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Them, You or Me: Who's Different in Europe's Geometry?
Start date: Aug 1, 2014, End date: Nov 30, 2014 PROJECT  FINISHED 

Young people do not always have the right view on their fellows in other countries and they are often missing information on other Europeans. That can easily lead to judging the others on prejudices and incorrect images of different European cultures. The project addressed these issues as well as the needs deriving from them: youngsters need to get in contact with other European cultures, to look through the eyes of another person, to understand other historical and cultural backgrounds and exchage feelings and knowledge regarding other countries. By exchaging cultural habits, sharing identity values and learning more about being citizens of Europe, by joining in different intercultural and recreational activities, the programme provided opportunities for participants to discover, compare and better understand other cultures, to explore what connects them to Europe and which are the limits of their national identities and to learn to express their disillusions and frustrations. At the end of the exchange, all their findings and learning experiences were put together in a creative representation of Europe, as a Cultural Geometry. Participants went back home with a better understanding of their own identities, a better knowledge of other cultures and of the European spirit in general. We hope that they will further use the knowledge assimilated during their participation to the exchange, developing understanding for the cultural diversity in Europe and exploring the advantages of their European Citizenship, by recognising their own cultural particularities but, getting one step further, integrating them in a wider, diverse European context. Please find attached to this report a daily description of the undertaken activities, accompanied by pictures and feedback from the participants. On a long term perspective, we hope the gained experiences will lead to less thinking in patterns and to a better understanding of what Europe means in terms of different cultures and identities. We hope that they will look at things from a totally different perspective, and that the project opened new ways of communicating and bridging with other cultures. From the evaluation answers given by participants at the end of the project, we can safely conclude that the objectives of the project were accomplished. Please find below a selection of the most relevant answers to some evaluating questions: 1) What are you taking home? - a better understanding for other youth in other countries all over Europe; - less prejudicies about other people from different places; - we are much more open about talking to each other; - I got better in English; - I learnt new words from other languages; - memories and friends for a lifetime; - lots of interesting knowledge about other countries; - great food experiences; - too many good things to choose from; - this entire new experience gives us useful skills regarding the communication and we learnt to be more sociable; - we got really good friends in a short time because of the programme, and the traditional nights were a big part of it; - I really liked the discussions at the Embassies, learnt a lot about EU and what they do; - a good insight in other cultures; - Romanian traditional dancing skills; - I will be more tolerant; - the programme will help me re-arrange my priorities and future plans. 2) How do you think that participating to this project will influence you in the future? - I will be more open, will be able to understand more; - I will be less frightened for big cities; - I got better in English; - I got new friends and memories for life; - I know more about how to co-operate with others; - I will be more open to people; - I will have more self-confidence; - I learnt to look critically at my own country and culture; - I will have less prejudices against people from Eastern Europe and foreigners in general. The programme was attended by 28 participants (24 high-school youngsters aged between 15 and 18 year old and 4 group leaders) coming from The Netherlands, Romania, Poland and Norway. The working methods used during the exchange activities were: thematic workshops, team work, discussions, debates, individual work, exercise, presentations, experience exchange, simulation, role-play, interview, outdoor activities – all with the aim of learning by experience in a non-formal educational framework while keeping balance between theory and practice.
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