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  MEDIART

MEDIART

2023

fare campaign: how to talk about discrimination in football in another country?

31/3/2021

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​Starting activities in a country that’s not familiar is not very easy. Especially when you arrive just after the campaign and take a project that’s already going on. How can we involve the local population when we just arrived in a country that we don’t know yet and to which we don’t speak the language? A few answers in the following article…

First step : preparing the activity

The best way to meet new people, especially for the campaigns is still a public space. Considering our lack of contacts in the city and the Covid situation, the street looked like a perfect idea for a place to meet people. 

With the volunteers, we looked for images online that either symbolized racism in football or, on the opposite, solidarity and inclusion during football matches. Each one should be followed with a legend both in english and greek thanks to Biky’s translations.

The goal was to permit people to look at them at their own paths and then engage conversation on this topic with them. We also prepared leaflets both in greek and english for people who would not have much time to look because they were busy. For those who were interested we also proposed an experience of putting themselves in the shoes of players victims of racism by letting them listen to what actually happened during a match when a team was attacked verbally by the other team’s supporters because of the color of their skin.

With all these activities and a nice set up : panels from each side of the street, a stand that invites people to come and take a look and also a ball for people to play and pick their interest, we hoped that we would be able to connect with people in this country we didn’t know well yet. 

Second step : Connecting with the local community

People in Greece, and especially young one are curious by nature. The first thing I noticed during the time I spent in the office is, whenever there is a poster or writings in our windows, some people stop by to read and take a look at possible information. So the exhibition and having posters in the middle of this passing street in the center of Serrès could have a relatively important impact. Once people stop to read the posters and look at the pictures, this is the perfect opportunity to go meet people and start talking with them. At 10.30, when we were still installing people were starting to look at what we were preparing. Perfect! We got their attention. With our stand, leaflets, panels, our Virtual Reality Experience prepared on the computer, we expected to set some discussions or debates with people of Serrès or even some tourists considering that the touristic period was still ongoing. 

The only brake for us was the language. Some people who were not comfortable with english were quite reluctant to talk with us but with Biki’s help and late Constantina’s and Nikos, we managed to reach them thanks to their translations and our leaflets that were written beforehand both in english and greek. Fortunately there were also young people who were able to speak english and were very interested and I even met french persons with whom i could discuss and present the project in french, totally unexpected! 

For the 2h30 time that the panels were exposed in front of the theater, around 40-50 persons took time to discuss or at least left a few words while taking the leaflets we were distributing. In all the reactions were polar opposite. We had very interested and involved persons in human rights, difference and discrimination topic, but we also had the opposite reactions. Some people directly told us that they were racist when we tried to discuss with them. Very surprising but not totally unexpected since, as Greece is an entering country for refugees in Europe, some inhabitants show defiance for that. Debating and launching discussion is also accepting that there are opinions that we don’t consider good but still exist. 

We can say that for a first experience of meeting a local community and organising an activity, the outcome is quite good and it gave us a good basis to work on and reflect to do better for the next campaign even if we already knew that covid situation wouldn’t make that easy for us.

Third step : Keeping contact 

Organising an activity is not limited to the D day. There is also the aftermath to manage and prepare. Especially on social media. By posting pictures of the event on Facebook and instagram we can reach far wider and get reactions from all around the world especially since all the volunteers tend to share them on their own profil so their friends can see them and know what they are doing in the projects. 

We can then export our idea of discussing about difference, inclusion and racism issues in football by getting comments, likes or private messages from other people. And it also permits to show to Fare what we did at our scale for them to be able to connect every initiatives in the country and around the world to make it a bigger event than if we only organise one event on our own. 

For me the work on this even : the exhibition truly ended when i finished editing the newsletter with pictures of FARE campaign and the exhibition in particular, leaving a footprint for the next volunteers to looks at to prepare the next Fare campaign!
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MARIANNE YOTIS
Marianne is a french volunteer in Praxis organisation, involved in Fare campaign.
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The likelihood of water disappearing from our planet and what happens next?

30/3/2021

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This year’s World Water Day theme is valuing water. We are looking a bit more into the importance of having access to clean water and why it is so important to contribute to sustainability with water usage. 

Just like the Earth we, humans, are also mostly water (71% of our bodies are made of water), which makes having access to safe water crucial to our existence, as well as to Earth’s existence. It's ironic that on a planet that is 70 percent water, people don't have enough clean, safe water to drink. But the freshwater on Earth makes up just three percent of the water supply. And less than one percent is freely available; the rest is tied up in ice, as in icebergs, glaciers, and snowcaps. This is important, because the planet is in the midst of what the United Nations is calling a "water crisis." 

