Back in November, we went back to the future! Again! 4 members of CGE Erfurt went to Thessaloniki, Greece (without the DeLorean) to facilitate the second Youth Exchange of Show Me a Future II – Dare 2 Care!
Jasmin Jaeger, Moritz Borchardt, Ulyana Duve and Mike Cotterell led sessions with invaluable help from Luiza Tsikala from the United Society of Balkans for 30 participants from Estonia, Italy, Germany, Greece and Romania.
In these sessions, topics relating to the shared history of Europe, social problems, Media criticism and voting, Democracy, Negotiation, Injustice, and Communication were introduced by the facilitators and discussed by the participants. There was also the creative session FutureLab, where participants in small groups imagine the world in the year 2050, and they create a retrospective look at a particular social, political or environmental problem which has been solved by 2050, and they show the benefits that might be forthcoming if it were true.
During the city tour on the 4th day, participants and facilitators alike learnt about the tumultuous history of Thessaloniki, named after Alexander the Great’s sister, and its central position as a stronghold for the Greeks, before being seized by the Ottomans, and later as a strategic location during World War I.
For the last two days of the Youth Exchange, participants were introduced to podcasts and podcasting, and its potential for communication. After a short dive into the possibilities and some things to consider when making a podcast, they selected small groups for themselves in which to plan and record a podcast episode of their own devising. The result was a fantastic range of topics including Comfort Zones, interviews about Bad Communication, a sketch about Educating Yourself and a monologue on Personal Identity and Change. These will be available soon through a podcast platform to be decided.
The participants were wonderful and creative, engaging with all the topics and tasks, exceeding all our expectations! We hope they can join us for part three in March – Dare 2 Do!
