Location: European Academy Otzenhausen 
Target group: Students and interested parties

It was a week packed with discussions, workshops, simulations and exchanges on democracy, empowerment, resilience and political regimes. That was, in a nutshell, 'MAYMESTER 2025: Discover the Heart of Europe”, which had 37 participants from Kennesaw State University (Atlanta, Georgia, USA) and the University of Paderborn (Paderborn, Germany) and htw saar (Saarbrücken, Germany). 
American, German and French students came together to learn how democratic societies can act and shape their future in order to overcome global crises. 
Thanks to their innovative thinking, they came up with many great ideas for the active engagement of civil society.

Take a look at some of their contributions, such as a video and two poems.

Roses are red, violets are blue.
Hunger is bad, so what should we do?
In developing countries with no water and no food,
Children are dying — and that is the truth.
Their stomachs are empty, their voices are weak,
They don’t have the strength even to speak.
The sun scorches down on dry, cracked land,
While we scroll and swipe with snacks in hand.
They drink from puddles, if there are any near,
Not knowing if illness or death waits there.
We say, “It’s far,” like that makes it okay,
But hunger is here — even today.
Right now, while we sit in this room,
A child lies silent in hunger’s gloom.
Not because of fate or some divine plan,
But choices made by fellow man.

Food gets wasted by the ton,
While 800 million have close to none.
We binge, we toss, we turn a blind eye,
But tell me — why do the innocent die?
Why does aid get stuck in red tape?
Why does profit override escape?
Why does it take disaster and war
To notice the suffering we can’t ignore?
UNICEF, SOS-Kinderdörfer, Médecins Sans Frontières — they fight on the frontlines to make the world care.
While human rights courts raise voices unheard,
Demanding that justice is more than a word.
But we can change this — you and me.
Through action, through voice, through policy.

Support fair trade, donate, speak loud,
Raise your voice, stand up proud.
Support farmers, fund schools, plant a seed,
Empower the people — not just feed a need.
Because hunger’s not only the lack of a meal,
It’s being forgotten, unheard, unreal.
So roses are red, and violets are blue.
Hunger is bad — but we know what to do.
Let’s rise up together, let's answer the call.
For food, for justice, for dignity — for all.

(by Asli, Kennedy, Lucy, Wendy, Grace and Emilie)

Never Again Begins

Whispered lies 
Are louder than you think.
An octopus 
Is more easily eaten
In small bites.

Do you believe
That ordinary people 
Are capable 
Of hatred and
Unfathomable atrocities?

Do you see it?
Do you hear it?
Do you know it?
Or, do you look away?
Can you say?

Who are we 
If not the other?
Who are they
If not our brother?
We are one, not someone else.

It’s not about you.
It’s not about me.
It’s not about them
Or they or him or her.

It’s about us.
Gather with me.
Take my hand.
I will lead,
And I will follow.
Together we can make a way.

Struggle free
From hopelessness.
Be awakened from your sleep.
Not to act is acting still.
It is a choice, an act of will.

Freedom calls us:
Fight for those who suffer 
from the unseen,
the unheard,
the unspeakable.
We must act.

To see.
To speak.
To be ONE.
To be THE one.

A multiplicity of ones 
becomes much more than just its sum.
United in democracy
Convicted of
Complacency.
We choose to see.

It is we who gather.
We are those who hope,
The ones who bridge 
The great divide.
We are us, no longer them.

Never again, 
begins with me.
Never again, 
begins with you.
Because we choose,
Never again, begins right now.
(by mattie frascella)