A key component of Our Shared Europe is the focus on Youth and Leadership.
In 2009 - 2010 OSE collaborated with Global Xchange to establish a multilateral youth volunteer programme with 12 weeks in Zagazig, Egypt and 12 weeks in Southwark, London.  

Youth Exchange Programme

24 volunteers were recruited to take part in the Our Shared Europe Global Xchange Multilateral Youth Exchange Programme, run in partnership with Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO).
The volunteers were drawn from 6 different countries - the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Egypt, Yemen and Morocco and were hosted by two countries during the exchange - Egypt and the United Kingdom. The volunteers lived and worked for three months in Zagazig, Egypt, followed by a similar experience of three months in Southwark London, UK.
The volunteers were embedded into local communities, living in cross-cultural pairs with host families and working in a range of organisations, from a sailing club for disabled people to English language teaching.

Visual narratives

At the beginning of this six-month journey, the young volunteers were each provided with a digital camera and photography training by Sander Foederer and given the creative brief to develop a visual narrative of their experience.
During the 24 weeks, the volunteers created powerful and intimate images which communicate their personal experiences of intercultural learning and volunteering.
To see these images created by the volunteers in Zagazig and in Southwark, please visit our Flickr galleries

Changing Perceptions

The Changing Perceptions Photographic Exhibition was created to acknowledge this rich collection of photographs that celebrates the volunteers’ experiences.. It brings together their images together with the work of the Den Haag based professional photographer Sander Foederer and provides an insightful look into the heart of UK and Egyptian communities.

This exhibition has been curated in collaboration with Sarah Toplis, Editor of Young Tate, and will be shown in the Atrium of the City Hall Den Haag from 28 September to 15 October 2010 and at the British Council Headquarters in London from 4 - 24 November 2010.