Official Magazine of the International Forum on Integration in Wiesbaden, 2011

Farewell Issue

In this Issue:FarewellGossipPlenumInterviewsOpen Stage

2.

Dear Pieces of the International Forum on Integration inWiesbaden,

Congratulations. Congratulations on a truly unique andexciting experience. Congratulations on meeting newpeople, on overcoming new challenges, on making adifference. Congratulations on a Forum lived.

The Press Room Issues here have been called 'Pieces', forthe name brings together two of what I consider the mostimportant aspects of this Forum. The first is participation;the various 'pieces', the parts that have come together toform this experience. Literally, these Issues have been but acollection of the Journalist's 'pieces', as their articles aretermed in a magazine. The Journos themselves have been'pieces' of this: hard-working, creative and dedicatedpieces. All you Chairpersons, Organisers, Project Partnersand Delegates have also been 'pieces', integral pieces thathave joined here, like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, tomake this Forum truly special.

The second aspect of the title I would draw attention to isits relevance to the theme of integration. We inhabit afragmented world, a broken puzzle, a world of peopledivided along every conceivable distinction – race, class,gender, age, creed, sexual orientation and so many more. Ido not know what it is of humanity that makes us so keento differentiate between groups of people, but I know thatthere is now also an impetus to put an end to it. As LeoKaindl and your maths teachers have pointed out to you,the opposite of differentiation is integration. Your mathsteacher might not have mentioned that this applies tosociety as well as to functions.

Just as the pieces of this Forum have come together, so it istime for the pieces of a fragmented world to do so. Andyou here may all be proud of having been a 'piece' of thatmovement.

Your Editor,

Eoin O'Leary.

EditorialContentPage 2,

Zeynep Ekinci remembersbeing on that Open Stage

Page 3,Vanessa Janas reviewsthe Plenum & Philipp

Magin looks to its futurePage 5,

Zeynep Ekincimeets the Mayor

Page 7,Leo Kaindl compares

two freak-showsPage 8,

Gwen Pare has a visionfor an Open Society

Page 10,Weronika Mycki has the ultimate

word on the Forum's gossipPage 11,

Weronika Myck continuesthe Forum's Fairy Tale

Page 12,Vanessa Janas has some

answers for you

3.

Open Stage Memories

Zeynep Ekinci gives her re-port on the Open Stage Pro-gramme.

After experiencing a day filled withlots of creative brainstorming and in-spiring discussions, it was time forchilling out with the Open Stage.

The first performers were of courseour hardworking, patient and, on thisnight, very busy Chairs. They had pre-pared a cover of the song ‘Yesterday’which expressed their belief in Wies-baden.

Then Wiebke came up and perfor-med a hilarious puppet show, beforewe welcomed the first Delegate to per-form who played for us on guitar.DROI’s performance involved the‘cool insiders’ and of course the uni-que exclamation mark, and was follo-wed by CULT I’s skilful dancenumber to the song ‘You’re the onethat I want’.

For CULT II’s turn, the Committeemade used the chairs and tablesaround the room, which had the au-dience quite curious. Their show in-volving Delegates as babies andcontinuously talking women did notfail to satisfy.

The Organising Team showed up withtheir great performance ‘SummerLove’ which they have been practisinga lot which also inspired the PressTeam and made us ambitious aboutour performance.

I feel sorry for the unlucky experienceof the Turkish delegates, Erdem andTamer, who wanted to perform“Nothing Else Matters” with the elec-tric guitar but the electric guitar couldnot manage to work properly after itsfall. Their performance was still veryunique, getting everyone to sing along.

Last but not least, EMPL came to thestage with the modified version of“Lemon Tree” reminding all of us ofthe awesome Barney Stinson. The ac-ting skill of the Delegates was con-vincing enough, however Barneyshould have been properly taught howto untie a (yellow) bra.

Coming the end of the Open Stage,which was an event totally filled withcreativity, fun and excitement, everyo-ne seemed like they had had bucket-fulls of fun, feeling satisfied and rela-xed.

4.

