Step Up for Europe Docu-Film

Step Up for Europe is JCI (Junior Chamber International)'s campaign, calling all citizens of Europe to participate in the political decision-making processes, mobilising young active citizens, young entrepreneurs and youth activists to come together with their vision to shape the future of Europe.

JCI EUROPE Culture April 24, 2019 at 3:45 pm
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Project Description

WHY STEP UP FOR EUROPE?

Over the past few years, Europe has been confronted with severe challenges such as the economic and financial crisis, the movement of refugees, rising populism and a general lack of trust in political decisions. Regional achievements like open borders, common values and economic freedom are suddenly at risk of being taken away and the level of European identity and solidarity has dwindled. Now is the time for citizens, especially young people, to invest in the future of their continent. By building a common identity with a shared vision for the future, Europe can progress on a path toward prosperity and peace.

Together, young active citizens can step up for Europe and commit to taking action to help shape the future of their continent!

ABOUT THE CAMPAIGN:

STEP UP FOR EUROPE is a campaign that calls young active citizens all over Europe to participate in political decision-making processes on a local, national and European level. We believe, that young leaders must take initiative to create sustainable solutions with and as decision- makers. Together, they can form a European movement, mobilising young active citizens from young entrepreneurs to youth activists using their vision to shape the future of Europe.

WHAT WE WANT

The purpose of this campaign is to unite and motivate young people in Europe to step up for a united, open Europe. To achieve this, we want to offer a platform to young active citizens with a European mindset and empower them to:

1. participate in the political decision-making processes;

2. advocate for their interests;

3. create sustainable solutions for the societal and economic challenges in Europe.

WHY THE DOCU-FILM

One of the highlights of this year’s campaign implementation was The Step Up for Europe Road Show, a 15 day-trip through 13 countries visiting 12 events, that stretched from Turkey to Iceland, promoting the principles and goals of the campaign.

We documented the road show on the spot to promote the campaign actions online, but in order to maximize our impact we are now planning to create a professional docu-movie that shall be launched first at an official exclusive screening at the European Parliament in October 2019, during the JCI European Know-How Transfer, and then tour some film festivals in Europe in 2020, and also release it for mass viewing. With this, we want to tell the stories of young people in Europe. We want, that the eyes we met, the hands we shook, the hearts we hugged, the ideas we listened to while on the road, take center stage to narrate the story of the young people in Europe now and bridge them with decision-makers for concrete actions.

This is not yet another campaign. We want to create tangible change and sustainable impact by simply bringing people from different sectors of society together and listen to what they have to say. This is the future of OUR continent and we MUST shape it.

THE GOALS:

The goals of the Step Up For Europe Road Show were in line with the goals of the Step Up For Europe campaign: to encourage active citizenship and the political participation of young people and to empower young active citizens politically by providing platforms like forums and political debates to advocate for their cause. Furthermore, we are promoting grassroots solutions, projects and initiatives that are driving positive change in local communities and, thus, build a better future for Europe.

THE DETAILS:

On its route across Europe, our road show team stopped in various cities to participate in Step Up For Europe campaign events that brought together young people to debate the future of Europe, raise awareness for and inform about the European elections and make the voice of young active citizens in Europe heard.

The events were organized and hosted by local JCI organizations in collaboration with partner organizations, local authorities or European institutions gathering young active citizens, civil society representatives, activists, political stakeholders, young entrepreneurs and local media. At these events, we collected the voices of young citizens in Europe through interviews and interactive sessions capturing their vision for the continent, their wishes and dreams for the future of Europe, their personal commitments and their expectations towards politicians and policy makers

Each of the cities visited by the road show has its own special relationship to and history with Europe, thus forming a diverse mosaic of European cultures and identities.

  • Ankara, Turkey

The road show started in Ankara, the capital of Turkey and the country’s second-largest city. Against the background of Turkey being a candidate country of the European Union, the road show kicked off with a meeting of JCI Turkey and JCI Europe delegates with the Directorate of EU Affairs of the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs to discuss Turkey’s EU accession process and the role of young people in shaping the future of their country.

  • Sofia, Bulgaria

To educate young citizens about the upcoming European elections and the importance to vote, JCI Bulgaria organized a European Quiz Night in cooperation with the National Youth Forum and the European Parliament liaison office in Bulgaria.

  • Novi Sad, Serbia

 In the 2019 European Youth Capital, JCI Novi Sad hosted a Youth Conference “Step Up For Europe: Active Youth” in partnership with the Association of Young Intellectuals of Novi Sad (UMNI) to discuss opportunities the EU is offering to Serbia’s youth, the challenges that young people in Serbia are facing today, as well as shared European challenges.

  • Timișoara, Romania

In Timișoara, the third-largest Romanian city and European Capital of Culture 2021, JCI Timișoara and JCI Romania welcomed us at a discussion event at the West University of Timișoara that aimed to inform students and first-time voters about the upcoming European Parliament elections 2019 and the importance of youth participation in political decision-making processes.

  • Budapest, Hungary

With a stop in Budapest, the road show included a country, in which JCI Europe is currently not present. At a networking event we exchanged about the role and opportunities of youth participation and activism within a democratic European framework with representatives of AIESEC and the National Youth Council of Hungary.

  • Beli Manastir, Croatia

The road show stopped at the JCI Balkan Conference, that is dedicated to young entrepreneurs and professionals from South East Europe to discuss trending economic topics and attend training and networking events. At the first day of the conference, JCI Croatia organized a workshop together with the Beli Manastir Youth City Council on the European election campaign to teach senior students of local high schools about the importance of voting following a panel discussion including a representative of the European Parliament and the European Parliament’s #ThisTimeImVoting campaign.

