I am European: Migration stories and facts for the 21st century

Objectives

“I Am European” aimed to create a more open, inclusive and peaceful culture in relation to migrants and refugees in Europe.

Migrants are often reported as part of statistics – they do not have a name, a story or a voice. I Am European covered migration in a more personal way to build a more inclusive culture for migrants and refugees.

This project is supported by DEAR - the EU's Development Education and Awareness Raising Programme.

Project activities

I Am European helped to build empathy and inclusion in eight EU Member States by focusing on young people with media training, school simulations, virtual reality experiences and speaker tours,

The project fostered public debate and increased media coverage of migration, refugee and diversity issues that was nuanced and evidence-based.

At the heart of the social media campaigns were real people with real experiences and stories of migration.

Results

I Am European helped change young people’s attitudes and behaviour by raising awareness on the reasons and drivers of migration, disseminating personal stories and facilitating connections with migrant youth. Over 1.26 million young people reported that they had taken action to promote integration, acceptance and tolerance.

1 280 teachers, youth workers and other multipliers increased their awareness of migration through global education activities. More than 1 000 young journalists created content on migration, committing to a more fair and balanced representation of migration. Two won Estonian media awards for their work: Best Podcast in 2022 and Best Multimedia Story in 2023. A simulation/interactive story (in Estonian) enabled viewers to make choices as Ukrainian refugees and learn more about forced migration. More than 23 million people have been reached via social media campaigns and videos.

In short, the project resulted in

• peaceful Dialogue and Respect - increasing knowledge, awareness and appreciation of facts opened attitudes and enhanced the critical thinking of participants
• support for new migrants - supporting contacts between people led to increased empathy and understanding
• empowered citizens - facilitating action led to more engagement

Implementing partners

• Estonia, NGO Mondo
• Czech Republic, People in Need
• Estonia, Newton
• Finland, the Finnish Foundation of Media and Development (Vikes)
• Germany, Migration Matters e.V. (MM)
• Poland, Center for Citizenship Education (CCE)
• Slovakia, People In Need (PIN Slovakia)