The powerful Polish network meeting in Warsaw!

“I’m in the Europeers network because… I like to take action and be around inspiring people;  it gives me a sense of meaning in my work; bit gives me energy to act;  I found out about the European Solidarity Corps by chance, and it’s life-changing, now I want others to experience it as well.” – these are just a few of the many reasons mentioned by members of the Europeers Poland network at the start of our weekend Autumn gathering, which happened between 17th – 19th October in Warsaw, Poland.  

We started early on Friday with a visit to the headquarters of the Foundation for the Development of the Education System (FRSE – Fundacja Rozwoju Systemu Edukacji). It was our first visit, as Europeers Poland, to the headquarters of the National Agency. We met with staff from departments including the European Solidarity Corps, Erasmus + Youth, and DiscoverEU. They repeatedly emphasised that they are there for us, the youth, and that every email sent to the Agency asking how to go on an Erasmus exchange will never go unanswered. We explained what the network is and went on a tour of the office, the results of which you can see on @Europeers_pl IG reel. We recommend watching it, as you get a ‘behind-the-scenes’ look at the Agency (literally, including the kitchen!), and even the fridges (we finally know what people at the Agency eat!

After the fruitful meeting, we made our way to the Mercure hotel, where the rest of our gathering was set to take place. Since some of us were meeting for the first time, we started with introductions. We also created the flipchart mentioned above, where everyone wrote down their reason for being in the network. Those who preferred a more artistic expression could create a Europeers collage. For the more daring, there were rolls of paper with challenges to complete. 

On Saturday, we went to Europa Experience. It’s a place in the heart of Warsaw where you can experience EU law-making firsthand. For 2.5 hours, we became Members of the European Parliament (MEPs). We tried to listen to our constituents, various lobbyists, and negotiate with members of other parties to create EU-level legislation according to our party’s guidelines. In the second reading, we tried to reach an agreement with the European Council. The simulation also featured a live media presence reporting on events, which significantly influenced the rest of the game. If you haven’t been, we highly recommend it. Europa Experience centres are located in many EU countries (I had already attended the same simulation during an international Europeers training in Brussels in 2022).

After the activity, we returned to the hotel in the rain. On the way, we passed the National Philharmonic, where, more than 5 hours before the final auditions were scheduled to begin, the most dedicated fans were already standing in the pouring rain, in a long queue for tickets to the International Chopin Competition (a contest happening every 5 years in Warsaw, gathering great piano talents from all around the world! It’s known for boosting the careers of some of the most well-known pianists and for… the tickets, which are really hard to get!). We, however, had as much energy as a pianist playing Chopin’s ‘Revolutionary Étude’ and began planning our next initiatives. First, there was time for inspiration with a World Café session, where we shared experiences from recent network activities. We learned about the ‘Wnioskaton’ (Application-athon) in Lublin—a 9-hour solidarity project-writing marathon where a few Europeers served as mentors—and about our activities at the ‘Zwolnieni z Teorii’ (Released from Theory) finals. We exchanged proven methods, such as: how to create a 5-minute workshop for an information stand about European programs, or what to do if the people listening don’t know what to ask (a jar full of pre-written questions comes in handy here. Just reach in and pick out a card with a question!). Meanwhile, the social media group was hard at work creating more content for the website and gathering material for our future Europeers podcast. The Lublin team shared another great idea for an event, this time promoting youth exchanges: a 3-hour workshop simulating an exchange, conducted in English. Participants get to experience a short intercultural night, learn about the schedule of a real exchange, and even fill out sample travel reimbursement forms! It’s all designed to make the unfamiliar concept of a youth exchange less intimidating for the possible new participants. Our goal is for as many new people as possible to learn about these programs, and actions like these make that possible.

Next, we split into 6 local groups and started planning events that will take place before the end of the year. Some are planned for December 5th, so International Volunteer Day. One group, however, is aiming for St. Andrew’s Day (Andrzejki), where they will create ‘European fortune-telling’. Can a trip with the European Solidarity Corps be read in your palm? Who will go on a DiscoverEU trip next year, according to the ‘Europeers-tarot’? The Warsaw team preparing this event will answer these questions soon. 

We started on Sunday by splitting into groups for workshops proposed by our members. Martyna provided a space for us to share pro-tips for working in a training setting, while next door, Agata’s group was fighting zombies in a communication game. Afterwards, we discussed current matters. The largest part of the group focused on Europeers’ cooperation with external partners, while the social media group continued to film content.

We concluded with a shared lunch and an evaluation of the entire meeting. We were all sad that the trip ended so quickly. We unanimously agreed that it gives us an incredible boost of energy for future activities!

A big thank you to our training team, Jędrzej and Asia, for preparing the meeting, and to Magda and Maja for organising it.