Theatre x Power x Community is a transnational project that explores power, democracy, and social change through innovative learning approaches inspired by Freirean pedagogy. At a time when democratic values are increasingly being challenged across Europe and beyond, the project creates opportunities for learning, dialogue, and collective action. We work to strengthen inclusive and engaging environments for adult learners while supporting communities facing oppression in building their capacity to participate actively in civic and democratic life.
The project responds to a growing crisis of democracy that has left many communities struggling to sustain democratic practices and engage meaningfully in decision-making processes. Adult educators, community organizers, and activists play a vital role in addressing these challenges, yet they often lack the resources, tools, and frameworks needed to mobilize communities effectively and tackle growing social and political inequalities.
Theatre x Power x Community seeks to bridge this gap by providing practical methodologies and strategies that support community empowerment, democratic participation, and social change.
What makes the project unique is its combination of Freirean pedagogy, Theatre of the Oppressed, community organizing, and participatory learning. Together, these approaches create spaces for reflection on power and power relations, encouraging participants to critically examine the structures that shape their lives and explore possibilities for collective action and transformation.
To develop a shared understanding of these topics, the project includes:
Training Sessions
Training sessions for adult educators focused on power analysis, community organizing, and participatory methodologies.
Online Book Club
Online book club sessions that bring together educators and community members to deepen their understanding of social issues, power dynamics, critical thinking, and collective action.
Pilot Sessions
• Pilot sessions in Italy, Slovenia, and Croatia, where the project’s methodologies and tools will be tested, refined, and adapted in collaboration with local communities.
A key outcome of the project will be an interactive online toolkit that combines practical exercises, case studies, and methodologies focused on power analysis, participatory education, collective action, and Legislative Theatre. By bringing together partners from Italy, Slovenia, and Croatia, the project draws on diverse social, cultural, and political contexts, ensuring that the resources developed are relevant and adaptable across different communities. Ultimately, Theatre x Power x Community aims to strengthen the capacities of educators, community organizers, and communities themselves, contributing to more inclusive educational practices, greater civic participation, and stronger democratic cultures.
Co-Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the Erasmus+ National Agency – INDIRE. Neither the European Union nor the funding administration can be held responsible for them.
Zavod Bob
Zavod Bob, founded in 2007 is an NGO predominantly active in the youth sector field . Its mission is to give a voice to those who are not being heard. Zavod Bob’s main activities include non-formal education, youth work, career development, street work, active citizenship and training. Its specific areas of expertise including social care, media, culture, and art.
The main target groups are youth and young adults with a focus on those at risk. It is collaborating within and across sectors and is included in different networks. It is the coordinator of Network of street-based youth workers (Mreža mlada ulica). Zavod Bob is alsos a member of Network of youth centres of Ljubljana Municipality (Mreža mladinskih centrov MOL) and Career development network (Mladinska mreža za karierni razvoj – KROJ), as well as a representative for Slovenia in a global network for street workers (Dynamo International).
Giolli
Giolli Social Cooperative was founded in Parma in 2008, based on the experience gained by the Giolli association in its 22 years of activity. It uses Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed methods, together with Paulo Freire’s conscientization pedagogy, the Community Development Approach, and Active Nonviolence, as means to help the self-liberation of groups and people.
Its mission is to help individuals and communities to address and solve their oppressions through dialogue based on mutual respect and human rights.
POKAZ
The Center for the Theater of the Oppressed POKAZ is a centre for investigation, experimentation and dissemination of the methodology of the theatre of the oppressed and the pedagogy of the oppressed with the aim of creating a just society without oppression. Activities are divided into 3 main areas:
1) Practice in education: direct work with school children, training of teachers, educational workers and persons in auxiliary professions.
2) Using TO as an activist tool: cooperation with different organisations and collectives
3) Dissemination and development of TO methodologies.
EFA London
English for Action (EFA), founded in 2009, is a charity providing participatory, action-orientated ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) classes for adult migrants in London, UK.
Paulo Freire’s critical and participatory pedagogy drives our approach. We develop our curriculums together with students based on the issues they bring to class. Teachers and students share knowledge and skills, and real problems are interrogated so as to be addressed through collective action inside and outside the classroom. EFA is committed to building strong learning communities and organising for change on the issues that emerge within them.