If we continue living the same way and not making any changes within our water usage we could be facing numbers of 5.7 billion people living in areas where water is short in supply for at least one month per year (by 2050). It is also likely that By 2040, global energy demand is projected to increase by over 25% and water demand is expected to increase by more than 50%. 
What’s more, climate change has a huge effect on water shortage and as we all know, more or less, we are pushing the limits with the temperature change and the devastating effects climate change will have on our lives if we don’t do anything to stop it/slower down the process. If we limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, we could cut climate-induced water stress by up to 50%. Since we are on the topic of the future, climate-resilient water supply and sanitation could save the lives of more than 360,000 infants every year. Which means that we are losing lives of our future, the lives of people who would be there to carry on the human race. 

A water shortage can affect you no matter where you live in the world. It's arguably humanity's most vital natural resource. It sustains all other activities; it's the essential basis of economies, societies and human life. 
What can you do to help slow down the speed of reaching the absolute worst of the water crisis? 

​1. When buying clothes, opt for second-hand/thrift stores. Did you know that to make ONE pair of jeans, it takes around 10 000 liters of water- yes, the same amount of water a person consumes (approximately) within 10 years. Imagine, by not supporting fast fashion you can provide water supply for somebody for 10 more years! This applies to most clothing items- it takes a lot of water to produce these items, especially within fast fashion, where they are produced in masses and also people working for these clothing companies are underpaid and in inhumane working conditions- another reason not to support fast fashion. Lastly, you will most likely not run into people wearing the exact same clothing as you do and have more unique outfits by shopping second hand! 

2. When brushing your teeth (Before brushing, wet your brush and fill a glass for rinsing your mouth) or for example when shaving- turn of the water to not waste any (Fill the bottom of the sink with a few inches of warm water in which to rinse your razor). 

3. Take shorter showers - A typical shower uses five to ten gallons of water a minute. Limit your showers to the time it takes to soap up, wash down and rise off. Or even better, if possible, opt showers out for baths. A partially filled tub uses less water than all but the shortest showers. 

4. Don't let the faucet run while you clean vegetables or if you are washing your dishes by hand, don’t leave the water running either. 

5. Use your automatic dishwasher for full loads only (with every wash your dishwasher uses about 95 litres of water). Same goes for using automatic washing machines for full loads only too! (For every cycle it uses about 114-132 litres of water) 

These were just a few ideas on how to cut back on your water usage so we would have water for many decades and centuries to come. So that the future generations can grow up and not have to worry about where they're getting their next litre of water from. Each small step counts.

​

​Karolin Käsper

Karolin is an Estonian volunteer in Praxis organisation involved in the World Water Day campaign.

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Poetry.

23/3/2021

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Poetry, from the Greek poesis meaning 'making' or 'creating', has a long history. As an art, poetry may out date literacy itself. In prehistoric and ancient societies poetry was used as a way to record cultural events or tell stories. Poetry is among the earliest records of most cultures with poetic fragments found on monoliths, rune stones, and stelae.
The telling of stories about history have been used up until the 20th century, and in some cases, it is still in use today. During the Middle Ages, Ballads were a common way of doing just this, and it was also a way to pass along news throughout the kingdoms. Today, Ballads are not used in the same way. However, Odes, for example, have been and will always be a way to tell stories about histories greatest feats.
The oldest surviving poem is the "Epic of Gilgamesh". The poem, based on the history of King Gilgamesh, was written around 3000 BC in Sumer, Mesopotamia in cuneiform script on clay tablets.

Aristotle's Poetics describes three genres of poetry: epic, comic and tragic. Aristotle's work was highly influential throughout the Middle East during the Islamic Golden Age, then through Europe during the Renaissance. Later, aestheticians described poetry to have three major genres: epic, lyric and dramatic, with dramatic holding the subcategories tragic and comedy. During early modern Western tradition, poets and aestheticians sought to distinguish poetry from prose by using the understanding that prose was written in a linear narrative form and used logical explication, while poetry was more abstract and beautiful.
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 IONUT-MARIAN IONESCU
Marian is a Romanian volunteer in Praxis Organisation involved in the World Poetry campaign. 
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World Wildlife Day scavenger hunt/outdoor activity

23/3/2021

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​The purpose of this case study is to have a detailed overview of how I created World Wildlife Day scavenger hunt.
  This outdoor activity will take place in the green areas of Serres. I will give an introduction and instructions, but other than that, it is a group activity. My facilitation is more in the background, because this is rather a hands-on kind of activity.


  World Wildlife Day is about celebrating the many beautiful forms of fauna and flora.   In addition, it is an occasion to raise awareness of the various challenges faced by these species. Not many people are interested in reading books or long articles about wildlife, and even if they are, the chances are, that they will forget half of what they read within the matter of a few days. 
 That is why, as an added value, I decided to organize this scavenger hunt. I wanted to create an opportunity to learn about wildlife in a fun and interactive way.


  The main target group of this activity is people who are not in touch with nature on a daily basis (people who live in cities for example). 


