Minutes of the BNC meeting Potsdam, 30th – 31st March 2007 Present Austria Belarus Belgium Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Iceland Ireland Italy Latvia Norway Poland Romania Russia Serbia Spain Sweden Switzerland The Netherlands Turkey Ukraine UK Invited: Albania GB Office Tanja Weissensteiner* Dr. Alan Flowers, Olya Trashkova Helga de Pauw Goran Jutrisa Effie Mentrali Pavlina Zbornikova Kari Käsper, Martin Saar Ville Vasaramäki, Krista Simberg* François Guliana Graffe Martin Hoffmann* Anna Palaiologk, Elisabeth Sergiadou* Kristbjörg Bjarnadóttir Seamus Carey, Karen Concannon Ilaria Bianchi Martins Kalis Bjarne W. Fjeld Beata Skobodzinska Crina Nicolaescu*, Maria Manolescu Ekaterina Alisievich* Mladen Nijemcevic (also representing FYROM) Carla López González Karlis Lapsa, Gunnel Palmer Michel Hochstrasser David Bokhorst Bentley J. Yaffe Sasha Andrusyk Ian Millar, Marcus Pollard** Besard Hoxha, Pranvera Rokaj, Lorena Serjani, Gerti Gjoni Catherine Zanev, Fredrick Lee‐Ohlsson, Gust Helland, Tapio Schrey Philipp J. Scharff* * only took part during day 1, ** only took part during day 2 The European Youth Parliament is a programme of the Heinz-Schwarzkopf-Foundation Young Europe
BNC Plenary (day 1) 1. PJS welcomed the BNC to Berlin and thanked all NCs for their impressive work. Passed and planned activities in the National Committees 2. The NCs informed of their passed and future activities: 1. Ukraine a. Kyiv International Session is being finalised (reports, finances, etc.) b. Regional Session took place in March 2007 in Sumy with participants from Georgia and Moldova c. EYP Ukraine is involved in Europe Day celebration, provide all volunteers d. The current EYP Ukraine board will be leaving in autumn – training for future board members is being planned over summer. 2. Russia Please see attached info sheet. 3. Finland Please see attached info sheet. NB: Missing in info sheet is that EYP Finland runs a Europe course programme in schools, consisting of simulations of EYP sessions in one day. 4. Cyprus a. A NC has been founded b. The first NSC is to be held in Sept. 2007, organised by a large group of active alumni. 5. Czech Republic a. The old board stepped down and a new board has been elected in March 2007. b. EYP CZ will host the international spring session in 2008 in Prague. Please also see attached info sheet. 6. France Please see attached info sheet. 7. Iceland a. So far only one school involved. b. Want to organise a NSC in the near future. 8. Estonia a. Estonian National Session to be held in Oct. 2007 – invitations for international participants will be sent out in June. b. Cooperation established with local governments for additional projects. Please also see attached info sheet. 9. The UK a. 14 regional for a are being held every year, plus one NSC b. Two innovations this year: 1) Relaunch of outreach programme, 2) “EYP Talk” (pilot project on e‐democracy) was launched last year The European Youth Parliament is a programme of the Heinz-Schwarzkopf-Foundation Young Europe
10. The Netherlands a. EYP NL increased national activities b. Two preliminaries and one NSC has been held last year c. A Think Tank and various gatherings have been organised for alumni. 11. Albania a. A group of four representatives from the EYP initiative of Albania was present at the BNC meeting and introduced itself. 12. Macedonia, represented by EYP Serbia a. NSC held in Nov. 2006 with 70 participants b. Regional Forum held in Orhid in Dec. 2006 13. Serbia Please see attached info sheet. 14. Romania a. Summer camp held in Greece in 2006 b. Winter camp held in Slovakia in 2006 c. NSC to be held in April 2007 with 160 participants 15. Croatia a. NSC held in June 2006 b. Need to involve more and new people 16. Austria a. Old board had been inactive for a while – no activities took place in 2006 b. A new board has been elected in the beginning of 2007 c. A NSC will be held in April 2007 17. Belgium a. 33 schools have been involved in 3 National Sessions in the European Parliament in Brussels b. A reform of the organisation has been made, with a division into three sectors. The efficiency of this reform will now be assessed. 18. Greece a. In Feb. 2006, a NSC has been held in Athens with 90 participants b. In Nov. 2006 a CJO training course has been held c. In Dec. 2006, a NSC has been held in Thessaloniki with 240 participants from 50 schools d. The NSC in Athens is taking place at the end of March 2007 19. Germany a. Franco‐German forum in Dec. 2006 b. Potsdam International Session organised in March 2007 c. In May 2007, the Bad Urach Forum will be held as well as the NSC in Munich d. EYP Germany helps with the organisation of the Euro‐Mediterranean Youth Parliament (EMYP) e. In June 2007, an international forum will be held in Hambach 20. Poland a. BLISS being organised, please also see attached info sheet. The European Youth Parliament is a programme of the Heinz-Schwarzkopf-Foundation Young Europe
