‘Europe is determined with facts through history and geography in present, but only those who are the future of Novi Sad and Europe and because of whom we initiate the large-scale platform, will know what the future will bring. The ‘Future of Europe’ platform is the third large platform, after Doček and Kaleidoscope of Culture, which we initiated before 2021 and is even more important since this is the year when Novi Sad is the European Youth Capital’, said Nemanja Milenković, CEO of the ‘Novi Sad 2021’ Foundation, during the presentation of new programme platform the ‘Future of Europe’, in the Svilara Cultural Station. The platform was symbolically initiated on the Victory Day and Europe Day.

The ‘Novi Sad 2021’ projects will implement the ‘Future of Europe’ platform in cooperation with more than 40 partners from Serbia and Europe, with the aim to improve the quality of youth culture, as well as the possibility to enable young people to analyse the future of Europe in a creative and critical way.

Having in mind that the idea of the ‘Future of Europe’ is to include young people in formulating new European narrative, Sneška Quaedvlieg-Mihailović, Secretary General of Europa Nostra, stressed that the role of young people in creating the narrative of the future of Europe is the key.

‘Young people are not the future, they are the present, thus it is very important to focus on the topic and inclusion of young people within the ‘Novi Sad 2021’ project. Young people are bursting with ideas, energy and talent and that is the only way to include them in the creation of our future, future of Novi Sad, Serbia and Europe in the most responsible way’, said Quaedvlieg-Mihailović.

The panel discussion entitled ‘The Young and European Cultural Heritage’ will mark the beginning of new platform. The platform will deal with the topic of role of young people in preservation and presentation of local and European cultural heritage. Also, the results of the ‘S.P.A.C.E. – Street Participation for Active Citizenship in Europe’ international project of the ‘Novi Sad 2021’ Foundation will be presented. The project included street debates in 14 European cities, where the young people expressed their opinion about the future of Europe. Representatives of the OPENS 2019 will present six ideas of young people regarding the future of Europe, which emerged from the ‘50 Ideas for Europe – New Leaders, New Possibilities’ project.

‘We need to involve young people in the decision-making process, we should give them an opportunity and chance through the activities and programmes we are implementing. When we involve young people in the process from the beginning, when we give them responsibility and when we talk to them on an equal level, we can expect great results,’ said Vukašin Grozdanović, co-ordinator of the OPENS 2019.

Within the initiation of the new programme platform, ‘I Šta Ćemo Sad’ an interactive theatre play of the Forum Theatre that deals with the question of staying or leaving, will be performed. Also, the ‘European Mentoring’ programme that is intended for high school students and students will be presented.

Within the ‘Rhythm of Europe’ concert, the citizens of Novi Sad will enjoy the performances of Partibrejkers, Obojeni Program, Kavasaki 3P and Josip A Lisac in the Liberty Square from 8 p.m.

In the upcoming month, the citizens of Novi Sad will have a chance to enjoy the ‘Future of Europe’ platform, which will include numerous events, workshops and festivals that will involve young people in order to become part of cultural content and create new cultural image of the city.

The youngest citizens will be able to join circus workshops, which will be held in the Egység Cultural Station on 10 May. Egység will also be the host of the ‘Days of Fantasy’ festival, the biggest festival of epic and science fiction in Vojvodina, which will be held on 11 and 12 May. The ‘Push – Pull’ theatre play, which deals with the topic of Euroscepticism and is a result of several months of work implemented within the ‘EYE-Net“ international project of the ‘Novi Sad 2021’ Foundation, will be performed in the Svilara Cultural Station on 11 May.

Egység will host the Festival of Young Non-Affirmed Artists on 14 May, and the following day the children will have the opportunity to try their hands at the artistic-educational workshops that will be organised in this cultural station every Wednesday from 6 p.m. until the first week of June.

The ‘Creative Europe’ forum that aims at research and presentation of new methods of international cultural cooperation, will definitely contribute to the image of the future of Europe. The forum will be held in the Svilara Cultural Station on 16 and 17 May. All interested may apply via ‘Creative Europe’ Forum website until 10 May.

All information about events and details regarding the new platform ‘Future of Europe’ you can find here.