“Shared Histories, Shared Futures” Project Starts with Youth Lab on Story Collection in Prague

The international project Shared Histories, Shared Futures launched its first activities from 26–28 April 2026, as the European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture (ERIAC) and its partners Jaw Dikh Foundation (Poland), Women for the Future Association / Independent Theater Hungary (Hungary), Media Voice (Slovakia), and ARA ART (Czech Republic) organized the Youth Lab Training for Story Collection in Prague, Czech Republic.

The project brought together young Roma storytellers from across the Visegrad region to explore shared Central European histories and document Roma contributions to civic, cultural, and social life. Through oral history collection and community-based storytelling, the initiative seeks to strengthen inclusive memory practices and increase the visibility of Roma voices within regional historical narratives.

Following an international open call launched in March 2026, two participants from each partner country (Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and Czechia ) were selected to join the project as youth researchers. The selection process focused on applicants’ motivation, interest in storytelling and memory work, proposed story ideas, and commitment to the full project cycle, while also ensuring regional and gender balance among participants.

The Prague Youth Lab marked the first in-person activity of the project and created a collaborative learning space bringing together participants, mentors, and partner organisations for a three-day programme focused on ethical interviewing, oral history methodologies, storytelling practices, and digital documentation tools.

The programme opened with a welcome dinner and informal networking session, creating space for exchange and relationship-building among participants and project partners. Across the following days, participants took part in practical workshops exploring access, trust, and ethics in oral history work, including informed consent, active listening, and creating safe interview environments. Sessions also focused on interview structures, creative storytelling approaches, and practical training in phone-based audio and video recording.

Mentors from each partner organisation actively contributed to the programme by facilitating thematic workshops connected to their own expertise and practice. Participants additionally received guidance on transcription, translation, and the preparation of materials for the project’s future digital archive through the use of accessible digital and AI-supported tools.

Following the Youth Lab, participants will collect and document three oral histories in their home countries between May and September 2026, contributing to a publicly accessible digital archive that will preserve and amplify Roma experiences and perspectives across the Visegrad region.