“Building bridges together” with YEN
Along 2017, the Alliance is participating in the workplan project of YEN (Youth of European Nationalities) together with other international networks
The project “Building Bridges Together” is a multi-activity long-term project run by Youth of European Nationalities network in a partnership with 3 international networks: the Alliance, Voices of Young Refugees in Europe (VYRE) and Phiren Amenca International Network. The project receives the support of the European Youth Foundation of the Council of Europe.
The main aim of this project and partnership itself is:
- to educate youngsters in raising their voices for a diverse Europe
- to come up with a common statement against xenophobic, racist attacks, stigmatization of people and groups due to sex, religion or minority background
- to spread the message across Europe
Four activities are being implemented within this project:
- A Training for Trainers in Trieste, Italy (18-24 February) where we trained 20 young “Architects” (=trainers) for the bridges we wish to build throughout the year. The Architects are involved throughout the next events of the project, where they can use their new skills in small sessions or workshops.
- The Easter Seminar, a big event that took place in Durres (Albania) on 7-13 April. During this networking event, the participants, supported by a team of editors from all the partners involved, acquired skills to exchange best practices and drafted a joint resolution on the current situation of youngsters in Europe, particularly of minorities and refugees, and the importance of participation for young people to stand up actively for their rights.
- A “Diversity Festival – Celebrating pluralism” in Gdansk, Poland on 6-13 August, to promote a stronger, more diverse and more tolerant European community through several workshops on visual arts (theatre, cartooning etc) and methods to foster youth participation.
- A bus tour through Europe “Crossing Rivers” (Northern Germany, Denmark, The Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, Slovakia, Czech Republic (tbc)) in October where we crossed the “stable” bridges and spread our message over the continent. The participants of the bus tour, that included one Alliance representative, stopped at different locations and met minority organisations as well as local organisations from our partners. More updates on the tour on the facebook page of YEN network.
