ECAPT Youth Exchange – Implementation in Austria πŸ‡¦πŸ‡Ή

The ECAPT Youth Exchange in Austria brought together young people from Poland, Austria, Cyprus, Lithuania, and Portugal for an intensive week of non-formal education, artistic expression, intercultural dialogue, and active participation.

Hosted in Vienna, the mobility focused on tackling discrimination through creative tools, theatre methods, media literacy, art-based learning, and experiential activities. Participants explored topics such as racism, sexism, ableism, classism, religious discrimination, identity, stereotypes in media, and inclusive communication.

Throughout the week, young people:

  • Engaged in interactive icebreakers and team-building activities

  • Presented national research on discrimination in their countries

  • Explored identity through the "Identity Flower" method

  • Created powerful social posters addressing discrimination

  • Participated in Image Theatre and Theatre of the Oppressed

  • Visited the JΓΌdisches Museum in Vienna to reflect on memory, history, and human rights

  • Developed digital competences through video creation and accessibility tools

  • Took part in a UN Security Council simulation on inclusion and anti-discrimination laws

  • Discussed the role of art and social media in shaping narratives

  • Strengthened empathy through experiential communication exercises

The Youth Exchange strongly promoted:

  • Empathy and intercultural understanding

  • Critical thinking and media awareness

  • Artistic creativity as a tool for social change

  • Active citizenship and Erasmus+ engagement

  • Inclusion and accessibility

Each day was enriched with cultural nights, traditional food, music, and dance, reinforcing the European spirit of unity in diversity. Participants also attended "The Last Carnival Waltz" event in Vienna, celebrating European dance traditions.

The project concluded with the awarding of Youthpass certificates, recognizing the competences developed throughout the exchange, and with clear follow-up plans to ensure impact in each partner country.

Through ECAPT, young people did not only discuss discrimination β€” they actively created solutions, narratives, and artistic responses that promote inclusion and respect across Europe.

πŸŽ₯ You can explore the videos, daily journal highlights, and country outputs below.

Day 1 - Wednesday February 11, 2026

Written by the facilitators team! πŸ‡ͺπŸ‡Ί

The first day of the project! This means tons of icebreaking and teambuilding activities! With simple introductions by Nikolas from the coordinating organization, and Stephanie from the hosting organization, Bobbie, our facilitator started the activities with different types of name games.

The first was the hangman game. In this game each participant got a piece of duct tape, placed it on themselves and then made lines according to the letters of their name. For example, for Bobbie it would be _ _ _ _ _ _ ! We fished for letters from each other, we could only get one and give only one, ultimately making a colorful name tag for ourselves.

After this we had a portrait drawing game, where we passed around a paper with the shape of our face, and every time the music stopped, we filled in a different part of the body, such as one eye, an ear or the mouth! This helped us learn names, because each time the music stopped, we had someone else's paper, as such we had to search for the person before we drew them.

The last activity before coffee break was speed dating, where in groups, we had prompts such as "pizza vs gyros" or "mountain vs the sea" which we used to discuss and get to know each other.

After coffee break, we went over the rules of the project as well as our responsibilities. These were -

  • Photo team - a team responsible for taking photos of the day during activities
  • Journalist team - a team responsible for writing about the day
  • Energizer team - a team responsible for hosting small activities to get us going
  • Cultural night and helpers team - A team responsible for both the cleanliness of the room as well as dinner and teaching all about their country.

Lastly, right before lunch, we played a game called Youthpass passport islands. Once again in mixed groups, we had to solve mini challenges for each competency. For example, for mathematical competency, we had to solve an equation, while for the multilingual one, we had to learn greetings in different languages.

After lunch we played two more short games to learn about each other. The first was the blanket game, where Bobbie and Mike were holding a blanket, with two teams on each side, and when they dropped it we had to quickly tell the other persons name. Right after this we had an energizer based on learning even more fun facts about each other. Each participant received a small paper, with 16 different specific facts, such as "has been outside of Europe" or "speaks 3 languages or more". With the simple rule of not being to add yourself, or anybody from your own national team, the first person who shouts out "BINGO" with all the correct answers wins!

Bobbie then helped us dive into the topic, by showcasing ways that discrimination takes place in media, such as movies and tv series. We used a tool called "My Media Biography" to see how we came across stereotypes in our lives, wether they are bad, and sometimes good, yet generalized a certain group of people.

