The project « #GetUpStandUp» was funded with the support of the European Union under the Programme “Europe for Citizens”
Strand 1 – “European Rememberance”
32 events have been carried out within this project:
Kick Off Meeting: YEU Cyprus hosted the kick-off meeting for the #GetUpStandUp project on the 11-12th of October 2018 in Nicosia Cyprus, marking the beginning of the project. The purpose of the meeting was to bring all project partners together, to present the project and officially launch the activities of the project. 11 participants took part in this two-day meeting
Public Intervention in Cyprus:
YEU Cyprus organised a public intervention in the University of Nicosia on the 29th of November, where directly 50 young people participated and indirectly another 30. The idea was to make students of the university reflect on topics they do not have the chance to do so usually.
Topics that are related to the acquisition of human rights and to explore which human rights are important to them. To implement this Public Intervention we created three boxes and in each box there was a question. Participants could anonymously take their time and write their answer in a piece of paper and put it in the right box. The boxes were placed in the cafeteria of the University and there were there for around hours with members of the YEU team assisting participants when necessary.
The aim of this activity was to collect 100 opinions on issues related to protests for human rights.
Specifically, opinions were taken on three particular questions:
● In which ways do you stand up for your rights?
● If you were about to organize a protest, what would it be for?
● In which protest would you like to be present?
It was very interesting to see that most of the participants were interested to about women rights and the LGBT community to promote equal rights and acceptance while some others want peace among the two communities of Cyprus and some would protest for free health care. However, the only way that people stand up for their rights is by voting and although they acknowledge that riots and protests is an effective tool, they do not participate often in any.
Public Intervention in Italy:
There were two Public Interventions which took place in Italy one by our partner Fattoria Pugliese Diffusa Associazione Culturale and one by our partner H.R.Y.O.
The event by Fattoria Pugliese Diffusa Associazione Culturale took place on the 15th of November, in Castrignano del Capo, during the weekly market, ensuring in this way a various group of people involved (with a total of direct participants of about 120). The street debate started at 09:30 and ended at 12:00. In order to ensure that everyone’s voice would be heard, Fattoria Pugliese Diffusa (FPD) created a space for citizens so that they could express their opinions about the previous and current civil rights
movements and the distribution of human rights. The topic of the street debate being: “Have you ever fought for your rights?”. This kind of methodology encouraged citizens to share their views and opinions about different aspects of their life such us: rights, freedom, inclusion
etc., boosting the active citizenship both in their communities but also on an International Level.
For the organization of the public event, members of the FPD had to prepare the following:
• finding the right question of the street debate
• finding the ideal space for the event, so that the debate would have a big impact
• organizing the logistic aspects such us: writing the panels, communicating with the local authorities in order to have the authorization, collecting answers to the main question from people, prepare the space for the street debate, take photos and use specific media to publish the event online. Thanks to the methodology of a Street Debate, citizens were really active
and wanted to express their opinions and experience towards this topic. This public event allowed the interaction between young people, seniors, members of organizations, hence various people with different background and experience.
For the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights H.R.Y.O. planned three public interventions in different
contexts. The first intervention, which took place at the end of November, together with Elsa, the European Law Students’ Association, involved students of law at the University of Palermo to trigger a reflection on Human Rights and their importance nowadays. We stood at a central corner, in the lobby, and spent around 4 hours asking the students an opinion about the local, national and international enforcement of Human Rights.
On the 10th of December another public intervention took place this time at the University of Catania, in the lobby of the Department of Political Science. In that occasion, we took advantage from the exhibition of
Max Hirzel “Corpi Migranti” (located in the same lobby) previously inaugurated by H.R.Y.O. at Stato Brado. For four hours a discussion was facilitated about what the Universal Declaration with students and professors.
On the 14th of December H.R.Y.O. promoted the initiative “Human Rights / Right Humans – Ridiamo colore ai nostri diritti” (Human Rights/ Right Humans – let’s give back colours to our rights) at Stato Brado, in Palermo city center. An exhibition took place with the involvement of an artists that reproduced the the articles of the Declaration with a colorful handwriting. Through this event visitors, associates, representatives of other NGOs and people from the neighborhood, where able to participate and see the exhibition. The participants were encouraged to think about the significance of Human Rights and to express their own ideas on the present application of what was written in the Universal Declaration. Participants that directly participated in these three interventions were more than 150 people.
