“Soul Kitchen” is a project developed by youth organizations, which work together with young people with fewer opportunities, in five different European countries: Spain, Poland, Italy, Estonia, and France. The project has been thought after having found out those youngsters struggling to have a healthy lifestyle, in alimentation in particular. Project promoters got informed on young people food habits and from this analysis come out a big consumer of prepared food and precooked, of fast food with mostly no youngsters to have this poor attention to their diet, depend on different factors: a frenetic lifestyle, no time management, habits, and a lack of awareness about the danger of this behavior in a long-term period in psycho-physic level. The problem originated because of a lack of occasions that youngsters have to learn how to cook healthy and traditional dishes in a stimulating and funny environment.
Many young people are unfit to cook or are not interested to know tasty alternatives, less harmful for their health, coming also from other cultures. Rarely, youngsters have the possibility to experiment traditional dishes from European kitchen, European cultural heritage. The partners being aware of this situation were thinking how to sensitize young generations to be more aware of what they eat and about the consequences of their health, to improve it through a stimulating approach that fosters their active participation. “Soul kitchen” project came out from this idea and was successful since the beginning among participants.
Activities are based on learning by doing approach through the informal and nonformal methodology to transmit the fundamental values of the project: intercultural dialogue, healthy diet, active citizenship, participation, European awareness. A mix of laboratories, simulations, role games and outdoor activities. As a lot of participants are a risk of social exclusion, is important to foster an active participation and develop transversal competencies like teamwork, public speaking, management, and professional as well. The exchange is self-managed (laboratories and logistical), that will make participant the main characters of this experience, where their role is important to the success of this, and recognize and valorize the contribution of each one.
National groups, before to come in the exchange, will prepare thematic laboratories on culinary and general traditions, of their original country, to share the dedicated moment in agenda. This is an occasion to know better other countries plurality and accepts diversity. Culinary activities are a medium of intercultural dialogue and healthy lifestyle investigation. Further, participants will acquire in uneven contexts and linguistic and logistical abilities. Finally, promoters will have occasion to exchange competencies, capacities, and knowledge in social education, benefitting from various perspectives and experiences to a local, national and international level of each of them.
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