Project: The Eastern European and Arab Democratic Youth Network (EEADYN)

Program:  The Turda Democracy Gatherings

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Background: This program was developed out the of the Ratiu Center for Democracy’s (RCD) annual democracy lecture given by Dr. Saad Eddin Ibrahim in November of 2006.  The topic of the democracy lecture was “what are the lessons Arab democrats can learn from the Eastern European experience of transition?”  In this lecture, Dr. Ibrahim posed a challenge to RCD of how these lessons can be spread.  Mr. Indrei Ratiu, the vice-president of RCD responded with the idea of expanding their already established Turda Democracy Gatherings camp.  Originally meant to develop Romanians individual understanding of democracy, the camp was opened to other Eastern and Central European and Arab candidates between the ages of 18 and 24.

Summary: The participants were exposed to the to the problems and adaptations of Eastern European civil society during the transition from Communist to democratic governance, as well as contemporary challenges in post-transition societies. Students were be to compare and contrast the experiences during the time of Eastern European transition, the current effects on local populations, and the skills involved in advancing local democratic movements to that of the Arab world.  The camp was a guide for the students rather than a preacher, to develop their individual understanding of the values and behaviors of democracy while drawing on the experience of their peers and evening guests.  Due to the great success of this year’s program, ICDS and RCD hope to continue developing our youth understanding of the values and behaviors of democracy.

Participants: Students from all over the Middle East and Eastern and Central Europe applied to the Turda Democracy Gatherings with an essay application.  The essay requested students to write a 500-1000 word essay discussing their personal opinion on the following questions:

• What does democracy mean to you?
• How do you think democracy could influence your life?
• In what ways could your understanding of democracy be better used in your daily life?

The chosen participants hailed from different cities with each of the following countries-
From the Arab World- 4 Moroccans, 4 Egyptians, 1 Jordanian
From Eastern Europe- 7 Romanians, 1 Bulgarian

Activities:
The EEADYN website was launched in March 2007 with both public and secure spaces and was supported and developed by the Vreeland Institute in the US.  The public space was used to disseminate information about the project and about the “Turda Democracy Gatherings”.  Interested participants were able find most of the details, contact information, and essay application needed to apply to program.  The secure space is accessed by a username and password, provided to those who register and are approved by the organizers.  Interested candidates are able to enter a civic education tutorial with eight topics to begin in developing an individual idea of the concepts of democracy.  Each topic includes a list of vocabulary and definitions, questions to think about, short assignments, and discussion forums.  The assignments take different formats to practice multiple ways of creatively expressing their views.  This space is secured, so students will safely and openly express themselves and connect with their peers in the discussion forums.

The camp was primarily divided into three aspects: workshops, volunteering, and evening gatherings.

Workshops: The workshops offered students a brief overview in developing skills related to democratic transition.  The topics included journalism, advocacy, and debating.

• Journalism: discussed the influential internal and external factors of change in the sector, obstacles, transition of ethics, and how these factors are affecting contemporary Romanian media and the future.  This workshop highlighted the long-term development of democracy in Romania and the similar obstacles Eastern Europe and the Arab World currently face. As part of the workshop, Radio Cluj offered a tour of the radio station with demonstrations and hands-on application of modern radio technology with a talk show host, Oana Cristea Grigorescu.
• Advocacy: The focus of this workshop was electoral reform, specifically voting regulations, law changes, monitoring elections, the Romanian Constitution, and the dissemination of information regarding civic engagement. Day II of the workshop was on monitoring transparency and accountability.  The discussion began with Romania’s success, failures, and obstacles in the development and implementation of the Transparency Law, the practice of public consultations, and the initiations of public consultations made by NGOs.
• Debate: The first day of training involved interactive activities participants to practice thinking on their feet, being creative, and linking information over a period of time. The remainder of the workshop featured how to develop an effective argument.  This portion of the workshop underscored the importance of structure, reacting to unexpected situations, rebutting, and the use of proper evidence.  How to use and search for reliable led to the connection between jurisprudence and debate.

Volunteering: Emphasizing volunteerism encourages community building and interactions between community members.  The volunteer sessions this year involved the participants cooperating with RCD volunteers to prepare for the upcoming Turda Fest, set to take place 28-30 September 2007.  The preparations included building stands for the many demonstrations and booths of the festival from raw tree trunks and designing and painting banners.

Evening Gatherings: Each night the guests, who came from different sectors in society, were asked, “How did democracy change your life?”  The speakers discussed positive and negative aspects of democratization and how it affected their sector of society and personally.  The guests were predominantly Romanian, although some of the guests have been living in Romania for an extensive period.   The topics were as follows:

• Journalism
• Entrepreneur’s night
• NGOs
• Public Service
• Pensioners Association
• Political Prisoners
• Minorities
• Minorities and Politicians
• Education

Excursions: Visits to important sites in Turda and Cluj were fit into the schedule to teach participants about the region and also building teamwork skills.

• Turda Gorges:  All participants and staff hiked through the close to 2-kilometer trail that led through the gorges, along the river, and up the 795-meter high mountain.
• Turda Salt Mines: most notable for having been excavated predominantly by hand with a chisel and hammer and then manually carried out.
• Turda Glass Blowing Factory: This factory still manufactures all of their products by hand and through a very precise assembly line.  It was a look at how some industries have not changed through the period of transition.
• Cluj: The first visit was to the Ethnographic Museum of Transylvania, Romania’s first ethnographic museum opened in 1923.  Before being a museum, one of the greatest political trials took place in 1894 that prosecuted Dr. Ioan Ratiu and his colleagues for sending a memorandum to the leader of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Franz-Josef, seeking civil rights for all citizens.  The Ratiu name is the oldest documented Romanian family in Transylvania and has been highly esteemed for their continuous struggle for civil and political rights and democratic reform for centuries. The participants were able to tour all aspects of the traditional Transylvanian culture.  While touring the rest of Cluj, the students visited the Roman Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church, and many other important historical locations.

The Turda Democracy Gatherings were made possible by the financial support of the Foundation Open Society Institute and the Ford Foundation.