THE YOUTH4PEACE AGENDA – WHAT DOES PEACE NEED TO ENDURE?
experiencing a profound turning point in her life when she was asked to give her opinion in class for the first time. Working together on these personal stories was incredibly insightful. Some stories immediately took shape, while other participants needed a few rounds of reflection and exchange to move from more generic wording to a text that truly reflected their personal core memory. It was touching to see how some of them only realised (maybe for the first time) in the moment of formulating their story precisely why a certain topic was so important to them. At the eleventh hour, the agenda underwent a final edit and was printed to be presented to Germa- ny’s Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz during the group’s visit to his office on May 8. Later that day, during the closing ceremony of Youth4Peace the participants also shared their results with Federal Youth Minister Karin Prien and several represen- tatives of the embassies of their home countries. As anticipated, each time an observer undergoes the augmented reality-assisted experience of seeing the photos come to life creates a genuine surprise and hence leaves a lasting impression. The immersive approach taken here enables the audience to appreciate the young people’s perspectives and wishes on an emotional as well as intellectual level.
Workshop facilitators: Stefanie Vollmann, Aristoteles Chaitidis & Romain Lalire
The Youth4Peace Agenda not only puts young people’s answers to this question on paper, it also brings them to life. As you scan their photos, you can use the augmented reality feature to for example experience how Teodora was discrimi- nated at university abroad because of her origin, how Alla lost all sense of stability when the armed conflict started in her country, and how Georgia suffered due to corruption in her democratically elected government. The Agenda was created in an additional work- shop open to all project participants, where more than 30 young people actively exchanged their experiences and ideas about peace. The aim was to use this new format to enable a very personal and authentic insight into the young people’s written words. What left such a profound mark on them that they claim inclusion, stability, democ- racy, remembrance, information, education, equality and participation to be the foundation of peace? During the workshop, the atmosphere was lively. There were many discussions on how to find the most accurate words. Finding the right language to talk about a topic as immense as peace is a challenge itself, but it is made all the more difficult when the language is not your own, and when you are doing it as a group. It was impressive to witness how competently the participants succeeded in creating their texts. The outcome? No compro- mises, but instead clear and jointly developed text modules that spoke from the authors’ hearts. Each paragraph represents a common voice that crosses linguistic, national and cultural borders. Each peace paragraph is linked to two personal stories. Some have impressive parallels - like when Nichina and Patricie remarked that they had experienced the same implicit, culturally anchored neglect of real youth participation in Japan and the Czech Republic. Other stories complement each other to enrich the paragraph - like Jan, who urges greater empathy in the educa- tion system after his English teacher freed him from self-doubt, and Milana, who underlines the importance of critical thinking in education after
→ Read the texts. Immerse yourself. Scan the photos.
→ Listen and experience what they have experienced.
→ And broaden your ideas about what lasting peace needs.
Author: Stefanie Vollmann
Youth4Peace 36
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