The project was applied in order to acquire tools to understand and handle the intergenerational conflict among the older and the younger generations who have very different values and worldviews. The conflict becomes all the more visible in the Roma culture where many customs and rules are built upon respect for the elderly. Similarly knowledge is seen as something that accumulates to elderly people with age and experience, thus the elderly represent the whole community. This may cause tensions within the Roma communities, as many of the younger Roma are more educated and have wider knowledge than the older generations – albeit they may have less understanding. 

The activities of the project

The participating organisations were not afraid to plan a very ambitious project that aimed to apply a theoretical approach to be used by small Roma associations in the transnational context. The objectives of the project were reached through a systematic process, starting with a Training of Trainers, continuing with a training of participants in the local workshops, and culminating with a further training on transnational joint workshops. 

The local workshops were the first attempt ever to verbalise the generational consciousness of the Roma people. Among the Finnish Roma, WWII which has a solid place in the Finnish national identity was recognised. Although, out of its 105 years of independence, Finland was an active party in the war for only 3 years, the mark left by the war on its national history remains strong. Another significant factor was the translocal mobilities, which refers to the continuous flows of migrants to Sweden and returnees back to Finland. Similarly, among the Macedonian Roma, numerous phases of wars, tensions and uprisings as well as peace efforts were recognised to have marked both the formation of Macedonia and the life of its Roma people.

In Finland, Roma communities have preserved traditional manners, notably respect for their elders as well as their visible dresses and jewellery. Although the housing of the Roma people was largely solved in the beginning of the 1980s, it had some unforeseeable consequences. One of the major consequences was the near loss of the Roma language as Roma scattered into all corners of the country. Additionally, the Roma youth no longer learn the proper behaviour from their elders, as there are no extended families, or multiple generations living side by side like there used to be. Another set of alarming societal problems is that Roma youth do not enter higher education, and that they face increasing racism, discrimination and hate speech. 

In North Macedonia, it was concluded that Roma culture and language have remained particularly vibrant in places such as Shuto orizari, which is a municipality where Roma make up a majority of the population. The legal environment of the country has made it possible for the Roma themselves to act as authorities in their municipality; furthermore there are plenty of highly-educated Roma available to fill these positions. However, there are also severe societal problems affecting the Roma communities, notably the Roma children begging in the streets of Skopje. Another significant challenge is that although the North Macedonian Roma cherish their Muslim religion, festivals and traditions, many Roma youth have already lost their Roma identity and language, as well as some long standing traditions, such as the veneration of Saint George. 

The change and development of the world became particularly visible when comparing the topics raised by the elder generations in comparison to the younger generations. The Baby boomers in particular, emphasised questions of war and peace, national identity and the independence of their country. Whereas, the younger generations brought up more global issues, such as digitalisation and the recent covid-19 pandemic. 

The main takeaway from the project that the participants will take back to their own communities is an increased understanding of the fact that the early nomadic lifestyle enabled the seamless transfer of Roma customs directly from the old to the young. However, in the current era of nuclear families the young people no longer learn manners and respect from their grandparents but rather from their peers. For example in Finland where the country is large and Roma families have their own distinctive regional customs, this can lead to a situation where the customs young Roma adopt from their peers who may originate from a very different corner of the country, are not at all acceptable in the eyes of their own family. As a result manners and respect, the most beautiful aspects of the Finnish Roma culture, are no longer passed from generation to generation, and when that generational chain breaks, all that remains is the shame and failure for not having behaved as one should. This story resonates throughout Europe, as young Roma increasingly stay in touch with each other through instant messaging and social media posts, rather than by taking the time and effort to meet their grandparents. 

The results of the project

As a result of the project, the participating organisations learned an intergenerational approach, which they can later on apply in many different contexts independently.

The participants learned about the societal and life issues, activism and policy work done by different Roma generations. Since Roma history and family histories have not been written nor much shared, it was crucial to learn about the importance of transmitting these histories. The learning process had an empowering impact as the different generations got a better sense of the connections among themselves.

The intergenerational work has known positive psycho-social effects, such as learning how other generations have handled difficult situations such as racism and segregation. As it looks at persons and communities in relation to the socio-political situations encountered by different generations, it also encourages the participants to think about what kind of civic and advocacy work they could be involved in. This is particularly important since political and civic participation is still fragile among Roma.

As a concrete output, a video detailing the learning process presents Roma participants as active society members, who contribute to the civil society and interact over borders.

Hortto tiija was a small-scale cooperation project, implemented by the Finnish Roma Association from Finland and the Roma Lawyers Association and the Association MIR, both from North Macedonia. The project was funded from the Erasmus+ programme.

The European Commission is not responsible for the content of the publication.

For more information about the Erasmus+ programme, please visit www.oph.fi/erasmusplus