  The desired impact is that participants get so interested in wildlife after this activity that they start to read about it and study on their own afterwards. Which could lead to them taking initiatives in order to contribute to preserving wildlife.


  As an outcome, I think the participants will enjoy gaining knowledge while being outdoors and it is likely that they will not know answers to all of the questions, so they might look them up later and stumble onto some more interesting facts, hence broaden their horizons even after the activity. 
 


  Scavenger hunt begins with me giving a short introduction to why world wildlife day is important and why we have gathered. Then I will introduce the game. Participants will be divided into teams (whether groups of 3 or 4, depends how many people will be present). 
  Every group gets a map of Serres and the answers’ sheet. On the map, I will have marked beforehand 7 checkpoints, each of the locations have a different QR code on them, which the participants will scan with their phone in order to unveil their task.
   Groups will follow the map and leave in 5-minute intervals. 


  When the last group is back, we will have the last part of the activity: reflection and feedback, for that, I will use the “suitcase evaluation’’ method.
  I will bring a dustbin and a bag, one by one, the participants will stand between those objects and say what they will take with them in the backpack (experience, feeling) and what they will throw away in the dustbin (negative content, experience).


 There are still restrictions and concerns regarding the virus. As an alternative and for people, who wish to avoid contact, I will post the map and answers’ sheet on Praxis’ social media, so that they too could participate. 


 The goal of this activity is to spark interest in wildlife, thus be more eager to contribute to its sustainability. Especially urban people, who most likely do not go to the woods often and have less knowledge in that field.


  Every part of the activity will be posted on Praxis’ social media, a lot of the people who follow Praxis are from Serres, so social media is one of the ways to create a connection with them. I have already created a radio spot and broadcast to promote the activity as well.
  Furthermore, a lot of people pass by Praxis’ office and peek inside, that is why I created posters about the event and hung them up, so that is another way of engaging them. 
  Lastly, it is likely that citizens of Serres will see the QR codes around the city and scan them for fun. In addition to QR codes, I added the name of the international day, as well as the logo of Praxis on the same sheet of paper. Adding the logo will allow people who saw the QR codes to search up Praxis on social media, learn about the activity and consequently wildlife. 


  I am certain that learning about nature while you are actually in it will create a bigger impact than just reading about it. What is more, other participants could potentially get inspiration out of this activity and apply it later in different fields of education.


This article was written by Margarita Keerd, Estonian Volunteer in Praxis Greece
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Tree planting for the International Day of Forests

23/3/2021

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In the following report, I will give a short guide on how to organize an outdoor campaign’s activities. I will do this on the example of my outdoor activity I had for the “International Day of Forests”.
 Preparation
 For March I chose the International Day of Forests for my monthly campaign. With this knowledge, I started thinking about what outdoor activities I could do , and how to inspire in order to involve in all steps the team and the other volunteers of PRAXIS and the local society . I wanted to have an activity mostly for the Praxis and local volunteers, because of the Covid restrictions, and at first, I was thinking about having it in a forest. With the help of Anna, we decided to have a tree planting in the refugee camp. 
 Once the idea was set, one of us started contacting the manager of the camp and the municipality. After we got the official permission from the municipality, we started preparing the activity in a more detailed way. I organized the material needed; I prepared a press release, posters and of course we picked up the trees. The exact plan of the activity was to plant the trees and to also label them with names such as “diversity”, “solidarity” or “equality”. 
For the preparation, it is very important to always have another activity in mind, because unexpected things, such as bad weather, might happen. In my case the municipality couldn’t have given us permission to plant the trees into the area that we choose, which is why I had the second activity in mind, to pick up trash in the forest, with the other volunteers and locals. During this activity, I didn’t play a big role in the preparation because the biggest part of the preparation was official work, communication with the local authorities, Serres’ municipality, forest department of Serres, Manager of the Refugees camp, which I couldn’t do so, this was running by other PRAXIS’ team. I prepared more details such as taking care of the plants, inviting people via social media, do promotion via social media and preparing a short speech as an introduction for this open event. 
Results
 This activity was really important to show how so many different people can work together and create something really beautiful.
 At the same time, we could raise awareness towards the climate crisis and deforestation. 
For our activities, we want to have a big impact on as many people as possible. The key to inviting as many people as possible for this activity, during the lockdown was the local volunteers and the fact that we were able to plant the trees inside the refugee camp. We could have an impact on a lot of people even if they were not participating, they saw us and started thinking about the reasons why we were planting the trees. 
During these times the biggest impact on other people we can reach is on social media, which is why I posted posters and pictures about this activity. 
For me, this activity was really interesting because I have never done anything like this before. I like nature and I think that deforestation is a really big threat to our health. Even though this activity was rather small and didn’t have a big impact on the bigger picture, it still had a message that everyone can do something even if it is just super small. Think globally -Act locally!
In general, we could have a big impact in many different ways with this tree planting activity. We could set a stand against climate change and at the same time, we could have a positive impact on the local community.


