The Long Way to Europe

The Long Way to Europe (TLWE) intends to give the opportunity to more than 300 participants, from 10 European Countries (Italy, Cyprus, Romania, Poland, France, Portugal, Croatia, Czech Republic, Serbia and Lithuania), to reflect, with the use of formal and non-formal methods, on the fundamental principles of freedom,democracy and human rights.

TLWE is inspired by the story of a deported Romanian Jewish painter. Through the four main stages of the trip of Zivi Miller, the youth, during 18 months, will take part to four international events in Romania (January 2018), Poland (May 2018), Italy and Cyprus.

They will learn from the past and reflect on the future of Europe and the sense of being active citizens. Each event will be focused on specific issues directly linked to Zivi’s esperience, such as: discrimination and racism in Romania, crimes against humanity and human rights in Poland, inclusion of migrants in Italy and freedom of movement and peace in Cyprus.

During the international events, the young participants will learn, see, reflect and act upon the lessons of our history. Thanks to the visit to museums and historical sites, the testimonies of witnesses and experts, discussions and debates within the groups, the participants will be able to tackle these issues and to focus on today's state of affairs in Europe. These reflections will be expressed by the young participants with drawings, murals or graffiti. They will also be trained to share their visions and expectations about the future of Europe as active citizens and to share it with the tool called ‘Porteurs de paroles”.

These innovative and participative practices of public place interaction will be used to promote directly in the streets the debate and the participation of the citizens about the European Values. These methods to raise awareness will be not only experimented during the International Events, but also organized by the youth in their communities (30 local events).