Empower Change-makers for a Harmonious Europe (ECHO)

Democracy & Human Rightscivic participation

Jul 8

**Empower Change-makers for a Harmonious Europe (ECHO) by DE/MO**

Democracy and participation are hot topics in election cycles, but what about the rest of the time? And are diverse voices being heard in the discourse? These are the issues DE/MO seeks to address with Empower Change-makers for a Harmonious Europe, or ECHO, an initiative designed to foster active citizenship and promote democratic participation through the arts.

Conceived by partners from the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Bulgaria, and Greece, this two-year project aims to move beyond traditional political engagement methods and leverage arts and culture to empower underrepresented voices in the European conversation.

The initiative runs from June 2024 to 2026 and has a € 390,700 budget from the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Programme (CERV). The project partners will organise academies across Europe to empower young artists in civic participation, conduct awareness-raising campaigns on crucial topics like AI and digitalisation, and host events and activities to stimulate democratic engagement.