Diversity
EUtopia is a process, where we take the participants from seeing diversity as a reality to diversity as a value. We borrow our definition and understanding of diversity from Queensborough Community College. They have said it well.

Diversity in EUtopia is understood as a process of recognizing our individual differences, and moving beyond merely tolerating them. We think seeing diversity as a descriptive state of affairs is not enough. It is important to also recognize and practice experiencing diversity as a value.

Diversity as a value is a set of conscious practices that includes:

• understanding the interdependence among people, social processes, and environment;
• understanding that diversity is not only about ways of being, but also ways of knowing;
• practicing valuing experiences and knowledge that differs from our own;
• being aware that the discrimination is intersectional and experienced by different people differently, and some groups will have shared experiences;
• recognising how discrimination sustains privileges for some and disadvantages for others;
• accepting that categories of difference are not always fixed, and that individuals can self-identify;
• abstaining from judgement about other people's experience of difference, othering, and discrimination;
• accepting that any contradictions in diversity work does not mean incoherence or a impossibility of action;
• actively building communities not because or in spite of difference, but across them, to work together.

We see diversity as pertaining to individuals with their unique and groups with their shared experiences, and the relationships between them. Diversity needs to be learned and practiced through a value perspective, however much ambiguity it creates.

During the course of EUtopia we unpack diversity from the perspective of changes that are happening in Europe. We look at how they are perceived and talked about. We find the aspects of diversity behind various views. We then de-pack what diversity is really about for us, challenging our own limits. Finally, we repack it for our own youth work: identifying reasoning and values, trying out various lenses to see issues differently, practicing critical thinking and thinking of ways to apply diversity as a value, as topic, tool or approach.

In each EUtopia, irrespective of the focus we choose to use, participants gain a clearer view of what lies behind the concept of diversity. It often turns out to be uncomfortable and sometimes impossible to fully engage in diversity-related work, but it is always useful to see diversity as a complex process, rather than a word of hope, not action.

Social inclusion
Similarly to how we understand diversity, social inclusion in EUtopia is understood as an active and deliberate process. It is not enough to be open to work with diverse groups and individuals. Social inclusion is a process of seeking out and supporting diverse people to access and make use of the resources of the privileged together with them. It is a process of bringing people together and changing systems to fit people, rather than people to fit systems.

Identity (and other kinds of) politics
With its roots in the search for authenticity in the hippy movement, identity politics shifted the attention in the political debate from class to identity.

In EUtopia we move away from the identity politics perspective on diversity, while valuing an individual's right to self-identify and the shared experiences of particular groups. In EUtopia we bring to the front the material and the communal aspects of diversity, seeing discrimination not only as a multifaceted social, but also as a political and economic act.

We believe that the world around us is constantly being created and re-created. Understanding the social, political and economic environments which support structural and systemic inclusion and exclusion can help make sense of particular experiences. But seeing humans as part of bigger structures and processes (e.g. as part of ecosystems) can help broaden the context of those experiences.

Complexity
In EUtopia, we take time to pay attention to complex ways in which people interact with each other and the environments around them. We try to avoid models and generalizations. We explore the interconnectedness of events, people, processes, beliefs across Europe. We add to this mix local contexts, and the contexts that our own perceptions come from. We then try to understand diversity not as a perfect model that describes life, but as an ambiguous way forward in the world which we can never comprehend fully.

Through this, we uncover and see many contradictions in our ways of thinking and being in a diverse community. EUtopia proposes to see this not as an incoherence in the approach, but rather as an opportunity to learn and transform.

EUtopia doesn't work out the same way for everyone. But it certainly gets people to see their own comfort limits of thinking and pushes to venture in increasingly complex territories.

Youth worker as an instrument
EUtopia believes that tools and methods are the extension of the person using them. We believe that tools and methods can not exist apart from the purpose they were created or used for. A professional working with youth has to be clear about the purpose and intention of their work. This is why a large part of the EUtopia process is focused on personal development of the participants. Participants work to reflect and understand their own relationship with diversity and also with their work. They then think of ways to apply diversity from a values perspective to their tasks and activities, using it as a topic, tool, or an approach. During the very last Lab participants move on to developing tools to work with diversity.

The personal development aspect is very present throughout the EUtopia process, and centers around the competencies needed to work with diversity and complexity.

A variety of tools and methods are used in EUtopia to allow the participants explore diversity and deepen their understanding of its complexity.

