Background
Imagine Europe is a project of the European SPES Forum and the Ryckevelde Foundation in cooperation with local partners.

The overall aim of the project Imagine Europe is to give a voice to youngsters in redefining the mission and identity of Europe. The original mission of the European Union is a peace mission:

The Union's aim is to promote peace, its values and the well-being of its peoples. (European constitution 2004)

Looking back on a period of more than 50 years of peace in (Western) Europe, one can say that Europe’s peace mission is succeeding. By creating a free European economic area former World War opponents became trading partners and border-crossing issues are dealt more and more on European level.

However, fifty years after the Treaty of Rome, Europe – and the world – have changed. The threats and challenges of 50 years ago are not the same as the current issues we have to deal with in 2008. The free economic interaction in Europe is now embedded in a larger global scale and nonetheless it might have prevented us from World War three, it did not develop without side effects. Poverty, ecological issues, migration, … challenge us to rethink the role and identity of Europe. How can we redefine Europe’s peace mission in the light of these challenges? What could be the soul of Europe today?

Trying to formulate an answer to these questions, is the mission of the project Imagine Europe.

Lectures and Workshops
During Spring 2008 lectures and workshops will be organised in Leuven Program (Belgium), Opole & Lodz (Poland), Istanbul (Turkey) and Pamplona (Spain). In these workshops youngsters will elaborate on the roots and future of Europe. In the lectures invited speakers will present some personal reflections and experiences to may inspire the participants of the workshops to go into dialogue with fellow students all over Europe via internet and during the European Youth Conference in November 2008.

The idea is that Imagine Europe should be set up in a decentralised way at different locations in Europe. The content and procedure of the workshops can be adapted by the organizational institution.

More
This project will have it's own website: www.imagine-europe.eu (under construction).
For further information please contact:

Jochanan Eynikel
European SPES Forum
Waversebaan 220
B-3001 Heverlee (Belgium)
tel. +32/(0) 16 39 84 71
fax. +32/(0) 16 38 66 66
info@spes-forum.be