EuroParliament 2.0

EuroParliament 2.0

Last week of October, thanks to Erasmus+, we spent time in Poland, in Gliwice, through the Youthfully Yours organization. The project's theme was the European Parliament, so we spent the entire week discussing and debating various topics. Twenty people from 5 countries, namely Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Croatia, met in one place. These were people with different opinions, ages, and cultures. It was absolutely great for me to observe how well we got along. Because there were 20 of us and not, for example, 50, we were able to form deeper relationships and get to know each other better.

As for activities, we constantly commuted between Katowice and Gliwice, which was great because we got to know both cities essentially. The main place where we held workshops was a gallery in Gliwice. Each country had to prepare one workshop on a specific topic; ours was about how the European Parliament works and what political parties exist there. In the mornings, we worked on workshops and our cultural evenings, where each country presented itself along with typical dishes. We listened to many interesting workshops on the history of the European Parliament, diplomatic protocol, a public speaking workshop, and more… Last but not least, we had a so-called European Parliament simulation for the last two days, where we were divided into political parties with a given ideology. We had to debate and defend our views and proposals.

This was the part I feared the most, debating and arguing. It was also one of the reasons I went to this project, because I wanted to improve my argumentation skills. I got a lot of opportunities; we talked a lot with people in the evenings, and it was admirable to see how each of us had a different perspective. At the same time, this project showed me Poland in a completely different light than I expected. People there are much less conservative than is presented. They care about the development of art, monuments, and local businesses, which is absolutely great. I look forward to more projects like this!

Thank you

Kristína Buchelová