Young people from Germany, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Ukraine participated in the German-Baltic Conference (GBC) 2023 on October 26-29, which took place in Tartu, Estonia. During this event, the youth had the chance to discuss important issues of today’s world, gain new knowledge, make new friends, and develop lifelong memories.

The topic of this year’s conference was "Freedom as a shared European value". Such theme of the conference enabled youth ambassadors to participate in workshops and develop policy papers on the following topics: environmental freedom, freedom of speech, -movement, and -creative expression.

Another topic explored at this event was "Sustainable communication and media usage in international youth work". Participants from the member organizations of the German-Baltic Youth Exchange Network (GBYN) had a chance to develop their skills in youth organization’s brand image formation in social media and marketing. To consolidate the knowledge gained and help other organizations struggling with brand image, guidelines for media usage for youth work were created.

Participants not only engaged in educational activities, but also spent time learning about Estonian culture. On the second day of the conference, the participants visited the Estonian National Museum and explored the host city on the Tartu night tour. Partakers of the conference also had a chance to get to know traditional Estonian music with the help of a concert by Duo Ruut.

Time at the GBC flew by and was filled with smiles, talks, and loads of fun. Next year the conference will take place in Vilnius, Lithuania. Until next time!

Tadas Ambrozaitis - Lithuanian School Students' Union

and participant at the German-Baltic Conference 2023