A.C.E. - Vitamins for young Active Citizens in Europe

Rome 15 - 22 July 2019

Erasmus+ KA1 

Partners

Wow Go Amsterdam (Netherlands)

Docho Mihaylou (Bulgaria)

European Republic  (Greece)

Gruppo Pax (Italy)

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF 

A.C.E. vitamins for young Active Citizens in Europe is a Youth Exchange that has an overall goal to sensitize young people to become European active citizens in their own communities from the local to the wider one, that includes all, that is the European Union, becoming aware about how they are interconnected with each other, discovering how much the European Union is present in our local life and discovering more about the benefits it brings in the daily life of its citizens, in particular, way of its young people. Inspired by a pool of young people in a previous YE, this Youth Exchange wants to be the missing opportunity for young people, but one that feels the need, to learn share spread the social change inside their own communities, and to strength at the same time their own sense of belonging to European Union, fertilizing it with their own initiatives. And as 2019 is the year of the elections of European Parliament and as a lot of participants have voted for the first time, the Exchange will be the opportunity to experience the functioning of this institution through a simulation of the same.

So, in general, the project has focused on these aims: 1) to understand concretely what means to be active citizens nowadays in Europe and in the world: the issues, challenges, opportunities that being active citizens in the XXI century involves; 2) to improve some soft skills, attitudes and competences useful to experience concretely the active citizenship, such as the dialogue as a tool to build empathy, trust and understanding with other people and other cultures. 3) to reflect on the meaning of community, rebuilding the map of different communities of which we are part, to strength the belonging to European Union;  understanding how the different communities "work", learning to identify interventions for addressing communities'issues. 4) Planning a social action, a project for a community, delivering social action using improved social responsibility and leadership skills.

METHODS AND ACTIVITIES: name games, Icebreaking activities, energizers, team building. Interactive activities on the themes (exercises, games, storytelling, simulation game on European Parliament), cooperation with migrants, workshop and visit at a local NGO,  and meeting with local administration, intercultural evening, excursion in the territory.