In today's society, there are many key issues that young people do not talk about, or are afraid to talk about. The goal of the project was to help young people, using non-formal education methods, to better deal with taboo topics.

In May and June, we participated in several online meetings. Meetings were organized by the Danish organization Ways. These were preparations for a youth exchange entitled 'Taboo & You'. Apart from us, representatives of the Hungarian Balmadifjak organization and the Georgian DRONI organization participated in the meetings.

The Polish group of participants was created by students of the C.K. Norwid Secondary School from Krasnystaw, local partner of the Heureka Generator association. Already having a lot of information from the organizers, we conducted a preparatory meeting of the Polish group, where we discussed the obligations and privileges of the participants, the logistics of the trip, and collected the documents necessary for the international journey of minors under the care of experienced HEureka’s leaders. A short video was also produced during the meeting. Polish participants introduced themselves in it, and the video was shared on the project group which was created on the Facebook social network.

On 9th of July, at 9 a.m., our group under the care of leader, Ewa Kostrubiec started the trip to airport in Kraków. Aleksandra Chudek, second Polish leader joined them on the airport. After landing in Denmark, our group was taken care of by the organizers, with whom the HEurekians traveled to Ballerup, where the exchange began.

What was the beginning of the youth exchange like? We give the floor to Polish participants:

The next day breakfast was at 8:30am. After breakfast, together with other participants, we went in front of the venue for morning gymnastics. Later, to get to know each other better, we got into pairs and walked in the forest talking. The organizers prepared several games for us, which allowed us to remember the names of other participants. After the integration workshop, we had lunch. Another activity was the mutual drawing of Instagram profiles and a strategic card game. At the end of the day, we participated in a reflection group with group leaders.

After the integration and team building activities, on which the beginning of the exchange was focused, the participants took part in activities related to its main topic. These included small group discussions and presentations of the results. The group discussed topics that could be a potential taboo in our societies. The participants' task was also to personally refer to the topics - whether conversations about taboos were in their comfort zone, or were they problematic and uncomfortable. Taboo-related posters were also created and then presented to the entire group. The task groups were internationally mixed. It created numerous opportunities for interaction with newly met colleagues and an opportunity to learn from each other.

One of the most interesting tasks was to create a short drama play without using words. Its topic was again taboos in our societies. What did our participants say about the fun with theater?:

All the performances were creative and interesting. Audience applauded the participants. Almost immediately after that, it was time to discuss the pluses and minuses of the day with the leaders.

During the youth exchange, there were two evenings of cultural and culinary presentations. Our group prepared traditional Polish sweets, Polish sausage and red borscht. After the cultural evenings, there was free time, which the participants used, among other things, for a dance party outside.

Our group about a trip to Copenhagen:

In the middle of the youth exchange, we went on a trip to Copenhagen. It was preceded by a session during which we got a lot of interesting information about the Erasmus+ programme. We took the metro to Copenhagen. Our guide was Daniel who knew the area very well. We were by the water, we also visited the Castle and the original 'free city of Christiania'. We stopped to rest in a park where we could rest in the shade of trees. There was also time to buy souvenirs and delicious ice cream. The trip was very interesting. There were a lot of interesting things and attractions. Copenhagen is beautiful.

In the second part of the youth exchange there were workshops and presentations prepared by national groups on taboo topics in Denmark, Poland, Hungary and Georgia. It was a chance to see the similarities and differences between our countries in this frames.

During youth exchanges, it is very important to increase the visibility of activities and interaction with the local community. During the meeting in Denmark, there was an exhibition where participants had the opportunity to present the results of their joint action and tell the local community about youth projects and the Erasmus+ programme.

On July 16, late in the evening, the HEurekians were back in Poland richer in new international experiences, which they will surely use in their daily activities.

We would like to thank the Ways organization from Copenhagen for cooperation. We hope to meet in Poland next time. We also thank our local partner, C.K. Norwid Secondary School from Krasnystaw for joint creation of youth development opportunities in our region.

Project 'Taboo & You' in frames of the European Erasmus+ programme, Key Action 1, sector 'Youth'.

We invite you to check the video with opinions of Polish participants: