ERASMUS+ YOUTH (KA3) - Dídac Espí is one of the youngsters selected by the European project Erasmus+ KA3 Youth at the Frontlines of Change: A Roadmap towards a collective "South-North-East-West" European Momentum. Dídac submitted a local project proposal that has been selected to receive one thousand euros, in addition to the necessary training, to create a handmade sound system to enhance alternative youth leisure and support young local artists. In this article he explains the proposal in depth.

My idea is to create a “Hand-made Sound System” to enhance alternative youth leisure, promote young artists and weave a support network between social organisation in the city.

About Dídac

This young 20 year old guy is Didac Espi Vallvé, people usually to call him Didi. He defines himself both as a loose canon and as an active, responsible and engaged person, committed to his own principles and values. He has always felt attracted to the different social issues and has channelled his anger through political and social activism.

His project proposal is shared with several mates, Albert among them, who are building a "Homemade Sound System" with the intention of creating a youth movement in their city, Santa Coloma de Gramenet. The core ideas of this project are developed through self management and sustainability, in order to boost alternative youth leisure, promoting young artists and weaving a support network between local social organisations. They are convinced that it will have an important impact in the community because they already have the  support of many more young people and together they will create a big social network of future craftspeople and dreamers who will come together thanks to this great project.

A short interview with Dídac

Who are you? Explain to me how you define yourself!

My name is Dídac Espí Vallvé, people usually call me Didi and I like to define myself as a “loose canon”. I'm 20 years old and I'm a young man from my city: Santa Coloma de Gramenet. I consider myself to be an active and responsible person and committed to the values that I defend. From a young age I have felt challenged by the different existing social issues and I never doubted in channelling my anger through political and social activism, a process which I have enjoyed throughout my adolescence and which I keep on doing to this day.

How did the idea of the project come about?

The idea of the project itself (Building a “Hand-made Sound System”) came about together with my mate,in a mental all night rave in a squat in Sant Andreu del Palomar during the summer. And it kept on developing in the same place (always with a pint in my hand). It came out of the need to respond to our worries about our experiences.

Who will support you and immerse themselves in the project?

Previously mentioned, my mate Alberto and more recently the group of friends from the neighbourhood, the majority of which we've already shared spaces of youth activism and militancy with. Even so the project sets out to be much wider and you only have to be motivated to take part. It is one of the many projects that we have carried out under the name of the youth organisation “Col·lectiu l’Altraveu”.

What is the aim of the project?

The aim is to create a youth movement in the city. All the same, the essence and main objectives of the project are the following:

1. Self-direction and Sustainability – creating the speakers with our own hands.
2. Build up alternative youth leisure – challenging youth leisure which is geared towards us, where the basic principle is consumerism.
3. Promotion of young artists – especially in the field of music, such as: DJ's, singers.
4. Create support network between social organisations in the city.

Do you think it will have an impact on your community?

Logically, it will have an impact and the fact that it already is in the moment that 7 young people sit down to talk and question what society has prepared for us.

Do the people round about you believe in the project? 

Yes, they believe in it and also take a chance on it.

Do you think that your project could be your only job in the future?

I hope it would be, although in that sense I dismiss it because it isn't the right moment or the right project. Right now, I have to admit that I wouldn't resign myself to work at something that I don't like at 20 years old, I will keep taking a chance on what I feel and what I like and when the time is right to make the change I'll do it.

Can your project be adapted to the needs of the current situation?

Yes of course, put we haven't spoken these days about the measures of the new (sub) normality yet. Although I think it will be an achievement finally, to get your own square metre to dance in . Sound is thought out to be done in open spaces, as far as the environment and the participants, we like to observe how, as a result of COVID-19, the workings of the leisure industry have been carried out so far.

What is the main obstacle that you can come across in the process of your project?

Without thinking about the ones we are going to put on ourselves, the power of the speakers can and will be a problem, just as much as the paternalism that is embedded in our organisations.

How did you feel when you were chosen to participate with Mundus?

Very happy and satisfied with the work carried out so far. To be able to participate in the project “European Youth Together” allowed me to build more solid foundations, meet extraordinary people and travel. I take the chance to congratulate and give sincere thanks to the huge work that Asociación Mundus carry out promoting and taking a chance on young people.

The European Commission's support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.