{"id":298,"date":"2025-10-08T17:51:28","date_gmt":"2025-10-08T17:51:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yodec.rotineret.ro\/?p=298"},"modified":"2025-10-09T09:47:53","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T09:47:53","slug":"4-may-2025-youth-consultation-in-serbia-and-ukraine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yodec.rotineret.ro\/index.php\/2025\/10\/08\/4-may-2025-youth-consultation-in-serbia-and-ukraine\/","title":{"rendered":"4 May 2025 \u2013 Youth Consultation in Serbia and Ukraine"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On 4 May 2025, young people from Serbia and Ukraine shared their views on the opportunities and challenges of living near a border, as well as the most pressing local issues and their ideas for future cooperation projects. Their reflections revealed both frustration with daily realities and a hopeful vision for change through education, empathy, and practical community action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Participants noted&nbsp;<strong>both advantages and disadvantages<\/strong>&nbsp;of living close to a border. Among the&nbsp;<strong>advantages<\/strong>, they mentioned that for some people\u2014particularly in&nbsp;<strong>Ukraine<\/strong>\u2014living near the border can create&nbsp;<strong>easier access to mobility<\/strong>,&nbsp;<strong>opportunities to travel abroad<\/strong>, and even&nbsp;<strong>a pathway toward obtaining an EU passport<\/strong>. However, they also discussed serious&nbsp;<strong>disadvantages<\/strong>, such as&nbsp;<strong>illegal border activities<\/strong>,&nbsp;<strong>depopulation of border towns<\/strong>, and the sense that&nbsp;<strong>residents often want to leave rather than develop their own communities<\/strong>. Many border areas were described as&nbsp;<strong>\u201cghost towns,\u201d<\/strong>with few residents and limited opportunities, making life there monotonous and disconnected from the rest of the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When discussing&nbsp;<strong>key issues in their countries<\/strong>, young people from&nbsp;<strong>Serbia<\/strong>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<strong>Ukraine<\/strong>&nbsp;raised a wide range of concerns:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>In Serbia<\/strong>, participants emphasized that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Education is too theoretical<\/strong>, with a need for\u00a0<strong>more practical learning and workshops<\/strong>;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>There are\u00a0<strong>too many casinos and gambling opportunities<\/strong>, leading to\u00a0<strong>addiction and negative social influences<\/strong>;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Air quality is poor<\/strong>, and there are\u00a0<strong>not enough recycling bins<\/strong>, with\u00a0<strong>factories too close to cities<\/strong>;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Crime and drug availability<\/strong>\u00a0are major issues;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Mental health awareness is low<\/strong>, with\u00a0<strong>few available services<\/strong>\u00a0and a\u00a0<strong>strong stigma<\/strong>\u00a0surrounding the topic.<br>They said there should be\u00a0<strong>more medical and psychological assistants<\/strong>, better\u00a0<strong>non-formal education opportunities<\/strong>, and a stronger\u00a0<strong>support system for people in difficult situations<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>In Ukraine<\/strong>, participants focused on:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Passive smoking<\/strong>\u00a0and the lack of designated smoking areas;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Uncertainty among youth<\/strong>\u00a0about their future due to\u00a0<strong>limited resources and opportunities<\/strong>;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The fact that\u00a0<strong>most public attention is directed toward refugees<\/strong>, leaving\u00a0<strong>few mental health resources for others<\/strong>;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Disunity and negativity in society<\/strong>, with people \u201cuniting only for hate\u201d;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Refugees facing confusion<\/strong>\u00a0because of\u00a0<strong>unclear instructions<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0<strong>poor digitalization<\/strong>;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Language challenges<\/strong>, noting that\u00a0<strong>Ukrainian is still not prioritized everywhere<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When asked to imagine their&nbsp;<strong>dream cooperation projects<\/strong>, participants offered concrete and creative solutions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>From Serbia:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Making\u00a0<strong>education more practical<\/strong>, through\u00a0<strong>interactive teaching and workshops<\/strong>;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Creating more schools and educational institutions<\/strong>, and training teachers in\u00a0<strong>modern, participatory methods<\/strong>;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Organizing\u00a0<strong>recycling and cleanup campaigns<\/strong>\u00a0involving the wider community;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Hosting\u00a0<strong>mental health workshops<\/strong>\u00a0to raise awareness and train\u00a0<strong>medical and psychological assistants<\/strong>;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Promoting\u00a0<strong>non-formal education<\/strong>\u00a0across the country.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>From Ukraine:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Creating\u00a0<strong>designated smoking areas<\/strong>\u00a0to reduce passive smoking;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Holding\u00a0<strong>stress-relief events before exams<\/strong>\u00a0and developing\u00a0<strong>an app with tips for anxiety or panic attacks<\/strong>;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Organizing\u00a0<strong>career guidance meetings<\/strong>\u00a0with professionals from various fields and offering\u00a0<strong>courses for future professions<\/strong>\u00a0accessible to all youth;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Encouraging\u00a0<strong>empathy and positivity through workshops and comedy-based education<\/strong>;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Developing a\u00a0<strong>digital map for refugees<\/strong>\u00a0with clear instructions on how to settle in countries like\u00a0<strong>Poland or Germany<\/strong>;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Launching a\u00a0<strong>joint education project with Finland<\/strong>, inviting\u00a0<strong>Finnish teachers to train Ukrainian educators<\/strong>\u00a0in methods focused on\u00a0<strong>learning rather than grading<\/strong>;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Promoting the Ukrainian language<\/strong>\u00a0and organizing\u00a0<strong>activities that foster mutual understanding<\/strong>\u00a0among communities.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The consultation ended with a unifying message shared by both groups: that&nbsp;<strong>cooperation begins with empathy and understanding<\/strong>, and that building stronger communities requires&nbsp;<strong>kindness, education, and practical action<\/strong>&nbsp;rather than isolation or division.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On 4 May 2025, young people from Serbia and Ukraine shared their views on the opportunities and challenges of living near a border, as well as the most pressing local issues and their ideas for future cooperation projects. Their reflections revealed both frustration with daily realities and a hopeful vision for change through education, empathy, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":332,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"1080","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-image","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","post_format-post-format-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/yodec.rotineret.ro\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/yodec.rotineret.ro\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/yodec.rotineret.ro\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yodec.rotineret.ro\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yodec.rotineret.ro\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=298"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/yodec.rotineret.ro\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":299,"href":"https:\/\/yodec.rotineret.ro\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298\/revisions\/299"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yodec.rotineret.ro\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/332"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/yodec.rotineret.ro\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yodec.rotineret.ro\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yodec.rotineret.ro\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}