European Youth Capital 2023
Strategic partner
Non-governmental organisations, cultural institutions and other entities are implementing international youth exchange projects. Several interesting projects have been completed so far. You can read about them below.
If your organisation has undertaken this type of activities or is planning to do so in the near future, fill in the questionnaire and boast your work: https://bit.ly/3HZXQM2
Information about your project will be posted on the website of European Youth Capital 2023!
We also offer promotional support in this respect. Let's get busy!
Perhaps, like many students, you are dreaming about going away on a student exchange. A semester or a year abroad seems not only to be an incredible adventure but also an investment in the future. You wish to test your abilities in new situations, meet interesting friends and explore the culture of another country. Yet something stops you from taking specific steps. What if the imminent question about the cost of the entire endeavour will result in a reality check and definitely end the topic? It is true that travel and visa expenses and the costs of other formalities are a considerable challenge for a young person’s budget. Luckily, even if you have limited funds, you do not need to resign from your dreams about the trip. Various institutions supporting international youth cooperation are here to come to the rescue.
Detailed information is available in a handbook prepared by Jenpix GmbH in collaboration with C&A: https://www.c-and-a.com/pl/pl/shop/stypendia-dla-uczniow-na-pobyt-za-granica
Enjoy the reading!
Name of organisation: Sempre a Frente Foundation
Name of grant programme: Erasmus+
Name of project: ImpacTV
Polish, Spanish and Macedonian youth exchange effected thanks to the funds from the European Commission is aimed at promoting a sense of initiative among young people and encouraging them to engage socially in a greater extent. Thanks to the workshops on self-presentation, storytelling and creativity in preparing social media contents, the group members have gained new skills that are necessary to promote social engagement. The participants had a chance to share their thoughts and knowledge during the highlight event as part of which the local community of Lublin could watch “ImpacTV”, an over-an-hour-long live TV programme, prepared by young people from Poland, Spain and Macedonia.
The exchange featured 21 participants.
Date of exchange: 20-28 June 2022
Name of organisation: Sempre a Frente Foundation
Name of grant programme: Erasmus+
Name of project: It's up to YOUth!
A project bringing together young adults from Spain, Italy and Poland around reflection about the voice of young generations and changes that may be initiated thanks to their courage to speak out about what they think. In the course of the project, in addition to discussions about the condition of young people in Europe, the participants focused on perfecting rapping, rhyming and music-making techniques, to conclude it with the recording of a 5-minute-long rap song with a video, through which they would share their thoughts with their peers.
The exchange featured 21 participants.
Date of exchange: 2-10 August 2022
Name of organisation: Sempre a Frente Foundation
Name of grant programme: Erasmus+
Name of project: Self-AccepDANCE
The project featured young people from Italy, Portugal and Poland to build their self-acceptance and learn how to nurture a relationship with oneself thanks to the techniques of working with your body, movement, and dance (inspired by DMT - Dance/Movement Therapy). Every participant recorded their experience in a Self-Acceptance Log, and the final event of the project was a movement and dance performance which the participants gave in Litewski Square, turning the audience’s attention to the issue of no self-acceptance among young people and showing how it could be discovered within oneself.
The exchange featured 24 participants.
Date of exchange: 12-21 October 2022
Name of organisation: Sempre a Frente Foundation
Name of grant programme: German-Polish Youth Office
Name of project: Show us your City!
A-few-days-long youth exchange devoted to the integration of people from Poland and Germany. The objective of the project was to present Lublin as a city that is full of opportunities and a city that deserves the European Youth Capital 2023 title. As part of the exchange young people decided what they wanted to visit/see across the city, attended a meeting with the representatives of the City Office and gained hands-on experience in how to prepare coverage of project activities on social media.
The exchange featured 22 participants.
Date of exchange: 17-22 July 2022
Name of organisation: "Bronowice” District Culture Centre
Name of grant programme: Polish-German Youth Award 2021-2023
Name of project: trip.ART – international youth cooperation
The main objective and signpost of the project was to find the greatest possible number of similarities and “bridges” between participants from three countries, spanning across half of Europe, and to try to confirm the hypothesis that young people have more things in common than the things that set them apart, although adults shaping the political and economic landscape in Poland, Germany and Ukraine might claim otherwise, clinging to the past. The authors of the project wished to create an inclusive space where all young people, notwithstanding their race, social and economic background, disabilities, gender or convictions, would have a chance to express their opinions. They would also have an opportunity to speak their mind freely and confront various views, showing respect to other discussion participants who do not share their position. The project assumed the form of art residency during which, as a result of a series of theme-specific workshops - a performance was created with a script that explored topics young people wished to discuss with the audience. The performance was presented to the public from both countries and recorded for on-line screening purposes.
Audio-visual materials:
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a video report on the German part of the project in Oldenburg: https://youtu.be/jSN-JLG9oHY
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a video report on the Polish part of the project in Lublin: https://youtu.be/Ghjy6uTbLOw
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a video from the performance: https://youtu.be/VZErh2labt4
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a photo report on the German part of the project https://www.ddkbronowice.pl/galerie/warsztaty/trip-art-spotkanie-w-niemczech
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a photo report on the Polish part of the project https://www.ddkbronowice.pl/galerie/warsztaty/trip-art-spotkanie-w-polsce
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a photo report on the closing event of the project and performance in Lublin: https://www.ddkbronowice.pl/galerie/spektakle/humanity-the-performance
The exchange featured 32 participants.
