“Bricks and sharing: let’s build a common Democracy” project aims at involving young people between 20 and 30 years old in a transnational reflection on the value of democracy as a precious common good, which has to be protected and enhanced through the civic engagement of every citizen, especially the youngsters. In many European nations, where democracy was considered as historically rooted and well established, the democratic institutions and processes are today threatened by the spread of fake news, the rise of nationalistic and authoritarian movements, the increasing intolerance and the rejection of pluralism. At the same time, on the eastern borders of the European Union, many nations of recent independence, born from the ashes of the USSR, are undergoing a process of democracy building. This process is complex and gradual and it is itself threatened by cultural obstacles, the persistence of political corruption, the influential role of media and authoritarian and xenophobic discourses. This project stems from the necessity to promote transnational and transcultural dialogue on these topics, by encouraging the encounter of different and peculiar points of view, that derive from different democratic traditions. Participants, in fact, will come from different countries with diverse traditions and experiences of democracy, in order to build an experience which can be enriching and fruitful for all the subjects involved. Among the general objectives there is the will to take the opportunity, provided by European Union, to create opportunities of meeting and dialogue among different cultures, in order to stimulate the development of a transnational civil society which can be able to take strength out from diversity, and not a reason for conflict. At the same time, the project aims at promoting the use of formal and non-formal educational tools, combined with the fundamental tool of the Travel, to show that it is possible to educate in different ways and that the beauty of travelling is the discovery of cultures, beyond the vision of the “traveler” as a simple “consumer”. Regarding the specific objectives of the project, the aim is to strengthen the awareness of young people on democracy, its current challenges and the need to provide constant attention and commitment to it, as citizens. In doing this, the project focuses on the different aspects that the reflection on democracy can have in different national contexts, in order to acknowledge that behind “our democracies”, that have different characteristics and that face different challenges, it is possible to identify a “common Democracy”, which is moved by similar needs and that can be enriched by different national experiences. The overall objective of the project is therefore to promote and strengthen the awareness of participants on the processes of building, reinforcement and defense of democracy. The specific objectives are: - Allow the encounter and the dialogue between different perspectives on democracy, coming from inside as well as outside EU - Promote the exchange of information, experiences and practices of democratic social commitment between organizations and individuals from different countries - Develop a stronger awareness on the level of democracy of the nations of provenance and create concrete proposals of action to be presented and implemented at the local level in each nation involved in the project - Promote intercultural dialogue and civic engagement among young people The project intends to reach these objectives through the use of tools which can be a “democratic training” for participants: meetings with local actors involved in democracy building and preservation, moments of guided reflection (before, during and after the mobility), volunteering activities as a tool to underline the importance of the “common constructive dialogue”, group activities in the period between the two mobilities to drive the process of empowerment of the young participants, dissemination activities that represent per se the a democratic action in the creation, sharing of experiences, free and critic expression of their own thought.