  • Graz, Austria

In Graz, the local JCI organization Wirtschaftskammer Steiermark made an impressive public statement for European unity by putting the Step Up For Europe slogan on the local airport tower and posing with the European flag in front of it. Additionally, they hosted a panel discussion with young local MEP candidates to debate the main topic “What does Europe do for the younger generation?”.

Munich, Germany

During our stop in Germany, we visited a panel discussion hosted by JCI Munich (Wirtschaftsjunioren München) under the motto “The Europe of the Future: What are the preconditions for innovative and competitive Entrepreneurship?”. At the event, representatives from politics, business and sciences discussed how the EU is supporting young entrepreneurs and how Bavarian companies benefit from the EU.

  • Strasbourg, France

In Strasbourg, the official seat of several important European institutions, such as the European Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights, JCI Strasbourg organized a workshop in partnership with the Young European Federalists (JEF) on youth participation in political decision-making processes and how to create sustainable solutions on a local level to shape the future of Europe.

  • Brussels, Belgium

In Brussels, JCI Europe and JCI The Heart of Europe co-organized a discussion evening on youth activism in Europe based on the current debates about the EU copyright reform and Article 13 in which young people all over Europe showed active political engagement. The discussion was joined by MEP and copyright reform expert Tiemo Wölken, who shared insights into the European political debates about this topic and the role that young people played in it.

  • Texel, Netherlands

As one of the highlights, the road show stopped at the Democracy Alive Festival, a European event organized by the European Movement International that gathered European decision makers, civil society organizations, businesses, influencers and young citizens to celebrate European democracy, encourage civic engagement and increase overall democratic interest. At the festival JCI Europe hosted workshops on active citizenship and a discussion session on campaigning for the European elections together with representatives from the European Parliament and JEF (Young European Federalists).

  • Reykjavík, Iceland

With a final event in Reykjavík the Step Up For Europe Road Show came to an end, having crossed the European continent from East to West, engaging young active citizens from EU and non-EU countries and sharing their vision for the future of Europe. At the University of Iceland, JCI Iceland organized a World Café for Young Adults to motivate and empower young people to share their thoughts and ideas about Icelandic politics and discuss common European values that unite young people all over the continent.

THE FUNDING GOALS EXPLAINED:

We set a set of stretch goals that will help us fund the total of EUR 12,500 that is the global amount needed to produce this Step Up for Europe docu-film to be screened exclusively for the first time in October 2019, at the European Parliament, to then tour a number of film festivals in Europe in 2020.

Stretch Goal 1: RoadTrip, Event & Interview Filming – EUR 1,400

We had a small team on the road with equipment, filming salient parts of the RoadTrip, whole Events and grab the interviews with citizens and decision makers.Donations coming in at this level will help to fund back the hire of equipment and one staff member out of the team, that filmed the salient parts of the road trip as well as film the whole events in each of the stops. This level will also fund all the interviews grabbed on the road, both with citizens and decision makers. This is the level where we collected already all the raw footage and as much content as possible to then be able to feed the storyline for the docu-film.

Stretch Goal 2 – Concept Mapping & Initial Sorting – EUR 1500

Mapping the concept behind the docu-film and start to sort and match the video content from the roadshow filming.

This second level is funding the initial mapping stages of the concept of how the docu-film will look like. This is the phase pre-storyline. This level is also funding the sorting of all the footage from the roadshow, events and interviews and the initial start to match that content to the concept map. Most of this work is studio work. 

Stretch Goal 3 – Full sorting of the material  and assembly –  EUR 1800

Sorting out in story-line mapping chronology all the sorted footage and assemble it into short tranches of stories.

This level is funding the footage sorting out in line with the concept mapping and also the assembly of the story-line parts in chronology.  Here, the backbone of the docu-film starts to form. Here is where the concept starts to move from storming ideas to forming a flow towards the next stage. This level is funding the work of at least 3 staff people.

Stretch Goal 4 – Storyline adaptation & Original Script Writing –  EUR 2600

Development of the Storyline and its adaptation to the footage. Original Script Writing for the voice over narration.

This level is funding a number of people that will be servicing the creative department. Here we will be developing the storyline in detail, in line with the vision and mission of the Step up for Europe Campaign and adapting it with the footage that was sorted in the previous level. A number of people will also be funded to research and write the original script in English for the voice over narration. Here we will also look at the possibility of scripting the sub-titles in a couple of languages that are official JCI (Junior Chamber International) languages. JCI Europe is the main producer of this docu-film.

Stretch Goal 5 – Editing including Titles, Animation, Intro/Outro – EUR 2700

Film Editing through all stages towards final film creation.

This Level is funding the core work of the docu-film and therefore funding a number of skilled people that will be doing all the post-production work. This work will be plotted on the scrip and will include editing, transition of cut scenes and effects, animation, sound design, recording with voice over actors, elaborate the intros and outros, dubbing and get close to the final step of film creation.

Stretch Goal 6 – Sound design & Original Music Writing – EUR 2500

Curating the sound design and the writing of original music to give the opportunity to young composers to get published on this docu-film.

This is the last level that will help us fund the fil-rouge of the whole docu-film: the sound-scaping and therefore getting sound designers and engineers on board to work hand in hand with music writers and composers to create original music for this film production. We would like to give the opportunity to young European composers and music editors to join forces with us and get their music production published on this docu-film. The bulk of the work funded here will be that of creating al the auditory elements to dress up the final edit of this production.

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