06- 16 of April 2022
Kannavia Village, Cyprus
Youth Exchange
Trade Fabric is a youth exchange that was implemented from the 6th to 16th of April 2022, in Kannavia village, Cyprus. 31 participants from five different countries were involved in this project. Hungary, Portugal, Bulgaria, Poland, and Cyprus came together to acquire knowledge about fabric-related traditions and professions of the participating countries. Through an open museum around the venue, participating countries had the opportunity to create art installations and present to the rest of both the Fabric traditions and contemporary use of fabrics in their countries. Engaged and visual workshops like this developed the knowledge of people to comprehend the differences but most importantly, the similarities of our countries. Besides, through the ‘intercultural nights,’ the chance for each country to introduce their traditional dances and clothing was given. Furthermore, the participants were involved in the exchange of good practices between the associated countries. Entrepreneurship concepts and personal skills were introduced for team activities to be conducted, such as business model canvas and creating their own fabric/fashion-related businesses. In addition, under the guidance of specialists, participants reused old t-shirts and materials that were about to be thrown away to create various crafts such as tote bags, laptop cases, and dreamcatchers. These kinds of workshops aimed to enhance creativity and innovation among the participants as well as to raise awareness of sustainability and the environment. Further objectives of the project that were achieved, are as follows:
- To acquire authentic information from discussions with people still practising these traditions
- To foster entrepreneurship and creativity in turning fabric-related traditions into modern ways to fight unemployment
- Development of the competences of young people from different countries on different handy-crafts techniques which use upcycled clothing materials
- Sharing experiences between the participants in using upcycled fabric in Youth activities
- Improvement of skills and employability of participants through group activities and workshops
- Personal development of participants especially with regards to self-confidence and realization of their strengths and weaknesses
- Enhancement of creativity and promote active citizenship as a way to fight unemployment
