence towards LGBTQI+ people in the digital age, and is led by Dr. Oriol Ríos, Associate Professor at the Department of Pedagogy at the Rovira i Virgili University. The project, which lasted two years, is based on a multidisciplinary consortium formed by universities and entities from 4 countries: Spain, Belgium, Cyprus, and Denmark.
Violence against the LGBTIQ+ community is a reality that affects the entire population of the European Union, according to the EU LGBT Survey 2019. Furthermore, considering that most of the assaults or violent situations happen in front of others and/or end up being known by many, the role of the community (youth, teaching staff, volunteers, families...) is key in identifying and intervening in these situations of violence, standing by the victims and providing them support.
The UP4Diversity project started from this reality and aims to enhance these skills through training for teachers and professionals and volunteers working with youth in different sectors such as youth associations, leisure activities, sports, or student associations. The training focuses on the scientific evidence of social impact around this issue: LGBTI-phobia violence data and its consequences, bystander intervention, and successful educational actions in coexistence and participation.
Thus, the main products of the project have been:
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Written training materials, available for free on the website. These resources can be used by different educational institutions to train professionals and volunteers.
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Two international conferences, whose main conference videos can be enjoyed on the YouTube channel.
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A European network of people working with youth, open to anyone interested, that after the project will continue meeting virtually every 3 months to learn effective Upstander actions and help each other in their implementation.
The quantitative and qualitative data collected in the project shows, preliminarily, that those who participated in national trainings, international conferences, or events in the European network highly value these trainings and intend to implement them in their environments.
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