The last activity of the day was the NGO market, where group represented their organization using drawings on flipcharts. This served as a perfect and slow method of introducing the tools we will use in the project while at the same time representing what we do in our countries.

As for the night, Austria cooked dinner for us called Kartoffelgulasch and for dessert, kaiserschmarrn. They also hosted the cultural night with a presentation, a short quiz, music, dances and more!

Day 2 - Thursday February 12, 2026

Written by the Polish team! πŸ‡΅πŸ‡±

On day 2 we started with presentations about research we did in our countries. This was the homework activities we had to do before coming to the project and each country presented issues when it comes to discrimination, statistics, as well as solutions that each of the countries already work on. It was interesting to hear about, especially how hands on some countries are with legal systems, while other countries almost focus exclusively using the NGO sector. You can of course read all about the research from each of the countries on this website at its appropriate section!

This led to an interesting activity called the Identity flower. This activity starts quite simple and focused on introspection. Each participant gets a piece of paper and draws a flower with 8 pedals. On each pedal they write one term that is part of their identity. Then the hard parts.

  • 1st – to remove what they consider their most important identity
  • 2nd – to pair up with someone, and they get to remove 2 parts of their identity.

The activity showed us how identity is something we attach to ourselves, yet it may not be something necessarily important to someone else. This is precisely what can lead to stereotyping, categorizing and harm.

For the second part of the activity, continuing with the concept of communication, participants used concepts of image theatre, meaning simple movement going to a still image to represent their culture. Cyprus represented for example the day's holiday tsiknopempti, while Austria represented the stereotypical obsession with ski.

For the afternoon, we focused on social posters, based on Poland's long-standing history of using vivid colors for posters of Hollywood movies. You can read more about it here! https://sabukaru.online/articles/the-insane-history-of-polish-movie-posters

Bobbie taught us basics of color theory, contrast, and what use of color means. In mixed groups, we used paints, acrylic, oil pastels and more to represents the categories of ableism, racism, sexism, classism and religious discrimination.

The last activity of the day was focused on active listening, with a twist. Half the group was tricked. One half was taught to tell a good story, while the other group was asked to avoid listening. It was interesting to talk about how we felt, in either role.

To end the day Cyprus team prepared cultural night with both the dinner, afelia (pork in wine) and koupepia (mince meat with rice and vineleafs), traxanas soup, a salad and snacks such as shoushouko, and we learned all about Cyprus, including its long history, dances and more.

Day 3 – Friday February 13, 2026

Written by the Cypriot Team! πŸ‡¨πŸ‡Ύ

The cultural trip day, with tons of knowledge. After waking up slightly earlier than usual, we left the apartments and took public transport to the center of Vienna. After checking out St. Stephen's Cathedral and taking a group photo. We headed to our main stop for the day, which was the JΓΌdisches Museum.

This allowed us to learn about a population that was marginalized to the point of a holocaust. The museum showed us how Jewish people lived, worked, and contributed to the city over many centuries. Through objects, photographs, religious items, and personal stories, we learned about Jewish traditions, holidays, and everyday life.

Of course, this is not the only thing the museum does, as it also teaches about memory, loss, and the importance of remembrance. At the same time, it shows that Jewish life continues in Vienna today, with an active community and living culture. Identically to the aims of our project, the museum promotes understanding, respect, and dialogue between different cultures.

Day 4 - Saturday, February 14, 2026

Written by the Portuguese team! πŸ‡΅πŸ‡Ή

The morning started with a very original artistic activity. Taught by participant Michael from Austria, we used paints, paper sheets, sponges and burlap bags to create free and creative compositions. By exploring different textures and techniques, each participant used their imagination and produced unique drawings, experiencing art in a different and innovative way.

After that, we were challenged to create our own country. Each group had to invent a name, define its characteristics, answer several questions and establish fundamental laws. That being said, the activity was a two-parter. With participant judges Wictoria, Vivienne and Panayiotis, representing East Europe, Central/West Europe and the Mediterranean respectively, we had a simulation game based on the UN Security Council. We presented and defended the laws of our country in front of this jury, based on random based questions on inclusion, anti-discriminatory practices and more to get "recognition"

Later, we participated in a dynamic and fun activity related to emotions and values. Each group had to represent the concepts of love, freedom, fear and friendship through four photographs. The other groups had to guess which image corresponded to each concept. For every picture correctly identified by the other teams, the group lost one point. The competition was very close and ended in a tie, showing the creativity and balance between all the teams. Check out also each of the collages below!

