The Schwarzkopf Foundation Young Europe believes that European diversity can best be understood by experiencing it. Our travel grants seek to enable young Europeans to explore and discover their continent, while tackling current political or social questions. By travelling, grantees becomes ambassadors for a united Europe.
The winners of the travel grants have now been notified. Thank you again for all your applications! We are already looking forward to next years call for application.
This year, the Schwarzkopf Foundation, in cooperation with Deutsche Bahn (DB), the Federal Association of German Employers’ Associations (BDA) and the Kreuzberg Children’s Foundation, will be awarding a total of 60 young people from 11 European countries. The travel grantees independently carry out research trips lasting between 2-6 weeks, and this year they focus on topics such as “What connects Europe?”, “Cross-border work and digitization” and “Rolemodels for Europe in Greece”.
Giorgos Verdi was wondering "How can a country with a population of 1.3 million people, which gained its independence just 27 years ago, be the world´s most advanced digital society?" To find answers to this question, he travelled to Tallin, Estonia. You can read his report (with the very promising title Society of Tomorrow) here.
Edgars Gerhards travelled to two scandinavian (Copenhagen, Roskilde) and two baltic cities (Vilnius, Riga). He compared and evaluated how eco-friendly the lifestyles are, the people lead in these cities. You can read his report here.
Elenor Ängek from Sweden visited a number of Greek islands to learn more about the economic situation there. She particularly looked into the impact of digitalisation in the region. Her report may also give you some good ideas when planning your next trip to the Aegean Sea. Find her report here.
What effects do the open borders have on life in Europe? That's the question Lucie Křehlíková from the Czech Republic looked into. She travelled five countries. Her report can be found here.
Annika Dinh from Germany travelled through Bulgaria during the summer. She was wondering how the country dealt with its diversity and made some pretty interesting observations about minority politics in Bulgaria. Annika shared her insights on her instagram profile.
Ronald Vilcans from Riga travelled from Prague to Athens and shares his observations as well as beautifully shot pictures in his travel blog. The introduction reads: "Despite a list of problems, (...) people are surprisingly optimistic." But this does not apply to everbody, Ronald states. Minority groups, like refugees and LGBTQ-folks, are facing difficult living situations in many European countries.
Millie Hallam from Italy has an interest in sustainabiltiy and eco-friendly lifestyles. She travelled to the UK, Sweden, and Denmark to learn more about this. Her experiences and insights can be found in her report here.
"The inability to accept who I truly was and the need for other people to accept me, were always bothering me. I wanted to be open, but I was afraid. And in that moment, I found myself in front of a mirror saying, after a long time 'I'm bisexual'" Martin travelled to Germany, Spain and Sweden to meet people from the LGBTQ-Community and learn how acceptance for this community could be increased in his home country Bulgaria. Read his personal and very inspiring report here.
Adriana Gomez is a student of fashion design. She composed a short presentation about the negative impact the international clothing industry has on the environment and explores sustainable fashion stores in Berlin.
To find out what sustainability means when it comes to wine production, as well as to learn more about how wineries are trying to produce sustainably, and what obstacles they might be facing, Jessie Lowe travelled to three established wine-producing countries, Germany, Italy, and Austria. You can read her report here.
Christopher Amedu from Great Britain has filmed a short documentary about the african diaspora in Paris, racism and the rise of right wing populism. Christopher spoke to the director of the African News Agency (Dounia Ben Mohamed), the former professional footballer Christian Ngwandjo, and a representative of the populist French Front National (Eric Le Gal). A must see!
Julia Saubier traveled to Portugal, Sweden, and Hungary to learn more about women in filmmaking. A summary of her report can be found here.
Our travel grantee Alenka Brabencová used Interrail to visit a total of eight countries. Some impressions of what she experienced on her trip can be found in this video.
