EVZ Young

YOUNG PEOPLE remember's funding line [re]act finding memories focuses on bilateral and multilateral youth encounters for young people between 14 and 35 years of age, as well as professional exchanges for multipliers at historical sites of National Socialist persecution and extermination. We support projects that deal with National Socialist history in a multi-perspective, transnational, and interdisciplinary way using contemporary methods as well as groundbreaking concepts.

Everyone is talking about it, we want to give you the space for it! In the Set-Up Lab: Design there is room for the presentation and discussion of project ideas in order to develop them further together with international partners. We put special emphasis on the topics of multi-perspectivity, participant orientation and innovative formats of international youth work. Aaand because the topics are so important to us at EVZ, we offer the event twice, you will surely find your place: August 21, 10 am – 13 pm CET

How, what and in what ways do young people in Germany remember National Socialism? How do they perceive discrimination and remembrance culture today? The MEMO Youth Study 2023, conducted by the University of Bielefeld and funded by EVZ Foundation, extends the previous five MEMO surveys by the focus group young adults. The study shows that National Socialism and World War II are central reference points in Germany's culture of remembrance for adolescents and young adults.

87 years ago, in June 1936 - shortly before the Olympic Games in Berlin - the Berlin Sinti and Roma were herded into a compound on the outskirts of the city that became known as "Zwangslager Marzahn," a forced camp. Even after the war, Sinti and Roma were not accepted and recorded in Germany, so families needed to live on the site where their family members died until 1947.

Climate change and security – what do they have to do with each other? A lot, because the consequences of climate change bear a great potential for conflict on a wide variety of levels. For example, cross-border environmental problems such as extreme weather events pose challenges for the international community, exacerbating existing conflicts and creating new ones as well. At the same time, dealing with the consequences of climate change is the main task of our time and can only be achieved through constructive cooperation between all countries. Something must be done about this! You are engaged against climate change and are you interested in security policy? You are creative and like to contribute your ideas? You would like to work on a project together with young Israelis and Germans and get to know interesting institutions on these topics in Israel and Berlin?

We created an event to bring institutions together that work in the field of international youth work and are eager to cooperate with new institutions to implement projects about remembrance culture that matter! In the Set Up-Lab: Network, we will start to get to know each other personally and each other’s institutions in a playful and active way and dive deeper into one’s work motivation, future project ideas and how to work in a partnership. Wednesday May 24th, 9.30 am – 12.30 am CET Wednesday June 7th, 9.30 am – 12.30 am CET

One of the central challenges for international youth work is to raise young people's awareness of social and political coexistence in Europe and, at the same time, to broaden their understanding of wars. To address this issue, the Franco-German Youth Office and EVZ Foundation are launching a cooperation project on "War(s) in Europe. Shared experience, collective memory? - Germany, France, Bosnia and Herzegovina", consisting of two expert meetings and a youth exchange. For details about the program and registration follow the link.

"Remembering to act" is more than a title. It is a mission with which the creators of the project want to encourage young people from Germany, Georgia and Azerbaijan to become active advocates for a peaceful future by looking at the past through the prism of cultural memory and framing the current situation through non-formal educational methods. You are curious about what these methods are and how they can be used, for example, to stimulate a productive intergenerational dialogue or to develop concrete recommendations for action? Than check the website. The youth exchange will be continued in 2023.

DIY for Climate - under this title, 24 young people from four countries developed practical solutions for the sustainable greening of cities through Urban Gardening - an approach in which anyone can get involved without any special prior knowledge! During the hybrid encounters, knowledge about the impact of climate change on our cities was shared in numerous webinars and finally put into practice in urban workshops. Together with the project organizers, the participants created 7 thematic videos and multilingual manual on the DIY solutions for urban farming, which were presented on an online forum. Want to know how to create a spiral raised garden bed and build a water-permeable sidewalk in a simple way? Manuals under the link. For webinars and videos please visit the YouTube Channels of EcoVisio Moldova @ecovisiomoldova6198, Еко Місто @user-et8po5kb8d, Plato @plato_lviv_ua, Diana Popfalushi @diana_p

Did you know that because of the Bielski partisans, which formed a jewish resistance camp in the forests of Belarus during the national socialist occupation, approximately 1.200 jews could survive the Holocaust? How to remember those brave people nowadays in the forest? What is a living memorial? Read more about this and other interesting articles about selected YOUNG PEOPLE remember projects on our website.