Public Intervention in Greece:
Two public Interventions took place in Greece one in Thessaloniki by the partner U.S.B. and one in Athens by the partner InterAlia.
In Thessaloniki USB facilitated their local event on Friday, the 30th of November. The idea of the event was to actively talk in public places with citizens of Thessaloniki about the topic ‘active citizenship’ and start a reflection about participants’ own involvement in society. The facilitators prepared self – made envelopes which contained a list of key attributes that represent active citizenship, such as ‘votes’, ‘helps’ or ‘cares’. The list
sparked the discussion between the participants. Furthermore, the participants received a list promoting local NGOs, who are working in the topic of ‘active citizenship’. During the 3 hours lasting event, the volunteers reached approximately 120 people.
The main goal of the event was to promote active citizenship and for participants to reflect whether they consider themselves as active citizens. The discussion involved questions about community building, volunteering and values. In total, the participants discussed ideas about how to improve the city through active citizenship. Most of the participants knew what active citizenship involves, but considered themselves not that active in this field.
In Athens InterAlia on May 5th created an event with the collaboration of musicians a public event in Victorias square. The event had activities like the creation of T-shirts, children’s activities etc. The aim of the event was to openly discuss with the public and demonstrate about the limitations that borders can have not only on some people but on everyone. Around 200 people participated in the event.
Public Intervention in the Czech Republic:
Two Public interventions took place one by the European Youth Center Breclav and one by Tmelnik.
For the public intervention, EYCB chose the 17th of November the anniversary of the Velvet Revolution. The main topic of their intervention was finding out how Czech citizens are feeling now about the Czech Republic with regards to human rights. 100 people responded to: “Do you think that the human rights situation in the Czech Republic is better / comparable or worse than in other EU countries?” and “Which Czech
events, people or organisations come to your mind when we say ‘human rights’?”. Then, a discussion followed about their answer with them.
The public intervention lasted 3 hours.
Tmelnik took their Public Intervention to the streets in Prague, the capital of Czech Republic on the 1st of December 2018. Four participants were divided into two groups of two the first group approached random people in the streets with surveys with following yes or no questions:
Do you believe that today in the Czech Republic there is suppressing of basic human rights? And in the world?, Do you know what happened on August 21, 1968?, Do you think that today it’s still necessary to fight for the basic human rights?, Do you think the situation with human rights is better today than it was in the past?
The second group had to ask the people similar questions, but recorded their answers on a camera. The questions for the camera group were:
Can you name at least 3 human rights?, What event in history will you recall when you hear “fight for human rights”?, Which person from the present or past do you imagine, when you hear “the fight for human rights”?, Do you know who was Jan Palach and what was it he protested against?. This public intervention took place on the 1st of December and for this event the streets around Národní třída were chosen, because it is a highly frequented place.
The second part of the activity was a social media propagation. A video was created which promoted the human rights discussion between others than those we spoke to in the streets.
The aim of these activities were to raise awareness of the history of human rights violations from all over the world in the Czech Republic and Europe.
Public Intervention in Poland:
Two public interventions took place in Poland one by Cim Horyzonty and the other by Europejskie Forum Młodzieży.
Cim Horyzonty implemented the Public Intervention as a series of events from Thursday the 4th of December 2018 until Saturday the 8th of December 2018. The first event “ HUMAN RIGHTS CHRISTMAS FLASHMOB” took place on the 4th of December in the main square of Poznań (Plac Wolnosci, Poznan). Through this event in total five activities were implemented: Drink not bombs – peace sucking grenades” peace promotion flashmob, Workshops: Advent calendar with human rights to discover, Christmas zumba in the style of “Pijama international party”, Writing Letters Amnesty International 2018, singing Silent Night in different languages to promote peace throughout the world.
