Coloured Glasses

Coloured Glasses refers to the well-known analogy of the sunglasses which represents the cultural filters through which we observe and interpret reality and are a set of tolerance workshops designed to introduce young people to the concepts of intercultural learning and raise awareness on problems in society caused by intolerance.

In 1996, a EEE-YFU project resulted in the creation of a manual entitled Coloured Glasses: a Resource Manual for Intercultural Education which contains ready-to-use workshops on intercultural learning for use in secondary schools (14-18 year olds).

The workshop is tailored for both teachers and students and uses interactive non-formal education methods. Participants explore and learn about values, cultural differences, stereotypes, non-verbal and verbal communication as well as identity.

The workshop is tailored for both teachers and students and uses interactive non-formal education methods. Participants explore and learn about values, cultural differences, stereotypes, non-verbal and verbal communication as well as identity.

The manual was used during a European Voluntary Service (EVS) project in 1999, which ran parallel in Estonia and Germany. Since then, the manual has gone through several revisions and updates, mainly in YFU Germany who continues to extensively use this programme. European organisations have sporadically been involved in organising Coloured Glasses workshops in schools in order to improve school relations and increase visibility of YFU since the 1990s.

The interactive workshops have been a way to demonstrate YFU’s expertise in intercultural learning especially with teachers and school students. In more recent years, individual YFU organisations have used European funding (European Voluntary Service programme) to bring volunteers from other countries to conduct these workshops, giving an added value to the workshops and to the capacity of the YFU organisation.

The World's Coloured Glasses EVS Project

In 2012, EEE-YFU partnered with nine YFU organisations in order to run 'The World's Coloured Glasses' workshops in the frame of the European Voluntary Service (EVS) with 15 volunteers in Europe, America and Asia.

The aim of this project is to develop a new coloured glasses manual that will take advantage of the fact that there will be such a wide diversity of cultures involved in running the coloured glasses workshops. The volunteers will contribute examples from Asia, Latin America and Europe, making it more culturally inclusive.

Read about the experiences of EVS volunteers around the world.

This project was made possible by the Youth in Action programme