"Lithuanian Eurotrip"
In project „Lithuanian Eurotrip“ sixty young people from six counties of the European Union – from Czech Republic, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Germany and Hungary came together. From the 30th of July to the 8th of August they discovered together one of the Baltic States, which that year entered the longterm West–East European youth network. While getting acknowledged with the country and certain areas of its social life, the participants got to know each other and the different backgrounds they were coming from, exchange good practices they had in own cultures.
At the beginning all participants met in Lithuania‘s seaport Klaipeda and there they worked on stereotypes and gained input to different topics concerning the living together in Europe. During the next phase the participants were divided into several small international teams, each of whom got a separate area of social life to explore (e.g. ‘majorities and minorities’, ‘protection of the environment and ecology’, ‘art and culture’, etc.) on different routes throughout the country. They had the task to document what they saw, heard and experienced. This experimental phase was a method to let the participants work together very close and intensively with people from different cultural backgrounds, and also get in touch with local community.
At the third phase all groups gathered in the capital of Lithuania Vilnius, and presented each other and in public, what they had learned about Lithuania and about themselves as Europeans on their trip.
The three main aims were:
1. Giving youth from different European countries the possibility to get to know Lithuania together with Lithuanians from an inner perspective. At the same time youth from Lithuania got the chance to discover their country from a new point of view – through the eyes of a foreigner.
2. To establish contacts with youth from other European states, especially during the intense time on the trip in small teams and while getting engaged with topics of significance for European youth. This is a way to support mutual understanding and to oppose stereotypes.
3. To present a Lithuanian public in a creatively designed presentation in Vilnius an own point of view on their country, seen through the eyes of young Europeans.