2009 was the year when inhabitants of Thuringia were asked four times to elect their political representatives for the municipal council, regional parliament (Landtag), national parliament (Bundestag) and the European Parliament. In its Polish partner region – Malopolska, as well as in all of the EU countries, elections for the European Parliament were also taking place.
30 young people from Germany and Poland were qualified in an on-going training course to run interactive workshops on the topic of the importance of participation in a democratic society and political issues concerning the upcoming elections. Workshops in vocational training centres and schools took place in four phases (three in Germany and one in Poland) followingthe elections. The workshops were followed by discussion forums with politicians representing all the democratic parties running for election. Besides schools, the workshops , also took place in a reformatory, a centre for people with disabilities, youth clubs, army barracks and a municipality town hall.
The project was accompanied by a cartoon-postcard and poster campaign “We vote!”. There was also a website and various publications published in both of the languages.
State Agency for Civic Education Thuringia was running a similar project but on a much smaller scale before the previous elections in the region. Evaluation and research accompanying the project have proven to be a big success. The project run in 2009 was intended to be bigger, more professional, and include the international aspect of cooperation with Poland.
young adults in vocational training or doing military service, young people with fewer opportunities (social, economic and geographical obstacles, educational difficulties and/or disabilities) mainly between the ages of 18 and 22
Landeszentrale für politische Bildung Thüringen – State Agency for Civic Education Thuringia, Germany
European Youth Education and Meeting Center Weimar (EJBW), Germany
Marschal’s Office of the Malopolska Region, Poland
Polish-German Society, Krakow, Poland
Ca. 100.000 Euro