Esplais Catalans, Esplac, is a secular and progressive association of ”esplais” (non-profit youth associations of leisure-time education working on volunteer basis) whose aim is social change through Children's Rights Education. Strengthening our “esplais” is our reason to exist.
We believe in the free-thinking, republican, federal, democratic, secular and progressive nature of the esplai.
- Republican: the esplai’s will consists of the children’s, teenagers’, youth leaders’ and parents’ views, so nobody takes decisions but them.
- Federal: it is based on people’s self-determination; citizens have to find their way to happiness. The esplais have to find the way to define themselves and decide what activities they do and how the keep in touch with the society which surrounds them. This concept leads us to the democratic nature of the esplai.
- Democratic: all the members participate actively in the esplai thanks to the delegation of responsibility and the demand for certain results in a fixed deadline.
- Secular: it is a consequence of being democratic; the esplai should promote educational plurality in a frame of an ideology which understands plurality –religious and ideological– as a positive value in order to learn to coexist in a complex environment.
- Progressive: the esplai’s view of the world and educational target aim at changing people’s mentality in order to change the reality which surrounds us.
Today, Esplac has 96 member esplais placed in approximately fifty different Catalan cities and villages, which represent more than 6,500 children and 1,600 youth leaders.
Esplac goal's
We are a Catalan organization which works for the leisure-time education of children and young people and promotes the transformation of the society. We define ourselves as a secular, progressive, independent and democratic organization.
We develop our aims according to these values and we promote equality, freedom, social participation, environmental sustainability and children’s rights.
Main goals of Esplac:
- To promote the social change by means of a comprehensive and liberating education.
- To get recognition and social awareness about the importance of educational youth work.
- To be a referent for the secular esplais of Catalonia, support them and provide them withthe necessary services to help them develop and improve.
- To contribute actively to the strengthening of the civil society of our country by promoting children’s and young people’s association.
- To promote respect towards the Catalan culture and encourage to strengthen it.
- To raise awareness on the importance of educational associations and popular education in order to build a committed and free citizenship, as well as getting the social recognition about it.
- To promote the social participation of children and young people from Catalonia and other places, by taking action on the local and international spheres.
History
Esplac was created in 1982 with the aim to become a reference organization for secular esplais in Catalonia. As a result of the debate opened in Catalonia in the 80s about the professionalization of the esplai, Esplac decided to keep its associative and voluntary nature, making a difference between the two functions; the process culminated with the creation of Entorn Sccl (1993), the organization which deals with professional services. At the same time, Esplac and the Francesc Ferrer i Guàrdia Foundation created the Escola Lliure El Sol. This school has the same secular and progressive nature as Esplac and it offers the necessary training to Esplac’s youth leaders. This helped consolidating the Secular and Progressive Movement (MLP), priority social action space of Esplac, and the organisations which are part of it.
In 1994 the groups of young people who were part of the Esplac-Jove commission created the Associació de Casals i Grups de Joves de Catalunya, and it become member of the MLP. The Fundació Terra, a leading association regarding environmental issues, was the next member to join the MLP in 1997.
The process of construction and expansion of the MLP, as well as its essence, are quite exclusive and special as it may seem that all its members share a common ideology, but actually each one is unique in its working sphere.
An example which supports the fact that we are a group of associations which share a common ideology based on secularity and progress was the incorporation of Acció Escolta de Catalunya into our movement. Now, our project counts with another member association which develops educational youth work. This proves once more that united we stand and we become stronger on our way to social change.
The expansion of the MLP was reinforced in 2007 when, after many years of joint work, the NGO Cooperacció became a member of the movement.
During all these years, the number of members has increased, and this has allowed Esplac to mature and to improve the educational action of the esplais, especially after the celebration of the 1st Congress of Esplac, which culminated in the elaboration of the Educational Project.
Structure and Participation Spaces
The ideas, convictions and ways to see the world –an ideology– lead us towards a specific pedagogical method, a certain way of educating. Once we know what basis we want to educate on and how we want to do it, we can organize ourselves.
The esplai has organizational structures which are basic and necessary for the proper development of the project. This statement can also be applied to Esplac’s own organization, which also counts with certain structures which do not exist by chance; they are the result of an ideology and a specific way of understanding participation.
If you have a look at Esplac’s organization chart you will understand what our internal organization is, what our spaces of participation are and what platforms and external associations we collaborate with.
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