Those resolutions are young's people proposals for a new European narrative. We presented the draft version at the European Parliament on February 2019.
A NEW NARRATIVE FOR EU
Europe is facing today new challenges like the rise of populism, economic inequality, or voters’ disengagement, but also the migration crisis. As part of creating a renewed EU narrative, students from all over Europe gathered opinions of fellow citizens on what our answer as a community should be to these challenges. As the project ends, a draft narrative has taken shape and it will be presented to political and civic society leaders in Brussels on 19 to 21 February 2019. More details in the resolutions above.
PROJECT GOALS
Inspiring young people's civic engagement via an innovative methodology based on experiential learning activities that strengthen civic identity, critical thinking, communication skills and promotes leadership in civic life.
AN INNOVATIVE METHODOLOGY TOWARDS THE NARRATIVE
MOCK TRIAL
Simulations of trial proceedings of an hypothetical case; the plaintiff and the defendant examine and cross-examine witnesses and prepare the opening and closing statements; a seasoned volunteer judge oversees and instructs the mock jury as to what laws apply; while a popular jury votes the sentence. Student teams play the roles of plaintiff, defendant, jury: they collect evidence, prepare strategies and arguments, while interacting with experts who gave inputs as witnesses.
PECHAKUCHA NIGHTS
A fast-pacing presentation format where the presenter has for his/her speech 20 slides, each for 20 seconds, that advance automatically (speech is thus 6 minutes and 40 seconds). Student teams will share examples of civic initiatives (their own or which they personally experienced) that inspired change and civic engagement in their peers.
BRITISH
PARLIAMENTARY
DEBATE
4 teams of 2 persons each engage one another through a series of 7-minute speeches; this is an exercise of defining a motion, develop a case for it via several arguments and refute the other side’s case of counter-arguments. Teams from each side maintain loyalty with one another while simultaneously demonstrating the unique qualities of their own arguments.
SIMULATION OF
THE EU DECISION MAKING PROCESS
Students have to propose solutions to a crisis the EU is facing by taking the roles of the actors involved and doing a full-immersion into the dynamics of their interaction: Commission, Parliament, Council, civil society, media.
Mock trials and debates will deal with the issue of accountability of EU and Member States in managing European-wide crisis, like the migrant and economic ones, exploring the whys of rising distrust in politicians and institutions that fuels Euroscepticism and populist movements.
The simulation will seek solutions to a common European project from a political, socio-economic and cultural perspective. PechaKucha-style presentations will showcase civic initiatives that inspire students to implement change in their communities and be active citizens.
An extensive and creative use of Social Media will contribute to a massive dissemination of the students’ activities and initiatives.