On 27 January, Culture Goes Europe e.V. (CGE) organised the final event of the Erasmus+ project SoftSkills4Democracy (SK4D) with a Networking Evening at the International Café of the University of Erfurt. The evening brought together student groups, NGOs, youth initiatives, and community actors to share their work and explore opportunities for cooperation, volunteering, and participation.
Throughout the SK4D project, participants repeatedly expressed a similar wish: they wanted to be more active in socio-cultural initiatives, but often did not know the people behind these organisations and felt unsure how to reach out and get involved.
The Networking Evening was designed as a practical response to this gap. By bringing initiatives into one shared space and giving them a platform to present their work, the event aimed to lower barriers to participation and create an informal setting for students and organisations to meet, exchange, and connect.
Participating initiatives and organisations were invited to present themselves in a creative storytelling format. Each organisation selected one keyword that reflects its core mission and used it as the starting point for a short presentation with seven slides. This approach encouraged concise and personal stories instead of formal project reporting.
The following initiatives and organisations took part:
- International Café
- PLURALS (student initiative)
- Next Level e.V.
- Platform e.V.
- Melton Foundation
- Zusammen Leben Gestalten e.V.
- Chin Chin Organization (youth group initiative)
- BÄMM – Beteiligung: Äktion Meine Meinung
Together, they presented a diverse range of activities, including cultural exchange, student engagement, youth participation, anti-discrimination work, and community-building initiatives in Erfurt. After the presentations, the event continued with an informal networking phase. Participants shared food, exchanged contacts, discussed ongoing projects, and explored concrete opportunities for collaboration and volunteering.
The International Café offered an open and welcoming atmosphere that encouraged spontaneous conversations and cross-organisational exchange.
For CGE, the Networking Evening was not only the closing milestone of SK4D, but also a practical demonstration of the project’s core themes: active participation, and community engagement. The event created new links between initiatives and individuals and strengthened existing networks. Several participants expressed interest in follow-up meetings, joint activities, and volunteering and internship opportunities.
As SK4D comes to an end, the connections made during this evening continue in new collaborations and local community engagement.