What can we do to create diversity-conscious, sustainable and social places for young people in our cities? What are our visions for the future of urban spaces? How can young people communicate their needs and find support? As part of the "Time to Act" project, 16 young people from Germany and Moldova explored these questions. They used participatory art techniques and urban exploration tools to develop new ideas for the future of cities during their get-togethers in Chişinău, Berlin, and online. Four urban board games and various practical guides in video form offer a playful and creative approach to the results.

We are very happy to announce that YOUNG PEOPLE remember continues. With the call for applications for the funding line YOUNG PEOPLE remember: [re]create digital history, we support projects that want to open up digital opportunities for young people to engage with digital cultures of remembrance concerning National Socialist persecution and extermination.

What happens when young German and Israeli students are meeting for a school exchange? What are their thoughts after they met and listened to the testimonies of the last survivors of the Holocaust? What are they feeling after their visit of places of extermination? How do they want to remember? This touching movie was created during the YOUNG PEOPLE remember project “Keep the memory alive!” where students met in two school exchanges in Germany and Israel in 2022. Together, they worked on a future remembrance culture for their generation with which they can identify and stand up for.

Murtaz Bolkvadze’s and Salome Kvirikashvili’s project uses the gamification approach to tell young people about history in a playful and exploratory way. The game aims to empower the public and restore cultural memory about the women who contributed to the integration of Georgian culture and politics into Western civilization in the 19th and 20th centuries. In this game, all the stories, memories, and photos that have been forgotten for a long time are brought back to life.

Just before Christmas, in cooperation with well known "Lernen aus der Geschichte" magazine (learning from history), we proudly released our own digital YOUNG PEOPLE remember issue. Have you already seen it? With it, we are celebrating the first term of YOUNG PEOPLE remember which started 2020 and ended with the last year. We are thankful for 25 great projects from 15 different countries that worked on the always changing subject of the remembrance of the Holocaust. We've funded digital projects that developed apps, games and learning materials as well as youth exchanges at historic sites as well as projects that focussed on the topic of developing new teaching methods on the Holocaust.

We are looking for innovative international projects. Get yourself a project partner from another program country and apply with YOUR idea for a MEET UP! Micro Project. Are you a fan of group work? Absolutely fine! Up to five people can submit the application together as a small group. We welcome projects in a digital, analog or hybrid form and fund it with max. 1,000 Euro! Who can apply? Young people between 18 and 35 from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine and Germany Deadline: January 31, 2023

What remains when there is no one left to report? Can the dead be given back their voice? Can the silence be broken? Krista and Reinis Dzudzilo dared this experiment at the end of August in Cēsis, Latvia. In an audiovisual performance, they commemorated the dead with a prayer of music and quotes in the very forest and place where the Jewish community was murdered in August 1941 during the Nazi occupation.

Call for Applications: MEET UP! Youth for Partnership 2023 We are very excited to launch our new MEET UP! Call for Applications today! With the MEET UP! Youth for Partnership funding program, the Foundation Remembrance, Responsibility and Future (EVZ) and the Federal Foreign Office jointly support international youth projects with Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Germany, Moldova and Ukraine. Despite political tensions and the war in Ukraine, we are committed to continuing the work with Belarus, Ukraine, and the Republic of Moldova. To enable Youth Encounters with the cooperation of these three countries, we adjusted our conditions for the funding 2023: From now on, projects with Belarussian, Moldovian or Ukrainian participation can take place in any European country. Moreover, applicants, project partners, or participants from Belarus, Moldova, or Ukraine do not have to reside in their countries during the time of the project. The main topics dedicated to the 2023 MEET UP! Youth for Partnership Youth Encounters are the following: 📍 Crisis - Conflict - Cooperation 📍 Remembrance Culture 📍 Youth Participation 📍 the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations We are looking forward to your applications!

Hast du vom 3. bis 8. Oktober noch nichts vor und bist aus der Region Berlin/Brandenburg? Umweltschutz und Urbanisierung sind deine Themen? Du möchtest wissen, mit welchen Mitteln deine Stadt klimafreundlicher werden kann? Und du bist super gespannt darauf, wie ökologische Stadtplanung in anderen Ländern aussieht? Check! Dann melde dich jetzt zur Teilnahme am "DIY for Climate"-Projekt der ukrainischen NGO ECO Misto Chernihiv an und tausche gemeinsam mit anderen Urbanaktivist:innen aus der Republik Moldau, der Ukraine, Belarus und Deutschland Ideen und Ansätze aus! Ihr könnt euch noch bis zum 19. September bewerben!