21. Belarus a. Two mini‐NSCs have been held in September and Nov. 2006 in Minsk b. Two training sessions have been help in Nov. 2006 and Jan. 2007 c. Delegates from BY have participated in several regional sessions 22. Latvia a. Two NScs have been held last year b. Now, TELLUS goes back to one NSC per year and will look for international chairs c. The post session processing of VeRi is going well. d. Tellus organised the Daugavpils session with BY participation e. In May 2007, a FIT training course will be held f. Ideas for an involvement if Lithuania are being developed. 23. Ireland a. 3 Regional Sessions have been held b. Attempts have been made to broaden the access of different youth groups to EYP 24. Norway a. The next NSC will be held in Sept. 2007 25. Sweden a. NSC has been held successfully in Feb. 2007 b. Next NSC will be held in Jan. 2008 in the north of the country c. Local committees are being established in four cities across the country Please see also attached info sheet. 26. Italy Please see attached info sheet. 27. Switzerland Please see attached info sheet. 28. Spain a. First NSC held in Feb. 2007 b. Next NSCs to be held in Sept. 2007 and March 2008 29. Turkey a. Session with Turkish schools took place in Dec. 2006 b. EYP Turkey has difficulty to recruit Turkish delegates with sufficient level in English c. International Forum to be held in April 2007 Presentation of Upcoming International Sessions Bialystok, Poland, summer 2007 3. Beata Skobodzinska went on to inform about the upcoming session in Bialystok: a. A preparatory meeting took place in Feb. 2007 b. The session will have 3 lead themes – human rights, political transformation and equal opportunities. c. Some funding applications still to be decided; financial situation tense at the moment d. The session received media patronage and the patronage of Amnesty International The European Youth Parliament is a programme of the Heinz-Schwarzkopf-Foundation Young Europe
e. The organisers additionally gave a power point presentation of the session – please find it attached. f. The NCs were asked to advertise the event in their NCs – application deadline for non‐
Potsdam delegates is April 10th. Dublin, Ireland, autumn 2007 4. Seamus Carey went on to inform about the upcoming session in Dublin: a. Dates are still to be set b. Teambuilding will be held in Wicklow, 45 minutes from Dublin c. Committee Work and GA are supposed to be take place in Dublin d. Head Organisers are Andrew Byrne and Seamus Carey Prague, Czech Republic, spring 2008 5. Pavlina Zbornikova went on to inform about the planned session in Prague: a. The session will take place from April 3rd to April 12th 2008 b. Planning is to start right after the session in Potsdam Liverpool, UK, summer 2008 6. Ian Millar went on to inform about the upcoming session in Liverpool: a. The session will take place in the last week of July b. The budget is between £ 100.000 and 150.000, of which £ 80.000 have already been fundraised c. The National Organising Committee will be expanded over this summer International Sessions in 2008 and the future 7. The Manager announced that the International Sessions in autumn 2008 and spring 2009 were still vacant and encouraged the National Committees to host these sessions. Deadline for applications is June 1st 2007 News and updates from the Manager 8. The Manager reminded that the annual report 2006 was ready in its first draft and that NCs were asked to send any changes or amendments in until April 10th 2007 9. The Manager announced that the brochure in digital format was now almost ready and would be available in the office very soon 10. The Manager announced that the new President of the European Parliament, Hans‐Gert Pöttering, has agreed to be patron of the EYP as a whole. 11. The Manager told the BNC that EYP/HSS wants to organise a celebration in the courtyard of the EYP International Office, celebrating 20 years of EYP National Committees on the 7th July 2007 in Berlin. The NCs were asked for suggestions regarding the programme and to promote the event in their country. 12. The Manager gave a short review of some highlights and successes of the last year: The European Youth Parliament is a programme of the Heinz-Schwarzkopf-Foundation Young Europe
