THARA

a roma teens' project

produced by
kanonmedia
Romano Drom
Verein Alte Fleischerei backbone
Volkshilfe Österreich Equal Gemeinn. Gmbh
waff pm gmbh

EP nEwC_baselines: THARA

vienna, 2004 - 2006

THARA is a competence network of

kanonmedia as a NGO with expertise in New Technologies in the
context of sociocultural applications,

romanodrom as a Roma and Sinti-NGO working in the context of intercultural exchange, being able to offer deep insight into Roma and Sinti identity and culture and prepared to share this knowledge with international partners.

Verein Alte Fleischerei (backbone) as a social&youth workers' NGO specialised on streetwork, and

Volkshilfe Oesterreich , as a non-governmental and non profit organisation, a human rights and lobby organisation in the tradition of the workers welfare movements providing a broad range of social services.

overall strategies & content

within major parts of the Austrian society strong fears of and resentments against Roma and Sinti still can be felt.

as the life of adult representatives of the Roma and Sinti cultures is characterized by forms of living having strongly developed out of a segregation from the mainstreams of society, activities in regard to an integration of Roma and Sinti need to start with teens at the latest.

In nearly all cases lacking or very bad school leaving certificates inhibit the access of Roma and Sinti teens to the labour market.

the foundation of the first job orientation centre run by members of the concerned target group themselves in Austria, the THARA
a pilotproject with highly innovative character.

with THARA, Roma and Sinti in Vienna can rely upon a culture-immanent contact point focussing on culture-specific problems of the labour market - for the first time in history.

the following tools and models for working with the teens are developed:

- activation programme/curriculum

- development of a train the trainer programme and the product guidelines for youth work with Roma and Sinti

- new job descriptions and fields of work and the Info tool new occupational visions for Roma and Sinti

- A structural model for the introduction of starter places for socially disadvantaged teens in large companies and the practical implementation of corporate social responsibilities

with these tools the trainers of THARA will be well prepared to work with trainees in the following fields:

media lab

individual learning at home and individual trainings including computer workshops - team work projects at THARA aiming at the compensation of educational deficits and an increase of the general level of education, depending on individual needs.

the THARA homepage will be an interactive weblog which guarantees the continuous and sustainable publication of process developments on an international scale, as well as the option for the teens to publish their own content, thus becoming autonomous editors of a teens' weblog. They themselves can contribute to a reduction of anti-gypsism and to closer encounters between cultures.

job orientation

job orientation including theme workshops: continuous coaching and activation of the teens for the increase of the willingness and capacities to develop job visions and realistic job expectations and to undertake active steps to achieve the goal developed, accompanied by the creative use of culture-immanent methods of cultural understanding in combination with the use of ICT for the increase of self-esteem, the strengthening of identity, self-activation and job orientation.

in the framework of open performances and the staging of a teens' media lab the teens can present the [computer] skills trained in the course of Individual Trainings, Computer and Theme Workshops.

the teens get in touch with other cultures and experience integrative approaches, thus increasing a preparedness to trust youth and social welfare institutions. the prepared-ness to accept help “from outside” grows.

job counselling/job placing

continuous counselling for teens and family members, active job placing and coaching of the teens under intensive networking and cooperation with public authorities and organizations being active in the field of labour market policy.

open public events, such as theme-oriented speeches and presentations, parents' conferences und kids' presentations for parents, offer a good opportunity for the operative teams of the modules to activate adult family members who are well respected within their communities.

A further benefit of our inquiries is the systematisation of the teens' media archive in regard to the initiation of a sustainable teens' library for the kids and the production of an Info Tool Box DVD in several languages for the know-how transfer between partners and the dissemination of information on a national and transnational basis.

photo by susanne meitz

photo by susanne meitz

photo by susanne meitz

THARA is an initiative of the associations kanonmedia, Romano Drom, Verein Alte Fleischerei - backbone, Volkshilfe Österreich Equal Gemeinn. Gmbh and the WAFF Program Management Gmbh. Thara is funded within the framework of the nEwC_baselines project of the European Union Iniative EQUAL by means of the European Social Fund and means of the Austrian Federal Ministry for Economics and Employment. Strategic partners are the Arbeiterkammer Wien, the Fonds Soziales Wien, the Landesjugendreferat der Stadt Wien, the Wiener ArbeitnehmerInnen Förderungsfonds and the Wirtschaftskammer Wien.

THARA has been awarded as 2nd winner of the Innovation Price of the City of Vienna 2006.

THARA has been featured by
--- tep / vie / a / 07
--- best of the web directory / int / 07
--- reed exhibitions messe wien / vienna / austria / 07
--- toolia / germany / 07
--- oe1.orf.at / vienna / austria / 07
--- european social fund / vienna / austria / 07
--- apa / vienna / austria / 07
--- emn / vienna / austria / 07
--- webservice der stadt wien / vienna / austria / 06
--- webservice der bezirksvorstehung margareten / vienna / austria / 06
--- mund / vienna / austria / 06
--- waff / vienna / austria / 06
--- volksgruppen.orf.at / vienna / austria / 06
--- radio kaktus / vienna / austria / 06
--- wiener integrationskonferenz / vienna / austria / 06
--- puls tv / vienna austria / 06
--- bmsg.gv.at / vienna / austria / 06
--- ikap / vienna / austria / 06
--- backbone / vienna / austria / 06
--- der standard / vienna / austria / 06
--- wien.orf.at / vienna / austria / 06
--- mahalla / italy / 06
--- dRoma / graz / austria / 06
--- equal common database / brussels / belgium / 05
--- zara / vienna / austria / 05

kanonmedia, non - profit org for new media, 12/24, richtergasse, 1070 vienna, t: ++43 - [0] - 6991 - 820 70 03