The Vote 4 Your Europe Project

General information

Programme: Europe for citizens Programme 2014 – 2020
Strand 2: Democratic engagement and civic participation
Identifier: 601141-CITIZ-1-2018-1-BG-CITIZ-CIV
Title: “Vote 4 Your Europe”
Measure: Civil Society Projects
Priority: Debating the future of Europe and challenging Euroscepticism
Lead partner: Association Expert Pool – Bulgaria (EXPBG)
Associated partners:
▪ Union of Associations MULTIKULTURA – Poland
▪ Shoqata Shqiptare e Ambientalisteve Industriale (AAIE) – Albania
▪ APSHSTDC – Portugal
▪ PROFAT – Lithuania
▪ IFIDE.Institute for Innovation, Design and Entrepreneurship – Spain
▪ PEIPSI CTC – Estonia
▪ M2C Institut – Germany
▪ EUROPEAN REPUBLIC – Greece
▪ Eprojectconsult – Italy
Project start: 1 September 2018
Project end: 29 February 2020

The general project objective is to find a new set of tools for citizenship awareness by implementing a series of workshops that compare and discuss the different political agendas in the beneficiary countries. Specific objectives:
▪ Motivating the EU citizens to go to the polls and encouraging their active democratic participation;
▪ Developing a stronger sense of ownership of the European project;
▪ Provoking a debate on the rise of Euroscepticism and its implications for the voting process and future of the EU.

The project «Vote 4 Your Europe» was funded with the support of the European Union under the Programme „Europe for Citizens“

Strand 2 – Measure 2.3 „Civil Society Projects“
3 events have been carried out within this project: Event 1 “Youth space: why voting is important” Participation: The event involved 54 citizens, including 3 participants from the city of Lisbon (Portugal), 3 participants from the city of Tirana (Albania), 3 participants from the city of Athens (Greece), 3 participants from the city of Bremen (Germany), 3 participants from the city of A Coruna (Spain), 3 participants from the city of Vilnius (Lithuania), 2 participants from the city of Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto (Italy), 3 participants from the city of Krakow (Poland), 1 participant from the city of Tartu (Estonia), 30 participants from the city of Sofia (Bulgaria). Location / Dates: The event took place in Sofia, Bulgaria, from 23/11/2018 to 25/11/2018. Short description: The aim of the event was to address the declining political participation of young people, and to debate why is crucial to be democratically engaged and how to increase youth interest and engage young people in democratic elections, using different tools such as mock elections, informational campaigns, ways of contacting youth, lowering the voting age, adapting the electoral system, etc. Event 2 “Democracy tourists” Participation: The event involved 54 citizens, including 2 participants from the city of Tirana (Albania), 2 participants from the city of Krakow (Poland), 4 participants from the city of A Coruna (Spain), 2 participants from the city of Tartu (Estonia), 3 participants from the city of Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto (Italy), 3 participants from the city of Athens (Greece), 3 participants from the city of Vilnius (Lithuania), 3 participants from the city of Bremen (Germany), 4 participants from the city of Sofia (Bulgaria), 28 participants from the city of Lisbon (Portugal). Location / Dates: The event took place in Lisbon, Portugal, from 27/03/2019 to 29/03/2019 Short description: The aim of the event was to increase people’s interest in civic participation usin creative ways to show democracy in action. Every project partner presented democratic practices through videos, interviews, photographs, storytelling, etc. Showing the national aspects in the field, good/bad democratic practices were shared. Specific ways to create a more democratic Union were discussed. Event 3 “A democracy day” Participation: The event involved 75 citizens, including 2 participants from the city of Athens (Greece), 5 participants from the city of Sofia (Bulgaria), 3 participants from the city of A Coruna (Spain), 3 participants from the city of Vilnius (Lithuania), 1 participant from the city of Tartu (Estonia), 4 participants from the city of Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto (Italy), 3 participants from the city of Krakow (Poland), 3 participants from the city of Lisbon (Portugal), 2 participants from the city of Tirana (Albania) and 49 participants from the city of Bremen (Germany). Location / Dates: The event took place in Bremen, Germany, from 03/07/2019 to 05/07/2019 Short description: The aim of the event was to present the state of democracy in the EU, democracy’s forgotten turning points and provoke debate on the rise of Euroscepticism and future of the EU after the elections. We fostered a constructive dialogue on the EP turnout rates and understanding the weakness and strengths of the EU project as a useful, constructive and positive driver for European integration.