How to deal with the spread and uprising of Euroscepticism within European countries and citizens?  How can confrontation and debate between young citizens promote a better mutual understanding about European values and policies?

 “Bricks Made of Words: building Europe again through dialogue” is a project co-founded by the Europe for Citizens program dedicated to young European citizens interested in sharing knowledge and perspectives about actual key themes that are relevant for their future, as well as for the EU’s future. Participants will develop their critical thinking of sensitive matters and will debate to exchange their thoughts with peers from other EU countries. At the end of the project, they will develop a document containing all their ideas and recommendations to be presented in Brussels to EU policy makers.

The project will achieve this by bringing together young Europeans in 6 events held in Italy, Republic of Serbia, Romania, Bosnia Herzegovina, Greece, and Belgium. In this events, local citizens, policy makers, experts, facilitators, and students will meet and discuss together. They will debate common and different points of view regarding the EU and its future. They will have the chance to design together new perspectives and policy proposals.

Check in this document the events dates and other details of the project.

The project «BRICKS MADE OF WORDS: Building Europe again through dialogue » Grant decision n°: 625628 was funded with the support of the European the Programme “Europe for Citizens”

 

Preparatory activities: the activities involved 18 direct participants from the partners management teams as well as around 150 persons who participated in the research phase responding to questionnaires related to the theme getting to know your Eurosceptics and into the selection process of the 28 young participants that were part of the mobilities in 6 different European countries.
Location / Dates: ONLINE/ 1/8/2021 to 31/08/2022
Short description: these activities consisted of researches conducted for the project themes, Research of EU policies & bodies Related contents, Know your Eurosceptics online questionnaires and focus groups in preparation to the mobilities and the participants selection, Role Play plots creation, development of LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® methodology specific to the project and applied on the 4th mobility in Sarajevo as well as the development of two Virtual Reality (VR) tools for “what if” scenarios that where used during the first and second events respectively in Italy and in Serbia.

Events:

Six events have been carried out within this project:

Event 1 Cavriglia, Italy “Memories of the Past for building the present”


THEME ADDRESSED WWII, Nazi-Fascism, civic participation
Participation: The event involved 215 citizens, including 192 participants from the city of Cavriglia (Italy), 4 participants from the city of Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina), 4 participants from the city of Belgrade (SERBIA), 2 from Brussels (Belgium), 4 from Lymasol (Cyprus), 4 from Porto (Portugal) and 5 from Valdarno (ITALY).

Location / Dates: The event took place in Cavriglia, Italy from 20/09/2022 to 23/09/2022
Short description: The aim of the event was to introduce and engage Eurosceptics and Euro-supporters within the process of EU improvement. Taking part, together, in activities around Memories of the Past for building the present through the theme of WWII, Nazi-Fascism, civic participation and its active memory relating it to relating to the two sites of the Cavriglian massacres was a very effective way to engage the youth through using Virtual reality scenarios developed for the theme as well as connecting with local participants through debates and meeting that evocated a shared memory and reflected on the shared future.

Event 2 Belgrade “On the roads of recent past – towards new future”


THEME ADDRESSED Civil Rights and media freedom

Participation: The event involved 78 citizens, including 51 participants from the city of Belgrade (SERBIA), 4 participants from the city of Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina), 4 participants from the city of Belgrade (SERBIA), 2 from Brussels (Belgium), 4 from Lymasol (Cyprus), 4 from Porto (Portugal) and 5 from Valdarno (ITALY) and 4 from Arad (Romania).

Location / Dates: The event took place in Belgrade, SERBIA from 11/10/2022 to 14/10/2022


Short description: The aim of the event was to enlarge participants knowledge about European history and how debates and media freedom can foster peace and healthy democratic process. Focus of the Belgrade event was on the potential of culture and creative processes in addressing burning issues of our societies.

Event 3 Arad, Romania “Simulation of the EU Parliament / EU Council

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THEME ADDRESSED Functioning of EU bodies


Participation: The event involved 82 citizens, including 61 participants from the city of Arad (Romania), 4 participants from the city of Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina), 4 participants from the city of Belgrade (SERBIA), 3 from Brussels (Belgium), 4 from Lymasol (Cyprus), 3 from Porto (Portugal) and 3 from Valdarno (ITALY).

Location / Dates: The event took place in Arad, Romania, from 15/11/2022 to 18/11/2022
Short description: The aim of the event was to familiarize the participants with how the EU Parliament and the Council of the European Union work and take decisions or discuss and change laws and directives. This was achieved through the two simulation games organised with the participants and the following activities such as EU&Me Quizz and explanations. Participants were generally very involved, and interested in the activities, they say they now understand better how these institutions function and they needed such activities in order to be able to understand the decisional process at the EU level.

Event 4 Sarajevo “We are all humans”

THEME ADDRESSED Migration and human rights

Participation: The event involved 58 citizens, including 38 participants from the city of of Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina), 4 participants from the city of Belgrade (SERBIA), 2 from Brussels (Belgium), 4 from Lymasol (Cyprus), 4 from Porto (Portugal) and 4 from Valdarno (ITALY) and 4 from Arad (Romania).

Location / Dates: The event took place in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina from 09/01/2023 to 12/01/2023.Short description:  The aim of the event activities was to encourage participants to think out of box while questioning social narratives and working on crucial topics and tackling social issues such as identity, gender, gender-based violence, religious and cultural background, war, peace, reconciliation, deconstructing the conflict and conflict management and conflict transformation. One of the most important aspects was individual work on the same topics as well as the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY®.

Event 5 Limassol, “Youth for the future”
THEME ADDRESSED EU Youth policies / Structured dialogue (SD) on project themes

Participation: The event involved 84 citizens, including 63 participants from the city of Lymasol (Cyprus), 4 from the city of Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina), 4 participants from the city of Belgrade (SERBIA), 2 from Brussels (Belgium), 4 from Porto (Portugal) and 3 from Valdarno (ITALY) and 4 from Arad (Romania).

Location / Dates: The event took place in Lymasol, Cyprus from 20/20/2023 to 23/02/2023

Short description:  The mobility in Cyprus revolved around EU youth policies and migrant rights. The activities included a presentation on “Structured Dialogue”, learning what EU youth policies are and the drafting of such policies, a presentation on the importance of migration and human rights and a tour of Limassol. The main aims achieved were the better understanding of EU youth policies, how they affect people in Europe and also of the impact on migration and human rights.

Event 6 Brussels Bruxelles “Our voice for the future”
THEME ADDRESSED Presentation and discussion of recommendation paper to the EU institutions

Participation: The event involved 53 citizens, including 28 participants from the city of Brussels (Belgium), 4 participants from the city of Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina), 5 participants from the city of Belgrade (SERBIA), 4 from Lymasol (Cyprus), 5 from Porto (Portugal) and 5 from Valdarno (ITALY) and 2 from Arad (Romania).

Location / Dates: The event took place in Brussels, Belgium from 27/03/2023 to 29/03/2023

Short description:  The mobility of BRICKS in Brussels had an overall objective of presenting and discussing the recommendations proposed by the group of the 28 selected young participants in the six mobilities of the project.  The final recommendation paper was treating four themes: EU bodies | civic rights and duties, EU values (Peace and Tolerance), Youth policies and Migration and human rights. It summarized the participants recommendation collected during the project events.  The recommendations are meant to be incorporated as initiatives of the European Parliament.

OUR PARTNERS

We work in this project with:

ArciValdarno,

Ayuntamiento de Cavriglia,

Ofensiva,

Novaiskra,

Bravobih,

ARCSS,

AGENFAP

CUT.