To learn how to apply for EU cooperation projects, I traveled to Zakopane in Poland. There, I learned a lot about the goals and priorities of the funding program and how we can better measure our progress. And there was also a pool, a bowling alley, snow, and mountains.
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The „Fossil Ad Ban! Gathering“ took place in Barcelona from Friday, September 12th to Sunday, September 13th, 2025. Activists, lawyers, scientists, NGO workers, and many others met there to develop plans to ban advertising for products that consume large amounts of fossil fuels. Participants came from the Democratic Republic of Congo, the USA, the UK, Portugal, Spain, France, Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, Austria, and Switzerland. We experienced a great deal, and we report on it here:
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A little late, I spent two days at the „Ban fossil ads gathering“ in Barcelona. At this conference, a wide variety of people presented and discussed their work and strategies. The different strategies and tactics got me thinking. Where is the appropriate starting point? Local? Or national?
The alarm clock rang at 4:30 a.m. Why? The Ban Fossil Ads conference in Barcelona! After a 17-hour train ride, we finally arrived. The meeting was organized by Subvertisers International and the Fossil Free campaign from the Netherlands. They invited people from all over the world. The aim was to bring together people who are involved in outdoor advertising in the broadest sense and who are working to abolish advertising and sponsorship for fossil fuel products and services.
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Advertising affects us all: On our way to work, school, or university. When we stand bored at the public transport stop. When we excitedly walk through the streets. Always. This is the focus of our new youth participation project „Whose streets? Our streets! Questioning advertising and access to public space.“ We are organizing it together with the Paris-based organization „Résistance à l’Agression Publicitaire (RAP). Highlights include a youth exchange in Berlin in March 2026 and exhibitions in Paris and Berlin in 2027.
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Bison and giant sequoias? I saw these things on a trip to Warsaw and Hajnowka in Poland. The occasion was an event organized by the Polish National Agency for Erasmus+. The partnership-building activity (PBA) was called „Belarusian Youth Work.“ It brought me into contact with youth organizations that had fled Belarus to Poland. In this way, the EU provides assistance in finding partners for Erasmus+ projects. We brainstormed project ideas together, and the EU provides tips for submitting applications. And I saw bisons:
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The main funders for our youth exchange, the EVZ, were so impressed by our work that they asked to interview us about the project and why we organised it. This interview was published in a new online magazine about the MEET UP! initiatives, under which our youth exchange falls. You can find the interview here. We attended the launch event of the online magazine the 6th of December and enjoyed listening to Exciting talks, musical entertainment and gallery walk through the various MEET UP! projects. Here are some of our thoughts on the event.
One of the Belarusian participants of our youth exchange „Human rights in times of war: Reflections on democracy and asylum“ wrote this essay for us to publish. They detail how they experienced the youth exchange in total, and specifically, the day of the action in front of the Bundestag and the talk to a member of parliament afterwards.