YEAs make an impact at the Act.ival For Future Conference!

What a weekend! From sharing knowledge to delivering powerful workshops, here’s what YEAs contributed to at this festival of activism.

From 3-5 May 2024 14 YEAs (7 from the EU, 3 from Belarus, and 2 from Ukraine) attended the Act.ival for Future conference organised by the Solidarity Action Day Movement in Europe (SAME Network) in Lübeck, Germany. The festival was another edition of their annual flagship conference that empowers young people to be drivers of change, gathering over 200 motivated young people and engaging them in discussions through various workshops, talks, debates, games, music, and art. With the aim of discovering new perspectives, inspiring change in the community, strengthening competencies, finding allies, and having a lot of fun, people from all over the European continent bonded together. 

The YEAs were honoured to organise a skills training workshop about how to brainstorm and implement projects to overcome obstacles to youth participation, using real-world examples from the Eastern Neighbourhood countries. By educating participants about youth participation and the Eastern Neighbourhood, we gave them some practical tips and advice for developing concrete projects to help their communities. There was something in this workshop for everyone! 

In this exercise, each group was assigned a specific scenario and a set of participants with whom they designed and presented creative solutions. For example, one group worked on incentivising youth participation in rural areas, particularly focusing on empowering women. This scenario was relatable to participants living outside large cities who may have fewer opportunities for youth development, allowing them to suggest relevant ideas.

During the brainstorming process, participants were creative and enthusiastic about designing their final idea: a youth festival centred on the arts. Coming up with a strategy of implementation for their hypothetical event, the group decided that collaboration with a local youth organisation would be key. The discussions with international participants brought diverse perspectives, and the group successfully agreed on the steps and resources needed to organise the festival. Leading the group helped participants understand the potential of collective brainstorming and learn practical methods and technologies to engage youth in rural areas.

The group felt a strong commitment to turning their idea into a larger project. The insights gained and feedback from the audience enriched the initiative, paving the way for creating meaningful change for the community in the made-up scenario and beyond. We hope that participants returned to their home countries with a renewed understanding and aspiration to adapt and implement the idea, considering the unique needs, opportunities, and challenges of their own communities. 

The seminar was held twice, in the morning and afternoon, and provided an opportunity for everyone to participate and develop their own project to solve a difficult task. Scenarios included various barriers to youth participation including difficult collaboration with adults, lack of financial resources, moving to a new location, disrupted access to education, and improving involvement of youth from minority groups. Since the scenarios involved young people, each participant could relate to the challenges faced by others, which promoted a feeling of solidarity. 

In the evening, we organised a trivia game about the Eastern Neighbourhood countries. The format was inspired by the TV Quiz Show “Jeopardy!” and allowed participants to test their knowledge in the categories of Eastern Neighbourhood Geography, Politics, Language/Culture, EU collaboration, and fun facts. YEAs enthusiastically promoted the activity to every person that would pass by our room, and in no time, the room had filled up with 35+ participants, many more than we expected. Everyone was eager to join the game and get competitive, because who doesn’t love a good quiz game! 

Some questions were easier than others, some required some hard mental thinking while others a bit of imagination and guessing. With each question the atmosphere in the room got more competitive as participants would gamble for questions with the more points to try to overtake the other teams. From questions about Ukrainian vyshyvankas to Armenian lavash, we were immersed in the amazing culture of our Eastern Neighbours and even had the opportunity to clarify some misconceptions that the audience might have about them along the way.

YEAs gathered at a wonderful event and had the opportunity to get to know each other. It was wonderful to spend time together, as we all come from different countries and backgrounds. Although we were only at the conference for three days, we stayed in touch and continue to work collaboratively through projects online. This meeting undoubtedly brought us closer and motivated us to work even harder. The Act.ival provided us with numerous new connections, bringing us together not only with YEAs but also with many young leaders from around the world. We were able to see the uniqueness and complexity of their societies through their eyes, which broadened our understanding of global situations.

Throughout the event, there was an atmosphere of mutual understanding and respect. The conference brought together people of diverse ideas and cultures, and it was incredibly pleasant to see so many young, tolerant, and enthusiastic individuals together! At the final joint event, we all sat together in the common hall. Some reminisced about interesting moments from the past few days, others discussed Lübeck and our shared activities with new friends, and some were busy collecting contacts from everyone they had met. After that, there was an informal part where dances were held. 

While many went to dance, a group of people gathered around a campfire outside. It was warm, with light rain falling, and the quiet chatter blended with the crackling of the wood and the music. Much was discussed, and much was left deeply in our hearts. Throughout the event, we also wrote letters to each other, and at the end, we exchanged them. Each letter contained warm words that would be cherished. These envelopes will find a place on the shelf of memories, while YEAs move forward to new events and dreams!

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Thank you to the Solidarity Action Day Movement in Europe (SAME Network) for organising the conference and hosting our YEAs.