With the new website of the project "Pieces of Memory" you can now delve into the moving lives of Holocaust survivors. German and Israeli youth guides have studied the biographies of 32 survivors and conducted eyewitness interviews in Israel. This is even more precious because the coming generations will not be able to do so - all the more touching and important are the texts and videos you can find on the website.

By now, there is no doubt about the fact that graphic novels not only have a great entertainment factor, but they are also an ideal tool for transferring knowledge. A few weeks ago, our colleague Helge Theil was at the opening event of Terraforming in Novi Sad, Serbia, where - amongst others - the graphic novels of the project "Ester" were presented. On a very colourful graphic novel-stage, he discussed the future of Holocaust remembrance with other guests. Through "Ester" it will be possible to create your own graphic novels in the future - we are excited and will report further! Check out their website in our bio for the completed graphic novels about the Holocaust in Serbia and more information!

As a response to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, Educat Kollektiv have expanded their "Cultures of Remembrance" project to include essays on the war, always with a false historical reference that Putin uses to justify his war in Ukraine. The German-Ukrainian-Belarusian-Russian project was originally intended to deal with the different historical narratives in Central and Eastern Europe, and has thus responded to the current situation to declare its solidarity with Ukraine. Check also the rest of the website out - it's worth it!

The Policy Lab “Change Makers” is a new project that deals with climate change and security in Israel and Germany. On one trip to Germany and Israel, the “Change Makers” will develop ideas for dealing with the topic and create their own projects. And who are the Young Experts? Basically you! The Policy Lab would like to involve 3-4 people each from the ages 18 – 25 from #Germany and #Israel as Young Experts in the project planning and implementation, before the Policy Lab itself starts.

Check out the whole video from the project "transnational historical learning on the example of Malyj Trostenez" and accompany them on their journey to Riga.

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS: Freedom of expression, climate change or LGBTIQ rights – young people have a voice and use it increasingly to stand up for their rights! The MEET UP! Youth Conference "Power of Youth" brings together 60 young people from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Germany, Republic of Moldova, and Ukraine to discuss current questions of the young generation, to empower them in their engagement, and to provide a platform for exchange and inspiration. Apply now and join us at our MEET UP! Youth Conference in Tbilisi, Georgia! Apply now!

In case you have missed our gathering yesterday, you can watch it here in the English and original version! Enjoy and leave a like :)

In case you have missed our gathering yesterday, you can watch it here in the Russian version! Enjoy and leave a like :)

In case you have missed our gathering yesterday, you can watch it here in the German version! Enjoy and leave a like :)

Interested in topics such as social rights, active citizenship, human rights and other similar issues? Then the project “Active Youth and participation” that will be held on July 22-28 in Azerbaijan is just for you!

The war in Ukraine, the ongoing climate crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, and globalization pose major challenges for education and civil society - everywhere in Europe. How do we respond to revisionism and falsification of history, how do we promote empowerment and self-efficacy in young people? At our EVZ Young symposium “Education for Tomorrow”, we will address current topics, provide impulses for practice, and promote cross-border networking and understanding.

In the Moldovan-German youth encounter you will try out new formats of citizen participation. During two exchanges in Berlin & Chisinau, you can explore urban spaces via participatory art techniques and urban exploratory tools. You will have an opportunity to rethink urban spaces around us through creative practices and develop new ideas about what our cities could look like.

Find the graphic novel "Digital Lines of Life and Death - The Lives of a Czech Romni and a German Sinto" by Pedro Stoichita in English, Czech and German here.

In the Serious Game "Train to Sachsenhausen" for your smartphone, you can now recreate these events in the role of a fictional character based on historical facts and eyewitness testimonies and learn more about the history of the events. Downloadable for free in Czech, German and English language in the Apple or Android Store.

82 years ago, on June 22, 1941, the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany began. Under the code name "Barbarossa" this operation had been prepared for a long time, although there was a non-aggression pact between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. The aim of this operation was the subjugation, enslavement and extermination of the local population and the annexation and exploitation of the territories. After the rapid advance of the Wehrmacht, the only German extermination site on the territory of the occupied Soviet Union was established near Minsk: Malyj Trostenez. Around 60.000 people, many of them Viennese Jews, died here in just two years.