During September 4-11, 2022, a seven-day youth exchange was held under the Erasmus+ “Open Up” programme, the participants of this year’s project were socially active and purposeful student youth from Ukraine, Italy, Georgia, Turkey and Poland. Students from different parts of the world had a unique opportunity to share real life stories and discuss acute social issues – those of discrimination, xenophobia, bullying and harassment of citizens in European society.
A student of the Faculty of Philology, Psychology and Pedagogy of the National University “Yuri Kondratyuk Poltava Polytechnic” Diana Abbasova became an active participant in the international youth exchange and joined the lively discussion of ways to solve the above-mentioned social issues. According to the participant, such international projects with a social orientation play an extremely important role in the growth of social consciousness, as they once again draw the attention of the world public to those social problems that significantly reduce the quality of life of citizens of various countries who are subject to hate, xenophobia or bullying. It is impossible to stay away, since no one in society is protected from such cases.
During the week, project participants actively communicated in foreign languages, worked in teams, prepared projects under the guidance of experienced coaches. It is difficult to overestimate the similar experience of participation in international exchanges for European student youth, future professionals and socially active citizens of their own country.
“For me personally, this is the second project within the Erasmus+ academic mobility, which left a strong impression and motivates me to work even more on my own language skills. I can say one thing for sure – each project is unique and unrepeatable in its own way, because thanks to the fact that youth exchanges take place in small cities of European countries, participants have the opportunity to learn more about local culture, customs and traditions, communicate with local residents and get to know something new for themselves.
Cultural evenings have become one of the most important elements of each exchange, during which you can learn a lot of interesting things about the culture of various participating countries, whose representatives participate in the exchange program. In my opinion, the Erasmus+ international academic mobility programme is a great opportunity not only to improve your English, but also to make friends and expand your horizons. For Ukrainian youth, meetings at a high international level are another opportunity to remind the world about the struggle that Ukrainians are waging for freedom and independence, defending the main European values.
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my teacher, mentor, without whom I would not have had the first international experience I have today – Candidate of Philological Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Germanic Philology and Translation of the National University “Yuri Kondratyuk Poltava Polytechnic” Anna Pavelieva, who supports us, students, every day and encourages us not to be afraid and test our own strength. It was Anna Kostiantynivna who supported me with an application for participation in my first project, which left a unique impression and became a colossal experience for me,” – commented a participant in the project, a student of the Faculty of Philology, Psychology and Pedagogy of the Poltava Polytechnic Diana Abbasova.
Previously, philology students presented their own eco-education in a project dedicated to the development of environmental awareness among Europeans and held a charity auction, three polytechnic students went through a language intensive course in Germany, a master’s student translator became a scholarship holder of the German DAAD program, philology students mastered practical skills in the field of ecology and environmental protection environment, looked at the problem of alcohol addiction and methods of combating it, raised the level of awareness of cultural diversity as well as studied the problem of displaced persons/migrants and internally displaced persons.
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National University “Yuri Kondratyuk Poltava Polytechnic”
