The idea
40 young people of different European nationalities aged 15 to 17 years meet each other in the scope of a youth exchange and work on politically and culturally relevant topics of a unifying Europe.

The main aim of this youth exchange is the practical, playful and artistic examination of the political systems and social realities of their countries of origin. A deeper understanding of democratic structures in a unified Europe should be won by giving the participants the opportunity to recognize and reflect the effects and possibilities of the European policy.
Fostering the intercultural understanding of the participants is a primary target of the project and intercultural exchange should be experienced and reflected everyday. With different practices, media and methods and within a time frame of two weeks, results should be discussed on the basis of the following questions:

· Why a European Union ?
· How do I wish it to be ?
· What do we have in common ?
· Where are the differences ?
· How does all this concern me directly ?
· What are the positive aspects?
· What scares me?
· Where do I see chances for me and the others?
· Where do I see obstacles and how could they be overcome?
· How can I contribute ?

Target group- and time
The youth exchange is designed as multilateral project from 9th to 23rd of August 2008. It is realized by a total of four organizations (one from Germany, Bulgaria, Italy and Estonia respectively) whereas each organization sends approx. 10 participants. The co-ordination will be handled by Weltenlos e.V. Preferentially, financially and socially disadvantaged young people are to be addressed, especially those who could not realize an intercultural meeting without the use of a structure as is presented here. Gender-specific approaches shall be considered directly (practical actions) as well as indirectly (applied methods) and will be considered firmly in the conception of this youth exchange.
Goals for the participants:

· The participants have recognized that their own behaviour and patterns of thoughts are also culturally determined. They are interested in asking for the historical, social and political causes in order to understand the diversity of interpretations.
· The participants have extended their knowledge on the political and social background of the countries involved playfully by exchanging themselves in a direct, personal way.
· The participants have learned to appreciate cultural differences as enriching.
· The participants have improved their skills to tolerate different expectations, needs and interests and to consider them in the process of negotiating an agreement.
· The participants have extended their ability to take the initiative and to interact by communicating with the intercultural group. In that way, they need to reflect themselves, their own abilities, goals and desires. They learn to recognize and accept other aspects and views and improve verbalising their experiences and observations.
· The participants experience in an enjoyable way core competences like universal rules, respect and fairness.
· The participants identify with the others.
· The participants experience the value of the intercultural exchange by sport and play for the peaceful development of the society.

Goals for the media and the public
· By purposeful media- and public relations, it becomes clear that the European Union as well as local organisations/institutions offer young people the chance for intercultural learning.
· By co-operation with the local radio station ”Tide”, the participants have the possibility to publicly present their experiences and results and thus rise public interest in intercultural exchange.
· The benefit of an international, commonly organized youth exchange becomes obvious to both participants and the public as the event allows the chance to learn and foster European values such as democracy, understanding, equality of opportunities and multilingualism.
· The use of intercultural competence in the everyday life as well as in working life is put out clearly.

Realization
Different projects and workshops are offered which aim at recognizing the own role and the different conceptions in an unifying Europe. The following events are suggestions only, which should be arranged more exactly and/or discussed together with the participants and partner-organizations:

· Creation of a radio programme which will be broadcasted in the area of Hamburg for the documentation and reflection of results of different projects within the youth exchange.
· Photography as an art project for the representation of different cultural perspectives.
· Theatre as a form of expression style of self perception in an international community.
· Meeting with other organizations to exchange experience and for common sport events.
· Simulation game for learning, recognizing and reflecting the structures of Europe, connected with a large European puzzle and a European quiz.
· Intercultural training with external coaches.
· Europe in everyday life: Common cooking of dishes from the participant countries.
· Different exhibitions, concerts and festivities will be organized; discussions and lectures will be offered.
· Trips to Hamburg with focus on work and migration in Hamburg, history of the port and the city including city rally, etc.
· Attendance of selected museums in Hamburg, e.g. “Zollmuseum”, „dialogue in the dark“, etc.

Location
The youth exchange takes place at the youth hostel Inzmühlen, about 60km outside of Hamburg, at the nature reserve “Lüneburger Heide“. The city centre of Hamburg is attainable in around one hour with public transports. At the same time, the seclusion and distance to the city center of Hamburg allows the possibility of concentrated group work.
The area offers a soccer field, volleyball court, table tennis, billiards, table football, BBQ, meeting rooms, large conference rooms, a disco, Internet access, the ability to show movies, and much more.
The 40 participants stay-separated by gender, but mixed by nations in multi-bed rooms.

Financing
The youth exchange is funded by private organizations (foundations) and the European Union programme “Youth in Action”, promoted as „Action 1.1 - Youth Exchange“. For the realization of this project, further promoters are necessary, which have already been contacted.
Moreover, different actions are planned, e.g. an information stand on the local Hamburg social exhibition "Altonale”, advertised for donations, a benefit party to be organized, etc.
Sponsors and supporters will be mentioned in all representations.

Who we are
The incorporated society Weltenlos e.V. was established in September 2005 with the goal to promote the exchange of different cultures. With projects and actions from different social fields we want to confront in a nonorthodox way with other habits, break down prejudices against other cultures and establish networks of understanding and tolerance. Weltenlos e.V has at present 15 active members with different professional backgrounds (pedagogues, Islam scientists, engineers, political scientists, restorers, authors, sociologists, teachers, etc.). These different points of view lead to variety and complexity. However, the common motivation and main target of all members is to contribute for a better communication between the cultures.

Contact:

Weltenlos e.V.
Donnerstrasse 12
22763 Hamburg
Germany
www.weltenlos.de
Contact Person:
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