March 2011 n.05

Dear Readers,

I hope you have enjoyed YIE so far. And more than anything else, I hope that by reading inspiring stories of young people that are hard at work paving the way for a better future, you have also been inspired to get active in your own community.

What a year! When we started back in November 2009, we would have never expected YIE to get to where it is now. And this is just so exciting! In just a year, we have:

gained a readership of over 2,000 people;

established 18 partnerships with the largest youth-run networks in Europe;

trained 37 young journalists through our free, online course;

established a network of ambassadors at schools in 4 countries;

delivered 9 workshops, keynotes and presentations;

received media attention, resulting in 18 interviews and articles.

One of the activities we are most proud of was the free, online course “How to become a Reporter”, which attracted 137 applications and ultimately saw the selection and training of 37 young, aspiring journalists from 20 European countries. Many of the stories you have been reading are the result of that course…what a great opportunity to kick off a career in journalism! If you missed that, do not worry…we will run another round of it this year as well.

Oh, and we also organized a contest to gather ideas and support one of them…among all the amazing projects we received, we set our heart on ‘Podcast Radio Celinac’ of Bosnia. Keep reading YIE to learn more about them!

Moreover, our sponsors have just become three. At the beginning of our adventure, we received a grant from Starbucks and the International Youth Foundation, and now we have been selected for a small grant by the Dockers® Brand, as part of their “Love what you do or get busy doing what you love!”. Thanks Dockers, and thanks Levi Strauss!

There is also a long list of events to which we were invited to attend or give presentations and workshops at, like the Nantes Creative Generations in France or the Social Media Week in Italy.

We do believe we have achieved a lot in just one year. But of course, there is still so so so much more we can do to showcase inspiring stories and and encourage young people to become catalysts for change in their chosen fields.

We want to inspire as many young people as possible, we want them to feel that they can do something – every little action counts.

So do not ever forget this: you can contribute to a better world. And you can have fun while doing it.

AT LEAST, THIS IS WHAT WE DO AT YIE.

www.younginnovationseurope.orgThe Young Innovation Europe logo, project and content are covered by copyright.

The

YIE team

Index

4

6

8

10Sponsors:

International Youth Foundation Starbucks

12

14

16

LEILanguage Exchange International

BENCOMFrom school assignment to sustainable business

Shadow ElectionsGiving under-age youth voting rights

EUROBUSBuilding bridges between Europe and Ukraine

KorfballAchieving gender

equality and social inclusion

Young Innovations Europe is a project of Youth Action for Change (YAC), a global, youth-led organisation inspiring and empowering young people to become active agents of change in their own communities and the world at large

If you want to get involved, tell us about an innovation or for general enquiries, please send an email to: info@younginnovationseurope.org

Road to Rio +20The path toward

sustainable development

Tread LightlyLight Steps Towards a Greener Future

EditorSelene Biffi

Project CoordinatorSilvia Raccagni

PR CoordinatorPaola Ciaffi

Content CoordinatorsClare Mulvany and Elizabeth Niland

GraphicsFrancesco Franciosiwww.francescofranciosi.com

WritersDiana Ferreira, Diana Kulikowski, Egle Buitvydaite, Kateryna Tyshchenko, Meelika Jürisaar, Romain Galati, Steven Heywood

ImagesCourtesy of Bencom, Eurobus, Gantalcalà, LEI, Peace Child, Shadow Elections, Tread Lightly

| BUSINESS

Bencom – the story so far

In 1998 Ben Woldring, back then just a dutiful thirteen-year-old school student, got a task to create a website. He decided to overgrow the expectations and add a meaningful goal to this assignment. His idea was to update the site with the current fixed telephony tariffs. In a short while, the numbers of visitors to his website started constantly growing, proving the genius of Ben’s idea. The boy did not remain unnoticed by the mass media, too. Soon after this, Ben got a request to upgrade his website on a professional level. Therefore, this is how he got a domain – Bellen.com. Namely this resulted to even greater strides of his success, as the website got more and more visitors every day. Due to that, Ben was forced to register a Sole Proprietorship under his mother’s name, who became the official director. She and the school friend were the first Ben’s workers. Eventually, Bellen.com got into Top 100 most popular websites in the Netherlands and the boy received a dozen of prestigious awards. After a year frm the website’s creation, the business still kept expanding. The service of comparing cell phones industry pricing and phone calls from thirteen most popular travel destinations were included to BENCOM. In 2000, the young entrepreneur came up with a decision to use the very new “Belwijzer” tool, so that the calls via website would be available. This equipped

customers with an opportunity to get a direct advice. In order to do so, however, one more new website had to come into being-internetten.nl. Subsequently, the company was moved from the Sole Proprietorship to a Limited Liability Company and young Ben Woldring was announced to be the “youngest internet millionaire of the Netherlands”.