The second event “Open discussion about Women’s Rights in Poland”,
took place on Saturday 08/12/2018 which was an open meeting with two Poznań’S activists with the the subject of women’s rights in Poland.
Experts were Katarzyna Ueberhan and Aleksandra Sołtysiak and the moderator of the conversation – Aleksandra Sobiech from the “We have a voice” feminist foundation.
Around 200 people took part in both events.
EFM implemented a street campaign about human rights on the 14 of December 2018 which was part of the public intervention and took place first in schools and streets of Kłodzko.
To attract attention, volunteers were dressed in yellow and black and had t-shirts with the words “human rights” written on them, as well as two stripes in the face: yellow and black. The colors were chosen because they are widely recognized to represent human rights, being the colors of Amnesty International, who fights against human right violations all around the world. Volunteers carried posters and gave out flyers about human rights, focused on children and teenager rights as well as on women rights.
The whole campaign was divided in two parts: The first part took place at schools. With the permission of schools, volunteers went from class to class to interrupt the lessons for a few minutes to talk about human rights, answering questions, talk about recent events like the Human Rights Day on the 10th of December and distribute flyers to the students and teachers.
In the brakes they stayed in the school, talking to interested students in and
discussing with them about different aspects of the topic.
The second part was going to the street and talking to people. Depending on the person, speaking to the people went from giving them information about human rights to discussing with them about it. There were many people willing to speak about human rights and even when the language
barrier was problematic it was possible to convey the basic message about human rights to the ones willing to hear it.
Through these activities the aim was to show that the reality of human rights and what is still needed to be done in that matter is a hot topic, that is not exclusive of faraway regions but a close reality in our societies.
Public Intervention in Germany:
Our partner organization Citizens of Europe implemented the Public Intervention through their activists Tobias Kunow, Fedo Hagge-Kubat, Simone Schaumberger and Florian Lampersberger, who interviewed pedestrians at Krumme Straße close to the German Opera where the student Benno Ohnesorg was shot on 02. of June 1967. The whole intervention lasted about one hour.
In the conversations with the passers-by we were interested in the following questions:
Do you know what happened here?, What do you associate with the name Benno Ohnesorg?, Did you recognize the memorial and the information column for him and the events of 1967?, What do you know about the events of that time?, What does Benno Ohnesorg mean to you?, What can we learn from the events of that time for today?. The aim of this event was to document and see what the public opinion has to say about this public monument which is of great historical importance and how they perceive remembrance in regards to standing up for human rights.
Public Debate in Cyprus:
On the 21st of February 2019 YEU Cyprus implemented the Public Debate about the effectiveness of today’s protests at the University of Cyprus. The debate was between two University professors Charidimos Tsoukas and Stavros Tombazos with journalist Mrs. Antigoni Solomonidou Droussiotou as the moderator of the debate. This event had a direct participation of 50 people. The debate focused on four different issues: In which ways people can put pressure to government to claim their rights, Is violence in the street necessary to achieve this?, We can often notice strikes in work places like, educational institute, hospitals and bus drivers. Are strikes effective in so the employees gain their rights? Or do they take place in order to fulfill the need of a small portion of people which conclude to profiteering against the state. There are several type of protest, for example the online campaigns, peaceful protests, artistic one (like the PRIDE). Do you believe that in the 21st century, this kind of protests are more effective in so the people voice to be heard, in contradiction with riots and violence?, A new movement and a protest symbol in France is the Yellow Vests. Do you believe that they achieve on claiming their requirements in the French government? Do you believe that they achieve their goal? If yes, what are the reasons of the success? Do you believe that the negative effects that this movement create are more than the positive? The yellow vest do not have representatives, is this method a sign for an equal society in France ?
Public Debate in Greece:
Two debates took place one in Thessaloniki by the organization U.S.B. and one in Athens by the organization InterAlia.
On the 22nd of February 2019 U.S.B. implemented their Public Debate with a total of 38 people participating at the Balkan Heart offices in Thessaloniki. The debates topic was ‘The 2019 European elections ‘could be the most decisive yet in regards to the future of EU’ – this was also the subject of the presentation the two speakers did using a PowerPoint presentation, Info graphics and video. The main topic of discussion of this debate was the EU Elections 2019, which took place in May, as well as the populist wave, the Euroscepticism, Europhobia, current risks and the future of EU.