Vanessa Janas gives herJournalist Summation Speechappreciating the new Plenumconcept.

Yesterday the sun was shining.Therefore most Committees wereworking outside enjoying the niceweather for energisers, duringCoffee Break and of course, whiledoing sightseeing in Wiesbaden.

Today there was no possibility to gooutside – sitting in the Plenum withartificial light. Fortunately, there wasrain – at least at the beginning of thePlenum.

More Opening Ceremony wasn'tneeded. The Committees stepped rightinto action. Every bit as motivated aswhen they began with the CommitteeWork II – even though normally theSession is finished after the G.A.

This Session there have been twoAssemblies. One, the GeneralAssembly according to the usualprocedure of the European Parliamentand one, the Plenum, organisedaccording to a new concept:

First, the Proposing Committee drewthe link from their former topic andtheir Resolution to the Organisationthey had been working with. Moreoverthe work of the Project Partner wasexplained by its representative.

The second step was the presentationgiven by two or even the wholeCommittee accompanied by theirdisplay. The proposal's target group,needs of the organisation and theCommittee, the situation tackled, theimplementation steps and the aim ofthe project were all defined.

After this followed one or two roundsof Open Debate followed by verycreative Summation Speeches.

Nearly everybody participated activelyin the discussions and elaborated theirown ideas.

Still there were some black sheep thatslept or just didn't take part thatactively.

Maybe that should not astonish us as itis the last day after the farewell party,plus the Coffee Break was lacking thecoffee.

But the Board did everything toinvolve them:

“I'm especially happy to see evenRichard's placard up – half up – no?”

“I know that these seats are verycomfortable and that it is the last dayafter the farewell party. Still, I don'twant anyone to sleep. And right now Isee five people sleeping. Thanks forwaking up.”

“Could the boys in the last row, pleasekeep their eyes open?”

Apart from this little tiredness ormotivation, the Delegates were veryinterested and innovative:

On CULT II, “I'm fond of your projectproposal, but still I have a concern:How do you ensure that a Balu is nopaedophile?”

On FEMM, “There is a movie entitled'Eyes Wide Shut'. Basicly it is about acouple that wants to escape realitythrough having sex. Maybe you shouldreconsider your title because thepeople googling it might get a wrongimpression.”

All the Committees and ProjectPartners received suggestions,amendments, critique and new ideasthat will definitely improve theirproject after as it is taken to the nextlevel.

All the projects have the opportunityto be realised – there was no failurefor proposals at the Plenum, justopportunities to be made better.

All the project partners, besidesgetting project concepts, also gatherednew experiences and through thislearnt something too, for example thatEYP is neither entirely guys in suitsdiscussing politics the whole time nor

Energetic and Mind-Blowing Presentations, Please!

5.

a freak show dancing at 8 o'clock inthe morning.

Perhaps we will soon hear about theprojects 'Don Bosco Connects', 'Eyeswide shut' (or something similar,)'Support for Balu und Du', 'Ideas ofCreative Employees (ICE)' and'Parents in School Associated (PISA)'.

If this happens, the Delegates achievedsomething great and essential for the

society because through their projectthey are helping other people andgiving them the chance to have abetter life.

Therefore the Plenum and this newconcept showed the Project Partnersthe real EYP and made the Delegatesunderstand the real political and socialmovements that have the aim to giveall people the opportunity to have adignified life while being a part of the

society. Maybe this is all integration isreally about.

When we come home after a Session,we will normally have learntsomething, be it socially, politically oron any other level.

But I'm sure there is no Session thatgave us so much valuable experiencesfor our later life as Wiesbaden 2011did.

Philipp Magin looks to what thePlenum concept could mean for thefuture of EYP.

EYP has been in existence for 24years by now, and the tried and trueconcept of a Session withTeambuilding, Committee Work,and finally General Assembly hasnever been changed much. This hasbeen serving its purpose ofgathering young people from allover Europe, raising interest forEuropean issues and personaldevelopment of the delegates.Actually, EYP is even more(including fun).

