NEW Schuman Declaration – Cross-Generational Conversation about a NEW Europe

Talking to contemporaries of the 1950 Schuman Declaration, of their country’s admission to the EU and of the changes in Central and Eastern Europe after 1990, young people will add to the lines of history textbooks the experience of “ordinary” people. They will also become familiar with the full text of the Schuman Declaration, which everyone has heard of, but few have read.
On May 9, we will announce an essay contest “My Schuman Declaration”
We’ll introduce young Europeans to the human rights set out in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights (2000). The rights – dignity, freedoms, equality, solidarity, citizenship, justice – seem indisputable. But in all four countries involved in the project, there’ve been periods of their suppression. This must be known and remembered so as not to be repeated.
Bulgaria’s first democratically elected president, Zhelyu Zhelev, used to say „Democracy can only be healed with more democracy“. Euroscepticism, populism and centrifugal forces induced by Brexit must be counteracted by cohesion, solidarity and security.
The “New Schuman Declaration – cross-generational conversation for a New Europe” project activities will be implemented in the 4 countries of the consortium: Bulgaria, Greece, Spain and Poland, in these cities respectively: Pleven, Athens, Granada, and Warsaw. This will bring together participants from countries with more than 30 years of EU membership with those accepted only 10 or 15 years ago; countries developed under conditions of capitalism and socialism; residents of capitals and of two big, but not metropolitan cities.
The project stands symbolically within the limits of time and space – from the laying of the foundations of the EU in 1950 to the present, and from the external borders of the Union in the four directions of the world – from Bulgaria to Spain, and from Greece to Poland.
The focus group of the project is young people between the ages of 14 and 29, so most of the activities will be held in schools and universities in the 4 countries: cross-generational meetings, flash mobs, puzzle room competitions. We will promote and run online the essay contest „My Schuman Declaration“. This way, participation in it will be accessible to all interested who meet the criteria of the regulations. The radio campaign will be broadcast to an audience of millions via BNR, which also transmits online. The venue for the closing event – an international forum Schuman Declaration and the future of the EU will be the “Iliya Beshkov” Art Gallery in Pleven.
The global network and the radio airing make massive dissemination of information possible, and the New Schuman Declaration – for a New Europe project intends to make the most of it.