you
[Music]
have you ever felt so worried that
stress seemed to take over your life
that you lost sight of the whole picture
and that you started yelling at the
people you love the most
only because they were there in the
wrong place at the wrong moment I know I
have and I think that most people feel
this distress sometimes but for some
people this is everyday life one out of
ten people in Flanders live in poverty
for children the ratio is even one out
of eight in an average classroom that
would mean three children their parents
are constantly living in stress dealing
with an endless series of problems
obviously this has a strong impact on
their lives these feelings are a burden
on Family Relations and often make them
very conflictive dr. Petrelli Anson and
dr. Leah Vaughn he say that the
development of children is at risk when
the interaction between parents and
children is colored by poverty
I’d like to translate this as poverty
leads to a lack of space a lack of space
in many ways people in poverty often
live in tiny houses also the social
networks are very very limited and their
head is often so full of everyday
worries that it’s sometimes hard to stay
breathing so their physical social and
mental space is very limited and there
is no financial space to get away once
in a while so what if we start to look
at poverty by using this concept of
space what if poverty leads to a lack of
space and what if
the answer to this problem lies in
creating space once again space is
freedom space to move space to think
space to discover space to learn space
for beauty space for dialogue for
understanding and space for
vulnerability what if the value of
social policy and social work lies or
correlates in its extent to which it
creates space in people’s lives if you
look at society nowadays do you think we
are on track and what if we take a look
at social work I am a social educator
activator I am the fad and engaged in
the fight against poverty and in my
daily work I meet a lot of social
workers and a lot of them feel a severe
sense of urgency they feel they are
losing grip on the situation of the
people they are trying to support and in
response to that and it’s a human
reaction to do that in response to that
they grasp two certainties I can get
into a more severe approach so we start
to define for others what we expect we
formulate what we expect in in action
plans concrete objectives have to be
obtained in a limited schedule and while
we do that we tend to create the exact
opposite of space
so stop telling people what to do when
they are in trouble because if we want
to support people we have to think in a
totally different way about supporting
about helping people in poverty often
tell me that they feel so worried that
it’s hard to enjoy their children that
they feel so out of energy that it’s
difficult to play and relate poverty is
in control of everything and sometimes
people feel so tensed up that they start
yelling to each other and to their
children people in poverty often tell me
about severe conflicts in the family
because if you don’t know what to eat in
the evening and you don’t know where to
sleep at night there is no place for
light-hearted joy with your children’s
play so for now it seems simple we stop
telling other people what to do we
create space in people’s lives they have
less stress make less conflicts and we
have happier families but it’s not
simple it’s easy in theory but not in
practice because we have to make a real
switch in our dominant ways of thinking
about helping and supporting people when
they are in trouble
and we have to create space at at least
three levels physically socially and
mentally and those three levels they
influence each other all the time so
first of all we have to create mental
space worried about the future of
children society often responds in
taking over or buffering the role of
parents where they’re dealing with a lot
of stress and although a teacher for
example can be a great preventive buffer
for children we should not forget to
support
earth burns and we should support them
in finding the energy and oxygen to take
up the role and we have to support them
to find ways to really make space to
relate to their children despite of the
strangling power of poverty and we have
to help them to live poverty at the door
for a little while as a jacket you hang
on a coat rack it’s about the creation
of sacred moments a granny automobile
calls it and maybe that is the best way
to describe it it’s about giving poverty
a break and in the meanwhile something
else is made possible
it’s about interrupting a life in
constant stress intervening in time and
space and making it possible that a
diversity of people can really relate
with each other on an equal basis but to
do that and first it’s going to give an
example because then you understand it
better
we use a diversity of strategies to do
that to create those space and every
strategy is is articulating and
supporting the intention of people of
making space for each other for the
moment for the children an example at
the mobile is that when starting the
names of the children are written on the
blackboard and it effectively says I’m
here I’m here with you and I’m here
focused on you because I’m writing your
name here when we want to create this
mental space we have to intervene in the
social and physical environments of
people because when you live in poverty
this kind of really opened spaces
rare more often families in poverty are
confronted with unequal relations with
helpers for example with clear outline
courses and well described objectives
and it’s not easy to hang poverty at a