However, the summary of all EYPresolutions that is annuallysubmitted to the European Unionwon't have an outstanding impactto solve the problems we currentlyface. It is rather the effect EYPexperience has on ourselves andour actions that will make the realdifference.

I am really excited that theInternational Forum on Integrationin Wiesbaden takes this idea to anew level:

No longer do we only proposesuggestions. No longer will the

only noticeable effect be visible onourselves. No longer will wemisjudge situations because we welack knowledge of the practicalexecution.

Now actions will follow up on ourideas. Now we can additionallypick a specific problem andtogether with our Project Partnerstry to put together a project thatwill actually be implemented.

This time EYP created somethingentirely new, and I wish you all asuccessful plenum and good luckwith your projects!

Energetic and Mind-Blowing Presentations, Please!

The Winds of Change

A Mayoral AppointmentZeynep Ekinci discussesintegration in Wiesbaden withthe Lord Mayor.

Doctor Helmut Georg Müller withwhom we had the pleasure to meet inthe City Hall on Friday was born in1952 and has been treasurer of thestate capital of Wiesbaden since 2002.Later, he also became head of thecity’s Department of EconomicAffairs. Since 2nd July 2007, Dr.Müller has been Lord Mayor of thestate capital. In the years preceding, hehad been Chief of the Personal Officeof the State Minister-President andHead of the Policy Department at theState Chancellery.

After his great speech concerningsome general facts such as the migrantprofile, I had the opportunity to gofurther with some more questions inorder to learn more about Wiesbadenand of course the Mayor's opinions onintegration.

Doctor Müller says that Wiesbadenhas an ethnically immigrant-basedbackground. Immigrants currentlyform 30% of the population. Thebiggest faction belongs to those ofTurkish and Russian background.

He explains this situation with the factthat lots of people had migrated fromhere through Russia and other placesbeginning in the 18th century, andnow they are coming back. He alsoadds that they have a fast growingpopulation in this city since people are

coming from everywhere, but hethinks they are experienced enough tohandle that.

When I ask for Doctor Müller’sopinions about integration andassimilation which are importantconcepts at the heart of bothWiesbaden and our Forum, heemphasises the importance andsuitability of Wiesbaden for handlingthe integration issue. He thinks theexistence of problems aboutintegration in Wiesbaden isinconsiderable. “Assimilation wouldnever be a way of policy, the goalshould always be integration.”

He says that he believes learning andspeaking the language is veryimportant for participating the publicof the host country while highlighting

that the era in which we live requirespeople speaking more than onelanguage. When I ask him hisopinions about the immigrants who donot integrate at all, building up theirown neighbourhoods and proceedingto speaking their own languages (sinceI know some examples of Turkishmigrants especially) he had this to say:

“I think that having such diversities isa good and positive thing for a city.You see, the ratio of immigrants or theintensity of the multiculturalism maycause problems in a city, but I don’tthink we have that in Wiesbaden. It isalso a fact that depends on you, itdepends how you manage it.

“If everyone is having the same ideasand identities, then where is thepoint?”

6.

7.

As location of Germany'slargest law enforcementorganisation, Wiesbadeninspires Leo Kaindl on how tocontinue the unique idea ofthe Forum.

It is very likely that you have neverbeen in touch with the BKApersonally. BKA is the acronym forBundeskriminalamt, the largest lawenforcement organisation in Germanywhich is often referred to as a smallGerman sibling of the FBI. Foundedin 1951, it has its own dark past onceemploying and tolerating former Nazifunctionaries in its own rows, likeseveral other German organisationsfounded a short time after World WarII.

Enough grey past. As I write this, Piamentions the perception of EYP as aFreak Show in her speech duringClosing Ceremony. I doubtlessly agreewith her, and once again she helps megetting to the point I originally hadheaded for. We form an organisationof which only insiders can claim tohave an all-embracing view and wemight share this attribute with any lawenforcement agency, as they legallybind their employees to remain silenton certain points. We usually winparticipants and Officials quite far offwhat would be called mainstream,similar to intelligence servicesrecruiting rather unremarkable staff. IfEYP is a Freak Show, the BKA issurely one as well.

