This time we’re coming to you!

At European Alternatives, we develop creative activities to help people imagine, enact and demand new ways of living. You may have been to our Transeuropa Festivals taking place in different cities across Europe. You may have gone for a transnational walk, played our urban games or even been a human book in our living libraries. You may have taken part in research to help design scenarios of the future or supported our citizens‘ initiatives.

This time, we’re coming to you.

What do we want to discover?

We want to uncover the unheard voices, the unmet needs and theundiscovered assets of communities across Europe. We want to understand how people are coping with the crisis. To do this, a group of 30 people will travel in caravans in six zones across the continent.

This is no Grand Tour. There will be no valets nor overnight stays in embassies. This won’t be a “hippie trail“ or a “pilgrimage“ either. We’re not looking for the new Goa or Mecca. But like Dean, Sal & Marylou from “On the Road“, we will be travelling to make sense of a world that we’ve yet to discover and many ignore.

We will learn from nomads, the original transnational tribes! They travelled to find what they needed to make a living and to find meaning, whether that’s pastures to grow food or places to rest. Nomads also brought in new influences from the places they passed through.

Through travelling through different environments – from the countryside to the city, from clone towns to ghost towns, from coastal resorts to inner city ghettos – our caravans want to discover how you are imagining, enacting & demanding new ways of living.

Who do we want to meet?

We want to meet people who feel they are voiceless in the public sphere, ranging from those without formal rights to those who feel discriminated against. We want to meet people involved in campaigning & innovating – from community activists to civic entrepreneurs.

What are we going to achieve?

Through meeting groups using creative methods, we will be uncovering issues that are unheard in the public sphere, groups that are being excluded from the political debate and techniques that can stimulate people to engage in issues that cross borders.

Through connecting these initiatives through online and offline methods, we will open up a transnational perspective for them to take action and connect with other initiatives.

How are we going to do it?

We’ve been developing ways to navigate the world differently, from a storytelling bus to a caravan of the commons so that people can see the environments change before their eyes as they discover the hidden stories of the neighbourhoods they pass through.

This time, there will be six groups of young people travelling in caravans across Europe at the same time…between 26 April and 4 May. Through travelling across the different nooks and crannies of Europe, we will stop in neighbourhoods to meet people and groups.

What activities are we going to organise?

We will organise creative activities with the people we meet, using a mixture of techniques they have developed and those we have. These will include:

• public space interventions that involve people in creative ways (i.e. flashmob)
• activities in the caravan so we can share our experience with others
• cultural activities to immerse ourselves in the communities we visit (i.e. social safari)
• activities on a Citizens Pact topic, or even a new issue put forward (i.e. showcase)
• high profile events to connect the groups we meet to decision makers & NGOs

Through our resident filmmakers, designers, social reporters & community researchers, we will use different methods to tell the story of the people and initiatives we discover – from fly on the wall documentaries to satirical cartoons via social safaris.

How can you be involved?

Through our website, you will be able to view a map of struggles across Europe, including videos, cartoons & blogs about the groups we meet and their stories.

You will be able to track where each caravan is and interact with the caravanners online. You will also be able to share blogs & videos of groups you want to showcase.

We will also have space for people to join us in the caravan throughout the trip to contribute in different ways to the experience!

Tell us what groups you think we should meet who are using creative methods to tackle social and economic issues and you’d like to be involved!