The REC project started in December 2018 and finished in November 2021. Its main objective has been to involve young people in a process of reflection on violence, especially bullying, cyberbullying, gender-based violence and isolation/indifference, through the use of arts and experimental filmmaking, with the aim to empower them to prevent situations of harassment and, at the same time, enhance their ICT and soft skills, smoothing their way to employment. A training programme has been developed and tested with more than 120 young people from 5 different countries, which became our first experimental filmmakers and were involved in the creation of a unique collection of experimental videos against violence.

Right during the development and testing of the training programme, the Coronavirus interrupted our plans and put our lives on hold. After weeks of postponing activities, the project team decided that stopping was not the solution and that new strategies needed to be found in order to move forward. It was not simply a matter of finishing the work we had started, it was a matter of not stopping to achieve the project's objective - to involve young people in creating communities free from all forms of violence, because, during those months, the violence had not stopped.

The confinement was also negatively affecting many young people, who were beginning to suffer from loneliness, restlessness and anxiety. It was therefore necessary to move forward and offer them the opportunity to participate in creative activities that would give them a space to share, reflect and find support.

With this in mind, some of the project activities were taken up again in a virtual format and, also thanks to the extension of the project duration, all the planned activities were successfully completed.  Sometimes it was challenging, but eventually the REC project made us realise that creativity sometimes overcomes all limits.