As you can imagine, the process ofwriting this article has beenfragmented. I worked on this during

Plenum, I must confess even duringClosing Ceremony, in the Orga Roomwhile all those restless and hard-working people I can now call friendswere cleaning up all around me andam now working on it at my home. Ata particular moment during myjourney today, I came across anotheraspect potentially worth entering thisarticle:

When youth delinquents are foundguilty, it is current practice to convictthem to social work. This experienceis often badly conducted and ratherpointless, in spite of its intention tofirst of all better integrate or even re-socialise the criminal. This issue ofreintegration has not been picked up inWiesbaden in spite of its relevanceespecially to youth.

Naturally this is not a reproachtowards the Forum but anencouragement towards anyoneinterested in or having personal linksto prison regime, engaged in aNational Committee of the EYP orintending to become a future EYPchief. Our participants often grow upin an idyllic world as they are raised in

families who, for example, can affordtravelling. It is due to our means thatwe have the capacities to think further,none of us are struggling to make endsmeet but have an ensured subsistence.It is vital not to be ignorant towardsthose of our age who do not enjoy thatluxury.

Similar to how it took place inWiesbaden, a partnership between theEYP and a law enforcementorganisation as a Project Partnerseems to be anything but absurd.Perhaps there will be an EYP event onlaw enforcement and prison regimeonce. None of us can deny thepossibility for sure. Anyway youshould personally take up the spirit ofWiesbaden. Head beyond meretalking, carry your idealism to Europe.

[Note: It was the unique setting inWiesbaden that inspired the idea, butthe Bundeskriminalamt might not bethe ideal partner. However, for thosewho would like get an insight intoanother Freak Show, or simply feellike visiting a police headquarters, youmight try Thaerstraße.]

Beyond Mere Talking– Revistited

A Mayoral Appointment

Gwen Pare examines the chal-lenges to that ultimate, elusivegoal of our work here.

One stupid question: If society – lat.societas, derived from lat. socius :comrade, friend, ally – describes abody of friendly individuals who havechosen to trade certain individualliberties for the greater achievementswhich can be best realised by peoplein multitude, why bother talk about anopen society? Why should we, fromwithin our developed, civil, function-ing societies, question openness?

Our described societies are based onthe so-called functional interdepend-ence, which means, for example, na-tional tax systems and social securitymeasures, defence alliances likeNATO, common policies such asthose within the EU. The kit is nation-al and/or cultural identity, social solid-arity, language or other forms oforganisation.

What does this mean for us, forEurope?

Each country has its very particularcultural and popular identity, not tomention the quantity of languages onthe European continent, but I’m con-vinced that the EU states have a strongkit in common also.

The least we must talk of should befaith in democracy, the belief in a so-cial, equal and stable form of com-munity, in short, solidarity, and asimilar economic organisation of mar-kets.

But apart from the strong commonground we do stand on, we must ac-knowledge the difficulties when wedemand an open society.

Our dream is for a multi-cultural soci-ety, for a so-called rainbow of lan-guages, cultures and religions withinone society. Tolerance, interest in oth-ers, cultural exchange and peacebetween even the most contrary ofpersons living right next door to eachother.

I believe in an open society. In fact, itmakes me shudder to think of any-thing else. But personally, I feel wemust start to assume, with equallyopen hearts, the responsibilities con-nected to a truly open society.

To name a brief example, the Nether-lands is one country that has declared

Project Open Society

8.

9.

families who, for example, can affordtravelling. It is due to our means thatwe have the capacities to think further,none of us are struggling to make endsmeet but have an ensured subsistence.It is vital not to be ignorant towardsthose of our age who do not enjoy thatluxury.

Similar to how it took place inWiesbaden, a partnership between theEYP and a law enforcementorganisation as a Project Partnerseems to be anything but absurd.Perhaps there will be an EYP event onlaw enforcement and prison regimeonce. None of us can deny thepossibility for sure. Anyway youshould personally take up the spirit ofWiesbaden. Head beyond meretalking, carry your idealism to Europe.

