Bigtime Takeover

Creative empowerment for Europe's disadvantaged youth.

The new European project “Bigtime Takeover aims at empowering young people to use their creativity and the potential of technology in positive ways to express themselves on issues that affect directly their lives. It is based on applying the concept of a digital site “takeover” - where the users of a communication platform monopolize it to curate and promote their own message and creative contents. By applying the takeover model, young people from different countries will be engaged in the project and they will have the chance to devise and publish their own Creative Action Projects – i.e.: projects that deploy and develop imaginative creative skills to create positive social change and to benefit the wider community.

Bigtime Takeover will harness the capacities of evolving new digital technologies as a tool for transnational transfer and exchange of these models led by the young people themselves. Starting with creative projects for making a positive change in their local environment, it will incorporate increasing stages of transnational collaboration as young people gain confidence in taking over the power to direct their own expression.

Given the high rate of youth unemployment in Europe and the negative impact of COVID-19 outbreak on the children’s wellbeing, such projects, facilitated by Youth Arts Educators, offer young people a route to develop creative solutions to everyday life issues, engage productively with local stakeholders, develop active citizenship and deepen cultural, social and civic participation.

The Bigtime Takeover partnership consists of 6 organizations from Italy (Associazione Culturale MULAB and MateraHub), UK (Rinova Limited), Cyprus (“Hope for Children” CRC Policy Center), Poland (Fundacja ARTeria) and North Macedonia (Mladisnki Kulturen Centar). Through this international creative network, the project will be implemented in 5 European countries and it will engage young people at risk of social and cultural exclusion, including refugees and migrants. Additionally, the partner organizations will also address the needs of Creative Arts Educators, who play a key role in developing and fostering young people’s creative skills.

Funding reference:

“Bigtime Takeover: creative empowerment for Europe's disadvantaged youth” is co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union (2020-1-IT03-KA227-YOU-020600).