Democracy through teater - a Botkyrka – Cair project

Pernilla Hellman, Head of the Culture departement, municipality of Botkyrka

Pernilla.hellman@botkyrka.se

83 000 inhabitants

Young population – the average age of 36 makes us one of the youngest municipalities in Sweden

A part of the Stockholm region, 30 km south of Stockholm city

Botkyrka – a part of the Botkyrka – a part of the Stockholm RegionStockholm Region

Botkyrka - Demographics 36,5% of the inhabitants are born in

another country and 15,8 % of the inhabitants are born in Sweden with both parents born abroad.

Since 2010, Botkyrka has the highest proportion of residents with a foreign background of all Swedish municipalities, 52,3%,.

160 nationalities out of 193 in the world are represented in Botkyrka. Over 100 languages.

25% of the inhabitants are themselves born in a Middle East country or have two parents born in the Middle East.

5,5% have the same conditions but born in an African country.

Underlying factors - Neighbourhood Effects According to the OECD, Stockholm

is one of Europe's most segregated regions in Europe, there are large differences in living conditions in which religious, social and ethnic backgrounds interact. The effects are serious limitations that prevents people from releasing their capacity and their life chances.

People are constantly assigned characteristics on the basis of their ethnic or religious origin, and are locked into stereotypes.

The Botkyrka approach is that the meaning of being Swede, Kurd, Chilean, Somali, etc. changes over time

Botkyrka - a very diverse municipality, both concerning territory and inhabitants

The majority of the municipal territory is rural. At the same time another part of Botkyrka is one of the most urban areas of the Stockholm region.

The municipality is most known as one of the main spots in Sweden for international migration and also as one of the creative clusters in the Stockholm region with the greatest arena for new circus, film making and creative entrepreneurship.

The image of Botkyrka – problems?

…or opportunities?

…priority groups are children, youth and elderly people

Our idea: to use culture and the arts as a tool to bring people together, to encourage social cohesion

Culture and the arts as a way to express your opinion, to cooperate with others, to meet and widening your understanding of other people

Priority on circus, film and media, music and dans

Culture for everyone – available and low cost

Career opportunities in the cultural sector

Close cooperation with universitys and the arts colleges

To open new life chances

A focus on visual arts and cultural expressions in Botkyrka

Arts, culture and democracyTo meet culture in school. The

curriculum and the children´s right convention

Develop methods for working with drama, theater, film and dans

Courses for teachers on how to develop democracy training with the students

- Democracy through theater with Cair