a. He stressed how impressive and highly valuable the huge amount of events organised by the NCs is. b. He underlined the success of the three International Sessions in the past year and the attempts to further improve the quality of the content and sessions. c. He reminded, that since last year, the EYP/HSS now has its Charter, a new logo and an ever growing recognition at the European level, to be seen in three Commissioners that attended International Sessions last year, the President of the European Parliament, attending the session in Paris, Javier Solana, being the patron of the Kyiv session and Terry Davis, Secretary General of the CoE becoming patron of the EYP. d. He therefore encouraged the BNC to be proud of these developments, all due to the commitment of the EYP volunteers all over Europe. Dates of the next meeting 13. The next BNC meeting will be held on Friday and Saturday of the GA of the International Session in Ireland in autumn 2007. GB update 14. The governors who were present at the BNC meeting Fredrick Lee‐Ohlsson, Catherine Zanev, Tapio Schrey and Gust Helland each gave a short update on his/her work: a. Fredrick Lee‐Ohlsson (Academic Management and Quality Management) i.
Work has been put on the improvement of delegate preparation. They now receive different documents consisting of general links for research on European topics, guidelines for preparation and a preparation kit including research links for their specific topics, keywords and a short overview on their topic written by the committee chair. ii.
FLO encouraged NCs to use the topics from the international sessions for their national or regional events also as well as preparation material. iii.
FLO stressed the responsibility of all stakeholders, including the responsibility of NCs to ensure their delegations are prepared. The feed‐back material from Kyiv06 serves to facilitate that work. iv.
FLO welcomed the chairs content training that was held prior to Potsdam07 and informed the BNC that one for Potsdam07 also will be held. v.
FLO reported that a task force to assess and develop the GA procedure was being set up to improve the debating in General Assembly. vi.
In reaction to a request from David Bokhorst (The Netherlands) to have only English as the official language of EYP, FLO outlined a trial that will be made in view to improve the situation with working languages. At the session, there will be 1 purely French speaking committee (during TB and CW), whilst the other committees work in English. The resolution of the French speaking committee will be translated into English. In GA everybody is free to speak English or The European Youth Parliament is a programme of the Heinz-Schwarzkopf-Foundation Young Europe
vii.
French. This model was successfully implemented at the Swedish NSC and will now be trialled in Bialystok. FLO also reported on Angela Bowen’s portfolio and gave a short overview of the consultation that had been made among the NCs. He also reported that a consultation would be made among EYP Alumni as well. b. Gust Helland (Session Management, Programme review) i.
GH reported that the organisers of the upcoming International Sessions will be encouraged to use a mentor (i.e. former organiser of an International Session) in the preparation of the session along with the support of the GB and the international office. ii.
GH highlighted the importance of the teacher’s programme in the EYP sessions with the EYP being a programme for schools. GH has therefore developed some guidelines and tips for the teacher’s programme at the international sessions. c. Tapio Schrey (Human Resources) i.
Please see attached presentation. ii.
In reaction to the presentation, Michel Hochstrasser (Switzerland) welcomed the new openness of the recommendation database and the possibility for every EYP participant to view his/her own recommendations. He suggested to further advertise this possibility. iii.
Seamus Carey (Ireland) suggested that Chairpersons should also be evaluated by their delegates and not only by the session president. TS answered that the GB was discussing a change of the current recommendation system to a much more open feedback system. d. Catherine Zanev (Relations with National Committees) i.
CZ reported that much work had been put in elaborating the recognition process and the recognition criteria of the NCs. ii.
CZ also reported that two new EYP initiatives had been founded in Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina. iii.
CZ and Dr. Alan Flowers reported of new initiative groups in Moldova and Georgia and advocated for support of these initiatives. iv.