This article was written by Melisa Mussa, German Volunteer in Praxis Greece
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Outdoor activities for sports “Football against Racism“

23/3/2021

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​*This case study/report shows how we, as Praxis volunteers, created a photo exhibition for the FARE football campaign in October 2020. For one of our activities during FARE #footballpeople weeks we decided to have a photo exhibition showcasing racism in sports throughout the years.
The name of the activity was “Photo exhibition: #BLM – racism in sports”. 


The photo exhibition was held on the 12th of October 2020 from 11AM to 3PM. Originally all of the participants were Praxis volunteers- local team, in total there were 10 of us, but in general the people passing by eventually also became participants of this photo exhibition.
For this activity we needed photo stands, pins, a table, a chair, a computer, a pair of headphones (and sanitizing products for this), printed out pictures, posters and QR codes.
Our photo exhibition was located outside, in front of the Asteria theatre here in Serres. The photo stands were placed on the street in front of the theatre.
The working method we used was rather without any strict measures. We offered people to have a look at the photos on the photo stands, read about the history and meaning of each. We included some QR-codes, which people could scan on their phones and therefore reach a youtube video related to the topic. In addition, we also proposed the opportunity for hearing experience, where we displayed the racism that people in sports have to put up with during their performance. All in all, we had both visual and hearing experience. The participants had the chance to ask us for extra information and we also handed out leaflets for those passing by, who didn’t have time at the moment to stay and look at the stances as well as a brief overview of what we were doing there.
Our main purpose was to raise awareness within the locals about racism and especially in sports. It was important to showcase people that the racism that people face in sports has been going on for decades and it still continues to this day. We wanted to give the local people a chance to see the history of it and to explore on their own into it. As mentioned earlier we offered a hearing activity too, which consisted of racist slurs shouted at sports, for example football. So therefore, people could listen to how it feels like to perform in front of a racist public. It was also necessary to remind people that it still continues to this day, both in sports and in people’s everyday lives. We were expecting to create more awareness and expand their knowledge on this topic as well as being more aware when such situations happen and to speak up.
Instructions:
  1. Brainstorming
  2. Coming up with the photo exhibition idea
  3. Seperated the tasks (who looks up which pictures, who is responsible for the
QR-codes, for printing the posters, for looking up the sounds for hearing activity, for
composing the photo stands etc.)
  1. After searching for pictures and information we went through them and sorted out the ones that suit the best with our exhibition this time.
  2. Went to a local printing shop and printed out our posters.
  3. Printed out the QR-codes too
  4. On the day of the exhibition we took all of the things from the office and carried them to the location of the exhibition
  5. We prepared everything for the exhibition- organizing and hanging up the photos,
putting up the table for the hearing activity, putting up the Praxis banners etc..
  1. Invited people, who were passing by, to come look at our photo exhibition and
approached those who were already looking and advised them on questions they had.
During the photo exhibition we talked to the people passing by and gained insight on their perspective when it came to racism in sports. Since there were people from all ages, races and genders passing by we got to see many different points of views. We also asked some questions to see how aware they were about racism in sports prior to seeing our photo exhibition and what their thoughts were after seeing this.
The activity as an education tool.


Possible alternatives: if it is not possible to do it outside then the same thing could be organized online. But it is more difficult to reach people this way and to see their immediate reaction and thoughts on the topic.
To get more personal with the participants another idea would be to have a workshop about it.
For example, a debate on the topic of racism. Or just a workshop talking about racism, where everybody gets to share their thoughts with others.
As one of the facilitators, I would say my role was pretty active. Me and another volunteer were the coordinators of this photo exhibition, meaning that we organized it all and planned out the whole thing. The only thing I would have changed is to share the tasks more in advance and to make sure that everybody knows what they are supposed to do. Time management is also something that we should have put more effort in.
Our target group were the locals of Serres. We didn’t have a certain age group in mind. Just the people passing by the theatre between the hours of 11AM and 3PM. We did know that the students finish their classes around 1-2PM so we were hoping to target more young people. In general, we welcomed all people from all ages and genders, and didn’t have a set limit. Our goal was to raise awareness within as many people as possible and the more diverse target group the better. Since racism is something that still occurs in people’s lives it was important for us to spread the word to a large audience.
This idea we got from one of our mentors, since the year prior previous volunteers had also organized a photo exhibition. Also, we thought that visual representation catches more attention and therefore has more engagement.
When it came to spreading the word about our photo exhibition, we used various resources.
We started by printing out the posters and putting them up in local facilities- for example cafes, gyms, yoga studios etc. Therefore places, where a large variety of people go to and so that our exhibition could get as much coverage as possible. In addition, we posted the poster also on Praxis’ social media accounts and shared it to the other volunteers as well as the local volunteers, who engaged their own friends to this exhibition too. During the day of the photo exhibition our volunteers also handed out leaflets about the exhibition in the city centre.
When it comes to how we involved the participants into our activities, then Praxis’ volunteers all helped us out in putting together the photo exhibition and they all shared it on their social media channels too- therefore reaching out to their friends and families and raising more awareness within.
The people passing by and engaging in the photo exhibition are also considered participants in my opinion. We hope that after they saw the photo exhibition, they talked about it with their group of friends and family later and maybe even dived more into the research and searched up more information about racism in sports to get more knowledge. And in the future speak up about racism.
During the activity we gave the participants free will of exploring the photo exhibition by themselves. When needed we also offered to tell them more about the topic and share resources for more information. As mentioned above the participants had the chance to scan in QR-codes for videos too and listen to the audio records of racist sports audiences to give them a sense of what it is like to be in that position.
I would say that everything we offered for the participants worked very well, since there were many different ways for them to engage in the photo exhibition and learn more about the history of the “Black Lives Matter” movement as well as the history of racism in sports overall.
The benefits of working this way are that it is a more relaxed environment and people aren’t so pressurized. Meaning they can learn things at their own pace and in the order, they want to.


