The motto of the European Union is 'united in diversity'. Cultural diversity is deeply rooted in European history. Unfortunately, awareness of this phenomenon is still not sufficient in the European Union. This heritage of diversity is expressed particularly well in the biographies of the most prominent figures of European culture, including writers, poets, composers, musicians, sculptors, painters, designers and architects. Many of them were born in ethnically mixed regions. They were shaped by different religions, traditions and cultures. This diversity is expressed in their works, which often transcend and synthesize different elements in order to create new values. Therefore, these characters contributed to the transfer of ideas and artistic motives and the crossing of borders between nations and states in Europe and spread of innovative ideas. Central and Eastern Europe, distinguished by its cultural, ethnic and religious diversity, has created exceptionally favorable conditions for the development of artists who merged different cultures and traditions. They often migrated to Western Europe, where they created their greatest works. Thus, they contributed significantly to the construction of the European cultural community. The local, regional, national and European levels often mixed in the biographies of the artists and writers. Disseminating knowledge about these personalities is extremely important for strengthening the European civic identity and cultural awareness of all EU citizens, which is based on intercultural dialogue. This knowledge should be expanded particularly among young people. Their level and quality of education will have the greatest impact on the shape of the European community in the coming decades. Within the framework of the project, 20 mini-series consisting of 2 podcasts (each podcast prepared in a different country) dedicated to the greatest personalities of European culture from Central-Eastern Europe will be recorded. As part of the work on each podcast, a workshop will be organized consisting of five sessions (two content-oriented, two technical and one graphic) for a group of high school students. A total of 400 students will take part in the workshops. From 3 to 5 professional and artistic experts will be employed to carry out the workshops in each country, i.e. a total of 12-20 people. Podcasts will be produced on the basis of materials prepared by workshop participants in combination with the producer's materials. Based on the materials provided by all partners, a documentary movie will be produced devoted to the phenomenon of multicultural artists and writers from Central and Eastern Europe, placing it in a broader European context. All products will be placed on a specially created project website. The resources will be generally available to all Internet users, while through the promotional campaign they will be disseminated especially among young people and teachers. The project itself will be presented at two public promotional events in Western Europe, which will be aimed at young people. The project leader is the Polish foundation of the College of Eastern Europe (KEW), which publishes books, magazines and podcasts, and organizes conferences and seminars. Its participants are the Slovenian-Italian film association Kinoatelje, the Hungarian Association of Writers, Literary Critics and Translators of Literature, the Lithuanian media organization NARA publishing podcasts, and the European Association for Local Democracy (ALDA), the largest organization of the local government sector in Europe.
The set objectives of the project included dissemination of knowledge about the most prominent cultural figures in Central and Eastern Europe showing their lives and activities in the context of the region, above and beyond set boundaries. Through these fascinating figures, who played different roles in different countries, have various meaning for various groups and nations, the project presented common heritage and values spanning time, land and languages. In other words, the same person can be seen from various perspectives in order to instigate dialogue and provide food for thought to young people coming from different backgrounds. Multimedia, attractive form of presentation intertwined with online and physical meetings and discussions was meant to show young participants common grounds despite diversity. Young people were also present with means to obtain more knowledge and develop skills to communicate and share their perspectives.
The motto of the EU is "United in Diversity." Cultural diversity is deeply rooted in the history of Europe. Awareness of this phenomenon is still insufficient. This heritage of diversity is particularly well expressed in the biographies of the most prominent figures in culture from different countries. Central and Eastern Europe, distinguished by its diversity, created exceptionally favorable conditions for the development of creators who combined different cultures and traditions. The biographies of these creators often intertwined the local, regional, national, and European levels. The project was designed to support dissemination of knowledge about these creators in order to strengthen the European civic identity and cultural awareness based on intercultural dialogue. It also was designed to expand knowledge among young people. These goals were achieved through cooperation between organizations from Poland, Lithuania, Hungary, Italy and France. The project presents the biographies of selected personalities in a modern and attractive way, using podcasts, graphics, film, and the internet as the main means of dissemination. Use of English also contributed to the improvement of language proficiency among young Europeans.