This project is funded by the European Union in the framework of Europe for Citizens Programme, European Remembrance.
Project Title: Youth involvement in a constructive dialogue: Communist Past in Contemporary Western Balkan
The project started Feb 1, 2021
The project ends July 31, 2022
Acronyms : YOU-WB
Project Logo :
The transition from communism to post-communism in countries like Albania and North Macedonia has been determined and strongly influenced not only by the collapse of ideologies and by the changes in the international political scene after 1989, but also by the profound changes that effected the customs, lifestyles, and collective mentality in EU. The impunity of the crimes of the communist regime continues to be a serious wound for these societies even 30 years after the fall of the dictatorship and yet it has not established a substantial division from the communist past. In that regard, there can be no reconciliation and peace without historical memory. The project suggests deepening the work in education and raising awareness of the younger generation, opening a debate through an analysis of the causes and consequences of dictatorial regimes, honoring victims and above all, transparency in crimes committed against humanity by communist and other dictatorial regimes.
The project aim:
Foster national and transnational youth activist’s dialogue about the reflection of past communist regimes in contemporary Western Balkan (WB) and EU.
Activities
- 1st Workshop, Tirana, 09-11 April 2021
- 2nd Workshop, Skopje, 18- 20 June 2021
- 3rd Workshop, Rome, 01-03 October 2021
- 4th Workshop, Paris, 01-03 April 2022
- International conference in Tirana 11-12 May 2022
Project outcomes:
- Creating space for dialogue and reflection through remembrance of European values
- Youth have a better understanding of civic participation in post – communist Western Balkans
- Reflection in the past encourages youth discussion for the contemporary WB countries.
Countries involved:
- Albania
- North Macedonia
- France
- Italy
Number of direct participants: 90
CCIS, in partnership with Mediterranean Center; SCiDEV; Patrimoine sans Frontières: PERIPLI, and CCM implemented the project over the period of 18 months (Feb 2021 – July 2022), targeting youth in 4 programs’ eligible countries Albania, France, Italy, North Macedonia.
The project-specific thematic workshops organized in each of the project partner countries, with participation from youth, will focus on the rules, norms, rights, practices, and customs of people during the communist regime; national Identities and Collective Memory in an Enlarged Europe; Political Culture in Post-Communist Italy; the effect of rapid social changes during the post-communist transition and people’s perceptions in North Macedonia and Albania, and it will conclude with an international conference in Tirana with extended participation about Post-Communism and Democracy in enlarged Europe.
The final project output is the publication of a collection of papers as the result of the four workshops organized in the framework of the project
Youth involvement in a constructive dialogue: Communist Past in Contemporary Western Balkan
6 Videos produced during project implementation
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