There is lots of exciting stuff happening at Dialogue Cafe this week.

Today, we have artist Nuno Godinho from the Atelier Concorde art collective talking about creativity in the global world – specifically about mobility and how mobility influences the work of artists.

Tomorrow we have Portuguese NGO, Batoto Yetu talking about their work with young people in Lisbon. Batoto Yetu Portugal (BYP) is a non-profit youth and culture organization, established in 1996 by the choreographer and founder Júlio Leitão, with the support of the Luso-American Foundation and the Oeiras City Council. Batoto Yetu, which stands for “our children”, in Swahili, works with young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, helping them to (re)discover traditional African dance and music in order to explore their roots or get acquainted with different cultures and traditions. Batoto Yetu seeks to foster the self-esteem and self-awareness of the young people they work with so that they can become active citizens and confident and responsible leaders in the future. Since 1996, Batoto Yetu has trained more than 1000 dancers and musicians, giving over 300 performances in national and international theatres.

On Thursday, we have José Neto talking about his project art&mente®  and on Friday we have a performance from OMIRI, a project developed by Vasco Casais e Tiago Pereira.

Join the discussions at MUDE or UCAM!

The Dialogue Café Association is looking for dynamic, entrepreneurial and creative partners to host and manage a Dialogue Café in London. This is an amazing opportunity to take part in a groundbreaking social venture.     

Dialogue Café is a non-profit initiative, which uses state of the art video conferencing technology to enable face-to-face conversations between diverse groups of people from around the world so that they can share experiences, learn from each other and work together to make the world a better place. The first two Dialogue Cafés in Lisbon and Rio de Janeiro are already open.

Now we’re looking for partners to host a Dialogue Café in London.

We’re already working with schools, museums, foundations, community hubs, local governments and others to bring Dialogue Café to Sao Paulo, Toronto, New York, Mexico City, Ramallah, Tel Aviv, Florence, Amsterdam, Cairo and Istanbul over the next few months. By the end of 2011, we will have 20 Dialogue Cafés open all around the world.

For more information download this document or visit Dialogue Cafe.

The deadline for proposals is now Monday 27th September.

Join us at MUDE or UCAM!

SIX, EUCLID and the European Commission want to know about your social innovations!

There is no shortage of social innovations in Europe. And yet despite this, the field of social innovation has yet to mature enough to be up to the multitude of presenting social challenges.

The European Commission is supporting the Social Innovation Exchange (SIX) and Euclid Network to identify 10 large-scale successful examples of socially innovative initiatives, with the aim of raising the profile of social innovation across Europe and creating an impact beyond the established social innovation community.

Our goal is to showcase 10 socially innovative initiatives which can help people in Europe and beyond to understand and promote social innovation.

The 10 selected projects will be used by the European Commission as case studies in future communication about social innovation in the EU. The projects will also be featured in an official European Commission publication on social innovation which will be distributed across Europe.

Download more information and visit the This is European Social Innovation webpage and have a look at some of the entries that we have already received from across Europe.

Watch videos from Geoff Mulgan, CEO of The Young Foundation and Peter Droell, Head of the Innovation Unit at the European Commission, launching the initiative

Join in the online discussion on Euclid Network’s LinkedIn group: European Civil Society Leaders

Application deadline: 3 September

Today at 14h30 (Lisbon) at Dialogue Cafe, Batoto Yetu will be talking about their work with young people. Batoto Yetu is a non-profit youth and culture organization, established in 1996 by the choreographer and founder Júlio Leitão, with the support of the Luso-American Foundation and the Oeiras City Council. Since 1996, Batoto Yetu, which means “Our Children” in Swahili, has been supporting disadvantaged young people primarily from within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area.

The organisation is based on the idea that despite the diverse and often tough economic and social background of these children, the (re)discovery of traditional African dance and music enables them to explore their roots or get acquainted with different cultures and traditions, fostering their self-esteem and self-awareness and developing a sense of belonging that will help them become active citizens and confident and responsible leaders in the future. At the same time, through this work we will be contributing to a more plural, tolerant and intercultural society.

Since 1996, BYP has helped to train more than 1000 dancers and musicians, giving over 300 performances in national and international theatres, such as the New Jersey Performances Arts Centre and the Apollo Theatre, in New York, as well as special performances in TV shows from the four main Portuguese television networks.

In December 1996, in partnership with the Luso-American Foundation, the Oeiras City Council and the school district of Caxias, Oeiras, BYP launched a community development program, funded by the Choices program of the High Commissioner for Immigration and Intercultural Dialogue. This project, named Áfri-Cá: Wings and Roots, allowed Batoto Yetu to expand its social intervention activities, offering greater support to a broader disadvantaged population, mostly from Caxias, Oeiras.

To find out more join us at MUDE or UCAM or contact mude@dialoguecafe.org or ucam@dialoguecafe.org.

 

Today from 13h30 to 15h30 (Brazil) Fernamda Ca plays at Dialogue Cafe!

This week, our Friday performance will be from Fernamda Ca, an up and coming singer/songwriter from Juiz de Fora. For more information on Fernamda Ca see: http://www.myspace.com/fernamdaca.