Four of us in a car, heading to Ljubljana. That is how InEuropa reached the transnational team Stand up for Europe, for two days of intensive and interactive training jointly organised and conducted by trainers of the 6 project partners from Italy, Hungary (Hungarian representatives from Serbia and Romania), Turkey, Germany and Slovenia. It was an opportunity to test some of the activities of the Training Manual “Dealing adequately with antidemocratic slogans” designed to deal with populist and antidemocratic slogans.
The Training for Trainers was carried out with great enthusiasm. Thanks to all participants’ contributions we discussed democracy through interactive and creative activities, engaging in a constructive and enriching dialogue despite conflicting positions. A joint reflection on the link between democracy, health and well-being was also carried out.
InEuropa initiated a participatory reflection on the characteristics of active citizens, allowing participants to construct and share valuable scenarios for overcoming obstacles and barriers to the implementation of democratic and European values. The constructions brought to light elements and characteristics determined by the background of each person present, their own experiences, and their cultural and political context of reference. By bringing together the key elements that emerged, it became possible to develop detailed and challenging scenarios, turn ideas into practice and stimulate people to find solutions.
The event provided an opportunity to jointly validate the Stand Up for Europe! Manual which includes 40 activities divided into 4 perspectives: Identity and Values, Dilemmas and Conflicts, Antidemocratic Slogans, and Power, Privilege and Discrimination. This manual can be used to facilitate discussion and to train people of different generations to counter extreme and populist slogans in a constructive manner.
In addition to the activities of the Manual, animated online scenarios have been developed and will be soon available on the project website.
The next important step in the project will be the Stand up for Europe! final conference (Augsburg – December 11, 2025).
Want to know more? Contact us at [email protected]