[Note: It was the unique setting inWiesbaden that inspired the idea, butthe Bundeskriminalamt might not bethe ideal partner. However, for thosewho would like get an insight intoanother Freak Show, or simply feellike visiting a police headquarters, youmight try Thaerstraße.]

foreign cultures welcome and we inturn celebrated the country as theideal multi-culti country.

While the Netherlands has definitelybecome multi-culti, many will arguethat openness is still not achieved.And the political murders of Pim For-tuyn and Theo van Gogh in 2002 and2004, the subsequent attacks on bothMuslim and Christian institutions andthe shift to the right around GertWilders and PVV (Party for Free-dom?) have concerned us because thementioned events where just espe-cially visible symptoms of a similarintegration problem throughoutEurope.

We must understand that an open soci-ety cannot lose its kit and fragment,cannot tolerate discrimination andcannot afford indifference to new cit-izens of its society.

We need and cherish immigrants inour society and, as in Germany, manyof them have come to stay and we can-not shrug off a problem that affectsthe fate of real people.

A first and easy step is surely to set anend to integration problems due tomere language problems. We must ab-olish not only the concentration ofproblem schools as a consequence ofour constant flattering of the elite and

also ghettoisation or gentrification.We must at least be open to discussearly school enrolments and all-dayschools to raise the shared level ofeducation. We should think aboutmaking Islam-discussions popular anddemocratic, in order to lessen the ef-fects of extremism and fanaticism. Weshould focus on the compatibility offoreign degrees and support educationand careers of young people with eco-nomically difficult backgrounds.

For those hardliners that have forgot-ten the words human interest, therecan only be one response: human re-sources!

It may not be an easy truth, but we arein the process of understanding thatintegration is more than laisser-faire.Honest concern and commitment arenecessary – On both sides.

It is the only option: We are talking ofpeople, of fellow citizens. As we prob-ably all know, persons aren’t objectsand the problems which affect themare definitely not always easy.

Project Open Society

10.

Jari has been spotted dying his hair. He may not be soblond naturally.

Gossip from the Eurovillage says that a FEMM Del-egate may have had one too many and accidentallydropped her pack of cigarettes in the toilet. She man-aged to convince the boy from DROI with whom she wassharing the pack that is was actually him who droppedthem. He still believes her!

Apparently one of the chairs is going though a hardtime at the moment!

A lovely Committee CULT I shared with us the in-formation that their beloved Journo got well into thekissing game – “Hot and excited with pictures and stuff,calendar 2012 available for €9.99 at the Orga desk! Rockon, girl!!!” Looks like Zeynep has not only been up forfun the Officials Training night...

Apparently, Lorenzo is not Italian!

There is a really naughty, naughty rumour aboutNelly. It is so naughty it cannot be released here.

From Forum's Personal Adverts: Dear Jon, last nightwas great! Call me at 017********.

According to a gossip Richard may be a little bit toointerested in much younger girls... Watch your daughters!

Spotted: Can shaving his legs. Does he like tofeel like a girl from time to time?

Straight from the Chernihiv Session: Arden strippedon a table and would not miss a single chance to performthat again!

Forum's Lonely Hearts Column presents: Someone issearching for his second half – Tomato.

Is Lorenzo a model?

The gossip says that apart from a heart out of gold,Phillip also has a tattoo of a pin up girl, though no oneknows where!

Is there something Patrick has to hide? His guitarcase is way too big for his ridiculously small guitar. Be-ware he may be smuggling something!

CULT II rules. And it is confirmed to be true.

According to our informers, there may be a spyamong the EYPers. Who is he and for whom does hework?

Rumour says that the “French protest” of the GA hasnot finished. The few French bourgeois are now planningto repeat the famous events of 1789. Jari watch out!

The Gossip Box

11.

Weronika Myck brings youthe second part of the Forum'sFairy Tale

Princess Sandra had magnificent longhair, fine as spun gold, and when sheheard the voice of the Delegates sheunfastened her braided tresses, woundthem round one of the hooks of theabove the window of her tower cell.Her hair fell twenty ells** down, andChristian was able to climb up it. Hedefeated the bad wizard Eoin in fiercebattle and imprisoned him in the cel-lar. Jari and Pia were so happy thatthey decided to have an incredibleEuro Party, DJed by Jonathan.

