Democracy and political fatigue as well as the rejection of democratic forms of society are noticeable in almost all European countries. Nationalism, protectionism, rejection of diversity are becoming more and more stated as problem solving and offered and "sold" as simple answers to the complex issues of our time. The project aims to increase the democratic awareness of all stakeholders and to foster citizen engagement and active EU citizenship. They should recognize that local, national and European identity are not mutually exclusive. Likewise, they should recognize that democracy is not just a rule, but also a life and society form, which affects all levels of our lives and requires lifelong efforts. The participants are young people between the ages of 16 and 19, who attend upper secondary school and will be attending universities or training in the foreseeable future. Their future depends closely on the social, economic, social and political developments in their countries, the European community and a globalized world. Encouraging them to actively participate in shaping these developments on a personal, local and personal level is an important approach to this project. They should recognize that small changes can be just as important as changes at national and international level. Participants are supposed to develop their historical, economic and ecological skills as well as their identity, diversity, change and utopia skills, which are indispensable for a modern understanding of democracy. In addition, students lose the fear of using their language skills. Cooperative, self-organized learning is an important part of the project as it is the only way to initialize a lifelong learning process. Pupil-active methods that enable one's own experience and experience are in the foreground. Surveys, observations, role-plays and simulations that give rise to possible conflicts, solutions and reflections become an important part of the activities. The aspect of conscious, reflected and self-competent perception runs through all parts of the project. Care is taken to ensure that each part of the project complies with the criteria of a complete action and includes planning, implementation and control and thus is self-contained. During the implementation phase, care is taken that we move from observation to reflection and understanding in order to achieve internalisation. The project is divided into four parts, each of which focuses on one or two of the abovementioned competences. First, the participants are involved in the development of the EU. Subsequently, EU institutions and their cooperation will be developed in order to apply and deepen the findings in a role play and a panel discussion. In the second part, the participants deal with the economic and ecological aspects of the EU states on the internal market and on the global markets and recognize the influence on their personal lives. The third part of the project deals with the different identities of people. In addition, they should perceive the need for constant change and adaptation as well as diversity as positive and not as a threat. In the last part they design a future version of "their" EU as part of a future workshop. The results should be presented to policy makers and discussed with them. In all four parts of the project, tools and materials are to be developed that will be available to schools in the longer term and can and should be used in further exchanges and (European) projects. Current and future students are concerned with a sustainable personality development that goes beyond the mere short-term "usability approach" and the European sense of belonging in the sense of the European motto "United in Diversity" and a positive attitude to democracy, diversity, change and lifelong learning. The European background was an invaluable source of student motivation. They should act as EU citizens and active shapers of their future and see "their Europe" positively. It is their future and their Europe. YOUR EUROPE - YOUROPE!
Democracy and political fatigue as well as the rejection of democratic forms of society are noticeable in almost all European countries. Nationalism, protectionism, rejection of diversity are becoming more and more stated as problem solving and offered and "sold" as simple answers to the complex issues of our time. The project aims to increase the democratic awareness of all stakeholders and to foster citizen engagement and active EU citizenship. They should recognize that local, national and European identity are not mutually exclusive. Likewise, they should recognize that democracy is not just a rule, but also a life and society form, which affects all levels of our lives and requires lifelong efforts. The participants are young people between the ages of 16 and 19, who attend upper secondary school and will be attending universities or training in the foreseeable future. Their future depends closely on the social, economic, social and political developments in their countries, the European community and a globalized world. Encouraging them to actively participate in shaping these developments on a personal, local and personal level is an important approach to this project. They should recognize that small changes can be just as important as changes at national and international level. The implementation of the project was permanently under the shadow of the pandemic. The start of the project, which had been announced for March 2020, had to be postponed indefinitely. In order not to bring the project to a complete halt, teachers from both countries held an online conference where it was agreed to work together online during the pandemic. In June 2021, we held a three-day online conference with all participants. During this online conference, first topic-related tasks were worked on and further planning steps were discussed. The conference focused on raising awareness of the concept of democracy and a historical review and comparison of undemocratic periods in both countries. Participants also dealt with the democratic structures in their living environment (e. g. school) and discussed the potential for improvement of these structures. A second attempt to carry out the project under non-virtual conditions also failed at the end of 2021. Already booked flights from Spain to Germany had to be cancelled at the expense of the participants. The first exchange took place in June 2022 in Spain/Andújar. Due to the long period of time between the three-day virtual meeting and the visit to Spain, the composition of the two groups had changed completely, so there was a first phase of getting to know each other. In the course of the visit to Spain, he learned many details about the EU, including its history, the Member States, everyday life in the EU, the institutions and the parliamentary system of the EU. They also received a lot of information about what the EU offers young people today, such as job opportunities in another European country. The German students in particular gained many interesting insights into the cultural peculiarities of Spain and Andalusia (such as other food cultures, dances, music and architecture) and thus expanded their intercultural competence. Following the first exchange, the Spanish participants returned to Germany/Hameln in the following calendar week due to scheduling constraints (beginning of summer holidays). Since both German teachers involved in the exchange fell ill with Corona, staff changes had to be made at short notice to ensure that the exchange was also carried out in Germany. In terms of content, the students dealt with the importance of democratic basic values of different countries with different value systems. In role-playing games, they experienced how their personal values and lifestyles can conflict with the political framework. They also discussed the advantages and disadvantages of EU enlargement. In a panel discussion, with different groups representing different European countries, the issue of the EU’s offers of assistance to refugees from non-European countries was discussed. It became clear to all participants how difficult it is to make compromises. In a final feedback session, the students had the opportunity to comment on key questions that had arisen in connection with the exchange.