The day ended with the Intercultural Night dedicated to Lithuania. We learned about traditional customs from this country and created traditional masks used to "chase away winter", a cultural celebration full of symbolism. The night continued with traditional Lithuanian dances, providing a joyful and meaningful moment of cultural sharing among all participants.

Day 5 - Sunday, February 15, 2026

Written by the Lithuanian team! πŸ‡±πŸ‡Ή

Theatre of the Oppressed activity to start the day!

Each group received a note describing a form of discrimination, such as racism, classism, etc. Our task was to prepare a short performance that reflected the specific type of discrimination we were given. After presenting our scenes, the audience was invited to step in and change the course of the performance to find possible solutions and overcome the discrimination shown. The way it works is the central victim or oppressor cannot be replaced, but any other character can. New characters can also be added.

Everyone got involved as much as possible, and together we explored different ways to challenge and defeat discrimination. After each performance, we discussed the issues that had been presented. Everyone was very creative and engaged.

After a lunch break, we had a World CafΓ© session, where discussions were led by group leaders. We talked about discrimination, art, and even the role of social media in it. At the end, each group presented their ideas and conclusions to all the participants. The 4 prompts of world cafΓ© were as follows -

  1. How can art include people who are usually excluded?
  2. How does power influence whose art is seen, funded, or valued?
  3. Can art really change society?
  4. Social Media, Arts and Exclusion

After a coffee break, we had another fun activity. We divided into two teams and chose one person from each group to sit with their back to the TV, where the name of a movie was displayed. The activity ultimately used the technique of pantomime, and ultimately, non-verbal communication.

As photos don't do this activity justice, check out a video of this activity below!

For dinner, the Portuguese team prepared their traditional food of Bacalhau and pastel de nata for dessert, which were amazing. They also organized a cultural evening where they introduced their country, Portugal, and talked about their traditions and culture.

Day 6 - Monday, February 16, 2026

Written by the Austrian team! πŸ‡¦πŸ‡Ή

After our daily energizer, we focused on the ideas of accuracy, supporting people with visual impairments as well as communication. For the first activity, one person was blindfolded and had to walk around the building or outside for about ten minutes without vision. They were guided by the other person. Every ten minutes, we switched roles, so everyone got a chance to be blindfolded and to guide their partner. This activity, albeit simple, allowed us to learn how to clearly communicate when one sense is missing. The debriefing session focused a lot on how trust was formed, and how safety as well as comfort was ensured. Bobbie, the facilitator gave the advice to tell a story while being guided, which worked quite well.

After that, we played another game in pairs. One person had to describe a drawing very clearly, and the other person had to draw it only by listening. While difficult, as each pair had the role of drawing and explaining twice, we spoke about how communication systems evolved, in order to ensure accuracy.

The afternoon focused on video making, in order to make our voices heard within both our local communities and abroad, as knowledge from young voices such as ourselves has proved to be much more effective. The activity also taught us tons of digital competencies and accessibility, as we learned to edit videos, and just as importantly, add subtitles for the hearing impaired.

Check out the videos from each country below!

After all that, the Polish team did their cultural night. We ate placki ziemniaczane with Ε›mietana. They also brought Polish cookies. Afterwards, we did a Polish Kahoot, which Michael won. We also danced Polish dances and had lots of fun.

Day 7 - Tuesday, February 17, 2026

πŸ‡ͺπŸ‡Ί Written by the Facilitators team!

The final day of the project, focusing on Erasmus as a whole, as well as our final mix of culture and dance activity. 

To start, we had a watch party, where we watched every single video made by the 5 groups in this project. This led to an activity called "Erasmus+ Opportunities," where Bobbie went over every single opportunity we can take part in. This included youth exchanges, training courses, KA2 projects, the youth card, DiscoveryEU, and more.

Facilitator Nikolas followed up this activity by helping us prepare follow-ups, meaning what we will do after our return to our home countries, in order to not only disseminate our knowledge further, but to make changes in our local communities with said knowledge.

And thus, the ultimate part of the project. Receiving the Youthpasses!

This of course doesn't mean that the project was over, as we had one last activity, focused on dance. We attended an event in Vienna in the afternoon named "The Last Carnival Waltz: Dancing with the Viennese Dance Schools", the ultimate crossover event with genres of music and dance that where not only Austrian, but from all over Europe.

While mentioned numerous times in this journal, the project also had specifically dance based energizers before the first activity of the day, as well as right after lunch break. Check out some clips of these energizers below!