Populism is ascendant and the European project is in jeopardy. Social, Economic and Demographic changes are contributing to an erosion in confidence in democracy in general. European citizens are disengaging from Europe and from each other. Art is an excellent tool to activate and gather citizens from different backgrounds, circumnavigate social and political roadblocks and address current challenges. NEXT GENERATION, PLEASE! (NGP) is an ambitious civic engagement project designed to use culture to empower young people to participate in the democratic process on the local, national and transnational levels. NGP! stimulates new thinking amongst the younger generation around the complexity of living together and civic responsibility in today’s Europe by engaging on a long term basis with artists and intellectuals specialised in political science, sociology, philosophy. The project uses political debates and art making as a vehicles to enlarge the discourse, share responsibility, articulate and express their opinions and learn valuable skills such as how to work as a part of team, respectfully disagree and be thoughtful and engaged citizens. The partnership is composed of 2 high schools (FR and BE) with diverse backgrounds (general education and vocational training), and 3 cultural institutions (Fondazione Pistoletto, Centre Pompidou and BOZAR) strongly committed in placing art in direct interaction with young people and with societal issues and European values. The partnership will collaborate in order to build a strong and innovative international methodology based on the NGP concept that had a pilot local edition. This work will be fed by the experience on the field (with exchanges of Schools between France and Belgium). It will result in the publication of Methodological Manual for schools and socio-cultural/educative organisations willing to implement such transnational projects. Based on the results of the pilot phase of the project, which began in 2014 and ended in 2016, a second edition transposed to the transnational level will enable us to maximize impact by refining the design of the project and activate and grow the networks of partners created via the inaugural edition. The impact study of the pilot edition demonstrates that more than 95% of would evaluate the overall experience as good or excellent and that a majority of participants report that NGP! influenced their thoughts about European politic and their desire to speak about Europe. Majorities also report that they learned to work better in a group, form and express their opinions and express themselves via art. For the second edition the aim is to optimize the implementation of the project, enlarge the scope of the target groups to the international level and to extend the reach of project via educators, cultural partners and institutions. As such the methodology will be refined based on the experience of each international partner, and the needs of their respective constituents. Together the educators will design a manual outlining the new and improved methodology and evaluation processes destined for schools, non-profits and cultural organizations so that other partners can implement and adapt NGP! based on the needs of their own constituents. The manual will be widely distributed available to download online and printed in 10.000 copies in three languages (French, Dutch, English). NGP! will help strengthen transnational cooperation between educators in Italy, France and Belgium, allowing each institution to benefit from the others unique strengths and competencies and better realize their respective missions. NGP! will directly impact 67 secondary students from diverse socio-economic backgrounds in Belgium and France accompanied by 9 artists, intellectuals and educators from France, Belgium and Italy who will help to facilitate the project throughout the academic year in the respective host institutions, as well as the 4 exchange moments uniting French and Belgian students. The indirect impact via online and print communications, live performances and an exhibition at one of Europe’s leading cultural institutions, as well as the distribution of the pedagogical manual detailing the methodology will ultimately reach a much larger audience.
NEXT GENERATION, PLEASE! (NGP!) was conceived in 2014 in response to rising populism and euro-scepticism as an ambitious civic engagement project that brings together artists, decision makers and a target group of citizens to explore Europe as a theme vis-à-vis democratic practice. Next Generation, Please! is the latest version of two initiatives that aim to gather thinkers, activists, policy makers and politicians around current topics: Narratives for Europe and New Narrative for Europe. On the Narratives for Europe website, you will find writers, artists, journalists and analysts who speak on four pressing issues on which the European debate revolves today: historical taboos, stereotypes, migration and change. New Narrative for Europe was launched by the European Commission in 2013 and brought artists, scientists and intellectuals together to reflect on common values such as freedom, human dignity, democracy, equality and respect for human rights. This project was made in a statement in 2014 and in the book The Mind and Body of Europe, prepared by a group of prominent figures including CEO and artistic director of BOZAR Paul Dujardin, artists Olafur Eliasson, Michelangelo Pistoletto and Cristina Iglesias, writer György Konrad and architect Rem Koolhaas. Inspired by those two projects, BOZAR decided,to set up its own citizenship project for young people. With Next Generation, Please! we want to stimulate the public debate on European citizenship and encourage young people to share their opinions and ideas about (the future) of Europe. In 2015-2016 the first edition of Next Generation, Please! took place. The overwhelming success of the exhibition and the positive feedback from both artists and young people prompted us to start a new batch in 2017-2018 and scale up the project to an international level by integrating an in-person exchange in the project. . The project entails a collaboration with artists, intellectuals and local and international policymakers. The aim was to stimulate new thinking among this younger generation around the complexity of living together and civic responsibility in the context of the European project. The overarching theme was Europe and work, present and future. Borders and migration, were some of the key issues explored in the creative projects. NGP! unfolded via the following actions: • 2 parallel artistic projects in two schools, Institut Sainte-Marie and Lycée Rodin led by artists, teachers and experts and three cultural institutions (Fondazione Pistoletto, Centre Pompidou and BOZAR) • 4 in-person exchanges for the young people • 5 transnational meetings with the different stakeholders • The creation of an intellectual output: a methodological manual for teachers and cultural workers • One residency week at Centre Pompidou and BOZAR • Two debates and various informal conversations at BOZAR featuring program participants, artists and politicians including Hermann Van Rompuy, Simone Susskind among others • Final Exhibition at BOZA Overall objective were creating new and exciting ways to bring together ordinary citizens, policy makers and cultural actors, in the spirit of responsible global citizenship, in order facilitate direct personal contact, build trust through understanding and change existing narratives. Specific objectives include : • Stimulate reflection around the challenges confronting Europe/Global Citizenship • Use culture as a vehicle and multiplier for debate in order to circumnavigate roadblocks and stimulate dialogue • Celebrate the ideas, talents and experiences of target stakeholders and help them develop the tools and desire to act as engaged and proactive citizens • Create a new narrative for Europe with art • Inform policy makers on recommendations of target • Complement existing initiatives • Transform cultural institutions into a more innovative and inclusion institution The impact study showed that Next Generation, Please! is an effective means to help participants develop skills, reflect on European values, further practical knowledge of social and political issues, as well as connect with one another. The participants in clearly enjoyed and valued their participation in the Erasmus + project, strongly believe that it was worthwhile to continue.