"our little european society"
Our plan was to establish a small democracy. To decide together what we want to do, when to start our mornings, and how to organize everything. Even beforehand, we noticed: That’s not so easy! While we all live in democratic societies, there are already so many things that are fixed, that in our everyday lives, we don’t really decide that much together. We are more accustomed to following rules that were set long ago (mostly by old white men, decades ago). School, traffic, jobs, the financial system, the justice system – all of that is non-negotiable, and no one even asks if everyone agrees with it.
So, we decided to try something radically different for our youth encounter. We familiarized ourselves with grassroots democratic approaches in advance and set a goal to make all decisions collectively. Initially, it was very difficult for us, and our discussions took forever. It was challenging within our local groups, but coordinating online with all the groups together was almost impossible…
We then tried different consensus-building models, and the structures suggested there were very helpful for us. We especially liked the „Consensus Fish,“ which „Jugend in der Welt“ found and translated for us. Adhering to the clearly defined steps in our discussions was initially quite unfamiliar, but when one or two of us acted as moderators, it worked out quite well in the end.
We noticed that in everyday life and in everyday decisions, only the loudest voices are usually heard, and many (especially FLINTA*-identified individuals) don’t dare to voice their opinions. We also observed that in all our societies, there was a tendency not to let other people finish speaking, and as a result, quieter individuals had much less opportunity to express themselves.
Through working with the consensus-building models, we were able to recognize these inequalities. We made decisions together and, in the process, significantly changed our way of communicating with each other and paying attention to one another.
Our original plan was to build a small Europe and experience democracy up close. But in the end, what we did was try out a different form of democracy. Of course, this grassroots democracy cannot be directly applied to our larger societies, but on a small scale, it’s a great enrichment!
"Europe and I"
We constantly engage with our individual position in Europe: Who are we? What possibilities do we have for shaping and influencing? What responsibilities do we have – for ourselves, for our society, for the Earth, and for all the people, living beings, and plants that inhabit it?
Through discussions and brainstorming in both small and large groups, we broaden our horizons and develop a new awareness of ourselves as part of a whole. We realize how self-centered we have been at times while growing up, and that in today’s situation, it is more important than ever to take responsibility.
Our privileged position in Europe, and the individual privileged position of each participant, obligates us not to stand idly by but to actively initiate processes of change. The question is not, „What possibilities does my European citizenship offer me?“ but rather, „What duties arise from those possibilities?“
“past, present and future of europe in the world”
We examined the role that Europe occupies in the world, both historically and politically. We briefly delved into the history of colonization, drawing parallels and causal connections to the current situation.
Humanity has a long tradition of exclusion, and power plays a decisive role in the distribution of goods, opportunities, and freedoms. While military power used to define dominance in earlier years, today it is more than ever about financial power and political alliances and affiliations.
Through these discussions, we arrived at our respective personal stance on „Fortress Europe,“ the categorization of refugees into „useful“ and „useless“ refugees, and Europe’s current migration policy. With our different countries of origin, we each bring different perspectives to the latest developments. Some of us are also involved in supporting refugees, and one person has witnessed firsthand the life-threatening risks people in the Mediterranean endure to get the possibility to file for asylum.
Piecing together all these puzzle pieces resulted in a completely different image of Europe. One that shuts itself off from the outside world and whose prosperity still originates from the exploitation of other nations.
On this matter, we all agree – this is not the Europe we aspire to. As citizens of Europe ourselves, we will strive for the values that Europe proudly proclaims – freedom, tolerance, equality, and equal opportunities – to apply to all people, regardless of where they were born. The task of our generation is to ensure global justice and put an end to the tradition of isolation and exploitation. Only in this way does humanity stand a chance of survival.