The project “Present Continuous! Workshop on memory and present of Europe” is starting this Saturday 2nd April. It will last nine days during which 43 people from 13 different countries will participate in different activities with the intergenerational contact between them as one of the more interesting points of the encounter.
CESIE is the coordinating organisation and each of the other partner organisations is sending at least two participants, one older than 45 and the other one younger than 30. The partnership covers: “Youth Society for Peace and Development of the Balkans” and “Bulgarian Network for Child and Youth Trafficking Prevention” (Bulgaria), “Agora CE” (Czech Republic), “France Amerique Latine” (France), “Sozial.label e.v.” and “Ulm University ZAWiW”, (Germany), “Popular University of Rome” (Italy), “Social Alternative Institute” (Latvia), “Lietuvos jaunimo Ramuva” and “RJOS Apvalus stalas” (Lithuania), “SAPIEN” (Malta), “OCRE – Associação para a Valorização do Ambiente, Cultura, Património e Lazer” (Portugal), “Young Partners for civil society development association” (Romania), “Centre for information service, cooperation and development of NGOs” (Slovenia), “Ciberspacio SL” and “Fundaciò Privada Desenvolupament Comunitari (Spain), and “Center for Democratic Development” (former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia).
The project idea came up after realizing about the need of understanding the current social situation of Europe, by knowing each country’s history, contrasting past facts with the current ideas nowadays. The event will be dedicated to know each partners’ country through non-formal education activities, using traditions, memories, proverbs, music, etc. related to historical times in their countries. These activities will be chosen according to the issues of war periods, peace, migrations and poverty, and will incorporate a reflexion on what means Europe today for citizens in their daily lives.
The intergenerational exchange is also one of the pillars of the meeting, so among participants we can find a great variety of ages, from 18 to 80 years old. Participants will work in intercultural groups and they will collaborate for the development of a main outcome: developing a sort of “Museum of Memories” open to the local community on Saturday 9th April in the afternoon in the courtyard of the Carmelitan’s Convent (via Giovanni Grasso 13, Ballarò area). An intercultural dinner will also take place in the same location on Monday 4th April.
The main learning aims the project pursues are reflecting about the role of historic facts, war periods and migrations phenomena in the configuration of nowadays social and geo-political situation of the European Union; analysing each partner’s country development, using citizens’ past memories and traditions to look into the present and to become aware about the diversity in Europe; learning about nowadays European policies that promote European identity and citizenship, integration and peaceful resolution of conflicts and fostering the exchange between participant’s countries’ history towards democracy through memories.
“Present Continuous! Workshop on memory and present of Europe” is a project under the Europe for Citizens programme of the European Commission, part of the measure 2.3 – Support to projects initiated by civil society organizations, inside the frame of action number 2 – Active Civil Society in Europe.
If want further information about the project write to: partnership@cesie.org.