On December the 13th 2018 Interalia, implemented a Public Debate in
the space of the Colleagues’ Publications (“Οι εκδόσεις των Συναδέλφων”), a collective of book workers. The aim of the meeting was to “Remember times of resistance, to commemorate social movements” that inspired people and may have influenced or not the following political situation.
About 30 people of different origins were seated in a circle to discuss about past and present social movements, challenges of our current times and ways to approach them and get one’s head around.
The discussion was facilitated by Inter Alia’s members , which had prepared five axes of discussion upon which the discussion progressed.
Public Debates in Poland:
Two public debates were implemented one by CIM Horizonty and one by EFM.
CIM Horizonty organized on the 8th of January 2019 at their offices in Poznan an event consisted of several activities – a quiz verifying the knowledge of young people on the scale of migration in Poland and Poznań and moderated talks in subgroups on the intercultural experiences of young people. The integral part of the meeting was an interactive debate during which young people, together with panelists-experts, sought for an answer on three questions: Should people have the right to choose a place / country of residence?, Do you think that the Polish society is open / tolerant? (+ how does Poznań look like on this background?), Does living in a multicultural society create more opportunities than risks?. This debate gave 50 people the opportunity to broaden their horizons in the area of an extremely important and controversial topic of intercultural and interreligious dialogue, and also allowed invited experts and pupils to answer the most bothering questions. It was also an opportunity to verify our own, often stereotypical views, which is the first step to build reliable, fact-based knowledge.
The main objectives of this debate were: Making young people aware of cultural, religious and ideological diversity around them; Building an attitude of respect for diversity, perceiving diversity as a value, not threats; To arouse interest, broaden horizons, provide knowledge and give a chance for a personal meeting with people representing different views, cultures, religions; Creating a safe space for exchanging views; Developing critical thinking skills.
On the 8th of March 2019 – international women‘s day – EFM, together with Zespół Szkół Społecznych, organised a debate, in the scope of #GetUpStandUp , in the city of Kłodzko. The debate held particular focus on women’s rights and role in societies of different countries and had the participation of students from three classes of lyceum, as well as teachers,
international volunteers and staff members from EFM, a total of 45 participants. The debate started with four presentations about women‘s rights in the home countries of the volunteers, which were Germany, Argentina, Spain and Georgia. This was followed by a presentation of women‘s reality in Poland, by a group of students.
After the presentations and a few minutes to think about questions and statements connected to human rights, the discussion part of the debate began. The debate managed the sharing of different perspectives about women’s rights, in different countries, between the Polish participants and the volunteers and vice-versa, as it also addressed in how far gender-equality is already achieved in different places around the world. It managed to animate the participants to express their own opinion about controversial topics, like abortion and to accept other points of views on these topics as well. The activity ended with the volunteers giving flyers about human rights, with some information about women and children’s rights to the students and teachers.
Public Debates in the Czech Republic:
One debate took place through a collaboration of the partner organizations European Youth Center Breclav and one by Tmelnik.
The Public Debate took place on the 10th of April 2019 in Brno. The topic of the debate was freedom of speech and current problems related to the topic, such as fake news and new plans to limit them. The venue for the debate was the University Cinem Scala, a venue of local Masaryk University. Three panelists were invited, Markéta Gregorová, a Brno city councilor and president of the European Pirate Party, Vojtěch Bruk, the co-founder of
local well known NGO Zvol si info, which is engaged with the topic of fake news and Petr Suchánek, currently working for the Supreme administrative court of CzechRepublic, but in the past dealt with hate speech legal cases in NGO In IUSTITIA. The moderator of the debate was Jan Špaček a student at Masaryk University.
The aim of this debate was to raise awareness on the issue of freedom of
speech, so people realize that the right itself is in Czech Republic actually is applicable for only 30 years. In this debate approximately 100 participants took part.
