Palette Power: Change Through Creativity

Erasmus + Youth Exchange

Vilnius (Lithuania)

Check the short movies the participants created and our repository. Click on the buttons below

Can a song become activism? Can a poem start a conversation? Can a game make people think about human rights? And what happens when young people are given the space not only to learn about activism, but to create their own ways of expressing it?

These questions were at the heart of Palette Power: Change Through Creativity, an Erasmus+ Youth Exchange implemented by Loud&Clear and funded by the European Union. Over seven days in Vilnius, young people from Italy, Lithuania, Greece, Romania and Portugal explored how creativity can become a tool for social expression, dialogue and action.

The project was built around a simple idea: activism does not have to look only one way. It can take many forms, and young people can find their own language for speaking about the issues that matter to them. Throughout the exchange, participants explored different social issues and reflected on what makes them care, feel concerned or want to take action. But rather than keeping these conversations at the level of discussion, they turned their ideas into creative work.

And the creative workshops were created and led by the participants themselves.

The Italian team introduced Blackout Poetry, transforming existing texts into new poems by selecting and highlighting specific words. The Romanian team explored social issues through comic-making, using characters, drawings and storytelling. The Greek team worked with movement and body expression, while the Portuguese team used collage as a way to explore and communicate complex social topics. The Lithuanian team introduced participants to the story of the Singing Revolution, exploring how collective singing played a role in Lithuania's peaceful struggle for independence. Inspired by this history, participants created their own protest songs, transforming social issues that mattered to them into lyrics and shared voices.

This meant that participants were not simply taking part in workshops, they were becoming facilitators, creators and contributors to the learning of the whole group. Everyone had something to bring, and the methods themselves became part of the message: there are many different ways to express an idea, and everyone can find their own. After several days of exploring, creating and experimenting, it was time to take the work outside the project space. On Day 6, Palette Power moved into the centre of Vilnius with an Artivism Fair next to the White Bridge. Participants prepared interactive stations and invited people passing by to join them. For four hours, the public could take part in Human Rights Twister, make friendship bracelets, learn to juggle, explore Blackout Poetry, answer quizzes, discover protest song lyrics and discuss social issues and human rights. Some people stayed only briefly, while others became genuinely involved in the activities and conversations. For the participants, this was an important reality check: engaging people in a public space is different from engaging people in a workshop room. Not everyone will stop, not everyone will want to talk - but creating an opportunity for a conversation is already a form of action.

For a few hours, the Erasmus+ bubble met the local community.

The final day shifted the focus from what had happened to what could happen next. Participants reflected on their individual and collective learning, explored the competences they had developed and, most importantly, worked on ideas for taking the experience further.

Because the end of a youth exchange does not mean the end of the project.

As part of Palette Power: Change Through Creativity, follow-up events will take place in the participating countries in the coming weeks. Participants will have the opportunity to bring their new skills, ideas and creative approaches back to their own communities and continue exploring how creativity can support social engagement and change.

After seven days, the participants left Vilnius with more than memories and new friendships. They left with tools to express themselves, experience in creating and facilitating activities, ideas for future action - and a reminder that activism can start in many different ways.

Sometimes with a protest song.
Sometimes with a poem.
Sometimes with a conversation.
And sometimes with simply creating a space where people are invited to stop, think and take part.