ART OF BUILDING COMMUNITIES

What we set out to do

Art of Building Communities (ABC) was an Erasmus+ KA153-YOU training course by Association Creatosphere, bringing together 24 youth workers from Bulgaria, Greece, Spain, Lithuania, Latvia, Portugal, Poland, and the Netherlands for seven intensive days of learning at the Stolat Camp in Stolat Village, Bulgaria. The project addressed a growing gap: youth workers across Europe lack structured methods and tools for building inclusive, resilient communities – particularly with young people from marginalised backgrounds.

Axolotl’s founder Toni Lyubenova served as project writer, reporter, and facilitator alongside programme designer & lead facilitator Kris Filipiuk – drawing on her background in theatre, non-formal education, NVC practice, and community building to co-design and co-deliver the training programme.

Read more about the project on Creatosphere’s website.

What Axolotl delivered

• Wrote the Erasmus+ KA153-YOU project application for Association Creatosphere
• Co-designed the 7-day training programme integrating arts-based community-building methodology
• Served as co-facilitator across the full training, leading sessions on Theatre, NVC, and creative community practice together with lead programme designer Kris Filipiuk
• Supported the Local Phase design, briefing youth workers on delivering follow-up events in 8 countries
• Produced the project report documenting learning outcomes, participant experience, and impact data

Approach and methodology

The training used experiential learning as its core framework – participants first experienced each method themselves before applying it to their home community contexts. Sessions progressed from trust-building and group dynamics through community theory, arts-based practice, and digital community tools, culminating in participants co-designing original local action plans.

Axolotl contributed expertise in theatre-based methodologies, NVC, and community design – adapting techniques from Theatre of the Oppressed, forum theatre, music and rhythm workshops, visual arts, storytelling, and embodied communication for a multilingual, multicultural group.

Photography by Mihail Mitevski

What participants learned

• The 9 aspects of community model developed by Kris Filipiuk
• Community identity and values – articulating shared vision, mission, and belonging
• Group dynamics and trust-building – facilitation of safe, inclusive group environments
• Arts as community tools – using theatre, music, poetry, visual art, and storytelling for social inclusion
• Theatre methodology applied to youth work
• Nonviolent communication in conflict
• Facilitation skills – designing and delivering arts-based sessions for diverse youth groups
• Local action planning – co-creating follow-up events and initiatives for home communities

• 24 youth workers trained across 8 countries in arts-based community-building methodologies
• 8 local follow-up events for youth workers delivered in participants’ home communities
• 8 local events for young people from marginalised communities organised after the training
• An interactive community-building guidebook by Kris Filipiuk and shared across the partner network
• A documentary film on arts-based community practice produced and shared at film festivals
• Youthpass certificates issued documenting the non-formal learning outcomes of all participants

© 2026 Axolotl  ·  Sofia, Bulgaria  ·  Working across Europe

* Budget figure is an estimate; actual approved amount to be confirmed upon grant award.