Public Debate in Italy:
There were two Public Debates which took place in Italy one by our partner Fattoria Pugliese Diffusa Associazione Culturale and one by our partner H.R.Y.O.
On the 19th of January 2019 Fatooria Pugliese Diffusa organized a public debate in Taurisano with 25 participants in total. The main topic of the discussion was “This house believes that internet access is a human right”. The debate aimed at recording the variety of opinions on access to internet and if it should be addressed as a human right.
On the 13th of January 2019, H.R.Y.O. organized a public debate in Palermo which had around 40 participants. The initiative was promoted together with other local non-profit organizations that work at national and international level. Among the involved organizations there were members from: Arcigay Palermo (the oldest organization for LGBTI rights in Italy), ANPI, National Association of Italian Partisans (an association founded by participants of the Italian resistance against the Italian Fascist regime), Arte Migrante (a community that works for migrants’ inclusion); movements of different religious affiliation, Council for peace, Human Rights, Nonviolence and Disarmament (institution that works inside the municipality of Palermo), cultural circles and other local NGOs engaged in human rights
protection etc. The participants were involved in reading the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to activate reflections on the current application of fundamental rights whereas recently adopted national laws
include provisions which contrast democracy and protection of human rights. Participants had the opportunity to ask the experts and debate with them the effective chance to advocate rights and rebuttals.
Public Debate in Germany:
Citizens of Europe organized a Public Debate on the 31st of March with a participation of 30 people. The them of the debate was: Student protests, extra-parliamentary opposition, terror …. what can we learn from the events that started with the student protests in the late 1960s?
After the screening of the documentary “Die Anwälte – eine deutsche Geschichte” by Birgit Schulz a discussion was innitiated on how we could today articulate protest outside the parties and parliaments, shape our political commitment and bring about change. Where do differences and
similarities exist? In the debate following the film, Fedo Hagge-Kubat (Foreign Ministry –
Department for Cultural Policy), and Magdalena Stawiana (GermanTrade Union Federation) presented arguments for and against a thesis prepared by the facilitators and were evaluated by the participants in an open discussion.
Structured Dialogue Conference in Cyprus:
From the 5th until the 7th of April 2019 YEU Cyprus organized a Structured Dialogue Conference on the topic of successful activism in the matter of
the Cyprus Issue. The event took place at Ledra Palace Hotel and had around 30 participants. This conference brought together young people from all the communities of the island with the main aim to motivate them to take part in the decision making process on a political level through the discussions on the Cyprus issue and promote successful ways of activism through current and past examples.
Structure Dialogue Conference in Greece:
Two structured dialogue conferences took place one in Thessaloniki by the organization U.S.B. and one in Athens by the organization InterAlia.
On the 3rd of June 2019, InterAlia organized a conference at the National Kapodistrian University of Athens with a participation of 15 people. The aim of the conference was to clarify a few main concepts related to civic engagement and collective action and to place them in a real-life context. This is important not only for academic purposes – as the study of movements is a thriving intellectual area – but also for the cultivation of students’ qualities related to citizenship. The session aspired to stir a debate regarding power and power sharing in modern times with increased attention to the “European periphery”.
On the 16th of April 2019, U.S.B. organized a structured dialogue conference at the Municipality of Thessaloniki involving candidate mayors for the city of Thessaloniki due to the upcoming Municipal Elections, many young people active in organizations of the city, political parties and volunteering
groups. The total participation at the conference were 80 people. The aim of this conference was for candidates to present themselves and their programs and to discuss with local young people about active citizenship and how to improve the city of Thessaloniki.
Structure Dialogue Conference in Poland:
EFM and CIM Horyzonty organized in collaboration a conference that took place on the 10th until the 12th of May 2019 in Bystrzyca Kłodzka. In total 24 participants from the most diverse backgrounds and fields of work got together to discuss ways to manifest and protest on a local, regional and national level. With the moderation of the organizations, the participants could also give their input on the recommendations and opinions to send to decision makers in Poland, being it the government, police, local governments, but also NGO’s, as well as public and private institutions.