This article was written by Karolin Kasper, Estonian volunteer in Praxis Greece
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Most common misconceptions about sharks

22/3/2021

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 As children, many people watched cartoons or read books with animals as the main characters. Even though it is clear now that talking animals don’t exist in real life, a lot of people are not aware of the many misconceptions these books and cartoons spread.

  Probably the most commonly misunderstood, and -treated animals on our planet are sharks. Mention the word “shark” and the first thing that comes to most people’s head is fear and disgust. They are constantly portrayed as notorious killers that will attack and eat any living thing that comes near them, but are they the blood-thirsty killers as they are believed to be? 
 In reality, shark attacks are extremely rare. According to the Florida Museum of Natural History's International Shark Attack File, sharks kill around 6 people per year worldwide.
 You are at greater risk of dying from almost anything else than from being attacked by a shark (for example 20 people die from an encounter with cows every year). 
 

  This kind of stigmatization is very convenient to many fishermen, though. With many people being afraid of sharks and not caring about their existence, the gruesome practice of cutting off a live shark’s fins and throwing the rest of the animal back into the sea, where it dies a slow and painful death, takes place in many parts of the world. The fins are used in China and Hong Kong, and by Chinese communities elsewhere in the world, as the key ingredient in shark-fin soup. In recent decades, the demand for shark-fin soup has increased rapidly. Humans kill an estimated 100 million sharks each year. All things considered, we are hurting sharks a lot more than they are hurting us. 
  For example, oceanic whitetip sharks were once thought to have been among the most numerous open ocean sharks on the planet. Whitetips have disappeared because of commercial fishing and the shark fin trade - sadly with very little scientific attention and even less public concern. Sharks cannot sustain high levels of fishing. They grow slowly, have relatively few young ones, and take a long time to mature. 
  Shark populations have little to no chance of repairing the damage to their populations if we continue to kill them at the rate we are going.
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  Some might think that sharks live in the ocean and hence, are not important to humans, but in reality, their disappearance would disrupt entire ocean ecosystems. As apex predators, they are at the top of the food chain and help to regulate other sea animal populations, if not, there would quickly be a huge imbalance, which would greatly affect the coral reefs that humans depend on too. (over 500 million people depend on reefs for food, jobs, and coastal defense. The ridges in coral reefs act as barriers, providing crucial protection from threats such as tsunamis). 
   In addition, sharks preserve healthier fish populations (many of which are necessary as seafood for humans) by feeding on the old and sick prey.
 
​
 Even though sharks are an important part of the marine ecosystem, they are slaughtered ruthlessly. And yet, not many are concerned about this issue. The purpose of this article was to bring more awareness to the most common misconceptions about sharks.
  Maybe by learning the truth, more people will move to protect these fish.
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References:
https://welovesharks.club/7-of-the-most-common-misconceptions-about-sharks/
https://www.discoverwildlife.com/animal-facts/fish/what-is-shark-finning-and-why-is-it-a-problem/

Margarita keerd

Margarita is an Estonian volunteer in Praxis Organisation, involved in the World Wildlife Day. 

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International Women’s Day 2021

20/3/2021

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The activity we worked on from the 2nd of March until the 23rd of March was the  campaign for International Women’s Day. We are two volunteers who worked on this  campaign: Mirzana Bexheti and Lucila Piedra.  

We wanted to cause a big impact in the community of Serres for this campaign so  although we had to do some online activities because of the pandemic we thought of  ways of getting the message to more people without having to interact that much  directly and in conformity with the restrictions. The resources we used for this  campaign were: a big white textile-sheet and purple paint to create posters that we  hung up at the Praxis office which is located in the center of Serres; purple ribbon to  hand out to women from Serres and invite them to participate in the world campaign  “Choose to Challenge”, in total we distributed 50 bracelets; we used cameras,  tripods, and mobiles phones to report all of the activities we did; we used our  computers to post everything on social media, edit the videos, the radio broadcast,  write the article and for any kind of contacting. 

