Ad Astra Youth
About Ad Astra Youth
Ad Astra Youth is an on-going project supporting youth from different backgrounds organising art-events and artistic activities including story telling.
Ad Astra supports youth providing tools for dialogue on faith, responsibility, power and alliance. We can organize events with cooking, arts, music, education, movie screenings, parties, trips and more!
Are you 12-19 years old and love art? Join our multilingual art-course on Saturdays in Helsinki.
Ad Astra can support youth from different backgrounds in arts and in organising their own multicultural art-events.
Feel free to be in contact at any stage: info@ad-astra.fi
Together for Finland or TFF is a storytelling project based at Ad Astra in Luckan, Helsinki. TFF is inspired by Faith Forum in London, and our sister organisations are Tillsammans För Sverige (Sweden) and Sammen for Norge (Norway). We also work on a European level, being part of the European Institute for Dialogue, and Anna Lindh foundation, ODIHR/OSCE, and actively participating in seminars and network meetings. For the moment TFF has no activities, but a new youth group can start on demand.
Ad Astra supports youth providing tools for dialogue on faith, responsibility, power and alliance. We can organize events with cooking, arts, music, education, movie screenings, parties, trips and more!
Are you 12-19 years old and love art? Join our multilingual art-course on Saturdays in Helsinki.
Ad Astra can support youth from different backgrounds in arts and in organising their own multicultural art-events.
Feel free to be in contact at any stage: info@ad-astra.fi
Together for Finland or TFF is a storytelling project based at Ad Astra in Luckan, Helsinki. TFF is inspired by Faith Forum in London, and our sister organisations are Tillsammans För Sverige (Sweden) and Sammen for Norge (Norway). We also work on a European level, being part of the European Institute for Dialogue, and Anna Lindh foundation, ODIHR/OSCE, and actively participating in seminars and network meetings. For the moment TFF has no activities, but a new youth group can start on demand.
Storytelling
Every person is a rich collection of stories. Yet, very often we get to hear only one. When some remain untold, we miss out on an opportunity to understand each other, ourselves and the world on a deeper level. Join us to learn storytelling or invite our storytellers to tell their personal stories with a goal to build a humane Finland where a variety of stories are heard.
Our Members
TFF is a storytelling project created for young people by young people. The TFF team consists of storytellers from various cultural and religious backgrounds, who want to create space for dialogue about faith, identity, social norms and what it is like to belong or not belong. For the moment TFF has no activities, but a new youth group can start on demand.
Our Mission
Togetherness
To create a common platform with safe space where young people with different backgrounds and faith can come together, learn about arts in diverse forms.
Support
To provide support and guidance to young people who want to develop skills in art or deepen their knowledge and faith and use them as a growing power in the work for peace and understanding.
Cooperation
To initiate cooperation with various organizations and communities around issues of diversity, democracy and coexistence.
Activities
Our story
The Ad Astra youth work started with TFF in 2015. We've had great moments of togetherness, achievements with our friends in Sweden and Norway and Paris and highlights with storytelling. In 2022 new refugees arrived from Ukraine and Ad Astra started new actitivites promoting art and artistic activities for youth, supporting one-another and learning new skills.
Workshops for schools
Educational workshops for youngs of 13-18 years old. With the help of storytelling we'll discuss possible acts of racism and discrimination, prejudices and socially accepted patterns. The real stories you might never hear make you more aware of the problem and special educational method gives an incredible learning experience.
Food sharing and stories
Food & Stories is a set of meetings where guests along with TFF members can cook delicious food, listen to personal stories and also learn something new about religious holidays and cultural traditions. One of the most memorable meetings was Iftar during Ramadan and Hindu spring feast of colors Holi.
Storytelling trainings
A couple of times a year we host storytelling educations for youth who are interested in joining the TFF team. During a few days we practice storytelling, learn about antiracism and equity, and discuss the meaning of religion and traditions in our lives as well as in society. We also learn how to craft a personal story and the importance of listening and being heard.
Feedback from teachers
- "Ensinnäkin, kiitos valtavasti vierailusta! Opiskelijoiden palaute oli valtaosin myönteistä, ja he tuntuivat saaneen vierailusta paljon irti. .... Muutoin minulla onkin vain positiivista sanottavaa, olitte hyvin ystävällisiä ja toitte esiin kiinnostavia teemoja. Ottaisin teidän ryhmänne mieluusti vastaan meille jatkossakin.."
Hämeenlinnan lyseon lukioJoona Lehtinen - "Vi var väldigt imponerade av era ungdomars förträffliga färdigheter, att umgås med elever från 6. till 9. klasser. De hade adapterat innehållet motsvarande elevernas ålder. Eleverna var väldigt entusiastiska och deltog aktivt i olika verksamhetsformer. Hela 90 minuter innehöll passligt varierande övningar och jag tycker, att eleverna vågade öppna sig på ett fint sätt. Handledarna uppfyllde sina plikter samvetsgrant. Alltså ett stort tack tilla alla."Suomalias-venäläinen kouluMatti Vähä-Ettala
- "Rekommenderas varmt!
Ungdomarna uppskattade möjligheten att diskutera kravlöst, ställa frågor, bolla sina tankar med varandra och med gästerna från AdAstra. Den goda stämningen fanns kvar även lektionerna därpå."Borgå gymnasiumClara Nordman - "It was very interesting to follow the workshop-leaders from TFF throughout the dialogue. Engaging methods were used. making participants to get know each other. The TFFrs showed that sharing is important, and all participants were involved in creating mutual rules for the dialogue. When the TFF-rs told their stories about their own experiences, there was a complete silence in the room. The stories were touching, and afterwards all participants were discussing them in small groups. Following all this, I was reminded about how important it is for youth to get the chance to share experiences and thoughts about religious and cultural identity, and how important it is to have common, agreed concepts to start from..."Teachers from Helsinki
Interested in booking an Art- or Storytelling Workshop?
Contact: info@ad-astra.fi