Young people from six nations develop a vision for the future.
Every year, the Euriade organizes a festival of dialogue in Kerkrade (NL): Youth in Dialogue. Based on the teachings of Martin Buber, they seek encounters from person to person, beyond national identity. A special kind of personal development! Most of the 15-16 year olds spend a week working through a program. On the one hand, they meet each other in their interaction exercises, which are aimed at dialogical understanding. On the other hand, they can take part in a cultural program that introduces them to the Euregio Meuse-Rhine. Today they are in Belgium for the first time on their journey through the Euregio. The Ambassade has opened its doors and welcomed around 40 young people from Poland, Serbia, Romania, the Netherlands, Germany and Ukraine. Teachers were also invited. The aim was to introduce the young people to the tasks of a cultural institution dedicated to the development of cross-border friendship.
Mayor Valérie Dejardin was fascinated and open to the idea. She would like to encourage a school from Dolhain (Belgium/Wallonia) to take part in the Festival of Dialogue in the future. She gladly donned this year's T-shirt with logo, which all participants receive as a gift, as a sign of her identification. Prof. Dr. Werner Janssen, director of the Festival of Dialogue, was very pleased with the mayor's spontaneous willingness to help shape Youth in Dialogue in the future.
The rest of the cultural program was supported by the Royal Syndicat d'Initiative de la commune de Limbourg (RSI Limbourg). Sandra Huberty, President of RSI Limbourg, took over the guided tour of historic Limbourg together with Caroline. Peter Ramjoie, a high school teacher with knowledge of the region and the language, spent the morning taking the young people on a tour of the wonderful natural surroundings of the Weser dam. As an intermezzo, there was also a tour of Eupen, beautifully blooming in the summer light!
Finally, the young people were given an expert presentation in the Parliament of the German-speaking Community by Ms. Keutgen.
In the garden of the Ambassade, Ambassador Dr. Jörg Schmitz-Gielsdorf and Prof. Dr. Bernd Lorscheider explained the Ambassade's mission based on a current project, Mega-Land-City EUROPOLIS, which has already been submitted to Brussels (EU) as part of the "New European Bauhaus/Green Deal".
Videos on Youth in Dialogue:
Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jy1a1qSsUIk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Zs57vax54g