German-Slovak-Ukrainian youth exchange

This year’s German-Slovak-Ukrainian youth exchange took place in September and the main theme was “Who, if not us? – political youth participation”. First, the young people from all three countries met in Dresden from September 9-16. Here, the young people approached the topic through project management workshops, where they learned how to create their own projects, and through various excursions.

One of these excursions was a day in Berlin. We visited the Bundestag and had a meeting with Natalie Pawlik, Member of Parliament and Commissioner for Ethnic German Resettlers and National Minorities.

We also visited the children’s and youth office in Dresden’s Neustadt district and had talks with representatives of political party youth organizations. But the intercultural exchange between the young people was not neglected either, including an international evening and a Ukrainian dinner with traditional home-cooked borscht.

During the second part of the International Youth Meeting from September 23 – 30, the Carpathian German Association in Bratislava (Slovakia) welcomed us. Here, we also learned a lot about the topic and about Slovakian culture and hospitality. We visited the German Embassy in Bratislava, listened to a live radio broadcast at the Goethe-Institut and explored the Carpathian German Museum. Bratislava also impressed us with its rich history, beautiful old town and culinary specialties. On the last day of the meeting, we visited nearby Vienna and immersed ourselves in the shared Austrian-Slovakian-Ukrainian history.

This exchange was co-funded by Erasmus+ – Youth in Action.