coatrack it is no jacket it’s only
possible for a little while and with a
little bit of support so we have to
consciously create these really open
spaces in society to help and support
people to put stress and poverty aside
and if we do this to create two creative
spaces we have to know that they are
characterized by several criteria we
call it sanctuaries sanctuaries the
really open spaces and you have several
criteria the first one they are really
operative places the participants work
together on an equal basis second they
are really open places everyone is
welcome and also the most social
excluded groups have access and it’s not
only in theory third one they are as few
rules as possible and rules that are
there have to do with mutual respect
rejection of violence and rejection of
exclusion five they exist in spite of
poverty conflict and distress for
five there are no predefined
objectives everything that’s happening
is happening in the room
so different forms and activities can
occur but they are the result of the
people in the room and of the moment and
last someone is guarding the criteria it
can be one person it can be the group
but it’s important they cannot be
changed everything is open but this has
to be there so these open spaces can be
seen as open public structures in
society different forms different
activities can be developed but they are
always the result of the people adults
and children in the place and not the
daily struggle but dreams the ideas and
passions of the participants are at the
table for a certain time in a certain
place people escape from poverty and are
free to be human when people live in the
deepest poverty the possibility to
relate the possibility to play and to
discover is at risk and it is necessary
that we create this open space so that
parents and children can really meet
each other and sometimes miracles happen
happen I’ll never forget the moments
that fret was playing theatre on stage
being homeless at the same time and a
number of fragile moments between
parents and their children so what do
you think can these spaces be an answer
for conflict and inequality in society
now of course the lowest incomes have to
rise and we have to fight discrimination
racism and war at all cost we have to
change the structures in society that
make inequality in Europe because if
every family was treated its equal and
everyone had a means to live we wouldn’t
have that much stress and conflict don’t
they but at the same time we should
cherish those precious sanctuaries those
really open places because I think we
can learn a lot of them we can learn a
lot about how we can deal with
differences in society with inequality
with conflict and even for those who
live in the most bad of life conditions
they have the real power to make us all
human again
[Applause]
[Music]
have you ever felt so worried that
stress seemed to take over your life
that you lost sight of the whole picture
and that you started yelling at the
people you love the most
only because they were there in the
wrong place at the wrong moment I know I
have and I think that most people feel
this distress sometimes but for some
people this is everyday life one out of
ten people in Flanders live in poverty
for children the ratio is even one out
of eight in an average classroom that
would mean three children their parents
are constantly living in stress dealing
with an endless series of problems
obviously this has a strong impact on
their lives these feelings are a burden
on Family Relations and often make them
very conflictive dr. Petrelli Anson and
dr. Leah Vaughn he say that the
development of children is at risk when
the interaction between parents and
children is colored by poverty
I’d like to translate this as poverty
leads to a lack of space a lack of space
in many ways people in poverty often
live in tiny houses also the social
networks are very very limited and their
head is often so full of everyday
worries that it’s sometimes hard to stay
breathing so their physical social and
mental space is very limited and there
is no financial space to get away once
in a while so what if we start to look
at poverty by using this concept of
space what if poverty leads to a lack of
space and what if
the answer to this problem lies in
creating space once again space is
freedom space to move space to think
space to discover space to learn space
for beauty space for dialogue for
understanding and space for
vulnerability what if the value of
social policy and social work lies or
correlates in its extent to which it
creates space in people’s lives if you
look at society nowadays do you think we
are on track and what if we take a look
at social work I am a social educator
activator I am the fad and engaged in
the fight against poverty and in my
daily work I meet a lot of social
workers and a lot of them feel a severe
sense of urgency they feel they are
losing grip on the situation of the
people they are trying to support and in
response to that and it’s a human
reaction to do that in response to that
they grasp two certainties I can get
into a more severe approach so we start
to define for others what we expect we
formulate what we expect in in action
plans concrete objectives have to be
obtained in a limited schedule and while
we do that we tend to create the exact
opposite of space
so stop telling people what to do when
they are in trouble because if we want
to support people we have to think in a
totally different way about supporting
about helping people in poverty often
tell me that they feel so worried that
it’s hard to enjoy their children that
they feel so out of energy that it’s
difficult to play and relate poverty is
