Why Kosovo?
More than 50% of the population in Kosovo is under 25 years old. Being one of the youngest countries in Europe, ThinkYoung considers it a key area for its promotion of the youth’s interests in the continent. Our project there is especially sparked by our idea to bridge the cultural gap between countries of Eastern and Western Europe. We think that young people can bring the change to the growth of a country. Recognizing the recent youth uprsings all over the world, ThinkYoung believes that investing in young people is the key to ensure sustainable development of a country. The Republic of Kosovo is limited in investing in its young population. Without endorsing options of traveling to other countries for studying, work experience or business travels, young people do not stand a chance to bring forward their country and to get closer to Europe. Kosovo should have the possibility to become a role model for youth participation to ensure development, if not Kosovo who else could show better that young people matter? An increased need for awareness about the situation of young people in Kosovo towards their peers in Europe is of high priority for ThinkYoung. In order to bridge the gap between them, ThinkYoung engages in Kosovo to increase communcation between young Europeans to overcome isolation and regional disparities.
Project description
Our work in bridging the knowledge and understanding the gap between countries of Eastern and Western Europe encouraged ThinkYoung to work in Kosovo. The “Advocacy for Young People in Kosovo” project was motivated by a broad set of goals and thus included a multi-faceted set of activities.
Visiting a country where half of the population is under 25 years old, gave us a lot of food for thought regarding what foreign citizens can do in Kosovo to help young people there have access to better opportunities in Europe than those they have now. We wanted to explore with our own eyes what kind of needs we could address with our expertise.
Our first project, “Advocacy for Young People in Kosovo,” was motivated by the goal to raise awareness of the youth in Kosovo and their struggles to explore Europe, to study abroad and have short term internships and working experience due to visa restrictions. Besides filming the documentary “A po vjen n’Prishtine? – Wanna Come to Prishtina?” in February 2010, ThinkYoung organized an essay competition “Promising Kosovo” and conducted two surveys on European integration and visa liberalization. The outcome of the project was then successfully presented at a conference in Prishtina in May 2010 and a second conference in the Google office in Brussels in January 2011. The success in meeting these goals as well as the engagement of a diverse range of individuals and civil society and political actors has led us to launch the project Sustainable Kosovo in 2011.
The second edition of our Kosovo Project was guided by the idea to extend our report on young people in Kosovo beyond the capital city. Since ThinkYoung is concerned with young people, our aim in the second project is to show young people involved in securing the sustainable development throughout Kosovo.
The Kosovo I Project has included the following activities so far:
1. July 2009
A workshop for young entrepreneurs during the meeting of the student entrepreneurship network, the European Confederation of Junior Enterprise (JADE) in Prishtina.
2. February 2010
Shooting of the documentary “A po vjen n’Prishtinë – Wanna come to Prishtina?”
3. February - May 2010
Essay competition with young people from Kosovo which was conducted under the title “Advocacy for Young People of Kosovo”
4. 19 May 2010
Conference in Prishtina: panel discussion on the European Integration of Kosovo with:
- the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports of the Republic of Kosovo
- a representative from the European Commission Liaison Office in Prishtina
- a representative of Friedrich Ebert Stiftung and the results of the essay competition as well as the documentary were presented.
5. September-November 2010
Two surveys on comparative opinions to do with the EU, European integration and visa liberation; one amongst citizens of EU member states and the other amongst citizens of Kosovo.
6. October 2010
Publication of selected essays from the competition in: “Promising Kosovo”.
7. January 2011
Kosovo Conference at Google.be offices in Brussels. The content included: presenting the survey results and conclusions; film screening of “A po vjen n’Prishtine? – Wanna Come to Prishtina?”; panel discussion with Ilir Dugolli, Ambassador of Kosovo to Belgium, Ulrike Lunacek, MEP to Green Party, and Alexandra Stiglmayer, Policy Analyst at the European Stability Initiative.
Topics of Sustainable Kosovo
Development in rural areas: After “Wanna come to Prishtina?” comes the time to focus on the life in the rural areas of Kosovo. With our first documentary, we proved that young people in the capital want to travel abroad and have visa liberalization, but what about their peers in the villages?
In our second documentary, “Kosovo beyond Prishtina”, we show what young people in rural Kosovo want for their futures, as well as what their thoughts are on the current political and economical situation of their country.
Moving away from the elite in Prishtina, a focus on the rural areas of Kosovo enables us to understand those who are in most direct need of a better future – the young people who do not live in cities, who have not been able to thoroughly develop language skills and who have not been given the opportunity to travel abroad.
Economy: What is the role of young Kosovars in the economy of their country? Considering 50% of the population is under 25 years-old, ThinkYoung wants to investigate on the sustainability of a country with such exceptional demographics. The questions that will be addressed regarding the economy in Kosovo will focus on two aspects: the characteristics of the business environment and the situation of young entrepreneurs.
Our goal with this topic is to make Europe aware of the potential of Kosovo, especially regarding the young working force, which would foster European interest for visa liberalization. Concerning the sustainable development of the region, dealing with young entrepreneurs serves as an inspiration for the rural areas of the country, which promotes growth, equality, and eventually sustainability.
Political Involvement: Sustainable development requires citizen’s involvement in politics through civil society initiatives and active citizenship. Considering the low participation in the latest elections in Kosovo, particularly among the youngest population, political involvement is a key issue for sustainable development in the region. What are the root causes for this alleged political apathy? What initiatives can be undertaken in order to raise political awareness and strengthen active citizenship? Do young people not care or is there something wrong with the system?