Knight Richard then returned. He wasdesperate for female attention andpopularity. He tried to pick up girls us-ing the story how he managed to res-cue Sandra. He spotted Nina –Cinderella, among the whole crowd ofher ugly** siblings from CULT I.Thanks to her Fairy God Mother Katiand her fairy helpers from FEMM,Nina looked very glamorous thatnight. When the clock struck mid-

night, Nina ran away from the EuroParty. Richard followed her and Ninacould not run fast because she had lostone of her high-heels. Kati, who ob-served thar her god daughter was notsure about Richard intentions, decidedto use her magic and turned Richardinto a frog.

Little Green Frog Richard spent theentire night singing Sha – la – la – la –la. In the morning he was brought tothe castle by the group of Organisersled by Journoniser Vanessa gatheringthe food Eurovillage. Green frog bakewas planned as the highlight of theFrench stand. Richard, in his frog andcaptured without hope, spent thewhole day and evening in the hostel'skitchen.

At night the very ill duchess Gwen,who has barely been seen in Wies-baden because she has been stuck inher bed, couldn't sleep. Mean organ-iser Moobak decided it would befunny to put a pea under her 20 mat-tresses. She wandered the castle untilthrough the night until she came to

where a sad Little Green Frog. Shewas not sure what frogs ate so she justpoured it a tiny little bit of the Germanbeer prepared for the Euroconcert bythe Alchemist Leo and Delegates fromDROI. The magic beer turned Richardback to human form.

DROI's magical drink worked! Gwenwas so excited she ran straight to theKing and Queen. They decided tothrow another party at the Hostel tocelebrate such an achievement. The 12Organisers started planning thefarewell party and DROI led by Leowere working hard on more magicales. The ales were so amazing theymanaged to turn good old witchZeynep and the bad wizard Eoin.

In the evening all the Royals, Deleg-ates, the Puss in Boots, knight, fairies,alchemists, witch and wizard gatheredfor the party. It was the end, they knewthe mission was donr and they wouldhave to go back to their countries thenext day. Although apart, they all livedhappily ever after telling their storiesfrom the land of Wiesbaden.

Wiesbaden:A Fairy Tale - Part Two

Vanessa Janas presents you with theanswers you have been waiting for.

Trying something new is really interesting. Forme it was the first time being a Journo and anOrganiser (or a Journaliser). Therefore I had theopportunity to try new stuff – even brand newthings for the EYP-editions. And guess what? Ihad fun. I hope, you did, too.

Now you can have the solutions and check ifyou had the right fun.

Did you guess right? If not, I hope you stillappreciated the Committee's attempt![Editor's note: I might be a little insulted,though impressed, if any of you guessedCULT I's.]

Did youGuess?

CULT II

DROIEMPL

9 2

51

12.

F A R E E L LW

P A R T Y

E D U C A T I O N

T E A M B U I L D I N G

Spotted: Can shaving his legs. Does he like tofeel like a girl from time to time?

Straight from the Chernihiv Session: Arden strippedon a table and would not miss a single chance to performthat again!

Forum's Lonely Hearts Column presents: Someone issearching for his second half – Tomato.

Is Lorenzo a model?

The gossip says that apart from a heart out of gold,Phillip also has a tattoo of a pin up girl, though no oneknows where!

Is there something Patrick has to hide? His guitarcase is way too big for his ridiculously small guitar. Be-ware he may be smuggling something!

CULT II rules. And it is confirmed to be true.

According to our informers, there may be a spyamong the EYPers. Who is he and for whom does hework?

Rumour says that the “French protest” of the GA hasnot finished. The few French bourgeois are now planningto repeat the famous events of 1789. Jari watch out!

13.

6 9

CULT I

DROI

EMPL

4

FEMM

8

3

All of which took place in:M B U

I N T E G R A T I O N

M R

P R E S I D E N T

R E F U G E E

E O I N

I E S B A D EW N