About the association

Trames is a young Swiss association launched on the initiative of Noémie Mathivat, a teacher in Lausanne.

Its aim is to give a voice to young people who have immigrated to Switzerland, to share their experiences of arriving in this new country through creative activity.

The project has evolved considerably over time, with the initial focus being the publication of an illustrated collection of these stories.

Noémie wanted to supplement this paper version with a digital version, which, as the project progressed, did much more than simply disseminate the testimonies of the young people in the collective.

Project requirements and challenges

The initial request was to create a website that would showcase the artistic creations of the young people in the collective, as well as their stories through an “albécédaire”, a kind of alphabetical album in the form of a blog.

The project quickly expanded, and an event creation and management system was also integrated to publicise the association’s outings and meetings for young people.

A news section was also requested, as well as the creation of an interactive map showing the origins of the young people at Trames.

A newsletter was also requested, along with automatic translation of the pages into the languages spoken by the young people in the group.

This project was carried out in collaboration with other artistic professionals who also worked on the photographs, videos, and storybook.

These various factors had to be taken into account in order to produce a website that would also be easy for young people to use later on.

In addition, particular attention has been paid to the use of inclusive language and accessibility criteria to enable as many people as possible to consult this interactive site.

Results

A colourful website that reflects the image of this young and dynamic association.

Guided support to enable young people to upload all kinds of content:

• stories for their primer in several languages
• news to share the life of the association
• events with links to the WhatsApp group for young people in Lausanne to meet up and share experiences
• writing newsletters to communicate with their audience via email

In addition, the website is a good way to promote the book edited and published in 2024.

The audio and video recordings were edited by a partner association and integrated directly into the story pages so that everyone can discover the testimonies of the young people in the collective.

Finally, the implementation of an automated instant translation system on the website allows people who do not speak French (including the families of young people who have arrived in Switzerland) to follow their stories.