For this campaign, we did different activities and most of them we did outside in  different locations of Serres. Inside we created the poster. Although we wanted to do  it outside to have a bigger impact, it was not possible because of the pandemic. We  also had an All-Female Rave broadcast on the local radio.  

Working method: This time, we decided that both of us would have the same  responsibilities, so we coordinated all of the activities together.  

Purpose: International Women’s Day is for us one of the most important campaigns  we have worked on because we are aware of the inequalities that exist between  women and men worldwide. This is why we chose this campaign.  

We didn’t want the pandemic to take away the importance of this day and came up  with creative ideas that would make this campaign have a big impact, especially at a  local level. 
To begin with, we wanted to spread the message about this day and its importance  as much as possible. To achieve this, we created the posters, we interacted with the  people from Serres, we posted daily on social media and we created a broadcast  suitable to the music taste of the young people of Serres and encouraged them to  listen to it.  
Once we reached the people and spread the message, the next step was to invite  the people to participate in this campaign. For this, we decided to hand out the purple  ribbon and take pictures of women from Serres and post this content on our social  media platforms. This was one of the most successful activities as we were able to  reach many people. And also, it had a big impact on our social media platforms as  our followers increased and our posts reached significantly more people. As the  participants of the challenge were interested in the posts and most likely shared them  with friends and family. 
The aim of the campaign was not only to reach the people of Serres but also the  team of Praxis. To encourage their participation, we came up with activities that we  thought would be educational but also fun for them, such as painting the poster,  participating in the Self-Defense workshop, being part of “Choose to Challenge” and  asking them to spread the voice about all of our activities.  

We started with brainstorming and organizing our thoughts and ideas, then  established our working methods, set deadlines for each activity and distributed the  tasks. When it was time to carry out all the activities, we documented everything from  our activity. 

Debriefing: For this campaign, we didn’t create questionnaires, something that we  have used in many of our previous campaigns. But this campaign implicated a lot of  direct interaction with people and also through social media. That is why we  determined that the best evaluation for this campaign would be through the  engagement of our social media platforms.  
We made new connections with people by sharing our social media platforms where  they could find themselves participating in the campaign. The interactions with our  posts were multiplied and this is how we knew, we did have an impact.  

Possible alternatives: We chose very carefully the activities we could carry out for  this campaign. We were aware of the main difficulties we would face such as the  restrictions of the pandemic, the unlikeliness to participate in the campaign of some  people because it implied getting their picture taking and sharing it on social media,  and so we planned the activities around these difficulties. However, some difficulties  we did not expect and we had to improvise.  

When it comes to the restrictions we had some difficulties. Our first idea for example  was to paint the poster outside in the park so the pedestrians that walked by would  see what we were working on. This was not possible so we chose to do it in the  office.  

For the distribution of the purple ribbons for “Choose to Challenge” and for the  interviews, we did of the women who work or own business in Serres we decided to  use our mobile phones and not our professional cameras because that way they  wouldn’t feel so intimidated and feel more open to speaking to us.  Some women were hesitant even though we recorded with a mobile phone because  they didn’t want their image shared on social media. 
Even though we faced some difficulties finding participants we were satisfied with the  final result and it was very rewarding because most of the women were happy to  participate and some shared their opinion on the topic and created a dialogue with  us. 

The main goal of our activities was to spread the message and bring awareness  about the importance of this day. These activities are beneficial for our main target  group, the women of Serres because it is important that they feel part of the change  that directly will affect their lives in some way if the change comes. And we strongly  believe that these activities at least made them reflect the issues we overcome as  women. 

We came up with these activities brainstorming but keeping in mind our real  possibilities:  

1. Posters in Greek with the definition of feminism, with the name of the campaign  and the slogan: Will you be part of the change? We thought it would be good to  create posters because the Praxis office is in the center of Serres and every day we  see many people walk by and look at our posters.  

2. “Choose to Challenge” was part of the global campaign of International Women’s  Day. We thought that it would be a good way to invite the women of the community to  be part of the campaign and also a way of interacting with the women and spreading  the message. We decided to hand out purple ribbon because it's the color that  represents this day and that way they could show their solidarity with the campaign.  

3. All Female Rave broadcast; for all of the campaigns we work on we always have a  broadcast. But for this one, we wanted to do something different. We wanted to focus  on music created by women because in this industry women face many  disadvantages.  
We chose to do an electronic music broadcast because we asked the local people of  Serres about their music tastes and we found this was the most popular. We wanted  as many people as possible to listen, but not only from their homes. We asked the  local businesses to put on the radio for many purposes: to promote International  Women’s Day, have more listeners, give them a chance to promote their businesses  through our social media and get more followers on our social media platforms.  

