For almost 10 years in a row, the European Union and neighbouring countries have been celebrating European Cooperation Day. This year the event took place on September 22-25 in Tomaszów Lubelski (PL), Brest (BY) and Lviv (UA), at the same time; it was attended by 23 school teams from the border regions of the three countries.

This year, due to pandemic restrictions, we decided to hold three mirror events, which took place simultaneously in Poland, Belarus and Ukraine. At the same time, we wanted to equip the teenagers with knowledge and skills, which would help them to be seen and heard despite obstacles. Thus, the participants mastered different communication tools: interpersonal communication, presentation skills, the basics of journalism and social media, creating a strong visual message through graphic design, as well as writing and performing rap.

Children from the three countries also had the opportunity to meet during joint online activities. One of such activities was a quiz game dedicated to the history and today’s life of the border regions. The competition between 12 teams from three countries was tough and extremely exciting. During the award ceremony all participants presented the results of their work in project groups. Thus, Ukrainian teams presented the journalist reports from the OilCradle and Lukasiewicz projects implemented in Boryslav, sets of stickers devoted to pets for cbc4animals project and rap a performance. In Belarus, participants designed the Instagram page journalists_PBU, created an animated character for the Muchaviec project, made video reports on Muchaviec and Safety projects; performed a song. Finally on the Polish side participating teams created vlogs with short presentations of the teams and a series of rap performances on cross-border cooperation. They also visited the PLUARoztocze project in Roztocze and zoological project implemented within PBU 2007-2013 in Zamość.

It’s not only about the competition but also about the common joy of being together with our friends from other countries. We are in different places, but still together. The partners in the projects we finance also act locally but their contacts and the aspect of cooperation is crucial in their work – summed up Andrzej Slodki, the Head of JTS.

The ceremony ended with awarding the participants with certificates and prizes. Everyone was a winner and the main awards were unique experience of cooperation and good memories.  

These were unforgettable days, during which we made new friends and gained new skills. We are grateful for the vivid impressions; I believe that this was the case in all three countries, - said Viktoriia Kukharska, one of the event participants.

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