CZ outlined the genesis of the present NC recognition criteria and explained that the Charter demanded such recognition criteria. The GB had therefore taken the Memorandum of Understanding that had been discussed at the past BNC meeting as a basis for such recognition criteria. The GB was now seeking the feed‐
back and discussion with the National Committees on this draft. 15. The GB informed about two GB decisions, taken at the last GB meeting: a. Timing of GB elections 2007 As recommended by the BNC, the next elections would start in mid‐May and to be The European Youth Parliament is a programme of the Heinz-Schwarzkopf-Foundation Young Europe
finished by the end of June. The old GB (GBII) would be in office until 31st August with the new GB (GBIII) taking office on September 1st. b. Last minute delegates On the basis of the recommendations made by the BNC in Kyiv, the GB decided to adopt the following policy for last minute delegates: i.
Manager announces free places ii.
NCs have 7 days to state their interest in additional places for additional delegates iii.
Additional delegates have to have gone through a National Selection Process iv.
Free places are equally shared among interested NCs v.
The first priority will be to share the additional places among those interested NCs who have less then 10 delegates at the session. Only if all interested NCs have 10 places at the session, it will be allowed to allocate more than 10 places to an interested NC. vi.
No NC shall have more than 12 places in total at one session The GB affirmed that jurys at national sessions should keep a reserve list to enable ‘last minute places’ to be allocated more easily. 16. The GB reported that at its last GB meeting it had decided to suggest a Charter change to the BNC. Background of this suggestion was the wish to have a better continuity in the GB. After a short discussion, the BNC voted on the suggested Charter change. 27 NCs present voted in favour of the suggested changes to the Charter of EYP and thereby changed the Charter as follows: Old wording: 12) Terms of office of the GB a) The terms of office are fixed at one year with the possibility of re‐election, so long as the candidates remain eligible as defined by this Charter. New wording: 12) Terms of office of the GB a) The terms of office are fixed at two years with the possibility of re‐election, so long as the candidates remain eligible as defined by this Charter. b) Elections take place every year with the BNC voting in the uneven years and the Alumni voting in the even years. Please find the new and updated Charter attached. The BNC agreed, that in the transition period (elections 2007), the governors elected by the NCs would be elected for two years and the The European Youth Parliament is a programme of the Heinz-Schwarzkopf-Foundation Young Europe
ones by the Alumni for one year with the alumni being elected for two years the next year getting into a pattern of changing half of the GB every year. 17. The BNC members split up into small groups, each with one GB member, to give their feed‐
back, suggestions and thoughts on the suggested recognition criteria for NCs. The governors have collected the following voices: a. Group 1 (facilitated by FLO) • There was a wide agreement on the recognition criteria and the discussion mainly focused on school delegations and the pros and cons. While one NC outlined its wish to continue to select individuals rather than schools to maintain a high quality of its delegations, other NCs objected. • It was stressed that the question of teachers was important and that they are a valuable resource for EYP. • It was noted with approval that the question of diversity is addressed in the criteria. • Some concerns were raised regarding the implementation and whether the GB would effectively be in a position to control that it would be followed. b. Group 2 (facilitated by TS) • It was stressed that teachers are important in the EYP, but it was questioned what exactly the term «running in the organisation» implies and suggested to change the wording. • The interpretation of ‘responsible adults’ accompanying delegations was discussed with various opinions on it. • On school delegations, it was stressed that freedom should be given to NCs to decide wether they want to select individuals or school teams, while they need to ensure the elimination of possible negative aspects of selecting individuals. • The notion of ‘democratic’ national selections was proposed to be changed. c. Group 3 (facilitated by CZ) • It was suggested to replace the word «democratic» as a criterion for the national selection process with «fair and inclusive». • It was noted that the need for delegations to be accompanied should only concern the spring and autumn sessions. There was a wish to turn the accompanying adult being a teacher into a commitment instead. There was also a question whether it is necessary to have accompanying adults if there were no minors in the delegation. • There was a suggestion to make the co‐ordination of efforts between NCs organising regional and national events and the HSS/EYP office as regards fundraising an obligation. • It was proposed to include an obligation that NCs need to co‐ordinate the invitation of delegations from another country with the respective NCs in these countries. The European Youth Parliament is a programme of the Heinz-Schwarzkopf-Foundation Young Europe
•
