YOU Young Open United: Growing up in times of change While the European Union faces fundamental changes, voices that polarize the political discourse and stir insecurity are getting more influential. Our students feel that in many respects their lives will not follow traditional patterns. Quite different to the challenges former generations faced they will have to be prepared to move to another country to complete their education, acquire expertise or find a job that allows them to use their individual skills and prosper. In addition, they will have to break with prevailing comfortable but harmful habits and find sustainable ways of organizing their daily lives. Our project aims at giving them orientation to meet these challenges, making them discover the opportunities a strong EU offers and thus strengthening their resilience against populist slogans. We also want them to take an active part in shaping their future. Project year one focusses around the question of: "What am I going to do after school?" How can I shape my professional future and where can I find guidance?" While these questions ultimately require individual answers, the problems and challenges involved as well as the opportunities are international. Our partnership comprises countries with very different problems. We can therefore make the students see among their peers how job related migration causes families to live apart from each other, how valuable European programmes are in shaping skills and how all partners benefit from each other in different respects. Project year two aims at fostering the students' sense of belonging to Europe as culturally exciting union that shares a heritage from which they can draw strength and inspiration. This shared spirit is fundamental for the final project phase of exploring and defining sustainable lifestyles as integral part of young European culture in a transnational document on the students' vision of sustainable life in the EU. All project results will ultimately result in a guide book: "How to survive in ....." created by young people for young people. In the course of the project all partners contribute chapters about their town/ region. As online edition it will remain open for additional entries after the end of the project as an interactive tool to be implemented in the schools' curricular. The guide book "How to survive in …." will be composed in a funny, loving, possibly ironical or cartoon like tone according to the students' preferences. The intended design for an online version are interactive maps, pictures and text links showing city guides for students on Braga, Budapest,Copenhagen, Rome and Stuttgart. Intended chapters are: 1. Culture compasses for newcomers 2. Finding orientation: Tips and tricks for entering the job-market 3. Lifestyle: Finding a place to live, getting around, clothes, food, going out 4. Europe in our town Overview: Project steps Year 1 1. School/ education in the different countries: How does it enable us to meet life’s challenges? 2. Life after school: apprenticeship, university, gap year? 2.1 How to find orientation? 2.2 Young people’s fears, hopes and challenges 2.3 What kind of support do we hope for (school, community, state, EU)? Year 2 3 Identity- culture- lifestyle 3.1 My cultural heritage and my European identity 3.1.1 A culture compass 3.1.2 Promoting a European identity 3.2 How we would like to live 3.2.1 Sustainable life: What initiatives are there in our town, our country, Europe? 3.2.2 Sustainable life in the political discourse 3.2.3 Our vision: Sustainable life in the EU
YOU Young Open United: Growing up in times of change In times that demand change in many respects young people are faced with complex challenges when facing and planning their future. Our project aimed at making them stronger in tackling this situation. All results can be found at www.agorainternational.wordpress.com. Our schools and our future: First students in Braga, Budapest, Rome, Copenhagen und Stuttgart looked at how their own schools prepare them for life after school. They also compared opportunities for school leavers and found inspiring differences. During a student conference in Stuttgart in November 2019 all project students explored job opportunities in STEM subjects, in industry and in start-ups. Our future: hopes and challenges: The prospect of leaving school gives rise to hopes and insecurities. What was it like for our parents when they were young? Interviews with parents revealed that Europe today offers divers opportunities. The Covid pandemic and social distancing measures triggered concern about the future. Our students developed a survey about hopes and challenges which they conducted at their own schools. Comparing the results allowed them to see their own situation in a larger context and experience interesting international teamwork in times of lockdown. Our towns and the future: Focusing on their urban environment in the second half of YOU the student groups looked at sustainable initiatives in their towns that react to the current European and global challenge. They created videos and texts discussing their results in online meetings. Based on these insights the first contributions to our Sustainable City Guide were drafted. During our first real life conference after the pandemic in Copenhagen in March 2022, entries on culture and manner were created. In April 2022 the groups who still had a travel ban in March created an online version using padlet during the third true student mobility, our student conference in Budapest. It remains work in progress and more cities and sights will be added. A postcard with QR code leading to our work was distributed during events, send digitally or haded out to visitors, friends, decision makers.