The Speak Out Project is a youth-led initiative coordinated by ESN International, together with European Alternatives and several Erasmus Student Network’s member organisations, that focuses on promoting intercultural understanding while strengthening democratic participation, combating misinformation and stereotypes. By educating targeted groups such as young people, youth workers and policymakers through trainings, dialogues, and international exchanges, it leads to more active citizenship and reacting to various problems on both national and international level all across Europe.
Ada Victa from Romania is the Project Manager of ESN Romania and the national coordinator of the Speak Out project in the country. During the project, she was responsible for coordinating activities, supporting implementation at national level and ensuring smooth collaboration between local teams and the wider European partnership.
In this interview, Victa shares her personal experience within the project reflecting on the challenges of moderating discussions, the importance of teamwork and leadership so as on the stereotypes surrounding Erasmus and youth mobility. She also speaks about what motivates young people to engage in civic life, the barriers that still exist in breaking down stereotypes, and her hopes for a more accessible and informed future for youth participation in Europe.
The Speak Out project is about combating the stereotypes. What are the worst stereotypes that you heard?
That Erasmus is not for everyone because it is way too expensive. That is true but we are trying to make it seem accessible for everyone. We want to achieve that you do not need to come from a rich family to access this program. I also heard that Erasmus is dangerous, that you may go somewhere and end up being deported, which is definitely not true.
What do you think, why are stereotypes so hard to break?
I feel like it's the culture. Especially in Romania there are so many stereotypes that we are trying to fight. Still, it needs a lot of time and will to combat them.
How can people engage in similar projects like Speak Out?
Well, we are trying to make more events like this by applying for more projects in the future. We especially want to organize more events on advocacy. It was a great start but people want more so, hopefully, there will be opportunities.
What are you hoping that SpeakOut will manage to do in five years?
Probably make the stakeholders more involved, both on the local and the national level. We started a discussion with someone from the European Parliament and later he discussed after with us in the European Parliament about Erasmus. It was really a great outcome.
If you could change one thing in your country, what would it be?
I think I would make everything more accessible for everyone. We have so many programs and projects that people do not know of. Make them more visible, let's say.
In your opinion, what are the characteristics that a true leader needs to have?
First, communication and delegation. You cannot do everything alone and it is very important to carefully choose the people that you are going to work with. Personally, I had counsellors but my national team helped me a lot. In a way it was more like teamwork.
What personally motivates you to be part of political processes?
What motivates me are the people that are involved. So many of us want a change in Romania, they want to make a difference and to leave a mark.
