Colours of belonging : art and belongingness for intercultural young adults.
Spano, Carlo; Pasanen-Stubley, Niina (2025)
2025
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025092925347
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025092925347
Tiivistelmä
This development-oriented thesis addresses the need of intercultural young adults to explore in safe spaces the theme of belonging. A development project was implemented to create a safe event to enhance belongingness by using painting as a medium for artistic expression among intercultural young adults (18-29) living in Finland.
Guided by the safer-space principles, the project uses an art-based approach to empower self-reflection and self-expression. Intercultural young adults explored their sense of belonging through a painting workshop followed by a facilitated peer-discussion. The evaluation data were collected by observations and anonymous feedback form.
The thesis project planning and implementation was conducted in collaboration with the Finnish NGO Familia ry. Familia supports and advocates for intercultural families and youth. Familia´s project MunDuo focuses particular attention on intercultural young adults with one Finnish and one non-Finnish parent.
The results suggest that art-based methods supported by Safer Space Principles can effectively empower participants to express latent emotional needs, allowing them to be visually represented and consecutively discussed in a safe environment. This suggests potential for applying similar approaches on larger-scale projects within intercultural context. The thesis project demonstrated that providing structured safety through the Safer Spaces model and introducing artistic tools for expression foster belonging, self-reflection and empowerment among intercultural youth. The partnership with Familia revealed that such methods do not only benefit participants while also adding value to the stakeholder organization, which is now considering a repetition of the activity. These findings reveal the added value of safe participatory approaches in supporting intercultural identity building and sense of belonging.
Guided by the safer-space principles, the project uses an art-based approach to empower self-reflection and self-expression. Intercultural young adults explored their sense of belonging through a painting workshop followed by a facilitated peer-discussion. The evaluation data were collected by observations and anonymous feedback form.
The thesis project planning and implementation was conducted in collaboration with the Finnish NGO Familia ry. Familia supports and advocates for intercultural families and youth. Familia´s project MunDuo focuses particular attention on intercultural young adults with one Finnish and one non-Finnish parent.
The results suggest that art-based methods supported by Safer Space Principles can effectively empower participants to express latent emotional needs, allowing them to be visually represented and consecutively discussed in a safe environment. This suggests potential for applying similar approaches on larger-scale projects within intercultural context. The thesis project demonstrated that providing structured safety through the Safer Spaces model and introducing artistic tools for expression foster belonging, self-reflection and empowerment among intercultural youth. The partnership with Familia revealed that such methods do not only benefit participants while also adding value to the stakeholder organization, which is now considering a repetition of the activity. These findings reveal the added value of safe participatory approaches in supporting intercultural identity building and sense of belonging.