LIFE+ | The Greek Youth Exchange “Prop@genda”

The Youth Exchange project titled “Prop@genda” took place in the beautiful touristic village of Arnaia, Khalkidhiki, Greece. From the second until the thirteenth of August five participants from six countries (Italy, Greece, Slovenia, Croatia and Bulgaria) took part in activities of non-formal education and artistic workshops that addressed topics of the existent political propaganda in social networks (processing and analysis of such messages), strengthened the European identity of young people, broke any prejudices and stereotypes and created an intercultural dialogue on the pathogenesis of propaganda in different countries of the European Union.

After the first two days of ice breaking activities where we got to know each other better, we had a guest called Ana who was a well establish journalist and she thought us what propaganda is, its history, depiction of art and how to recognize it. In addition we were taught the notion of fake news, what their existence means in social media, and how it can determine whole voting outcomes due to rapid propagation. She was with us for four days and we did some fun and different activities like debates on social media, sketches, an outdoor treasure hunting in which we got to see and learn more about Arnaia and its history and we also did some more chill games. One favorite activity of mine was when we were split into 5 different groups and had full access to the beautiful stage in the educational center we were accommodated in.

We had the task of recreating a news broadcast and each team had a director, an editor, journalists, newscaster and a guest commentator. On our free day we went to the beach on a island close to Stratoni and we went there by a boat, we stayed there for almost the whole day and we could swim to the others islands that were near us.

Finally, the last day came. That day we presented our final task which was to make a video about raising awareness against propaganda. After that we played a goodbye game where everyone got to write a note to the others from the group and give them something to remember. I don’t know if the others cried but I most certainly did. Afterwards we just spent all the time we had left together creating memories we wont ever forget.

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by Ognyan Gabrovski

RE+ALITY | GREenAT Time

Hello from ICDETv! It's summer 2021 and that means - it's time for some travelling&adventure! Our interns had a opportunity to go for work visit outside of Sofia, in Svishtov. They had some crazy, but funny moments during their GREEN travel, outdoor activities and many workshops on environment and inclusion, watch them and enjoy! :)

LIFE+ | Kayaking, Biking and Conversation - An intercultural and challenging experience in Svishtov

I’m Giulia, an intern at ICDET. The intern Katia and I went to Svishtov with the aim of meeting the interns of the Institute Perspectives, to share with them a day of adventure and mutual knowledge. The day started with the kayaking experience: we with all the other participants crossed the Danube in two or alone, according to a free choice. Participants who decided to collaborate faced different challenges: firstly, it was the first time kayaking for the majority of them so the experience required a necessary collaboration.

I found myself collaborating with a Spanish guy; initially finding the balance was not easy but later we coordinated and we succeeded, especially thanks to the use of English as a common language that allowed us to communicate. After 3 hours of kayaking, we arrived at Vardim by biking. The biking experience lasted also 3 hours and in my opinion it has been the hardest one: the gears didn’t work and my bike was quite old. Furthermore, a long bike ride is not properly indicated for my delicate complexion!

Of course I learned my face needs a sunscreen with higher protection! In Vardim, before saying goodbye, we had a moment of reflection held by Ahmed Kuytov, the responsible for the Danube Survivor project. He asked the group which word we would have used to describe the entire experience. He defined this experience “challenging” but he concluded saying that we are all winners from this experience and that the satisfactions allow us to test ourselves newly in future.

This has been a unique experience to improve communication skills, to enjoy the beautiful nature of Bulgaria and to prove yourself.

Thanks to this experience, it is also possible to get in touch with new cultures while having a challenging sport experience surrounded by nature. For me it was also an opportunity to receive information concerning the education in Bulgaria, which is a topic I am interested in for my project with ICDET.

I talked with some interns and volunteers of the Institute Perspectives and I discovered that they are dealing with projects about education: someone is going in the schools raising awareness on important issues such as respect for nature, with children this can be done through the teaching for example of how to plant a flower. Other volunteers spend their time playing with children left to themselves, making a relevant contribution to their quality of life.

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Giulia Ciccarelli, intern@ICDET