The issue of how to deal with parallel EYP initiatives as written in the document on the recognition process was proposed to be extended also to existing NCs. d. Group 4 (facilitated by GH) • The question had focused on the role of teachers and school delegations. • It was concluded there is a variety among NCs in different countries and that the selection of individuals and of school teams as delegations for international sessions should be equally accepted. CZ highlighted that it will be made explicit that – in accordance with the Charter – it is the BNC that decides, following a proposal by the GB, on any exclusion of a NC in case of non‐compliance with the recognition criteria. The European Youth Parliament is a programme of the Heinz-Schwarzkopf-Foundation Young Europe
II. BNC Discussions (day 2) Funding of BNC Meetings 1. FLO informed that the EYP office has submitted an application for funding of BNC meetings to a foundation supporting the management of youth organisations. Should this application be successful, BNC meetings will be covered. A survey was conducted at the meeting amongst the NCs present on how their participation was covered: 7 NCs provided full coverage of the participation, 5 NCs partial coverage of the participation (e.g. travel but not accommodation) and 8 NCs no coverage of the participation. The BNC welcomed the efforts of the EYP office. Diversity 2. Ian Millar (the UK) informed the BNC of why the UK had suggested adding this item to the agenda. EYP UK had noted that it had mainly been represented by white, middle class students and considered that the EYP should be representative, hence delegations should reflect the make‐up of each country. Therefore, they had launched the Outreach programme and started going to schools from disadvantaged areas. As it is always easier to involve the engaged and more difficult with the disengaged, the UK made a plea for that EYP should make an active effort in reaching out. Seamus Carey (IE) said EYP Ireland invited students from disadvantaged areas to come to regular EYP sessions without costs and noted high participation fees as an obstacle when reaching out. It was decided that a joint working group will be set up to come up with concrete proposals as to how ensure greater diversity in the EYP. Working languages 3. The BNC discussed in informal setting (with representatives of 14 NCs present) the question of working languages. There was a consensus that the current situation was not entirely satisfactory. Certain NCs preferred abolishing French as the second working language, while others opposed. An overview was made as regards the pros and cons of having a second working language. The proposal by the GB for an improvement of the usage of working languages was discussed. The GB made it known that it will delay its implementation for a later stage than previewed as to ensure that a wider circle of views will be heard. Workshop on EYP matters The BNC discussed in smaller groups the questions of why and how EYP is done in various NCs in order to learn about other NCsʹ understandings of the aims and means of doing EYP as well as to share knowledge best practices. It was much appreciated by the NCs present and proposed to be repeated for the next BNC. The GB will open a section for the results in the Knowledge Bank, and encourages NCs to share their way of doing EYP by updating their part of the page. Miscellaneous The BNC decided to discuss some issues that had caught its attention during the two days at its next meeting such as the issue of diversity and the political and non‐political dimensions of the EYP. The European Youth Parliament is a programme of the Heinz-Schwarzkopf-Foundation Young Europe
European Youth Parliament
HR Brief to the BNC Meeting Potsdam07
www.eypfinland.org
www.eypej.org
www.eurooppakurssi.fi
www.eypalumni.org
Potsdam
Helsingin Yliopisto
30.3.2007
8.2.2007
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Recommendation system
Recommendations coming in in time
Access opened for EYPers to
recommendations written about them
Updated, more simple and more clear
recommendation questionnaire
Rec. Questionnaire for National and
Regional sessions
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Recommendation system
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Emphasising 2nd chance: possibility to
comment ‘negative’ recommendations
Introduction of ‘potential’
recommendations
Recommending tackled at Chairs’ training
Next
– Developing the selection processes
– Developing more open, clear and learning
focused recommendation system
HR Reports
A standard report form
Appropriate summarising of Chairs’
reports
Acting on the learning points
Ensuring distribution of learning points (for
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example academic report by FLO)
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Competence development
Chairs’ Content Training for International
Session Chairs
– A weekend a month before session
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Updating certificates / diplomas to better
recognise the non-formal learning
EYP Knowledge bank
EYP Knowledge Bank
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A way to collect, share and develop EYP’s
knowledge
Online, easy to edit
Accessible to all EYPers via Alumni
Network
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4
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National Committees
BNC Documents
Lists of board members and portfolios
Contact details
Lists and descriptions of interesting
projects
Documents, guides and best practises to
share
etc…
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Editing
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Discussion pages
Questions or Ideas?
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I’ll be here till Sunday morning
[email protected]
Knowledge Bank
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