Dare to take up space

November 3 to 11, 2025, in Lussas (France)

Dare to Take Space: Reclaiming Power in the Public Sphere

58% of women give up going out alone for fear of sexism. 44% lower their voices. 43% self-censor. These figures, from the January 2024 report by the High Council for Equality between Women and Men (France), paint an unequivocal picture: public space remains a territory where women and minorities, including LGBTQIA+ individuals, face oppression and are forced to develop strategies of avoidance.

The project « Dare to Take Space » (Osons prendre la place), co-funded by the Erasmus+ program of the European Union, chose to experiment with a collective response. From November 3rd to 11th, 2025, 18 youth workers from France and Italy gathered in Lussas, Ardèche, to transform this feeling of insecurity into a power to act.

A Franco-Italian Empowerment Laboratory

Led by the association La Fougue in partnership with the association CULTURE! and the Italian organizations Le Tre Ghinee and DAFNE, this mobility project aimed to equip activists and professionals working on these issues so that they, in turn, can support young people in occupying space, both physically and symbolically.

The profile of the participants reflected the project’s inclusive vision:

• 100% women and LGBTQIA+ individuals, belonging to groups affected by sexism.
• 90% were under 30 years old.
• 60% lived in rural areas, often isolated from urban activist networks.
• Diverse profiles: educators, volunteers, artists, social workers, coming from emergency shelters, queer collectives, migrant women’s associations, or cultural structures.

From Body to Performance: Reclaiming One’s Place

Far from traditional theoretical courses, the chosen methodology favored sensory experience and popular education. For one week, participants experimented with:

• Somatic and artistic workshops facilitated by CULTURE! to deconstruct gendered postures and learn to « dare » to occupy space through movement and voice.
• Popular education sessions and life stories (« Small History / Big History », book crossing methods) to connect intimate experiences to systemic domination.
• Care practices, to look after one another and strengthen the sense of belonging and safety.

The highlight was a performance in public space in Aubenas, on market day. A powerful act, performed with and for the passersby, to make the invisible visible and claim the right to public space for all.

« The public performance was an empowering conclusion. We experienced what it feels like to reclaim space with a trusted team. » – Excerpt from the final report.

Concrete and Lasting Results

The project did not end when the mobility finished. The multiplier effect is already visible:

• 6 local projects were implemented in France, Italy, and Belgium in the following months.
• 3 new Erasmus+ projects were submitted in February 2026 to sustain the cooperation.
• Transformed career paths: one participant was hired by a youth center, another enrolled in a Master’s degree in Gender Studies, and a new association was created by three former participants.
• Wide dissemination: radio broadcasts reaching 80,000 listeners, articles in the local press, and a social media presence reaching 28,000 people.

Open Resources: Toolkit and Video to Discover

To allow good practices to circulate freely and spread change, we are now making public the key tools born from this adventure. All our content is released under a Creative Commons license (CC BY-SA): you are free to use, share, and adapt them, as long as you cite the source.

📚 The « Dare to Take Space » Toolkit

This digital methodological guide is a turnkey toolbox for youth workers. It includes:

• Detailed practical sheets (e.g., « Dare to ask, dare to say no », feminist book crossing, role-playing games on consent).
• Advice on organizing workshops on gender and public space.

🎬 The Documentary Film

Directed by Laurie Lassalle, documentary filmmaker, as part of an internship at the Lussas Documentary School, this film captures the intensity of the encounters, the beauty of the process, and the power of the final performance.

🎬 Project Presentation Video

Created using footage from the documentary, this short video presents the project in detail.

🌐 The Resource Padlet

A collaborative library of over 60 documents, links, videos, and articles to deepen understanding of intersectionality, feminism, and the occupation of space.

What’s Next?

« Dare to Take Space » is not an end, but a beginning. Thanks to these tools, we hope to inspire new initiatives across Europe. Whether you are an association, a social center, an informal group, or simply an engaged citizen: seize these resources, adapt them to your territory, and you too, dare to take space.

Credits: Project co-funded by the Erasmus+ program of the European Union. Partners: La Fougue (France) & Le Tre Ghinee (Italy). Support: Lussas Documentary School, Info RC, Association Format, DAFNE, CULTURE!, and all participants.

Goodbye sexism

In 2023 la Fougue organized for the 1st time a Erasmus+ project for youth-workers of all ages called Goodbye sexism.

It allowed 20 people from Italy, Czech Republic, Belgium and France to meet, share and experient together around the idea of pedagogy and non formal education can be antisexist.

In 2024 we are on our way to plan a new project that will be called « Dare to take up space ». The activities will be design for a group of persons who identify as women and /or LGBTQIA+ people.

This will be a week to approach the idea of appropriation of space in our lives and our societies, to strengthen ourselves, build trust and mutual support. We will take the time to observe in what ways we are constrained as minoritized people, identifying the power relationships that are at play.

Through the activities proposed, we will try, we will allow ourselves, to take up space, to experience different ways of taking spaces…even public spaces. The idea is to allow ourselves to occupy this space with our bodies, our matter, our presences and our voices. We will go through activities of storytelling, games and propositions based on the gaze and movement, times of discussions, reflections and dive into a little bit of theory. We will work on the notion of individual and collective limits and needs so that everyone can dare to take their place, deploy and experiment without struggling