Structure Dialogue Conference in the Czech Republic:
The conference which was organized by Tmelnik took place in November 2019 from the 27th to the 29th in Jindrichuv Hradec and had a total of 67 participants. The aim of the conference was to provide participants with
an opportunity discuss the views of young people gathered in previous events under this project and process information through a discussion and working group. The event was attended by politicians at the national level and chairman of the South Bohemian Council of Children and Youth. School students from Jindřichův Hradec and the surrounding area discussed with politicians questions of interest and sought solutions to solve them. Discussions were held on history, human rights, democracy, but also on issues of non- conceptual education, encouraging young people to engage at local and national level in addressing issues of direct concern to them.
Structure Dialogue Conference in Italy:
There were two conferences which took place in Italy one by our partner Fattoria Pugliese Diffusa Associazione Culturale and one by our partner H.R.Y.O.
Fattoria Pugliese Diffusa organized a three date (21 March 2019 – 30 April 2019 – 17 May 2019) continued conference in Taurisano with the participation of around 30 participants. Decision makers that were involved in the conference were the Taurisano Youth Council and the Taurisano Mayor. Taking into consideration the results obtained in previous events, this conference was based on whether it is possible to consider Internet Access as a human or civil right. The aim of the conference was to provide the space for young people to discuss and create a policy paper for suggestions towards their local municipality to adopt in regards to Internet Access.
H.R.Y.O. in April 2019 organized a structured dialogue conference in Arcigay Palermo and Stato Brado with around 20 participants. The event was designed to look at the action and the impact of a movement in advocating their rights. It was implemented in two different venues: two headquarters of organizations that are also two circles within the network ARCI, a national association devoted to the promotion of socio- cultural initiatives. The aim of the event was to reflect and discuss about what a local movement is and how does it address the advocacy of rights. The main objective of the event was to make people aware of the active ways to assert their rights through a local movement as an important actor within the community.
Structure Dialogue Conference in Germany:
Our partner Citizens of Europe organized on the 17th until the 18th of August a structured dialogue conference in Berlin which had a total of 23 participants. While the Street Intervention and Public Debate dealt with the 1968/69 student riots and their aftermath, the Structure Dialogue focused on today’s protest curators: #MeToo as a predominantly online debate and Fridays for Future as a movement that rediscovers the street and the public space.
The focus was on the following questions: Are online protests effective? What social and political impacts do modern protests have? In addition to the specific form of modern protests and their demarcation to protests of the past such as the 1968/69 riots, the peace movement of the 80s and the peaceful revolution of 1989, it was also about the future of recent protests. How can their issues and ideas be included in the political agenda and in concrete measures?
The results were discussed with the two political officials Fedo Hagge-Kubat (Foreign Office) and Julian Zado (SPD Board Berlin).
International Training Course in Italy:
Fattoria Pugliese Diffusa organized a Training Course on the 3rd to 9th of June 2019 at Marina Serra di Tricase with a total of 27 participants from all partner organizations. This TC was designed with the intention to involve the participants both in a group and self reflections on what fighting for human rights has meant and means nowadays in a small and rural community in the South of Italy. The aim of this Training Course was for participants to get inspired by local practices on fighting for human rights, organizations to strengthen their relationships and start to plan future common projects, for the community thanks to this project to spread information about their work and its results.
International Training Course in the Czech Republic:
Tmelnik organized a Training Course from the 14th until the 21st of September 2019 in Prague with a total of 29 participants. The aim of this event was to inspire the participants to actively engage in the subject of civil participation across Europe and gain skills that they can use in their organisation and communities. The training course was designed to equip youth workers with all the necessary knowledge on how to further promote active citizenship within the EU and affect attitudes within their regions
and communities.
International Training Course in Cyprus:
The third training course and final activity of the project #GetUpStandUp was organized by YEU Cyprus from the 24th until the 30th of October in Pedoulas, Cyprus. The training course had a total of 25 participants mainly youth workers and aimed at examining the theory and practices of human rights advocacy in the EU focusing on the previous mentioned time period and today. During the TC participants engaged in practical tools for peace and conflict analysis and were equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge for human rights activism and social change.