Bern 2015:19th National Selection

Conference of EYP Switzerland

[Officials] Welcome Booklet

The City of Bern

Point of information

“Bern connects urban life with mountains in an impressive way”, the Bernese tourism organisation says on its website. Indeed, the city is the gate to the marvellous Swiss Alps, and with a bit of luck, one can see them yet when arriving by train.

Bern is located on both sides of the river Aare. The city was originally founded in 1191 by Berchtold V, Duke of Zähringen. The origin of the city’s name has never been proven. According to the most famous myth about it, Berchtold V hunted down a bear and therefore named the city Bern. The bear has always been symbolically connected to Bern and constitutes the main motive of the Bernese coat of arms.

The session is going to be the 19th National Selection Conference and the very first one to take place in the political centre of Switzerland. The selected delegates will represent the Swiss National Committee at International Sessions and other events in 2015 and 2016. 130 delegates mainly from Switzerland, but as well from Swe-den, France and Portugal, will be divided into 11 committees. They will elaborate resolutions about their specific topics, led by the session theme ‘Europe in a globalising world’.

Facts box Bern

Area 51,62 km2Population 139’321 (Feb. 2015)Elevation 542 mLanguage GermanGovernment Gemeinderat with 5 membersMayor Alexander Tschäppät (Social Democratic Party)

Arrival in Bern

Getting to Bern is fairly easy. The city is very well connected to the rest of the country. We advise to travel here by train.

All Officials are expected to be in Bern by 11:00 a.m. on the 1st of September 2015. An organiser will be waiting for you at the train station (at the main meeting point, with placards) and will accompany you to the accomodation venue. Please note that we do not offer pick-ups from any airport. You will have to make your way to Bern train station on your own.

With the Swiss Federal Railways SBB, Bern is easily and swiftly reachable by train. Two of the three international airports in Switzerland provide a direct service to Bern. The journey by train takes 1h 15mins from Zurich Airport and 1h 50mins from Gene-va Airport. If you fly to Basel, you need to take a bus first (short trip of 15mins) to Basel railway station. From there, you reach Bern in one hour.

Seat reservations are not necessary in Switzerland. During day-time, there are regularly two trains per hour from the above mentioned airports to Bern. You can check the SBB timetable on http://www.sbb.ch/en/timetable.html If you travel only by train, the website is very reliable for interna-tional train connections, too.

DAY TIME EVENT

Tuesday, Sept 1st by 11:00 a.m.AfternoonEvening

Officials Arrival and LunchCJOJ TrainingDinner and Socialising

Wednesday, Sep 2nd Morningby 11:00 a.m.

CJOJ TrainingDelegates’ Arrival

as of 1 p.m. Teambuilding (TB)Evening Opening Ceremony and

Delegation Presentation

Thursday, Sep 3rd Morning TB / Committee WorkAfternoon Committee WorkEvening Swiss Village

Friday, Sep 4th All day Committee WorkEvening Apéro

Workshops

Saturday, Sep 5th Morning GA preparationGeneral Assembly

Afternoon General AssemblyEvening Committee Dinner

Farewell Party (Theme: Grease)

Sunday, Sep 6th All day General AssemblyAfternoon Closing Ceremony

Departures (no later than 6pm)

Session Overview

VenuesAccommodation

All Officials will be accomodated in the civil protection shelter All-mend. It is necessary for all of you to bring your own sleeping bag and towel to the bunker. Cussions are provided for. The venue is for Officials only. Delegates will stay at the Youth Hostel.

The address is the following:Zivilschutzanlage AllmendMingerstrasse 14 a-dCH-3014 Bern

Tram no. 9 (direction Wankdorf Bahnhof), get off at “Guisanplatz”

Gymnasium Bern-Kirchenfeld

The Gymnasium Kirchenfeld has collaborated with the National Committee for several Regional Sessions in the last four years and will host Teambuilding, the prestigious Opening Ceremony as well as the workshops held by the Media Team. It is located at Kirchenfeldstrasse 25, CH-3005 Bern.

Trams no. 6,7,8 or bus no. 19 get off at “Helvetiaplatz”

Universal Postal Union - Head Quarters

Finally, the prestigious Weltpostverein’s headquarters (Uni-versal Postal Union) is our location for the General Assembly as well as for the Closing Ceremony. The UPU is the second oldest international organisation worldwide. It is the prima-ry forum for cooperation between postal sector players. It is located at Weltpoststrasse 8, CH-3015 Bern.

Tram no. 8 (direction Saali), get off at “Weltpostverein”

University of Bern - Von Roll Areal

Founded in 1834, the University of Bern is one of Switzerland’s larg-est universities with more than 17’000 students. Committee Work will take place in the very modern Von Roll building which has been opened only in 2013. It is located at Von Roll, Fabrikstrasse 2, CH-3012 Bern.

Bus no. 11 (direction Güterbahnhof), get off at “Güterbahnhof”

Code of Conduct

Dear Officials

EYP Switzerland’s code of conduct outlines the basic guide for conduct during the National Selection Conference, Bern 2015, for the protection of the participants and the organisation throughout the duration of the event.

