CJS recently submitted the project "Politics and culture in Europe: Towards a new ethical narrative by young European Union citizens" (EUthics, 601368-CITIZ-1-ES-CITIZ-CIV, within the EUROPE FOR CITIZENS programme (Civil Society Projects / Strand2: Democratic engagement and civic participation).

Brief summary of EUthics:

EUthics wants to foster discussion-based projects amongst young European citizens in higher and secondary education and among other stakeholders, in order to tackle the problem of Euroscepticism. The aim of the 8 partners is to promote mutual understanding, overcome national perceptions and make aware of the benefits of European integration as a solidarity and common values based process. Different activities drawing on design thinking method shall reach about 2000 direct/4000 indirect participants in 6 EU countries and lead to a new narrative for Europe, citizen-oriented, forward-looking and constructive, that is engaging for younger generations, in spite of the cultural and political costs of Brexit. Concrete proposals to create a more democratic Union shall be promoted and enable young citizens to participate actively at all levels, especially with regard to European Parliament elections 2019. EUthics will take reflections of Nobel Prize winner José Saramago on Europe as a starting point. Saramago had warned of the imbalances that a purely economic European integration would mean without a cultural, political and ethical counterpart. It was his conviction that a positive reinvention of the narrative of Europe was possible, by means of an "eventual ethics" with the premise that cultures justify each other in their lived difference. In this sense, young people are expected to generate proposals of ethically sound EU policies, based on open discussion fora, seminars and sensitization projects in schools and universities, focussing on themes related with EU Commission's White Paper and Reflection Papers (e.g. extremist/populist discourses and polarisation of public opinion; Euroscepticism vs. Eurocriticism; risks for European integration/democratic engagement of citizens; their contexts, intersectional factors and dissemination pathways; migrants in the EU societies; richness of Europe's cultural and linguistic environment; intercultural understanding and tolerance).

Partners:

• I Cátedra Internacional José Saramago & Observatorio de Gobernanza G3 / Universidade de Vigo
• CEHUM / Universidade do Minho
• Cátedra José Saramago / Università degli Studi Roma Tre
• Chaire Solange Parvaux / Université Sorbonne Nouvelle Paris 3
• Global Research Priority Group on Connecting Cultures / University of Warwick
• IGADI - Instituto Galego de Análise e Documentación Internacional
• Ponte... nas ondas! - Associação Cultural e Pedagógica
• EIPCP - Europäisches Institut für Progressive Kulturpolitik