In collaboration with the Franco-German Youth Office (OFAJ-DFJW), the European Youth Parliament is launching the #Ensemble: Franco-German Youth Exchange: a bilingual digital EYP conference for young people. The conference will take place from 27 to 29 November 2020 and will gather up to 60 young Europeans under the topic of “Youth Perspectives on the Effects of COVID-19”.
In wake of the latest developments in global public health and global restrictions in travel, many EYP sessions this year have been digitalised. The new format of a digitalised session has revolutionised the way young people can participate in EYP. It has brought us new challenges, but also allowed us to make our sessions more accessible, e.g. by eliminating the factor of location and mobility of the participants.
In the spirit of the current German presidency of the Council of the European Union and the Conference on the Future of Europe and in collaboration with the Franco-German Youth Office, we want to bring the format one step further and offer a bilingual digital exchange for young people speaking French and German. The familiarisation of France and Germany in a cooperative context was a turning point in European history and was part of the foundation of the concept of peaceful Europe that we know today.
The event will aim to foster cultural exchange and mutual understanding, and a key factor of this is languages. Our native language is the one we feel most comfortable talking, discussing and expressing our thoughts in. In order to facilitate such deepening of this intercultural understanding and to reach out to a broader target audience, the #Ensemble: Franco-German Youth Exchange will take place only in French and German. This means that all documents will be available in both languages. The 5-6 committees will have one main language each (either French or German), but the main elements of the session which gather all participants, such as General Assembly, will be translated and interpreted in both languages simultaneously.
The event is prepared in cooperation with the Franco-German Youth Office (OFAJ-DFJW).
