Reflections from Verdun: Building Peace, Shaping Europe - Together
- EMA Admin
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
Updated: 3 hours ago
La Paix et la Construction de l'Europe : Passé, Présent et Futur
(Peace and the Construction of Europe : Past, Present, Future)
Project type: KA-152 Erasmus+ Youth Exchange
Project Leaders: Ana Janjusevic, Marvi Qazi
Project Members: Flora Mbouyom, and PSU Team
Youth Exchange Start & End dates: 24 July - 02 August, 2025
Partner Organizations: Club pour l'UNESCO Jean-Laurain Metz France, Tomorrow Together TT e.V. Germany, Anne ASBL Luxembourg, and Erasmus Mundus Students & Alumni Association from Belgium
Find more information here.
Six participants from Belgium attended this E+ Youth Exchange and represented EMA in Verdun, France. Know more from the team below:
When we first arrived in Verdun, we knew we were stepping into a place heavy with history, a city marked by war, but also by resilience and hope. What we didn’t expect was how deeply this experience would shape our understanding of peace, Europe, and our role as young citizens.
The PCE project: Peace and the Construction of Europe: Past, Present and Future, supported by Erasmus+ and led by the Jean Laurain Metz Club for UNESCO, brought together youth from Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, and France. Team Belgium was represented by six young change makers from the Erasmus Mundus Students & Alumni Association (EMA), who joined the exchange alongside other participants to learn, contribute, and initiate meaningful dialogue; not just about the scars of the past, but about the possibilities of the future.
Picture 1: Monument honouring the victory and the soldiers of Verdun
Picture 2: Handmade letters from all participants displayed on the wall.
Picture 3: Icebreaker activity kicking off Day 1 of the Exchange program: laughter, movement, and connection.
Peace Is a Collective Journey
Peace is not just the absence of conflict. It’s a way of living, a shared commitment to respect, equity, and responsibility. Through workshops, intercultural exchanges, and visits to symbolic sites like the Douaumont Fort and the Robert Schuman House, we reflected on Europe’s journey, from treaties and armistices to the creation of the European Commission of Steel and Coal nowadays European Union, which aimed to make war “materially impossible.”
But we also looked forward to it. Europe today faces new challenges: geopolitical tensions, migration crises, climate emergencies. These issues demand more than political agreements. They call for active youth engagement, creativity, and solidarity.
Picture 4: Participants filming a scene for Youth for Planet, creativity meets activism.
Picture 5: Outcomes from the workshop on peace and equity: ideas, reflections, and shared visions.
Our Voices, Our Vision
One of the most powerful moments of the exchange was creating a video together, a bold, emotional piece that speaks to the consequences of war: broken families, interrupted dreams, threatened ecosystems. But it also opens a door to hope, built around “What if ?”:
What if we shared ?
What if we built together ?
What if we respected each other ?
This video was not just a project. It was a declaration. A call to join the world of peace-phyles, people who live peace, not just speak of it.
Workshops That Sparked Change
Our workshops were spaces of transformation. We debated, created, and imagined. We didn’t just learn about Europe’s past, we reimagined its future. We discovered that peace is not a distant ideal, but something we can build every day, through dialogue, empathy, and action.
Picture 6: From right to left: Flora, Vaidehi, Ixhel, and a participant from France during an icebreaker on Day 1.
Picture 7: EMA representatives Vaai and Effie (left) with youth from Germany and Luxembourg presenting their project from the first workshop, exploring the meaning of peace across different moments in history.
What Comes Next?
This exchange was more than a trip. It was a turning point. We left Verdun with new friendships, new ideas, and a renewed sense of purpose. We saw how history can teach us, how creativity can unite us, and how youth can lead the way.
Picture 8. Team Belgium at the Intercultural Night. From upper right to upper left: Ixhel, Effie, Anika, Indrid, Vaai, and Flora, celebrating diversity and unity.
Picture 9: Signatures from all participants, collected by an EMA representative as a souvenir of the journey.
To anyone reading this: Peace needs you!
Whether you’re a student, an artist, an activist, or simply someone who cares, your voice matters.
Join the conversation. Build bridges.
Be part of the peace-phyle generation.
Because peace isn’t decreed.
It’s lived.
It’s created.
It’s shared.
Picture 10: Team Belgium on the terrace of Centre de la Paix residence. From left to right: Ixhel, Anika, Effie, Vaidehi, Indrid, and Flora : peaceful views and powerful memories.
Written by: Participants of the La Paix Project
Project Support Unit, EMA