W.E. - Words of Europe

The European Union is going through a delicate phase. The Covid-19 pandemic has triggered a response by the European institutions that demonstrated an unprecedented ability to make democratic, effective and rapid decisions. Nonetheless, the integrity of the Union is shaken by several serious challenges: from the Russian invasion of Ukraine to threats to the rule of law, from climate change to the impasse on migration and asylum policies. Strengthening citizens’ participation and belonging to the European community is crucial to push forward our “Unity in Diversity”.

The aim of this project is to encourage EU citizens, especially young people and those belonging to marginalised groups, to participate in and contribute to the democratic life of the Union. It will also involve those who are not [yet] citizens of the EU (they may become so by 2024), but who live, work and weave bonds in it.

The proposed participatory model aims to bring together the artistic, cultural and emotional dimension with the political one – too often associated with a distant bureaucratic bubble. Art will be the input for participation and the main medium to disseminate the results of the process. During the co-construction, participants and partners will identify a set of artistic content to start the discussions around the identified European keywords. At the end of the participatory process, the resulting words and new ideas about the EU will become artworks, created by artists who will be promoters of community cultural works.

The European keywords represent the heart of the Words of Europe participatory model: defined and discussed by participants in order to identify proposals for the future of Europe, then transformed into artworks and exhibited and transmitted. A vocabulary of false myths will be also co-created in WP5 to provide citizens with tools to deconstruct them.

WP3 – Workshops on the European Union [LEADER]

M5-M10:

Workshops on the European Union

• 9 in total, JEF is responsible for 3

1. Workshop in Maastricht with participants from Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Germany, Denmark
2. Workshop in Riga with participants from Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Finland, Sweden
3. Workshop in Barcelona with participants from Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Greece, Malta

At least 9 workshops are organised in Rome, Turin, Arques, Paris, Budapest, Maastricht, Riga and Barcelona, involving at least 350 participants.

Participants come from more than 15 different countries.

JEF Europe will organise 3 international seminars. In detail:

Before the events, an internal training is organised by JEF Europe on techniques and materials to organise the workshops. A hub of existing resources about the EU is created and disseminated online through the project website.

M5 – Training on techniques and materials to organise the workshops about the European Union

WP4 – Workshops on the forms of democratic participation

M5 – M10:

At least 7 workshops are organised in Rome, Turin, Budapest, Arques, Sofia, Valletta involving at least 280 participants.

JEF Europe will organise two international workshops:

• Workshop in Valletta with participants from Malta, Italy, Greece, France, Spain, Germany
• Workshop in Sofia with participants from Bulgaria, Romania, Greece, Hungary, Austria, Czech Republic

WP6 – Co-creation of the participatory model

M9 – M14:

JEF Europe will organise a transnational event in Brussels involving participants from Belgium, Netherlands, France, Italy, Germany, Spain.

WP7 – Words of Europe’s participatory model

M14 – M20:

JEF Europe will organise an international pilot in Madrid with participants from Spain, Belgium, Malta, France, Germany, Italy.

Final transnational event: in situ

Final transnational event – “Festival of European words”

Realisation of a transnational final event “the Festival of European words” in Brussels with 40 participants in situ from 4 countries (Italy, France, Belgium, Hungary).

The event is aimed at sharing the collected ideas of the vocabulary – now transformed aslo into artistic works. The results are disseminated and relaunched before or right after the elections depending on the exact date of the voting. If the event happens before, candidates from all parties are involved; if after, newly elected MEPs are invited. The event includes an exhibition of the artworks (or a photo/reproduction if they cannot be brought to Brussels). The event will be hybrid and permits online participation (WP10).

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