Stadt.land.plus Türkiye / gez.gör.yaz Deutschland
“What do Germans know about Turkey, and vice versa? What is your attitude towards Turkey’s accession to the EU?” Or: “Document the typical working day of a hairdresser!” These may well be the sort of questions and challenges that 15 young Germans and 15 young Turks set themselves this summer during their two-week tours of Turkey and Germany. The young people taking part will be questioning stereotypes and overcoming prejudices on their travels, and publishing their impressions – more or less in real time – in a blog specially created for the purpose. Stadt.land.plus Türkiye, or gez.gör.yaz Deutschland, as the project is called in Turkish, is a young, colourful and modern approach to German-Turkish understanding and gives a large audience the chance to follow the young people’s progress live online.
Structure and organization
In teams of three, the young people embark on an interactive journey of discovery in an attempt to discover just how much truth there is in their preconceptions about the other country’s culture. Young Turks will begin, taking a two-week tour of Germany from 11 July to 24 July. This will be followed from 28 August to 10 September by the young Germans’ tour of Turkey. Local “scouts” from all areas of public life will be on hand to support and accompany the teams, giving them the opportunity to immerse themselves in everyday life off the beaten tourist track. They will post blogs several times each day, using text, videos and photographs to record their impressions online. This gives anyone interested the chance to experience their adventures live on the stadt.land.plus platform and to vote online for the tasks to be completed by the young travellers. At the end of the tour a public event is planned at which the young people will be able to share their experiences and talk about topics they have jointly selected. This workshop will take place in Berlin from 19 to 20 November and will be open to anyone interested.
Applications
The application period for stadt.land.plus Türkiye begins in Germany on 1 June. Anyone aged 18 to 30 who is interested in Turkey can apply – the closing date for applications is 30 June. Applications should be accompanied by a video in which the applicant clearly explains his or her motivation for taking part and his or her interest in Turkey. For further information, visit: www.stadtlandplus.eu
Objectives
The objective of the expedition is to discover the extent to which preconceptions reflect reality, to overcome prejudices and to use blog entries to communicate to others the new image that the participants have gained of the host country. This unconventional tour gives not only the travellers themselves but also their followers online the opportunity to experience the other country’s culture and society for themselves.