Date of exchange: 17 November - 7 December 2022
Name of organisation: “Social Engagement and Development Institute” Foundation (IAiRS)
Name of grant programme: Erasmus+
Name of project: Urban Gaming
How to create urban games? Where to take costumes of make-up materials from? The project provided answers to these and a lot of other questions. The participants had a chance to take part in an urban game prepared by the volunteers from the IAiRS Foundation, and create their own original game. Each partner country chose the most important historical figure in their nation (in their opinion). The figures were sent to various parts of Lublin, and a mysterious organisation called G.A.T.E. came to the rescue by sending their agents. The project participants included young people from Poland, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Spain, and Romania.
The exchange featured 26 participants.
Date of exchange: 5-12 August 2022
Name of organisation: “Social Engagement and Development Institute” Foundation (IAiRS)
Name of grant programme: Polish-Ukrainian Youth Exchange Board
Name of project: Cook It U-P
The Cook It U-P project is a bilateral national exchange between participants from Poland and Ukraine. The project dealt with the topic of national cuisines of our countries. The youth had a chance to learn several interesting facts about the origin of some of our dishes. The participants tested their skills during classes with a dietician and cookery workshops. As part of the project, videos with recipes for traditional dishes of Polish and Ukrainian cuisine were made.
The exchange featured 24 participants.
Date of exchange: 28-28 July 2022
Name of organisation: “Social Engagement and Development Institute” Foundation (IAiRS)
Name of grant programme: Erasmus+
Name of project: How to survive
Youth exchange during which young people from Poland, Lithuania, Bulgaria and Estonia had a chance to learn how ... to survive in the wilderness! During the project, the participants had an opportunity to learn basic skills necessary while camping in the wild, and how to behave when things go wrong. First aid, lighting a fire, building rafts, just to name a few!
The exchange featured 24 participants.
Date of exchange: 26 June - 3 July 2022
Name of organisation: "Green Elephant” Foundation
Name of grant programme: Erasmus+
Name of project: Up Youth's Alley
The aim of this international youth exchange, bringing together 42 participants from 7 countries, was to create an environment in which the participants would improve their chance for professional integration relying on elements of non-formal education used for personal and professional development. The objectives of the project included the fostering of practical and digital skills that would ensure a better youth inclusion and the support for self-reflection and assessment of individual skills that are necessary for young people to find their place on the labour market.
The exchange featured 42 participants.
Date of exchange: 21 - 30 November 2022
Name of organisation: “Green Elephant” Foundation
Name of grant project: Erasmus+
Name of project: THE HATE ANTIDOTE: Countering Radicalisation and Hate Speech
The project was aimed at improving the competencies for counteracting extremism and violence among young people. It consisted in two stages implemented by the “Green Elephant” Foundation in collaboration with the Maltese beneficiary. The first event was held in May 2022 in Zakopane, and the second one in Malta, between 11 and 18 November 2022. Each of the events was attended by 35 participants from 11 countries (Poland, Malta, Jordan, Slovakia, Ukraine, Palestine, Bulgaria, Serbia, Azerbaijan, Greece, and Egypt).
The exchange featured 35 participants.
Date of exchange: 11 - 18 November 2022
Name of organisation: KReAdukacja Foundation for Educational Activities
Name of grant programme: Active Citizens Fund - National Programme
Name of project: Good neighbourly intergenerational dialogue
Young people and seniors from Poland and Ukraine took part in social competence training and implemented community initiatives in their countries. The project also included two exchange visits for the participants (both in Poland, due to the war). The first one took place in Przemyśl in August 2021 and the second one in October 2023 in Lublin. The project was implemented in partnership with an NGO called Social Advocacy Centre from Lviv.
The exchange featured a total of 100 participants (50 in each part).
Date of exchange: 1st exchange: 25-27 August 2021 2nd exchange: 3-6 October 2023
Name of organisation: Sempre a Frente Foundation
Name of grant programme: Erasmus+
Name of project: Social Game Masters
Can board games and backyard games help young people develop communication skills? The answer is a resounding yes! Twenty-one participants from three countries, Poland, Hungary and Macedonia, could find out for themselves. During the exchange, we were learning about games that the children play outside on European backyards, various energising activities that facilitate bonding and board games providing entertainment without electricity. In addition to games, we were practising effective communication and group cooperation. The exchange was aimed at allowing the participants to open up to other people and learn how to express themselves freely. The outcome of the exchange is a brochure listing the games that the exchange participants had a chance to learn. They can be used in any group work activities.
The exchange featured 21 participants.
Date of exchange: 26 June - 5 July 2023
Name of organisation: Sempre a Frente Foundation
Name of grant programme: Erasmus+
Name of project: Move Your Mindset
Twenty-four young people from 4 countries had a chance to learn how to take care of their mental health thanks to movement activities and mindfulness. The participants exchanged experience related to, i.a., building healthy eating habits, the art of yoga and meditation as activities that support our well-being, and threats related to the excessive use of mobile phones. The project was concluded with holding 6 mental health workshops for 6 groups of secondary-school students from Lublin.
The exchange featured 24 participants.
Date of exchange: 8 - 16 September 2023
Name of organisation: Sempre a Frente Foundation
Name of grant programme: German-Polish Youth Office
Name of project: Art of Nature
Young minor project participants from Poland prepared a week of activities in contact with nature focused on socialisation. With a view to hosting a group of young people from Germany in Lublin in the best way possible, they planned trips to the Open-Air Village Museum and the Botanical gardens, integration and team games, and other workshop activities to integrate Polish and German youth. The project was implemented in collaboration with organisations from Delmenhorst, Lublin's twin city.
The exchange featured 22 participants.
Date of exchange: 28 - 29 July 2023