in control of everything and sometimes
people feel so tensed up that they start
yelling to each other and to their
children people in poverty often tell me
about severe conflicts in the family
because if you don’t know what to eat in
the evening and you don’t know where to
sleep at night there is no place for
light-hearted joy with your children’s
play so for now it seems simple we stop
telling other people what to do we
create space in people’s lives they have
less stress make less conflicts and we
have happier families but it’s not
simple it’s easy in theory but not in
practice because we have to make a real
switch in our dominant ways of thinking
about helping and supporting people when
they are in trouble
and we have to create space at at least
three levels physically socially and
mentally and those three levels they
influence each other all the time so
first of all we have to create mental
space worried about the future of
children society often responds in
taking over or buffering the role of
parents where they’re dealing with a lot
of stress and although a teacher for
example can be a great preventive buffer
for children we should not forget to
support
earth burns and we should support them
in finding the energy and oxygen to take
up the role and we have to support them
to find ways to really make space to
relate to their children despite of the
strangling power of poverty and we have
to help them to live poverty at the door
for a little while as a jacket you hang
on a coat rack it’s about the creation
of sacred moments a granny automobile
calls it and maybe that is the best way
to describe it it’s about giving poverty
a break and in the meanwhile something
else is made possible
it’s about interrupting a life in
constant stress intervening in time and
space and making it possible that a
diversity of people can really relate
with each other on an equal basis but to
do that and first it’s going to give an
example because then you understand it
better
we use a diversity of strategies to do
that to create those space and every
strategy is is articulating and
supporting the intention of people of
making space for each other for the
moment for the children an example at
the mobile is that when starting the
names of the children are written on the
blackboard and it effectively says I’m
here I’m here with you and I’m here
focused on you because I’m writing your
name here when we want to create this
mental space we have to intervene in the
social and physical environments of
people because when you live in poverty
this kind of really opened spaces
rare more often families in poverty are
confronted with unequal relations with
helpers for example with clear outline
courses and well described objectives
and it’s not easy to hang poverty at a
coatrack it is no jacket it’s only
possible for a little while and with a
little bit of support so we have to
consciously create these really open
spaces in society to help and support
people to put stress and poverty aside
and if we do this to create two creative
spaces we have to know that they are
characterized by several criteria we
call it sanctuaries sanctuaries the
really open spaces and you have several
criteria the first one they are really
operative places the participants work
together on an equal basis second they
are really open places everyone is
welcome and also the most social
excluded groups have access and it’s not
only in theory third one they are as few
rules as possible and rules that are
there have to do with mutual respect
rejection of violence and rejection of
exclusion five they exist in spite of
poverty conflict and distress for
five there are no predefined
objectives everything that’s happening
is happening in the room
so different forms and activities can
occur but they are the result of the
people in the room and of the moment and
last someone is guarding the criteria it
can be one person it can be the group
but it’s important they cannot be
changed everything is open but this has
to be there so these open spaces can be
seen as open public structures in
society different forms different
activities can be developed but they are
always the result of the people adults
and children in the place and not the
daily struggle but dreams the ideas and
passions of the participants are at the
table for a certain time in a certain
place people escape from poverty and are
free to be human when people live in the
deepest poverty the possibility to
relate the possibility to play and to
discover is at risk and it is necessary
that we create this open space so that
parents and children can really meet
each other and sometimes miracles happen
happen I’ll never forget the moments
that fret was playing theatre on stage
being homeless at the same time and a
number of fragile moments between
parents and their children so what do
you think can these spaces be an answer
for conflict and inequality in society
now of course the lowest incomes have to
rise and we have to fight discrimination
racism and war at all cost we have to
change the structures in society that
make inequality in Europe because if
every family was treated its equal and
everyone had a means to live we wouldn’t
have that much stress and conflict don’t
they but at the same time we should
cherish those precious sanctuaries those
really open places because I think we
can learn a lot of them we can learn a
lot about how we can deal with
differences in society with inequality
with conflict and even for those who
live in the most bad of life conditions
they have the real power to make us all
human again
[Applause]
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