Rozhoduj o Evropě - Staň se na den tvůrcem evropské politiky (“Decide on Europe”)

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Eutis, o.p.s

Organisation:

Eutis, o.p.s

Country:

Czech Republic

About organisation:

EUTIS, o.p.s. is a non-profit organisation founded in 2005 to deepen the awareness and knowledge of the general public about the European Union, especially secondary and higher education students and secondary school teachers. EUTIS, o.p.s. is involved (or has been involved in the past) in the implementation of conferences, seminars, or discussions dedicated to European topics and issues of active citizenship. The organisation's primary objectives include raising awareness of the functioning of European institutions and education for active citizenship. The main target groups are students (especially secondary school students), teachers and youth workers in the regions, to whom we try to introduce innovative methods. The main activities of EUTIS, o.p.s. are organisation of seminars on current European topics; in particular, the structured dialogue project supplemented by a simulation of the functioning of EU institutions for secondary school students - "Decide on Europe".

Title of the project

Rozhoduj o Evropě - Staň se na den tvůrcem evropské politiky (“Decide on Europe”)

Start date:

27/9/2022

End date:

13/12/2022

Objectives:

Thirteen regional seminars of the "Decide on Europe" project were addressed to students of all types of secondary schools in the Czech Republic. The project had several objectives. First, the project aims to bring the decision-making process at the European Union (EU) level closer to young people in the Czech Republic. The workshops and the subsequent follow-up meeting of young people (in 2023) from the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic include a simulation of the proceedings and work of the EU institutions - the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union. The simulation aimed to understand the complexity of decision-making at EU level and the equality of views represented by different countries and political groups at European level. Secondly, the project aimed to promote dialogue between young people and students on topical issues that significantly affect their lives in a common Europe - green transition, digitalisation, democratic values and intergenerational dialogue. During the project, young people could have first-hand experience of how decision-making in the EU works. The project promoted the direct involvement of the participants, which can significantly contribute to increasing interest in participating in democratic processes at local and regional levels. We believe that active young people are the future of society, and supporting their activities can increase interest in politics among their peers.

Why the project was: empowering young people, adapting to changing realities, or thinking out of the box:

Through informed discussion on current European and domestic issues with decision-makers from European, national and regional politics, young people not only had the space to learn new information, but especially the opportunity to share their views on the future direction of Europe. Through the discussion activities and their outputs, the project aimed to provide young people with the opportunity to share their views on current societal issues and to communicate these objectives to policymakers and the general public. Furthermore, the objective of the project was to create a network of active young people interested in European politics, to promote opportunities for young people to share contacts and experiences and to connect them across regions and national borders.

How the project was inclusive:

The promotion of the project and Eurodesk consists of the organic dissemination of the experience and knowledge gained within the project. The main communication channel is the project website, which serves as an archive of all previous and current activities. The website also contains all photographs, the project newspaper and information about the project partners. Among other things, individual activities were publicly shared in real-time on the project and project partners' social media (especially Instagram and Facebook) in the form of short videos of 5-10 seconds describing current events and identifying project partners. The project output also included videos filmed and produced by the participants. These will be shared on social media with all project partners. The videos aim to raise awareness of young people's perspectives on current social issues. Moreover, the Eurodesk logo was always displayed on all materials distributed to participants. Regional consultants were involved in promoting Eurodesk at the regional seminars, and the discussion activities at all 13 seminars introduced the participants to the possibilities of foreign projects and internships.

Green aspect:

Throughout all parts of the project, the organisational team focused on reducing the environmental impact. The project sites were selected based on transport accessibility, and participants were transported to the project sites exclusively by public transport. The organisational team used only digitised versions of documents. QR-codes were distributed on-site for the participants with links to all the materials they were to use during the project activities. However, the actual computer/tablet was not a requirement for participation; therefore, printed versions of the materials were also available for interested participants in small numbers. The organising team reminded participants to focus on reducing waste generation during the events, e.g. by using their refillable water bottles. In addition, the project team, which consists of people from different parts of the Czech and Slovak Republics, always met in an online environment, except for one meeting, to plan the entire project.

How the project has given a European dimension to your event and ensured the visibility and promotion of Eurodesk?

The promotion of the project and Eurodesk consists of the organic dissemination of the experience and knowledge gained within the project. The main communication channel is the project website, which serves as an archive of all previous and current activities. The website also contains all photographs, the project newspaper and information about the project partners. Among other things, individual activities were publicly shared in real-time on the project and project partners' social media (especially Instagram and Facebook) in the form of short videos of 5-10 seconds describing current events and identifying project partners. The project output also included videos filmed and produced by the participants. These will be shared on social media with all project partners. The videos aim to raise awareness of young people's perspectives on current social issues. Moreover, the Eurodesk logo was always displayed on all materials distributed to participants. Regional consultants were involved in promoting Eurodesk at the regional seminars, and the discussion activities at all 13 seminars introduced the participants to the possibilities of foreign projects and internships.

Impact:

All workshops took place directly in regions of the Czech Republic and involved young people from all over the region, not just from the capital and regional cities. Young people had the opportunity to dialogue with EUTIS, with representatives of Eurocentres, Europe Direct centres and Eurodesk partners, local politicians, local and regional authorities, and representatives of local civic initiatives. At this level, a dialogue took place with decision-makers, where students formulated general but specific problems and proposals for solutions from the perspective of young people on the topics discussed. At the same time, local decision-makers had a better overview of the issues of interest to young people in their region, what problems they perceive, and thus have the opportunity to reflect this knowledge in their future activities. The participants also uploaded the resulting suggestions and ideas on a variety of topics to the voices.youth.europa.eu platform, as the project also took place within the framework of the European Year of Youth.