Phones, Internet and Information

Today more than twenty people work for the Bencom offices, making sure that the tariffs are up to date and almost thirty thousand visitors, who enter the website daily, are satisfied with the quality of the accuracy and objectivity of the services. Even nine websites are functioning currently of the Bencom Group, offering a wide array of offers. In addition to publishing the news from the telecommunication, internet, digital television and energy fields about the newest developments, Bencom also offers advisable articles for the possible issues that the consumer may deal with. Also, 'Postcodecheck' and 'Overstaphulp' providers are used to manage the tariffs and customer contracts for their convenience. All the services at Bencom is gratis. It is also Bencom’s responsibility to be a liaison between the customer and the products provider, when it comes to buying via Bencom.

The official goal of the company is: "To provide, in an automated environment, information and to offer advice in the field of telecommunication and internet, to mediate for telecommunication companies and internet providers in the field of making contracts and to offer commercial- and advertisement opportunities". Namely this is how Bencom’s services could be put in the shortest.

A world of websites

There are nine websites created by Bencom Group. Bullen.com is the first website created by Ben Woldring. It exposes the cell and fixed telephony tariffs, offering the most reliable price comparisons and more information about phone companies’ contracts and the possibilities to change them. Internetten.nl was established in the year of 2000 and has been assisting people to learn the current information about internet and the cheapest opportunities to have it. Whereas, Digitelevisie.nl is based on the same strategy and goals as Internetten.nl just involves digital television comparisons. Another website, Totaalwijzer.nl, provides information about the best internet and telephone company combination price-wise. Therefore, if you decide finally to change your operator you can do it just in three steps while using breedbandgekte.nl. All those of you, who are interested in energy, should definitely

BENCOMFROM SCHOOL ASSIGNMENT TO SUSTAINABLE BUSINESSIT IS SAID THAT THE BEST THINGS HAPPEN UNExPECTEDLY. THIS IS ExACTLY WHAT THIS STORY IS ALL ABOUT – AN IDEA, WHICH STARTED AS A HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT AND EvOLvED INTO A BOOMING BUSINESS THAT HAS BEEN SUSTAINABLE FOR MORE THAN A DECADE NOW. TODAY BENCOM, BASED IN THE NETHERLANDS, OFFERS AN UNCONvENTIONAL SERvICE FOR PRICE AND PRODUCT COMPARISON IN THE REALMS OF TELECOM, INTERNET, DIGITAL TELEvISION AND ENERGY.

by Egle Buitvydaite

visit Bencom’s gaslicht.com website, which scrutinizes the rates of energy’s utilities. For energy dabblers, Betcom has also one more gift! It is energiewereld.nl, the website, where you can find the newest updates on energy and everything related to it. However, those, who adore having calmed and frugal vacation abroad should never miss the chance to enter vakantiebellen.com. Here you could learn the best cost possible for your cell phone access in your top holiday destination. And when you are sure about your cheapest tarrif, please make sure you have the best hotel deal, too. To help you achieve this, however, there is LookingForBooking.nl. This website shows you the best hotels’ in Germany, France, England, Belgium and Luxembourg rates comparisons managed and created by Bencom, too.

How to be part of Bencom

Bencom is an evolving business, and is always looking for new enthusiastic people with innovative ideas to fit in to the Bencom’s contest of unconventional business. If you feel that you have potential to expand business areas or to improve the ones that already exist, do not hesitate to get in touch now as many vacancies are currently available.

BENCOMFROM SCHOOL ASSIGNMENT TO SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS

Ben Woldring

Bencom Building

The Willem Prize

RESOURCE BOx

Egle Buitvydaite

Originally from Lithuania Egle has been devoting her current life to Finance and Economics studies as well as to a couple of international projects that she has a proxy to run. Egle is also a fervent tennis player and cannot imagine her life without solo singing classes, mastering her foreign languages and traveling. She is also a journalism devotee and believes that her contributions to Young Innovations Europe will help to raise awareness of various European organizations amongst young people in the continent.