4. The self-defense workshop was aimed only at the team of Praxis because of the  restrictions of the pandemic. We came up with the idea because we thought it was  important for the volunteers to have training that would be useful for themselves but  also for them to share what they learned with others. Women experience many  violent situations so we thought it would be good for the volunteers to learn self defense techniques so they could be able to confront these situations in case they  ever have to but also to be able to give this same experience to others.  

5. Interviews with the women who work/or own local businesses in Serres. In our  daily errands around the city, we have observed many female workers. But we  wanted to find out if they were owners or workers and we wanted to know their  opinion about different topics related to the inequalities of women but partially  focused on the disadvantages women suffer in working places. The purpose of these  interviews was again to spread the voice to as many people as possible in a direct  way and through our social media but also to have real statistics about women's  importance in the economy of the local community. 

6. Workshop with the Women’s Association of Serres. Not only is it important to know  self-defense and be prepared for the unexpected. But also, we believe it is essential  to know how to identify acts of discrimination, violence, or any injustice women may  overcome in their daily lives.  
Initially, we wanted the previously mentioned self-defense workshop to be organized  by a women’s association and include a part, where one member of the association 
would provide us with the background knowledge on why women need to be able to  defend themselves and how gender predetermines your role in society, but we  couldn’t find an association to provide this kind of workshop for us. That is why we  split it in two and asked the instructor from the local Krav Maga Center to do the self defense workshop for us and contacted the Women’s Association Center for the  workshop providing us with the background knowledge.  

In our previous campaigns, we sometimes felt detached from the local community  because we had to do most of our activities online or just between the volunteers.  For this campaign, our main focus was to be able to interact with our target group  within our real possibilities.  
Inviting the target group to be part of the campaign is the best way to calculate the  impact we have caused.  
​
Originally, we planned social media posts about Greek mythology from a feminist  perspective and how women didn’t get recognition for their paintings in the art scene.  In the end, we didn’t post about these issues, because we decided that our main  target group were the women in Serres. It felt like we build a small community,  because every time we would run into one of the participants, they would ask when  the post goes online or comment on the posts if they had already been posted. Through documenting our activities and involving the women in our social media  posts, the local community was more interested in our posts and we garnered more  attention. 
This on the other hand increased our visibility online, because non-locals were  interested in how we managed to involve people in our campaign and in the end,  surprisingly, we had a bigger impact on social media than with our previous online  campaigns.

Mirzana Bexheti and Lucila piedra harris

Mirzana and Lucila are volunteers in Praxis organisation involved in the International day for women's rights campaign.

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An insight of the process from an idea to action. Cleaning the Kerkini Lake

19/3/2021

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     I still remember how it felt on 3rd of September when I came to the radio station for the first time. 
     I was in our project manager’s car, and I vaguely remember if I actually saw the other volunteers out on the street or it was just my mind playing with me. 
     The studio from the radio, somehow, felt very familiar, yet the reason why it felt like this is still unknown to me, but I remember how I was looking at the rest of the volunteers, and I’m not gonna lie, I was very scared, and excited, but a bit more scared. 
     No expectations. That’s what I told myself before joining the project, no expectations this time, and I’m so glad that was the mindset I started with. I can relieve the feeling of the unknown and, hopefully, I wasn’t the only one. It feels surreal how little knowledge I had about the radio and how many things I can do about it now. I feel like I went from zero to one hundred real quick. 
     I was super excited about my first radio broadcast and what I loved was how much interest I could have for it, like I actually planed many broadcasts – music and text – in advance, just because I adored the feeling I got by just being in the studio, and what really motivated me was when the project manager proposed my blueprint for the broadcast as a model for everyone. That was when I knew I could actually have a good impact on the project.
     Months passed by, activities, workshops, radio broadcasts and many other things that we did during the pandemic, but probably the most impactful outdoor activity that we did, considering the lockdown and covid regulations, was proposed by our Spanish volunteer, Lucila Piedra. 
     We have our weekly meeting every Tuesday from 11am, and they last as long as they need to, it may vary according to the time of the month and if it’s before, during or after the campaigns. Usually before the campaigns the meetings are shorter, and during they are longer, I’m not gonna lie, sometimes they are longer that they should be, but that’s just part of the job and a lot of great things can come up from brainstorming sessions and many things you see on our socials come from these meetings.
     After we are being presented the new campaigns, and especially if we get a bit of experience after a while, we can choose the campaign we want and we can prepare alone or with another volunteer, which makes the fun part, that being collaborating with someone you enjoy spending time with and sharing each other’s perspective it’s just incredible.
     Usually we prepare a lot for the campaigns, we create posters for the social medias, we announce it in advance, our audience must know what we plan to do, then we have everything prepared for the off-line, which can mean a workshop or whatever activity you can think of, as long as it respects the methodology and people have fun learning. 
     During the day of the campaign, our social media banners are always in accordance with the campaign running, and the feed of our accounts has to be full of content, from interactive instagram stories, to articles on mediart blog and especially facebook posts. And of course, the only thing that can never miss, that being the radio broadcast and for it we also have to prepare a radio spot a few weeks in advance of the actual dates of the campaigns so it can run daily on Rodon FM. 
     Lucy had an incredible idea about how we can make a small impact while respecting the covid regulation and having an outdoor activity, hence she proposed we might go and clean at the Kerkini lake, a lake that’s around 60 km away from Serres, and we had to do extra planning considering we needed transport. Yet, in no time, we found solutions as a team and we organized in groups going with different cars, at that time we were allowed to go only 3 people in a car. 
     She spoke with the manager of the lake and we got permission to come and clean with some other local volunteers, and I must admit, that experience changed a lot about how I perceive my trash, because even if I drop it by accident or not, I have no idea where it might end up, all I know is that I definitely don’t want it to get into a lake that ‘hosts 227 kind of birds, 76 of them are recorded in the National Red Catalogue, while at least 31 of them are protected by EEC’s Directive concerning wildlife. What makes an exceptional presence is the buffalo’s herd in the area, plus the one of the jackelo in the area of Kerkini lake. In the surrounding area of Kerkini lake there are at least 10 amphibian species (frogs, salamanders, tritons), five snail species, 19 reptile species (lizards, snakes, turtles) and a great variety of insects which play an important part in the food chain and contribute towards the biological resources of the lake. Human intervention usually retracts or takes negative action against the natural processes, Kerkini lake is a rare example, where gentle human handling had the exact opposite result.’
     You can check Lucy’s article about the Kerkini lake by clicking here.
     You can also find Lucy’s interview with the lake manager down below:
Picture
© Lucila Piedra
Picture
© Lucila Piedra

