Between the 7th and 13th March 2024, eight young people: Betty Erdély, Marthi Alpár, Nemes-Kis Szabolcs, Hunor-József Lakatos, Johanna Sipos, Réka Bencze and Csaba Roland Jakab got the opportunity, through the Green Sun Association, to travel with their leader, Emese-Ottilia Cseh, to the Greek capital, Athens, and participate in the youth exchange ‘ACE: ACTIVE CITIZENSHIP IN EUROPE’, together with young people from several other countries, such as: Finland, France, Italy, Spain, Bulgaria and of course, Greece. Photos taken at the international meeting have been posted on the Facebook page of the association.
The purpose of this trip was to learn about the opportunities of getting involved in the societal and democratic life, especially in the European Parliament elections, which represent a decisive moment in the EU’s stability in democracy and enable citizens to have a say in determining the EU’s political direction.
On the first day, everyone got to introduce themselves through a fun game, we were able to share with the participants a few interesting facts about ourselves, and we could even ask and answer questions of people from other countries. During the rest of the day we made a short presentation, to give them the opportunity to get to know the Green Sun Association and the kind of programs one can participate in with us.
On the second day, the participants were divided into 4 groups. The teams had to work on 4 different learning topics: a digital one, one that is based on participation, a green one and one called inclusive Europe. In the afternoon, we walked to the Nea Smyrni grove, which was opened in the 1920s and it is one of the largest parks of Attica, spreading across the area of 50,000 square meters. The participants could also try the game called ‘PETANQUE’, which belongs to the category of boule sports, the players use their balls to target other balls. The game is played in public areas and parks, on hard ground or gravel. Many of these boule sports date back to early history, through the Middle Ages to Ancient Rome and before that to Ancient Greece and Egypt. A great opportunity for human connection!
On the third day, we traveled to Delphi to visit an archaeological site. The extensive sites discovered during the excavations are presented in one of the most visited Archaeological Museums in Greece, which we were also able to see. Delphi’s Pan-Greek sanctuary can be found here, which housed the most famous oracle of ancient Greece, Apollo’s oracle, the omphalos, the place of the “navel of the world.” Delphi was seen as the center of the world. On the fourth day, we visited the COSMOTE (OTE group of companies) Telecommunications Museum, where the exhibition managers showed us many interesting facts. We had the chance to discover the history of telecommunications from ancient times to the modern digital world.
On the fifth day, we were able to visit the office of the European Parliament, then we also participated in a session of the Greek Parliament, as ‘passive participants’ and then had an interesting exchange of ideas with the Minister responsible for Digital Governance.
And on the last day, we visited an ‘OPEN FARM’, where the main theme was ‘From farm to table’. The open farm presents hundreds of farms to the public, as well as agricultural enterprises and food industry units, that can be visited in Greece and Cyprus. The participants get to prepare the food themselves and take part in a “Collective Kitchen” action, which uses the products of local producers, as ingredients.
Our team of eight people also took the metro to the port in our free time, and we even got the chance to go and see the Acropolis on the morning of our departure.
Autor: Betty Erdely
Foto: Alpár Marthi