Event report

Event of the Europe Direct Dortmund: After we had not carried out our proven format, the “urban rally on EU funding policy” in the past year, we were now able to welcome a group to our house for the first time. Our teammates Stefaniya Vlasova and Dorothea Ullrich led a group of the Evangelical Noah Church congregation Dortmund and their exchange partners from Serbia first through a workshop on EU funding policy and then through a subsequent city rally to discover projects funded by the EU in Dortmund. At the beginning of our day with the Noah community, Joris Duffner, head of the Europe Direct Centre Dortmund, gave a short presentation about the work of the Centre. He provided information on the establishment of the Europe Direct Network in the EU, on the Conference on the Future of Europe, and on the work of the Centre in Dortmund. Following the presentation, there was a discussion with the Group on the relationship between Serbia and the EU. In particular, the Serbian Teilnehmer:innen were in demand, who commented on the attitude towards the EU in their home country. According to their statement, the opinion in the country is about 50/50 divided. One half is rather sceptical about the EU, the other half wants to join the EU. EU scepticism has intensified in Serbia since increased immigration and Brexit. Skeptics fear a cultural loss should their country join the EU. Young people in Serbia, on the other hand, are more open to the EU. This is mainly due to close cooperation between Member States and the possibilities of free mobility. For young people, the latter represents opportunities to study, work and travel abroad without visas. At the moment Serbia is very separate from the other states in Europe and this makes it harder to establish international ties. Young people in Serbia therefore consider joining the EU to be very beneficial. After the roundtable, we started our workshop directly. Our two teammates first explained in general what the EU funding policy has to do and what kind of projects are all funded by it. Then it went into the group work: In small groups, the Teilnehmer:innen should inform themselves about one of the EU funding pots and then work together to assign the individual puzzle pieces correctly to the support pots. The results were then presented to the other small groups. In the afternoon it was said: Discover the city and the EU in Dortmund! Our Teilnehmer:innen divided into four groups and were then sent across the city via WhatsApp to explore different places that receive funding from the EU. Along the way, they also had to answer tricky questions about funding policy and the EU budget. The group, who first completed their route and first arrived back at the Europe Direct Centre, won a prize.