On Monday we had the great honor to present our project at at the European Parliament. More precisely at the Committee on Culture and Education chaired by Sabine Verheyen.
Our delegation was invited to join their meeting and to present our project as an example of how EU funds help build the EU identity from bottom up!
What do we mean by that?
Our project was created on the basis of a fruitful cooperation between two historical societies, one in Leverkusen and one in Jülich, and has further connected Leverkusen’s twin towns. It connects museums, archives, universities, historical societies, high schools and twinning institutions. And is an example of how fostering meaningful connections locally, regionally and trans-nationally can become the foundation for research, historical and educational, and the creation of not only didactic aids, but also manuals for educators, films and a rich cultural and educational program of workshops that creates a community and a sense of belonging.
It also incorporates different generations into its foundation, involving the youth (us) into every aspect of the project in a way that makes the project meaningful to us. Drawing on our strengths and valuing our inputs. Making us feel proud and privileged. Through our work within the project we learn, we educate, we build lasting relationships and find a sense of belonging. And that sense of belonging fosters a sense of a common European identity much more efficiently than having the same currency.
As the fellow project that was presented ( C-city) stated: it is all about building bridges - and our project does just that. Through collaboration and the promotion of understanding our differences it builds acceptance locally and from there up, towards that EU identity.
We can truly say our project’s work is done by every generation and for every generation. We thank the Erasmus+ program and the Europe for Citizens for their funding, as well as local institutions that have supported us.
And stress how proud we are of the community that we’ve built.
In the following weeks we’ll continue to update you on our work and can’t wait to share it with you at our next workshop in Brussels, 22th to 26th of February. Want to know more? Reach out and stay tuned!
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