A week at Europe Direct Lyon Métropole!

Report from Europe Direct Stockholm project manager Karin after a week at Europe Direct Lyon Métropole and the host organization La Maison des Européens de Lyon:

Thanks to the Erasmus+ job shadowing program, I had the opportunity to go to another Europe Direct office for inspiration and knowledge exchange! It was an intense week, focusing on young people’s involvement in EU affairs, the power of European cultural projects and the importance of networking both locally and internationally!

In addition to the daily activities of meetings, communication and coordination of the team, I had to, among other things:

• Organize a role play in the school la Mache where students took on the role of MEPs. They also had lunch in a French school canteen!
• Participate in a conference at Lumière 2 University in the framework of the Bauhaus4EU University Alliance
• Lead a workshop on EU institutions and European history for European Solidary Corps volunteers
• Attend a training session through Eurodesk on youth exchanges and traineeships abroad

• The highlight of the week was the screening of the film “Love me Tender”, nominated for the Lux Prize. The screening was a collaboration with the European Parliament’s local office in Marseille and included a mingle at the Comoedia cinema and a post-film discussion. A full house and lots of EU curious people in the audience!

I also had the chance to make study visits to various cultural actors in Lyon – many with the same goals and visions as Intercult: to strengthen the local cultural scene and create intercultural exchanges through various EU programs! For example:

– La Plateforme, a cultural organization creating exchanges in dance and theatre for young people in France and Germany
– Arty Farty, an independent cultural association with its own stage and club and a strong commitment to cultural policy – runs the Reset! network
– Théâtre le Ciel, a theater focusing on European participatory performing arts for children and young people

I have learned a lot about the French society, funding schemes for cultural projects and how to create successful partnerships between different actors in the cultural and educational sector. Not least, I have learned more about my colleagues in the Europe Direct network. Did you know that we are over 400 offices across the EU? We work with different methods and resources, and belong to different host organizations, but we all have one thing in common: closing the gap between EU citizens and decision-makers.

There was also the odd croissant… 🥐

Many thanks to Marjolaine, Marie, Yoan, Davide and Mattia for the warm welcome. À bientôt !

Funded by the European Union. The views and opinions expressed are those of the author alone and do not represent the official position of the European Union or of the Swedish Council for Higher Education (UHR). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority accepts any responsibility for them.