WE ARE FOSTERING PAN-EUROPEAN DISCUSSIONS
Domus Dorpatensis, the Student Union Foundation and the Latvian Union of Student Unions are working to educate young people and give them the opportunity to express their views on issues that are important for their future. Covid and other emerging global challenges have forced organisations (including us) to rethink their existing activities.
Ordinary physical activities are no longer the norm by default. Young people are more selective about how they spend their time, as online options are now readily available.
The challenges affecting young people’s lives no longer stop at national borders. Covid, war, mental health and climate issues are all global problems that affect the lives of every young person. Most decisions on how to tackle these problems are taken at European level. This means that public debates also need to be more transnational in order to better understand these problems and find solutions to them.
The grant amounts to €60,000
WHAT DID WE DO AS PART OF THE PROJECT?
The objectives of the project were:
1) to develop a new format for virtual discussions between countries;
2) to implement and promote the new format through hybrid discussions involving 2–3 countries;
3) to enhance partners’ capacity to organise hybrid events and high-quality discussions, and to create opportunities for using this format.
Through this project, we aimed to reach around 200 young people through discussions, train 40 young leaders in organising discussions, and reach 50 new youth and student organisations through our outreach activities.
The method of hyperlocal discussions
Together with our partners, we developed a new hyperlocal format for holding cross-border discussions and acquired the skills needed to organise these discussions
Piloting discussions
We organised three international debates ourselves to inspire young people to engage in discussions with their peers from different countries in new ways.
Project partners
The project was carried out in collaboration with three international partners:
Organiser of the local opinion festival and promoter of a culture of public debate in Estonia.
Vostok SOS
A charity organisation that organises the Ukraine Opinion Festival.
TRAINING FOR ORGANISATIONS
We provided training to student organisations in Estonia and Latvia on organising public debates, to help them play an active role in ensuring that young people’s voices are heard.
PROJECT PARTNERS
The project was carried out in collaboration with two partners:
The Latvian Student Union represents the interests of all Latvian students at national and international level.
The project was funded by the European Union.
The views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) alone and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor the EACEA accepts any responsibility for them.
The Student Union Foundation trains and brings together the leaders of student organisations in Tartu under the slogan ‘BE MORE’.
The project is funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers through the ‘Prosperous Future’ call for proposals.
