Frederick University is one of the partners of the program “Hate Interrupter Teams: Youth Countertraining Hate speech to Migrants and Minorities through Participatory and Creative Campaign” (HIT) to combat racism and xenophobia, co-funded by the European Program "Rights, Equality and Citizenship ". The head of this program is the HFC Hope For Children Crc Policy Center. Frederick University is the only academic institution in Cyprus participating in this project, among eight other partners from seven countries.
The Mobile Devices Laboratory (MDL) of Frederick University will develop a platform to gather information from all partners. In addition, a relevant website (available in 6 languages) will be created to raise awareness and public awareness of the hate speech and negative behaviour towards immigrants, as well as general information on the program. Also, the site will offer an interactive experience through an electronic "human library". A role-playing game for mobile devices will also be developed, which will raise awareness on the project’s issue.
Frederick University's team leader is Dr. Andreas Konstantinidis, Department of Computer Science and Computer Engineering.
The aim of the program is to develop a new model of empowerment of European youth to tackle racism, xenophobia and discrimination addressed to immigrants. The project is based on the idea of creating Hate Interruption Teams "HITs", i.e. youth working groups (14 to 19 years old), which, in cooperation with youth workers, counsellors and guidance professionals, will aim at interfering with speech hatred and negative behaviour towards immigrants (HSBM) in their communities, school and classmates.
The project started on 1 October 2018, its duration is 24 months and is a collaboration of nine (9) organizations from different countries: HFC Hope For Children Crc Policy Center (Cyprus - Lead Partner), University of Frederick (Kypr), "The Smile of (Greece), Rinova Limited (United Kingdom), Associazione Culturale Mulab (Italy), Associacio Per A La Creacio I Estudis De Projectes Socials CEPS (Spain), Collage Arts (United Kingdom), Metropolisnet - European Metropolis Employment Network Ewiv (Germany) and Gender Alternatives Foundation (Bulgaria).