Purpose: Within the project "Braga: an Intercultural Journey", Human Library sessions are promoted in the schools of the municipality, until December 2021.
The Human Library is a strategy of social innovation: it aims to promote dialogue and respect for human rights, and to combat stereotypes.
Stimulus/Rationale: What stories do people who arrive in Portugal have to tell, after leaving family members behind, changing careers and deciding to start life again in a strange place at first glance? The activity of the Human Library, of the DiverCidade Braga Project – An Intercultural Journey, aims to hear the real stories of immigrants who chose Braga to live.
Besides the online videos and occasional “Human Libraries” events, this activity is also promoted in schools (online or face-to-face, lasting 30 min), promoting intercultural dialogue and the deconstruction of stereotypes, fostering the inclusion and integration of migrants in the school ecosystem.
Process: In this Library, the "Books" are replaced by people who interact with the readers in a climate of mutual learning. Through a storytelling format, the Human Library, one of the five components of the Project, is a place where there are no physical books, but real stories of volunteers who are willing to tell their experience as an immigrant living in Braga. In conversation, which then becomes a synopsis like a real book, the participants share the challenges, opinions and perspectives with the aim of fostering rapprochement between the populations.
The initiative, developed under the DiverCidade Braga Project – An Intercultural Journey, aims to present the lives of those who chose Braga to live and managed to establish a new life in the city of Braga. Thinking about the large numbers of the immigrant population that has landed in the city of Minho in recent years, the DiverCidade Braga Project aims to combat stereotypes and prejudices related to immigrants. This initiative, promoted by the Municipality of Braga, seeks to know the different cultures existing within the same space, while promoting dialogue between the various communities that inhabit Braga.
From Senegal to Côte d'Ivoire, passing through Brazil, Ukraine, Chile, Timor and so many other countries, the participants of this project also tell the challenges they faced when emigrating to a new country. Why did you decide to leave your home country? Why did you choose Braga as your destination? What are the differences? Do you plan to return? These are some of the questions that are tackled during the face to face events and on the PodCast and VodCast Branded Stories participants answer to make their story known.
If there are those who have come in the recent migratory wave of recent years, there are also those who have already been in Minho lands for more than 20 years and share the positive evolution of the city, especially in terms of reception and integration. In addition to the security, the serviceability, the green spaces and the history of Braga are still some compliments pointed out by immigrants who consider Braga their home.
Impact: 17 human books participated in the face to face initiatives and shared their stories, and 108 videos with testimonials were published in the Vodcast. See here the human books that have already participated in the Project.
Key reference documents: More information can be found on the website of the Project "Braga: an Intercultural Journey". The videos, in VodCasts format, are also available on YouTube and the PodCasts are on Spotify. Follow the Project's Facebook page to see everything firsthand.
