24.03.13-30.03.13
Introduction:
The seminar Change the Change focused on
peaceful protesting and brought together nearly
30 young Europeans to learn and discuss tools
and ways to get involved in social and political
affairs on local, national and international levels.
Disclaimer:
The participants wrote down during the week
their thoughts on the types of change which they
would like to see in the world around them. These
thoughts were then transcribed into this booklet
and as such reflect their dreams, challenges and
ambitions. As such the views reflected here are
those of the participants and are not necessarily
those of Active - sobriety, friendship and peace.
Minor changes were made to the original texts
where the grammar, spelling or choice of words
hindered the intended meaning, or when the
length of the text required shortening in order to
fit into this booklet.
Content:
Individual change
Environmental
Sobriety
Social Inclusion
Less passive, more Active
Nationalism
Corruption
Prejudice
Drug and alcohol abuse
Alcohol and drug free environment
Society norms
Alcohol Science
Freedom of speech
Education
Discrimination
Violence
Projects that are now in action
Juvente Estonia
IOGT Iceland
Know it better
Intensifying cooperation between UNF
Sweden and Juvente Norway
TRIPLE A
Sober Activities
Social Inclusion
Name: Andreea-Georgiana
Marin
Age: 17
Country: Romania
Name: Vlad-Alexandru
Grosar
Age: 22
Country: Romania
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I was born in a post-industrial town in southern Poland. Im living in a loving family which of course has
its problems but we keep all together. I have a great
example of what benefits a proper childhood and
growing up with a loving family has. I see problems,
however, that are caused by a lack of this in my impoverished town.
I think it is the most important to work with children:
they depend on adults and cannot solve their problems themselves. I want to show them that there is
another way of living: that they dont have to follow
their addicted parents or environments that they dont
have to be a part of this sickness.
My idea is to show children that there is a better world
to live in for them. Taking them out of their society
and organising free-time activities for them so they
dont have to spend their time drinking alcohol.
Children are the future of the world.
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Im 19 years old and I live in Tirana, the capital of Albania. Im in university, first year of finance and economics. I joined my organisation in Albania two years
ago, Free Youth Albania. My first seminar was the
one in the Balkans, then in Poland, then in Iceland and
now in Estonia. Our focus in Albania is the young people, the youth because that is the group that usually
needs change and can bring it.
The issues I have in mind are mostly the social ones
and the target group would be the youth. This is mostly the group I intend to bring change to because they
love change, are willing to change and adapt to it fast.
There are many people Id contact, starting from my
friends and family and then seek for help from other
people, organisations or groups.
Sometimes people step up, they see above themselves. Life is funny. But if you look close enough, you
find life in the words of children, in the bass of a song
and in the eyes of someone you love.
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18
I am born in Sarajevo, the capital city of Bosnia Herzegovina. In my country drinking alcohol and using tobacco and narcotics is one of the main ways for youth
to relax and have fun and that is a bad influence that
stays for the rest of their lives.
I am a volunteer of an organisation that promotes
healthy lifestyles LINK which I am a member of for
3-4 years with a goal to change these bad influences.
My idea of change is to change the way the youth are
influenced by the media and politics. They dont have
their own opinion built; they believe what they see in
the media advertisements. So I was thinking of making ad-busting advertisements which include people
from other countries so that they can share some information about their country.
Live long and prosper.
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Name: Gujn r
Gulaugsson
Age: 17
Country: Iceland
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I am from Turkey and have been to two seminars before in Berlin and Kiev. I am the kind of guy always
observing around and finding out some problems, disadvantages, negative energy, unhappy feelings and
then I try to repair it with my happiness and positive
energy.
Classification (social divisions) is a big issue for people
all over the world since past times. Also we have classification in Turkey and that makes us weaker and divides the country in this period. The first step is education. All of the citizens should get enough and some
education on the east, west, south and north of Turkey. Secondly, organising many seminars in schools,
government buildings, universities, etc., to start to
change opinions because we need knowledge.
Wake up! We are the same; no more classification.
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I was raised in a multicultural family and have lived in five different countries and thus I feel at home in world. I believe that
young people in all countries of the world have many needs in
common: They need to feel recognised and that they can contribute to society with their talents.
The barrier that concerns me is that young people often do not
see that they have so much to offer the world: That they have
a unique potential and energy to bring change to their families,
the community and the wider world. In my work with young
people I have seen how over the course of a conversation they
have also come to realise this. This simple realisation has explosive power: empowered and motivated, they feel that they
can do something meaningful for society.
I will get involved in workshops and seminars, both as a participant and leader, and invest my energy into showing them how
much they have to offer the world.
Give a man a fish; you feed him for a day. Teach him to fish
and he will be fed for life.
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Sweden: UNF
Slovakia: NOM
Bosnia Herzegovina: LINK
Macedonia: REACT
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Know it better
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TRIPLE A
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Sober Activities
Young peoples alcohol consumption poses many
risks to themselves and society, yet it is still
something considered normal. We would like
to challenge this norm and making living an alcohol-free lifestyle normal again. To do this we
propose the following activities:
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Social Inclusion
Social exclusion is a major issue for many European countries. In Turkey this is evident between Kurds and Turks
and / or on the grounds of religious affiliation; in Slovakia
many issues exist between the Slovak and Roma communities. These topics are the most commonly referenced; however, young people as a whole also often face exclusion, for
example, in the form of being inadequately protected by
labour laws, facing discrimination in the job market and not
being seen as an important stakeholder in policy.
1.
We would like to firstly carry out a survey on the
(social exclusion) issues facing young people in our
countries, their self-confidence, hobbies and friend ships.
2.
The questionnaire will also allow the participants to
come into contact with the organisation, especially
the ones who feel excluded or would like to meet
other students.
3.
We will organise activities (sports, cultural) which
can connect the participants. This will be particularly
relevant when it comes to bridging cultural or reli
gious divides.
The project will be done through the cooperation between
the following organisations:
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