The Young Visionaries Youth Exchange was completed in Varna, Bulgaria. From September 19 to 23 a total of 24 young participants from Bulgaria, Portugal, Romania and Slovakia explored the topics of democracy, participation, civic engagement and European values. The project fostered the citizen competencies of the participants by introducing them to digital storytelling and video interviewing as tools to promote young people’s views and opinions regarding issues that concern them.
On the first day of the project, the participants got to know each other by implementing various ice-breaking activities and energizers to foster the group dynamic. Then they were introduced to an interactive presentation about the EU history, functioning and core values. After a presentation of the Youthpass Certificate, the team leaders of each national group introduced their sending organizations – FECE (Bulgaria), DCTR (Portugal), Youth for Equality (Slovakia) and Monomyths (Romania). The end of the daily activities was marked by shared free time.
On the second day of the YE the participants got to know each other’s interests better by taking part in a game, called “Who are I?”. Its goal was to highlight the similarities between the young visionaries. After that divided into groups they created common definitions of the term “democracy” and engaged in a discussion focused on participation in the democratic process. A session aimed to present the traditional and the alternative tools for participation followed next. The daily activities were finalized with an artistic task – divided into international teams the participants had to film a short video representing the youth goals #1 Connecting EU with Youth, #3 Inclusive Societies, #6 Moving Rural Youth Forward and #9 Space and Participation for All.
Day 3 started with collective exercises to awake the body. Then the participants were introduced to digital storytelling and video interviewing. Afterwards, they created short reels, representing the challenges that young people nowadays face. The young visionaries spent the second half of the day in the city of Varna where they’ve gathered the testimonies of their peers living in Varna regarding diverse topics (the Erasmus+ Programme, youth opportunities and participation among young people).
On day four the participants took part in the Civil Dialogues Activity aimed to discuss the most important functions of key actors such as citizens, government, media and NGO. Thanks to this activity the young visionaries developed their critical thinking, soft and negotiation skills. Once again, they were working in international groups (4 – each representing 1 of the actors mentioned). A game on the European Parliament and decision-making followed in the afternoon. Then the participants edited the videos collected during their Varna Adventure. In the evening all 24 young people took part in an intercultural evening and presented the traditions of their countries – including traditional snacks, dances and interesting facts.
The last day of the youth exchange was more than emotional. First, the young visionaries were introduced to the Erasmus+ Programme. Having in mind the components of a project proposal, they developed group projects following the Erasmus+ Programme’s objectives. Then they presented the interviews collected in Varna. The day ended with reflection and evaluation activities and finalization of the secret friend game (by revealing the identity of all participants’ secret friends).
Venue: Varna, Bulgaria
Duration: 19 September – 23 September 2024
Countries Represented: Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia and Portugal
Participants: Young people (18-30) from 4 European countries
The project is funded by the European Commission under the Erasmus+ program.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
