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Europe Meets the World

2019-2-HR01-KA105-0610922019Youth mobilityfinalizedGood practice
Countries: HR|RS|PT|MK|IT|DK · Grant: €31,913.08
EU Citizenship, EU awareness and DemocracyGender equality / equal opportunitiesCivic engagement / responsible citizenship

Objectives

European project is in crisis. Britain will most likely exit the EU in March 2019, Russia is meddling in EU affairs by supporting far-right candidates, some EU countries have been taken over by governments who openly oppose main European values, like liberal democracy. The European project needs to be rejuvenated. This projects aims to develop interest and appreciation for European values and integration among young people. They will learn about Europe by comparing it with the rest of the world. One day will be devoted to exploring different parts of the world in the following way: - two sessions about cultural specifics for this region - third session will be devoted to a country most European young people do not know anything about but have a strong message for Europe - fourth session will be a discussion on the relevance of what they learned for their own countries and for Europe in general. Therefore, by learning about other parts of the world, they will also reflect on these issues in their own countries and in Europe. Participants will cover women’s right by focusing on missing women in South Asia, where the male/female ratio is much higher than in other parts of the world due to large discrimination of women (selective abortions of female foetuses and similar) and gender equality paradox in East Asia, where women have less rights than in Europe yet there are far more women in the male dominated professions, which are also best paid professions, like STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths). Participants will also learn why some parts of the world became richer and others poorer and how poverty and income inequality can have a negative impact on the society, e.g. by providing support for populist leaders. By analysing other parts of the world, which have more marginalized groups and higher rates of poverty and inequality, they will learn that low income inequalities and strong human rights in Europe are good not just for the poor and the marginalized but for the whole society. These societies provide more opportunities and better quality of life for the rich and for the middle classes. Participants will also discuss the tough question of whether there are objective measures to compare the success of European culture vs other cultures. They will learn that most “objective measures” put Europe at the top. However, participants will also learn that Europe can learn a lot from other parts of the world. Participants will also analyse how populism impacts Latin America, which is traditionally one of the most fertile grounds for both left-wing and right-wing populists. Many Latin American leaders, which were very popular, like Chavez and Peron have used the support of the people to weaken democratic checks and balances and the result was an economic and social destruction of their countries. Through this story participants will learn about one of the biggest challenges to European integration - populist on European borders (Putin and Erdogan) and inside the European Union (Salvini, Orban, Le Pen and others). Also, when discussing Middle East and Africa they will critically reflect on European interventions and heritage of colonialism. At the end the participants will discuss about the future of Europe - will the integration project survive its challenges and will European Union spread to the east and south; what is the role of Europe in the world; what is the role of young people in supporting the European project. Participants will develop their ideas through movies.

Project partners (6)