Our study finds out what young Kosovars feel about politics in their own country and abroad, especially in relation to the European Union. By addressing a set of pressing topics, our aim is to not only enhance mutual understanding between the EU and Kosovo, but to emphasize the crucial role these young people have to play in the construction of their (civil) society.
Goals
Make young Europeans aware of the situation in Kosovo: Following ThinkYoung’s idea of bridging gaps, we believe in the need of young Europeans to be aware of their peers’ situation in Kosovo. Not only to benefit the development of Kosovo itself, but also because of the potential this country has for the rest of Europe.
Promote Kosovo’s Sustainable Development: The goal is to show young people’s relevance in regards to their country’s development. By proving youngster’s importance in Kosovo, we will also be proving the potential of young people in Europe.
Lobby for visa liberalization: Visa liberalization is a necessary tool to exploit the country’s potential. It would allow to improve education and business opportunities, therefore improving the country’s economy. Once again, developing Kosovo is not only beneficial for its population, but for its neighbor countries, and Europe as well. We also believe visa liberalization is an issue of justice and fairness towards young Kosovars, which very much fits the values of the European Union and its defence of human rights.
Activities
Documentary Included in the general framework of “Advocacy for young people in Kosovo” ThinkYoung has produced two documentaries about the country.
The first one, “Wanna come to Prishtina?” (2010), was focused on the educational and professional goals of young people in the capital. The second one, “Kosovo beyond Prishtina” (2011), spreads this research into the rural areas of Kosovo, focusing on a wider variety of topics like development and political involvement.
Surveys
1. Political Involvement of Youth: The aim of this survey is to evaluate the political involvement of young people in Kosovo. We try to find out if young Kosovars engage actively in politics, participate in elections, parties or political discussions. We also try to see if they take into consideration to get in touch with Kosovar Serbs and how they see the political future of their country. The survey is conducted online to reach many young Kosovars through social networks. This is done in cooperation with local NGOs, students and universities throughout Kosovo. The results of the online survey will be presented at both conferences, are to be included in the youth magazine of the study trip we have planned and are to be published online and in print in cooperation with our media partners.
2. Young Kosovars beyond Prishtina: The aim of this survey is to find
out the opinion of young Kosovar citizens on their life in urban and
rural areas in Kosovo. Furthermore, the idea is to collect their
opinion on the sustainable development of the Kosovar economy. The
results will serve as a basis for newspaper articles to be published in
both Kosovo, and EU countries, are included in the youth magazine and
will be presented also in the closing conference of the project which
is planned to take place in February 2012 in Brussels.
Study trip In January 2012, a
group of 5 students will travel to Kosovo as a part of our idea to
build bridges between young people in the country and young people from
the European Union. The goal is to take participants from countries
standing against visa liberalization and make them write their opinion
about the topic before and after the trip, which will allow us to see
the effects of the so called “cognitive mobilization”.
WHEN:22-01-2011 to 28-01-2011
The tasks they will carry out there will include the following:
1. Keep a video or written diary.
2. Write a report before and after the trip.
3. Distribute ThinkYoung’s surveys.
4. Visit 3 or 4 cities outside Prishtina.
5. Discuss and interview young Kosovars about their countries position regarding visa liberalization.
6. Take part in a panel discussion round at the conference in Prishtina.
7. Take pictures and write short articles for a youth magazine.
8. Report about the study trip at the conference in Brussels
Conferences
Prishtina (27th January 2012): The conference will be shaped as a panel discussion between the participants to the study trip. The topics to be discussed will be the following:
1. What is your country’s position towards visa liberalization and what are the causes for it?
The pannel should serve as a comparative study of the different causes against visa liberalization, which might lead to other topics as recognition.
2. How does your personal opinion defer or agree with that held by your country?
We acknowledge that the students in the panel cannot and should not behave as representatives of their countries, and therefore give them the possibility to express their personal opinion.
3. What is the outcome of the trip for you?
Continuing with the personal experience, we want to know how a trip influences or changes people’s opinions, and what a newly arrived person thinks of Kosovo.
4. How should Kosovo approach your country in order to advocate for visa liberalization?
Regardless of their personal opinion, students are asked about the right strategy to advocate for visa liberalization.
Brussels (February 2012): While the first conference will address our goal to bridge the gap between young Europeans and young Kosovars, the Brussels conference will revolve around the second goal, that is, advocating for visa liberalization. The title will be “The potential of Kosovo for the EU”.
Research Our research consists of the following:
A position paper explaining ThinkYoung’s view on the issue of visa liberalization.
The data supporting this position that will be obtained through our surveys.
The qualitative analysis provided through the documentary.
The opinions reflected in the magazine that will be written during the study trip.
Calendar 2011-2012
2011
January Conference in Brussels
July Workshop of young Kosovars in Turin at Happy Birthday Italy
August Filming of the second Documenta-ry in Kosovo
September Travel Report published about the filming of the documentary
October Writing of the surveys
November Organization of the Study Trip to Kosovo
December Distribution of the political involvement survey online
2012January Study trip to Kosovo
Distribution of rural and urban area survey
Conference in Prishtina
February Report and editing the magazine about study trip
Publication of Results
Conference in Brussels
Partners
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Contact us
Stephanie Harfensteller
Project Manager for Kosovo in Brussels
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tel:+32 (0)479688635
Alexandre Egger
Project Manager
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tel: +32 (0) 483419282
Contact in Kosovo
Rrona Berisha
UniGroup President
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tel: +377 44621281