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1. Fostering equality and young people involvement through cultural activities

2. Combating discrimination and poverty through cultural activities

Fostering equality and young people involvement through cultural activities

The recent initiative, ‘Larnaka 2030- European Capital of Culture’ places strong emphasis on youth participation, co-creation, and innovative cultural engagement. As part of its action, dedicated structures such as the Children and Youth Working Group and the Young Co-Creators platform actively involve young people in shaping cultural activities and policies through regular meetings, international exchanges, and collaboration with cultural organisations. In addition, participatory initiatives such as the Co-Creators Assembly, provides the opportunity for young people, artists, and communities to contribute to the design of the cultural programme, transforming them from passive audiences into active cultural producers.

Furthermore, festivals such as the Cyprus Arts and Education (CARE) Festival, developed within the Larnaka 2030 framework, promote access to culture through interdisciplinary activities combining arts, education, and social themes. Through workshops, performances, and storytelling activities, many of which target children and young people, the initiative fosters creativity, inclusion, and engagement with contemporary cultural issues, often incorporating innovative and participatory approaches.

The special education schools for children with special needs offer a variety of artistic opportunities to their students, such as music therapy and art classes, but also training opportunities in arts professions. They also organise events where the public participate, in an effort to foster social integration and to build students’ self- confidence.

The Cyprus National Addictions Authority (NAAC) in collaboration with the Cyprus Theatre Organisation (THOC) in a joint effort to address addictions through culture, and with the aim of raising public awareness on the issue of addictions in a broader context, have agreed on actions to support the inclusion of vulnerable youth (section 8.8 Synergies and partnerships).

In addition, as outlined in section 8.4 Promoting culture and cultural participation THOC offers various programmes that facilitate access and participation of young people to cultural activities, such as the:

• Annual Pancyprian school theatre competition: Within the context of the Pancyprian School Theatre Games, co-organised with the Ministry of Education, Sport and Youth, THOC presents training workshops for educators assigned to stage productions and also provides schools with financial support.

• ‘Valitsa’ workshops. These two-day scenography and theatrical play workshops (Εργαστήρια Βαλίτσα) are provided to minors (regardless of origin) who live in juvenile facilities.  They are exclusively implemented for young people under the age of 18.

• ‘Theatre Retreat’ (Θεατρικό Καταφύγιο): The activities of the ‘Theatre Retreat’  are considered as actions of support, creative solidarity and theatrical development. The activities, with minimum or no charges are accessible to the public and aim to strengthen the audience's relationship with the theatre, The motivation behind the planning of these activities is solidarity, mutual help, support of as many groups as possible from the culture and theatre sector. The people from the ‘Theatrical Shelter’ initiative offer, among others, workshops, guided tours, educational programmes and organised visits to schools.

Combating discrimination and poverty through cultural activities

The Ministry of Education, Sport and Youth implements targeted inclusion measures through the programme “Actions for Social and School Inclusion+ (DRA.SE.+)” («Δράσεις Σχολικής και Κοινωνικής Ένταξης- ΔΡΑ.Σ.Ε.+»). ‘DRA.SE.+’ is a top-level programme that contributes to preventing and reducing poverty and overcoming cultural diversity and discrimination amongst students and their families. The activities of the programme include among others, art and music classes. For more information on the programme, refer to section 6.3 Preventing early leaving from education and training - Formal education: main policy measures on ELET of Chapter 6 ‘Education and Training’.

Moreover, the ‘Youth Initiatives’ programme of the Youth Board of Cyprus, mentioned also in section 8.4 Reducing obstacles to young people’s access to culture, gives access to young people and youth NGO’s to funding in order to realise their own cultural activities and offer them to other young people either for free or on a very low cost.

Similarly, as already mentioned in section 8.5 Acquiring cultural and creative competences through education and training, the Adult Education Centres, offered in rural and urban areas, is a basic programme that facilitates young people’s (over 15 years old) participation in cultural activities and lifelong learning opportunities. A lot of youth clubs, which are mainly organised in small villages, take advantage of the programme thus offering it, in this way, especially to young people.