About the project

The youth exchange 'Celebrate the Difference!' brings together 24 young people and six group leaders from the following countries:

• Albania
• Croatia
• France
• Germany
• Kosovo
• Macedonia

We are meeting for nine days in autumn 2012 near the border between Germany and France, with the aim of exploring and experiencing cultural diversity and difference as an enriching element of our lives – something to be seen as an asset, not a threat.

The great majority of participants comes from the Balkans, a part of Europe which is composed of a fascinating wealth of diverse cultures, languages and religions. Far too often, however, has this region been ridden with tensions and conflict. In contrast, the French-German border region has developed from a battlefield to a prosperous zone of peaceful coexistence and cooperation.

By means of a wide variety of games and other methods, including a radio workshop in collaboration with a local free radio, we want to explore our own identities and that of our peers, to compare them, and to analyse the many factors shaping them. We also seek to point out the many similarities that exist among so many of us. A visit to the European institutions in Strasbourg will be a good point of departure for discussing the significance of European integration (EU and other) and belonging for different countries. Last but not least, we will discuss what everybody can do for himself/herself to fight xenophobia and to become an entrepreneur for diversity and tolerance.

Contact

Kulturen in Kontakt e.V.
Sebastian Schröder-Esch (chairman)
Hauptstraße 38b, 79199 Kirchzarten, Germany

E-mail: kultureninkontakt@gmail.com
WWW: http://kultureninkontakt.wordpress.com

Tel.: +49 / 7661 / 90 42 86
Fax: +49 / 7661 / 90 53 55