Community Youth Exchange in Ilmenau 2027

As our society has changed and we've faced many crises in recent years, the ways communities are shaped have changed significantly. Digital transformation has reshaped how communities form and has moved many into digital spaces like Social Media. It allows youth to connect worldwide, but it also makes discussion and real exchange more difficult and more superficial. At the same time, this trend moves a lot of in-person communities from real life to the digital space. Part of this topic is also the question of 3rd places, which are very important for youth communities to meet in a neutral space. Those can be youth clubs, cafés, libraries and more.

During the activity, young people between 18 and 30 from 6 different countries will meet in Ilmenau to tackle the issues of how communities are shaped or not shaped these days. In group work, they will exchange ideas about the situation in their countries and best practices, identify issues in their communities, and develop new ideas to improve them. Furthermore, the group work will feature workshops about, e.g. how to shape youth communities that are inclusive and help young people to develop.

The activity will take place alongside the International Student Week in Ilmenau (ISWI) 2027, which, alongside its own Group Work, features many cultural events that allow the participants to meet students from all around the world who participate in ISWI 2027 and the local population of Ilmenau.

Participation in the activity will be free of charge. We will provide accommodation and food during the activity period.

We are searching for partners from different countries who can support the project as sending organisations. The tasks of the sending organisations will be to support us in advertising the project among the youth in their countries, support us in selecting the participants from their countries (if desired) and support the selected participants in their preparation for the activity and in the arrival process. Each sending organisation will have to send a group leader to the activity who will be supporting the participants during the activity, so they will be the first point of contact for the participants and work closely with our organisation team. They will receive accommodation and food for the full duration of the activity as well.