Rêve d'Europe Dream of Europe

DREAM OF EUROPE

Finishing our studies this year, we wish to carry out a project of voyage the purpose of which is to reconcile three passions: that of the voyage, discovered other and cultural logics of manufacture of the identity, that of education and finally that of European construction.

What animates us is a global vision of identity construction and its inscription in a political project. In our eyes, the current world requires a complex and intercultural approach of the identity, an approach to which the European project gives all the possibilities of full blooming.

The European citizenship is essentially a multicultural citizenship, but it still remains to give to each one the average intellectuals of living complexity. It seems to us that the acquisition of such sensitivity cannot be done without confronting oneself with the unknown, as well intellectually as physically.

We thus seek by our voyage to continue a logic whom we have already begun for a few years, i.e. to accentuate our knowledge of the other and thus of us even, in order to as well as possible be able to teach the complexity and logics of construction of the identity. This teaching is a major challenge within the European Union which pains still today to release a clear vision of its identity. This identity can be only complex and multicultural and must thus exceed the processes of identity construction national without discrediting nor to deny the latter.

Today, the European Union is on the way to obtain a Constitution, therefore of rules of life and common values by the means of a political project. However there is a deep shift between what imply a European citizenship and the conscience that have some the European people.

The recent countryside chief clerk in France on the European Constitution shows once more how much the national framework remains prevalent in the modes to think. No one cannot say yet the long-term consequences of the rejection of the Constitution by the people French and Dutch but there remains certain that the open crisis within the European Union is major and durable.

However we are convinced that the European citizenship carries in itself the values and logics of a world citizenship. For this reason the European project remains unquestionably carrying progress, for Europe and the world, and it is necessary to work with better teaching the means of being able to include/understand but also to live and share the European adventure. The role of teach is for this reason of primary importance. It must have incorporated itself a "complex thought" (see work of Edgar Morin on this subject) and intercultural in particular by the training of the foreign languages and several experiments of life abroad.

The principal goal of our voyage is thus to know and more include/understand in order to divide, to teach this knowledge and this comprehension. Having the experiment necessary to such a company (see CV), we will intervene (a great flexibility will enable us to answer different requests so necessary) in college and high school of each country crossed in order to undertake several intercultural activities to it and a sensitizing to the European citizenship (details are available in the file of our project “Dream of Europe” that you can download on our Webblog: http://reve-europe.blogspirit.com).

Our project is patron by the Council of Europe under the programme “2005, European Year of Citizenship through Education”

Such is thus the goal of our voyage: quite simply to combine practical theory and, to teach intercultural complexity and logics all while living them with the daily newspaper, to make become aware of what is the European identity while staining to be oneself a little nearer, from the lived experiment and summons it acquired knowledge, of what can be an European.

Two protagonists of the voyage:

MOUILLET Yves, 24 years, of French nationality by his father and Polish by his mother, European French foreign language Master finished. Having carried out many stays abroad, it in particular spent 6 months to Spain as an Erasmus student and an teacher to the University of Ciudad-Real. It then remained 6 months in Germany as a professor within the French Institute of Leipzig, (we quote only our "long" stays abroad punctuated of a professional experience). Last year he was a French foreign language professor at the University of Nancy 2. He was also a president of Young Nancy Europeans is met of work the program "Europe at the school". He speaks usually Polish, German, Spanish and English.   

PIERPAOLI Michel, 25 years, of French nationality finishes its studies this year by the realization of  a European Master in La Sorbonne University. Historian of formation, Michel knows Germany well y to have worked on several occasions with Frankfurt-am-Main. He also carried out the previous year a European Voluntary Service in Poland, 6 months, in Katowice. It worked in the European regional center of information youth and carried out many interventions in the Polish school establishments. Last year, he was in charge of mission for the project of Young Europeans France entitled "Europe at the school". This project is supported by the Ministry for National Education and the Council of Europe. Michel speaks usually English and has a good Polish and German level.

Crossed route and countries:
 

The crossed countries will be thus, initially: Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary (the island of Malta will be avoided because of its difficult and expensive accessibility), Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzégovine, Albania, Macedonia and Serbia Montenegro. Above Serbia Montenegro we will continue by the two future members planned for 2007: Romania and Bulgaria but also Moldavie. Turkey which is responsible of the debate on the identity and the borders of the European Union and Cyprus. One countrie of Eastern Europe: Ukraine (Bielorussia will be avoided because of its political regime and Russia because of a lack of time). Finally we will finish our circuit by Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.

Duration of the voyage:
 

We thus wish to traverse these 21 countries in 9 months. Covered geographical space, although important, nevertheless is voluntarily limited in order to allow us to at least spend 15 days in the smallest countries (Slovenia, Estonia, etc.) up to 30 days for most important of them (Poland, Turkey, etc).

Means of transport: 
 

Eager to preserve a perfect freedom of mobility, we hope to move on board a vehicle of the van type of great dimension, this one acting as motor home (dormitory, "office", storage of the material and food, etc). We will also have two bicycles at our disposal. We bought a Ford Transit FT 190 that we built ourselves as a camping car. You can watch the photos of the construction on our Webblog: http://reve-europe.blogspirit.com

Budget: 
 

Total budget of approximately 26500 €.
We are sponsored by the European Commission, the french Ministery of Europeans Affairs, the french Ministery of Youth, the French Youth Europeans and the French European Mouvement associations, the french city of Nancy and we won different concours.

September 2005.