By taking part in an event organised by EYP Switzerland, participants agree to adhere to the code of conduct provided here and upon arrival at the event.

We would like to make your EYP experience a fantastic one, and to achieve this goal, we trust you to cooperate with us by respect-ing the rules mentioned here.

At the check-in, all officials will be asked to sign this code of conduct. For your information find the code of conduct below. Please print out the code of conduct, sign it and bring it along to the session. It can be found here: http://bit.ly/1TnmFV5

Participants’ presence

Participation in session events

All of the events in the session programme are compulso-ry for all delegates, including the evening programme(s). Active participation in all of the activities is encouraged. Should participants need to abstain from any part of the programme, exceptions may be made on a case-to-case basis if so agreed by the Head Organisers and Board of EYP Switzerland.

Leaving session venues

During the session, participants are under the joint re-sponsibility of EYP Switzerland and delegates’ schools, represented by the respective teachers. To ensure that the organising team is aware of the whereabouts of all session participants (particularly in case of emergencies), it is not permitted to leave the venue of any session element or the accommodation at any time without explicit permission from the Head Organisers and Board of EYP Switzerland, least of all at night. Exceptions may be made in individual cases but failure to respect this rule will be taken extremely seriously.

Medical emergencies

EYP Switzerland provides a session medic throughout the session. Before leaving a session activity for health or emer-gency reasons, he or she needs to be contacted.

Drugs

The possession and consumption of illegal drugs is prohibited from the ses-sion. Infringement will result in immediate expulsion from the session.

Smoking

Smoking is only permitted for those legally allowed to do so. Smokers may do so during official breaks only and are expected to respect the individual regulations at each venue.

Alcohol

According to Swiss federal law, the sale of beer and wine to persons aged less than 16 is prohibited and the sale of other spirituous beverages is prohibited to persons under 18. EYP Switzerland takes these regulations very seriously. While alcohol may only be allowed for people of a legal drinking age, drinking will only be allowed at the farewell party, and exceptionally at events specifically indicated by the session Head Organisers. Therefore, delegates are not to bring any alcohol to the session. Moreover, the maximum amount of alcohol contained in any alcoholic beverage consumed during the session cannot be superior to 15% alc/vol. Over-indulgence in alcohol may result in expulsion from the session.

Failure to respect these rules may, corresponding to the graveness of the breach, result in expulsion from the session. Parents and teachers may be informed accordingly.

General Preparation & Information

Essentials

- ID Card (or Passport, if needed)- Health Insurance information- Cash (~50 CHF) or a credit/debit card- Mobile Phone- Adapter (if needed, Switzerland uses Type J)

What to Bring

- Sleeping bag - Enough clothing for 5 days (mind the theme for the Farewell Party and of course the different dress codes during the session)- Towels- Everything needed for personal hy-giene- Hair dryer (if needed) - Shower slippers- Umbrella- AdapterEmergency Sheet

You must download, fill out, print and sign the Emergency Sheet. You will then have to bring it along during registration and only the session medic will have access to it. Further information is available on the first page of the form.

You can download the form at http://bit.ly/1MYcLFj

Also, don’t forget about filling out the Officials’ travel form until 26 August 2015: http://bit.ly/1PdHyf2

Please consider

- Upon your arrival you will receive a free public transport ticket which will be valid throughout the entire time during the session- There is free Wifi available for you at all times at each venue - Committee Dinner on Saturday eve-ning will not be covered by the session budget so you will have to pay for your own meal.- Permitted alcoholic beverages at the session will be at your own expense as well.- do not forget to bring your own sleep-

Additional nights

Accommodation prior and after the session is not set yet. We might be able to host some Officials at an Organisers’ place. Should we not have enough capacity to host all Officials, there will be a possiblity to stay the extra night(s) at the bunker which will be at your own cost (23 CHF/night). We will inform you accordingly as soon as we know more about where you will be staying the extra nights should you require any.

Important things to consider before you are off to Bern

- Fill out the travel form (http://bit.ly/1PdHyf2) by Wednesday, 26 August.

- Do not forget to bring your own sleeping bag and an adapter (for Type J) along to the session.

- Print out, sign and bring along the emergency sheet (http://bit.ly/1MYcLFj) to the session.

- Print out, sign and bring along the code of con-duct (http://bit.ly/1TnmFV5) to the session.

- Keep all your train (and airplane) ticket receits and hand them to organisers at registration.

- Committee Dinner on Saturday evening and permitted alcoholic beverages on CJOJ night on Tuesday and the Farewell Party will be at your own expense.

- You might need to pay for your required extra nights (23 CHF/night) on your own - final informa-tion on that matter will follow shortly.

- Don’t forget about your outfit for the “Grease” farewell party!

Bern 2015 is sponsored and supported by:

Main sponsor

Further sponsors and supporters

Get in touch

If you need any further information, do not hesitate to contact us:

Manon: manon.schuerch@eyp.ch / tel: +41 79 227 04 51Moritz: moritz.bondeli@eyp.ch / tel: +41 79 357 41 89

Session website: www.eyp.ch/bern2015