A student from the Secondary School of Economics in Slavonski Brod, Croatia, was given an opportunity to join the Citizens' Panel in Bulgaria (28 - 31 Oct 2018) as a part of the Clicking with Voters EU project. All the activities were funded by EU. Here's what she (Dajana Ivičić, 2E class) wrote:
Voting in the Upcoming European Elections
In Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria, 7 youth representatives from Europe House in Slavonski Brod, Croatia, followed by a member of local radio press, attended workshops and activities and got involved in Clicking With Voters project (28 – 31 October 2018). The project's overall objective is to empower European citizenship and to encourage their (especially youth) involvement in the democratic life of Europe, in particular by motivating them to participate in the 2019 European Parliament Elections.
Citizens’ panel was organized in a form of presentations where every partner organization presented the situation in their country. The presenters were focused on common citizens’ concerns, e.g. poverty and social exclusion, the effects of the economic crisis, unemployment, social policy etc. The presentations were followed by a plenary public debate and collecting participants' opinions on what are considered to be key challenges for the future of the European Union.
During our stay in Veliko Tarnovo we also had workshops that helped us understand and learn how to make a campaign in order to present an issue to the public. They were non-formal and it was a fun way to meet new people and learn new skills.
We had plenty of spare time to engage in activities such as exploring the city of Veliko Tarnovo and famous monuments close to it such as the village of Arbanasi and the grand 12th-century fortress Tsarevets. We met a new friend, Dimo, who showed us some casual spots where young people hang out. Hanging out with him and three other Europe House members (Leon, Ivona and Oliver) was a fun experience and I can't wait to do it all over again in Poland where this adventurous project is taking us next.
Right in front of our hotel, where we had a little photo shoot with a vintage TV, the owner of a small tavern asked us if we wanted to try his famous espresso. The entire conversation and order was a mix of Bulgarian and Russian with some hand gestures but somehow we managed to understand each other and the famous espresso truly was something I had never tried before – it was so good it could've raised us from the dead.
Later, on our explorations of the city, we discovered some cute little shops and antique stores that were filled with communist and Nazi memorabilia, which was interesting to all of us because of our love towards history (not to mention that a state champ in History was among us – Ivona, a lovely girl from Čakovec). We sure do have a lot of anecdotes about this beautiful trip and I can’t wait to continue the adventure.
Clicking with voters in KRAKOW
International Training for setting up local Youth Parliaments
7 representatives from EDIC SB and 7 other countries attended workshops and activities (3-8 December, Krakow, Poland) and tried to set up a 5-month campaign to encourage more active youth participation on the following EP elections as part of the “Clicking With Voters” project.
Read about Dajana’s experience:
On the first day we were introduced to the project, the EHSB, host organization, and remaining partner organizations. Later on, through fun activities, we were all getting to know each other. After a lunch break, we continued with teambuilding activities. The workshop was educational in many ways and we learned which roles are necessary for a team to work functionally and we did that with imaginary characters.
During the evening we had a guided tour of the Old City.
Second day workshops were about different national realities – From Problems to a Solution, Youth Participation (What does it mean to me?), Ways of Active Youth Participation. The workshops were very demanding, creative and fun. We were separated in two groups/ cities: Gotham City and Central City. Both cities needed to find main problems and potential solutions; later on we had to imagine the two cities were part of the EU; we had a meeting to discuss how the cities could help one another with different EU projects. It was an incredibly educational workshop that was discussed after lunch.
On the third day everyone heard the Story of Youth Parliament in Slavonski Brod. We learned how to set up our local YP and use different tools for motivating and engaging young people in the following European event. It was a casual day during which every group had an EU project to present.
On the final day we had a closing presentation from EDIC SB and a behavioral workshop – we saw an episode from a documentary about a juvenile prison for girls; based on what we had seen we had to brainstorm what made those girls do the crimes they had done. Finally, most of us said our goodbyes. We all hope to see each other again... in March... in France...
Dajana Ivičić, a student member of EDIC SB
Two Ss from our school (Josipa Bitunjac & Maja Poljarević) attended the Cherry International Foundation's youth summit Just Arrange It in Holand (in Feb 2019). Watch the video sharing European values and youths' experience following the 1st... or visit my student Maja's blog following the 2nd link:
https://www.facebook.com/cherryinternationalfoundation/videos/803276053388352/?eid=ARB8eP6OFvzH4MJbpJl1rEKfDpQQ4-gYSVnTMKO6LPsYmBPcDuoh5zvfnx8f_WzEbpJk5lwoUiJC3Qeg
https://onlymaja.blogspot.com/2019/03/first-time-in-netherlands.html
HAPPY to inform you:
on 20 March we were informed that my school debaters - most of whom worked on this project - won a national prize for the best Croatian project with European dimensions... Some of our eTwinning activities (Tricider) became a part of our project EU4mE&U... Some of our debate club activities (videos, Euro mobilities, panel discussions) were disseminated in this project & became a part of it... We'll be running for the European prize in Aachen in May!!! ;)
http://ss-ekonomsko-birotehnicka-sb.skole.hr/?news_hk=1&news_id=1331&mshow=290#mod_news