Article wrote by Ionut-Marian Ionescu, Romanian volunteer in Praxis Greece.
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With Brexit, should French become the new European Union’s language of diplomacy?

16/3/2021

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Since WWII, english became the main language of International diplomacy. And as European Union began to construct, english have been the main working language between the different European Union’s Institutions. 

Before the brexit, a statistic has proven that 84% of official documents in these institutions were originally written in english before being translated. That shows the hegemony english language has in all matters regarding politic, economy or civil society. 

But since the official exit of United Kingdom, on January 1st 2020, some voices have been raised to propose to consider french as a new official language for diplomacy in European Union to put a stop to this british hegemony. But would it be realistic to go through such a big change in our policy?

​French, the most spoken language among European Union Countries since brexit

After United Kingdom officially quits the Union, only 1% of the European Union is left with english as an official language (Republic of Ireland and Malta). Compared to that 18% of European Union citizen have french as an official language. French would seem a good successor, but that would be implying other countries accepting french to gain this kind of power on other countries.  

Also, historically, french have already been a language of diplomacy by the 13th century, when french was the most widely spoken language in Europe. An ordinance passed in 1539 even officially claimed for french to be the official language of  diplomacy through the continent. And it stayed like this for few century, especially during 17th and 18th century, a time when french was spoken in every royal court around Europe, even if english was still most spoken in the world, due to Great Britain having the biggest colonial empire. 

The end of this french prominency truly started to end after WWII and the creation of United Nations Organisation and then North Atlantic Treaty Organisation where english was mostly used. As United States became a world leader in the second part of the 20th century, english became the language of official trades, and the second language learned at school. 

But could french take back this influence in the old continent? Probably not… first of all because it would create a difference of language in the diplomacy inside, and in the foreign diplomacy with countries outside of europe. So changing language now would probably be out of question.

 too complicated to change the work language of the institutions

There were some articles that questioned the fact that english could not be one of the official languages of European Union anymore, should Ireland change their official language for Gaelic and Malta for maltese. But the European Union already confirmed in 2016 that there should be no change and that such a big modification would need a unanimous vote at the European Council, something that is very unlikely to happen. 

For now, changing the official language of diplomacy so abruptly is out of question. It would be so difficult to translate all documents and maybe find new interpreters to start anew. But would it be possible to change bit by bit to get french more used in European Union institutions? Definitely not… English is still so widely used and most spoken among officials and especially young persons that it’s still the language that most have more proficiency. 

In the majority of the countries, english is still the first language that students start to learn from a young age. Even if the importance of english will drop it’s importance as the first official language, the fact that people have more knowledge in english rather than french will still remain. 

Also changing language just because United Kingdom left European Union wouldn’t make sense and it would be quite a stretch to change the system of using english just for these reasons. 

And let’s be honest, as beautiful and rich french language may be, english is still much easier to learn… especially the grammar!

​

Marianne Yotis

Marianne is a french volunteer in Praxis organisation, involved in the World French Language day campaign.

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