Vincent Schroyens, a recent graduate in teacher education from Belgium, travelled from his home country to Bulgaria. He explored the different vocational training systems of the countries he passed through, learning about their advantages and disadvantages. Vincent believes, that coming to a better understanding of these, gives us the opportunity to learn from each other. Read more about his experience here.
Patricia Oliveros from Spain travelled to Ireland and the UK to learn more about young people's perspectives on sustainability. Her nicely done report can be read here.
On her Facebook Page "Europe Speaks Up" Sedra Al-Yousef shares photos and personal stories "on populism, media and life experiences" from people she met while travelling in Italy, Austria and Germany. The comments are available in both English and Arabic. Sedra portays her interviewees in a very empathetic way.
British Srishti Chaudhary travelled to Central Europe to explore practical examples of the dual education system. You can find her report here.
What have open borders changed in the Baltic states? Francesco Melitowrote down his thoughts from his trip here.
Travel grantee Rafaela Höpker travelled through numerous European capitals and asked people she met on the way with a questionnaire: what makes you feel welcome? Find her summary of the project here.
This summer Cleo Pollard documented on Instagram her conversations with other young Europeans about European identity. For the full project, read the interviews on the project’s Instagram account .
Like all out Interrail Global Pass grantees, Marcel Roth wanted to find out more about sustainable travelling. At the same time, it turned to be a story of open borders and young people that feel European.
What drives populism in Europe? Felix Vemmer talked to young people in Germany, the Netherlands, France and the UK to find out what they think of the topic and compiled the answers to an Instagram report as well as this presentation.
Is it possible to travel in a climate-friendly way? Our travel grantee Iisa Arvelin looked into the question.
Simon Hartmann was traveling in Turkey during and after the attempted coup d’état in July 2016. His observations and analysis of the atmosphere can be found here (in German).
From the 6th to the 27th of June 2016 our travel grantee Simon Happersberg was on a journey through the United Kingdom. On his way from Edinburgh and Glasgow, through the North of England to London, he was able to talk with a wide variety of British people about the Brexit vote and create an exciting overview of the atmosphere in the UK. You can find his report (in German) here.
Our travel scholar Daniel Mora Gomez traveled through Germany and tried to make himself a picture of the arrival of refugees in Germany and also observed the rising right-wing movement. After doing his research at home he found himself traveling through Germany for 24 days. He shares his impressions on these topics in his travel report here.
Do we have different European identities and approaches to freedom of movement whether we are in Spain or in Romania? Our travel grantee Miriam Meir reports about how differently Europeans deal with questions like migration, quality of life, and globalisation, what she could analyse during her trip in Spain, in the Netherlands and in Romania. You can find her report here.
65 years after the creation of the state of Israel that attracted an important wave of migration, some third generation Israelis decide to migrate to Germany. Whether it is considered as an exile out of Israel or as a revival of the German Jewry, our travel grantee Sylwia Wodzińskaanalyses the motivation and the current situation of those Israelis now living in Berlin and Hamburg. You can find her report here. Picture: Koby Libermann
After the 30 year anniversary of the Schengen Agreement last year, Tomsz Lato decided to investigate how cross-border cities cooperate and develop even if located in another country. Three weeks of German-Polish, German-Austrian, German-Swiss and German-French borders brought him to analyse the similarities and differences in integration of urban spaces, public transport, and cultural events that cross border cities can achieve. You can find his report here. Picture: Dirk Vorderstraße
The Leave Campaign of the UK referendum considered the refugee issue as very critical one. But how was the refugee policy in Britain by the end of 2015? Our travel grantee Tara Burk approaches this sometimes critical culture towards asylum seekers in Scotland, Wales and England. You can find her report here. Picture: Richard Allaway
Our travel grantee Julian Hey reports about his experiences in Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris, San Sebastián, Valencia, Barcelona and Milan that he realised with an Interrail Global Pass granted by the Deutsche Bahn. He aptured the different environmental-friendly mobility concepts tha we have in Europe during this Interrail trip. You can find his report here. Picture: Andreas Dantz