DIVE is a tool that encourages the participants to understand where the divergent perspectives stem from. DIVE is an acronym that stands for: Describe, Interpret, Verify and Evaluate. It is a model that describes how we “dive” into different cultural perspectives. Starting from observing reality, it proposes that we should stay on the level of describing it for as long as possible, before we move to interpreting the meanings and background of different cultural phenomena. When we think that we understand what is happening and why things are the way they are, we are moving to the level of interpretation. What is essential is to verify with a cultural informant whether our interpretations are true or not, before we move on to evaluating it and associating a value to what we are observing. If we skip the verification part, we risk getting stuck with our own understanding of the reality, which is only one of the possible interpretations. If we assess diverse cultural elements based on our own interpretation without verifying it with the other side, we are setting the basis for judging and reinforcing our own stereotypes about the way things and people are. This is the approach that EUtopia participants are encouraged to apply in thinking about diversity.

Lenses of diversity is an important part of the EUtopia approach, in which we encourage perspective taking and exploring things from different aspects. Through a debate exercise and other methods, we put participation in a situation in which they look at social, political and economic issues from different value perspectives. In this way we are showing the participants how the set of personal values plays a critical role in how the world is seen. Hence, we aim at reaching a better understanding of the different approaches to society building and underlying concepts and rules for living together. Participants challenge their own points of view and learn to empathise with others that have different values.

Study visits are an essential element of EUtopia. During the first residential lab, while participants are exploring the meaning and complexity of diversity in different contexts, they are introduced to a real situation in which they can observe a diversity of values and opinions in practice. Traditionally, for this purpose we have been using the example of the 9th of May celebration in Latvia, when two celebrations are happening at the same time - the Victory against fachism and Europe day. After they are introduced with the theoretical models, the participants are introduced to participants in both celebrations and are asked to talk to them using an approach that leads to deeper understanding, instead of judging. Then they have an opportunity to attend the events and meet real people, all the while practicing divergent thinking and applying different lenses of diversity for the sake of understanding the reasons and motivations behind people’s behaviours. This approach allows for applying the theories in real life and changing the way in which we approach the complex social realities. Study visits are always followed by an in-depth of the process and the learning outcomes.

Dealing with ambiguity is an attitude that is promoted throughout the whole EUtopia lab. While we recognise that it is not necessarily pleasant, dealing with ambiguity is an essential element of critically evaluating diversity and learning about its complexity. To understand how different values and personal backgrounds play a role in the way people think, live and shape the society, we need to be prepared to leave behind our own perspectives and enter in situations that we are not used to. In that space of ambiguous reality we can explore the different understanding that we and the others have about the world, and we can start grasping the complex differences behind it. Being able to live in a reality that is not clearly defined is a key to truly perceiving diversity in all its complexity.

EUtopia (1) explores the complex and diverse realities of young people in a changing Europe, (2) prepares youth workers to better respond to those realities by applying a values-based perspective on diversity, and (3) provides support for reshaping their youth work practices.

Through the four parts of the EUtopia process we follow a particular flow, including the following elements in the learning process:

opening the field → canvassing the diverse points of view and reasoning → getting sensitized to complexity of experiences and being, not only viewpoints → building empathy → building comfort around ambiguity → value-building around diversity → reflecting on own practice of diversity and youth work → deliberating action → piloting own action and analysis → desinging tools → reframing concepts

Policy frameworks often see youth work as a panacea for solutions of social, economic, and collective safety issues. At the same time youth work is forced to adopt the business-like outlook on effectiveness, indicators and impact measurements. This puts youth workers in the front line of dealing with nearly every socio economic challenge in the most effective, efficient and expedient way.

But youth work at its best is one where it really closely notices a human. It understands every young person as a value. It builds relationships where trust is at the core, and where any sense of manipulation can break that fragile trust. This is especially important when working with youth that have already lost faith in a world that cares and gives time for them to be them.

In EUtopia we are advocating for youth work to step away from responding to calls to help solve burning major and systemic issues in the most cost-effective and efficient way. We advocate for a return to the slow youth work, without fast-changing priorities and policy foci. We advocate for youth work that focuses on relationships with young people and looks for best ways to support them on common terms. It refuses to work based on the ephemeral youth work moments with dubious impact, but takes time and looks at longer processes of transformation. This means slow youth work is also about giving time for youth workers to reflect on their own practice and learn from it, without asking them to deliver tangible results.

Giving time is a political act in any public work and especially youth work. EUtopia gives time and structure to engage with the political dimension of youth work, it is both a learning experience and a self-reflection about it.