In the lead up to the World Day of Migrants & Refugees, JRS Europe and partners launch CHANGE. CHANGE is a project that builds a society in which everyone is welcome and can participate.

JRS Europe is committed to making CHANGE happen together with JRS Croatia, JRS Hungary, JRS Ireland, JRS Italy, Stanislas College in the Netherlands, JRS Malta, JRS Portugal and ALBOAN in Spain. CHANGE’s focus on education through critical thinking and value formation on migration and refugee issues is of critical importance to the CHANGE partners. We believe that it is young people who will shape the attitudes and societies of tomorrow and we want to help form and enable young people to make a CHANGE in their schools and local communities.

CHANGE, through a defined 6–stage educational course facilitated by teachers, aims to encourage students to think critically on the subject of refugees and migration, to distinguish facts from opinions, and to recognise prejudices and stereotypes. In this way, students will be able to make their own, well-founded judgments. By giving students meaningful knowledge, experiences, encounters, and new perspectives, CHANGE seeks to form young people who are ready to face and embody their role in building a society in which everyone is welcome and has the opportunity to participate.

CHANGE provides a platform for refugees to share their stories directly with students, enabling refugees to speak in classrooms, and to share their experience of living in Europe, as well as their hopes and dreams for the future. Through this platform, CHANGE will provide a opportunity for encounter between refugees and young people, with the goal to foster a sense of understanding and connection.

Another component of CHANGE is the Student Ambassador programme, which encourages students to get more involved and to engage in a minimum of two concrete actions, such as small-scale events, campaigns or service projects, to share what they have learned with their school or local communities. Students then communicate these experiences across social media using the hashtag #IamCHANGE.

Together – students, teachers and refugees – all have a role to play in CHANGE. Learning, teaching and sharing experiences during moments of encounter facilitate the changing of perspectives and contribute towards the creation of the society that we want to live in.

Visit the CHANGE website to learn more. On the site, you can find information about the 6-stage course, the Student Ambassador programme and check-out the CHANGE blog. You can follow and share about CHANGE on social media using the hashtags #IamCHANGE and #2gether4CHANGE.

This project is co-funded by the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) of the European Union.

JRS Europe is an international Catholic organisation with a mission to serve, accompany and advocate on behalf of refugees and others who are forcibly displaced.