Bencom Tel: +31 (0)595 425859 info@bencom.nlwww.bencom.nl

The European Enterprise AwardsRewarding excellence in entrepreneurship promotionwww.ec.europa.eu

European Entrepreneurship AwardsFostering cooperation between universities and businesses193.145.154.13/startent/home

The European Confederation of Young EntrepreneursA network of young entrepreneurs spanning several European countrieswww.yes.be

Festival d’EuropaA series of events organized in Florence in May 2011 to celebrate, among others, entrepreneurshipwww.festivaldeuropa.eu

Global Entrepreneurship WeekAn initiative to inspire young people to em-brace innovation, imagination and creativitywww.unleashingideas.org

5

LANGUAGE EX-CHANGE INTERNA-TIONAL LANGUAGE EXCHANGE INTERNA-TIONAL LANGUAGE EXCHANGE INTERNA-TIONAL LANGUAGE

| CULTURE

by Romain Galati

IT IS DIFFICULT TO GET INTEGRATED INTO A FOREIGN COUNTRY, CULTURE AND LANGUAGE. IT IS DIFFICULT TO PRACTICE FOREIGN LANGUAGES REGULARLY IN YOUR OWN COUNTRY WHEN YOU THINK THERE ARE NO FOREIGNERS AROUND. IT IS DIFFICULT TO GO ABROAD AND/OR MEET PEOPLE FROM AROUND THE WORLD WHEN YOU HAvE A JOB OR STUDIES.

Yes, it is difficult but not impossible, especially if you have heard of Language Exchange International, or LEI. LEI was founded in 2010 with the aim to bring together, promote or start up groups across countries, both formal and informal, to promote languages and cultures internationally, regionally and locally with the goal of allowing people in each locality to practice languages and meet people from all over the world.

Each group organizes its own ‘language café’ once a week, in a friendly setting and in different languages. All with a view to practice foreign languages while meeting people from many different backgrounds.

How does a language café work?

The concept is quite easy. People come and speak in whichever language they want

ACT LOCAL, FEEL GLOBAL

LAN-GUAGE EX-CHANGE INTER-NATION-AL

LANGUAGE EX-CHANGE INTERNA-TIONAL LANGUAGE EXCHANGE INTERNA-TIONAL LANGUAGE EXCHANGE INTERNA-TIONAL LANGUAGE

Language Exchange International contact@lei-web.comwww.lei-web.com

The European Union DG for CultureAnything culture-related at the European Unionec.europa.eu/culture

ErasmusBasic information on the most famous student-exchange programec.europa.eu/education

The European Union page for Education and TrainingA general page on learning and programs in Europe ec.europa.eu/education

RESOURCE BOx

Romain Galati

is a young translator living in valence, France. Fond of languages, he studied translation studies in France and Germany. He believes in the concept of ‘act local, feel global’ and promotes the idea of social integration through language and culture exchange.

Meeting at a park

Unity in diversity

The Budapest Melting Pot

Excursions are useful too to learn a language!

Cafä Linguistique valence

to. There are no rules and one does not necessarily need to speak the language of the country he or she is in. Every language is welcome. The usual suspects are English, Spanish, French, German and Chinese. The most important thing is that everyone has the chance to experience a different evening and that people get to know one other. Language is an important tool for intercultural understanding, because people do not only come to learn a language but also to discover another culture, a way of thinking or another way of seeing the world. The more languages represented, the more there is to discover.

Some groups organise events in cafés where each table is devoted to one language,

complemented with a little flag to indicate the language. Others organise several monolingual events (French on Monday, German on Tuesday, etc.). Some even organise ‘speed language meeting’, switching language partner every 5 minutes.

How does your network work?

Starting with eight groups in France, Germany, Italy and the Ukraine, the LEI network has grown into tens of groups in many is different places. Every language or new groups is welcome as long as it follows LEI's objectives of language and cultural exchanges. What are you waiting for? Set up your own language café now!

7

TL stand at the COP 16 summit in Mexico

2011 is upon us, so why not start the year with a small resolution that will lead to big changes: reduce your ecological footprint. Not quite sure on how to do it? Tread Lightly will show you the way to a greener, more sustainable year.

Created by the international youth-led NGO TakingItGlobal, Tread Lightly, is a free educational program that teaches young people ways of reducing their footprints on our planet. Already a success overseas,

Tread Lightly now aims to raise awareness among young Europeans. Through this program young Europeans can learn about how human activity contributes towards climate change, and what are actions they can do to make a difference. Online tools and resources are offered on the website to calculate emissions and help reduce their carbon footprint.

Environmental education is the most effective tool in the fight against climate

change. it can foster the development of environmental knowledge and concern among youth, leading to the adoption of more sustainable behaviors. Small teams of young people have recently been established in Portugal, Spain, Italy, France, The Netherlands, Sweden, and Norway to help coordinate national Tread Lightly programs .

