Programme & action: ERASMUS+: Youth, Key action 1: youth exchange (YE)
YE dates: 6—15 September 2021
Venue: Aninoasa, Dambovita, Romania
APV (advance planning visit): 4—7 August 2021. One group leader and one participant will take part in the APV.
Please read the info-pack
Participants: 4+1GL
Participating countries: Romania, Czech Republic, Italy, Portugal, Lithuania, Slovakia, Republic of North Macedonia
Hostitelská organizace: Asociatia Be You
Czech team: Tomáš Fogl (GL), Phuong Pham (APV), Johana Jurčová, Jana Simulíková, Jan Matějčík
Project report:
I am glad I could be a part of the “Empower Youth” Erasmus+ project that took place in Targoviste, Romania, from the 6th to the 15th of September 2021, and that I was lucky to meet new friends from six different countries: Czechia, Italy, Lithuania, Portugal, Romania and Slovakia. During our project thirty people gathered to widen their knowledge about Civic Engagement and learn about the importance of Youth Participation in democratic decision-making processes.
Under the guidance of our organizators, Ilona and Adrian, we got to spend pleasant time filled with thematic workshops on Civic Engagement where we managed to create varieties of posters about the main topics, such as youth involvement, volunteering, democratic life, as well as the issues and challenges The European Union is facing nowadays. Our team was composed of friendly, compassionate and understanding people, therefore we could lead discussions freely without the fear of being judged, as our topic was not an easy one to grasp and deal with.
We designed an illustrative brochure to introduce our work to the public, institutions and other associations in order to increase the civic participation of young people in our communities. Moreover, we used our obtained knowledge to conceive the Declaration of Active Citizen, a document that lists roles, rights and responsibilities of each of us to build a functional and healthy society. This project not only allowed us to meet like minded peers and present our views, but also discover more about other cultures and create friendships. I can be sure that this project motivated us to be more active in democratic process and to take steps towards our better future, as it is our future that we should focus on.
Apart from spending great time on the workshops, we bonded during our free evenings over a game of billiard, karaoke or simply by exploring the medieval town together. We also visited some Romanian historical places like the Museum of Communism, where we got a chance to absorb the country’s past, and from our organizators we found out about the origin of the Dracula story.
In conclusion, I am happy that my friend introduced me to EYCB, through which I got this great opportunity and could be a part of a group of amazing people, as well as deepen my knowledge about the European Union and its values. I am certain that this wasn’t the first and last project I participated in and that I will be able to take part in some upcoming projects in the future. Mulțumesc!
Johana Jurčová
