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How democratic is the modern Europe? / Wie demokratisch ist das moderne Europa?
Start date: Feb 1, 2016, End date: Oct 31, 2016 PROJECT  FINISHED 

The youth exchange "How democratic is the modern Europe?", to take place in Estonia in 2016, enables 18 young people in the age of 18 to 30 to discuss about European values and to get an insight into Estonia as a small, new and modern member state of the European Union. Within eight days, the participants get to know the island Hiiumaa and the Estonian capital Tallinn. These places are especially suitable for the project, as they allow the participants to experience the diversity of Estonia and to get to know the democratic and political processes on both the local and the state level. Kärdla, the capital of the island Hiiumaa with its 3000 inhabitants, represents a small island town. In contrast, the citizens of Tallinn enjoy all opportunities and facilities of modern life. At the same time, Hiiumaa is more than ever connected to the mainland through internet and digital services of the state. The youth exchange will take place under the motto “More democracy for Europe”. In order to find new, refreshing ideas for the current problems of Europe, an important question will be raised: How democratic are currently the European Union and its member states? The participants exchange their ideas on European values, share their experience with digital media and connect both topics with the modern democracy in the European Union. The following questions will be raised: 1. How have the democratic processes changed in the era of digital communication, flash mobs and public participation via the Internet? 2. What should be done to maintain and strengthen the democracy? At the end of the youth exchange, a letter will be sent to the European Youth Parliament to propose changes to be made to enable more EU-citizens to take part in the political decision-making processes. The project will take place in cooperation of three organisations: Deutschbaltische Studienstiftung (Germany), Domus Rigensis (Latvia), and Domus Dorpatensis (Estonia). All participating organisations focus on youth work and the cross-generational dialog in the society. They are all non-governmental organisations that have often organised events for young people and students and connect a large number of active volunteers. The main objective of the project is to motivate young people to become active citizens of the European Union and to work actively on shaping Europe in order to develop a sense of responsibility for the future of the European Union and to make the European values a reality today as well as in the future. Especially in the era of digital media, Europe needs young enthusiastic people who are able to positively influence the European decision-making processes and to encourage others to take part in the democratic processes. Moreover, the young people are the future of Europe, and therefore, the European values and the European identity can only reach the public with young people taking a stand for them. Therefore, we would like to enhance the knowledge of the participants about the European Union and the common European values we share. As a result of the project, the participants will be able to better understand the politics and the history of the EU as well as the culture of other countries, as they will experience the European diversity themselves during the project. At the same time, they will be able to better use the digital media in order to become an active part of the society in their home country. The participants will be shown that it is worthwhile to actively take part in the further sustainable building-up of Europe to create a future in which we can live our values in a free Europe. Further objectives of the project are informal learning and promoting the Erasmus+ programme. As learning methods, presentations, workshops, group and individual work, role plays, discussions, a simulation game, conversations with experts, opinion leaders and leading politicians, as well as cultural events are used. In addition, the local government of Kärdla, the Estonian parliament Riigikogu, the European House, the Museum of Occupations, and the well-known company Skype will be visited. The public will be informed about the results of the project via social networks as well as online and print media. We hope the project will inspire further organisations to initiate and take part in Erasmus+ projects to enable a larger number of young people to deal with topics of European relevance.
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