The Project...
The exchange project Our Future European Integration was started in 2003 with a study visit to the Netherlands in April/May 2003. In the second half of 2003 the participants visited Kosovo and Serbia. 15 people took part. The project was established by three organisations: IKV from the Netherlands, Forum from Kosovo (since 2005 youth NGO Integra from Kosovo has taken over from Forum) and Fractal from Serbia. They helped the participants with developing activities, among which peer-to-peer lectures after the study visit. The project continues until this day with the same set-up: three study visits a year (to The Netherlands and Brussels, Kosovo and Serbia) and peer-to-peer lectures afterwards.

 

The Network...
The Our Future Network is the alumni network established by youngsters that have taken part in the Our Future Project exchange programme over the years. Youngsters from Kosovo, Serbia and the Netherlands in the age of 18 to 25 participate in different activities related to the Project and activaties organised by themselves.

 

The goals...
Developing channels of communication between Kosovo and Serbia
The idea behind the project is to bring young people from Serbia and Kosovo together. At the moment there is almost no contact between Serbian and Kosovo Albanian citizens. We consider it very important that for those citizens willing to meet each other, communication channels are developed. All study visits contribute a lot to this.

 

These channels are developed under the theme of European Integration, a common interest. Whether Kosovo will become independent or not, Serbia and Kosovo will remain each others neighbours and both Serbia and Kosovo want to integrate into the European Union. Goal is to learn more about European Integration, as well as the way Serbia and Kosovo have to take towards integration and to spread this information among other youngsters. The Dutch youngsters, already part of EU, share their experiences and ideas.

 

Youth participation
The third goal is to stimulate youth participation. Currently the youngsters are doing activities in their own region to spread the knowledge gained and to share their experiences of the study visits. They are to give lectures at schools and universities and spread information via the media. Also other follow-up activities have been developed in the past, like the establishment of a website and newsletter, the organisation of lectures, the organisation of a negotiation game, a study visit to the ICTY, participation in international Loesje summer camps and the start of Loesje Serbia. By doing so youth participation is being put in practise directly. Moreover we hope our activities will motivate other youngsters to become active themselves.