Through the Tread Lightly Challenge

TREAD LIGHTLY

LIGHT STEPS TOWARDS A GREENER FUTURE

| ENVIRONMENT

by Diana Ferreira

Tread Lightlyinfo@treadlightly.me www.treadlightly.tigweb.org

The ecological footprintUnderstand what it is all abouten.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecological_footprint

A lecture by Alex Steffen about the Ecological Footprintwww.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/alex_stef-fen_sees_a_sustainable_future.html

The story of stuffHow do the choices we make on the prod-ucts we buy after our Ecological Footprintwww.youtube.com/watch?v=9GorqroigqM

The WWF footprint calculatorCalculate your own footprintwww.footprint.wwf.org.uk

We Are What We DoWays to waste less and recycle more www.wearewhatwedo.org

RESOURCE BOx

Diana Ferreira

Diana is a 28 years old Portuguese girl. Her shoe size is 36 but sadly her ecological footprint is 1.2 planets. She studied Law at the Portuguese Catholic University in Porto, and is now pursuing a Business degree. She is passionate about European and environmental issues.

individuals can commit to reducing their ecological footprint in five categories: energy, food, water, residues, and transportation. After signing the commitment, the size of your footprint will be evaluated. A report will be made showing what your largest environmental impact is and it will help you establish a plan to reduce it. Personal goals can be set and progress documented through blog posts, photos and videos. Another suggestion for reducing your environmental impact is to have a Low Carbon Lunch. Tread Lightly promotes the concept of lunches which are made from local organic food, packaged in a waste free way. Young people all over Europe are encouraged to organize their own Low Carbon Lunch event and then share their experiences with everyone else on the website.

The program also offers tools and resources for educators. It is possible to create a virtual classroom for collaborative learning in a private, safe, and advertisement free space. Equipped with blogs, chat rooms, image galleries and discussion forums, students can learn about the environment

in dynamic interactive ways. There is also the possibility of connecting with other classrooms around the world.

Tread Lightly also promotes virtual conferences that give young people the opportunity to listen to guest speakers, debating and sharing their personal views and opinions. The last virtual conference was on the 9th of December, where young people all over the world had the opportunity to interact with a guest speaker who was live from COP16 in Cancun. Such valuable opportunities empower young people by promoting their global consciousness.

In addition, in order to promote young budding artists, Each year Tread Lightly invites them to submit their artworks to the Imprints Art Competition. The art works should explore the theme of ecological footprints or climate change, The prize is a $600 token to be spent on Amazon.com. Submissions are accepted until the 15 of April 2011.

9

What does your ecological footprint look like?

Young artists from all over the world are invited to submit their works of art. Judges will be looking for art that explores the themes of ecological footprints and

climate change, and/or incorporates recycled or re-used materials.

Art works from all mediums are welcome - photographs, paintings, videos, mixed media, etc!

Visit www.treadlightly.me for more information and to enter.

A project of

TL contest poster

Road to Rio+20

by Steven Heywood

Road to Rio+20 is an international campaign which is being launched ahead of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development in May 2012. Its aim is to put youth at the front of the development agenda by working to increase the level of young people’s participation in the conference process, both in the lead up and during it. It will also work to get youth to the heart of sustainable development efforts around the world.

The UN Conference on Sustainable Development is less formally known as Rio+20, as it is being held 20 years after the Earth Summit took place in Rio in 1992. Those twenty years have seen little progress made. Forests are being cut down at an even quicker rate, we continue to rapidly lose biodiversity, our skies are still being filled with smog and greenhouse gases, and catastrophic climate change is looming as an ever more likely prospect, with extreme weather events around the world and rapidly melting poles.

When environmental, economic or social disasters strike young people are always among the hardest hit. If our politicians and business leaders keep us on the

current path of damaging, unsustainable development, it will be the youth of today who will be picking up the pieces tomorrow. For some Rio+20 will be seen as another talking shop for people with good intentions, but for our generation it’s a vital part of the fight for future survival.

The Road to Rio+20 campaign is being coordinated by Peace Child International (PCI) – an organization with the mission is to empower young people to be the change they want to see in the world, and that supports young people around the world to produce books, musicals, educational materials, workshops and training courses on challenges like climate change, peace, human rights, poverty, and sustainable development – and thirteen partner organisations from around the world. Our purpose is not to focus on doomsday scenarios but, like the UN planners of Rio+20, to focus on solutions - the building of a post-carbon energy infrastructure and a green economy, reforming the institutions of global governance to better deliver sustainability, reorienting education towards sustainable development, and persuading governments to implement tax and subsidy regimes that reward

sustainable consumption and production, and penalise unsustainable approaches.

Each partner will be involved in running campaigns and developing advocacy and educational projects to help increase youth participation in the Rio+20 process and encourage youth-led projects on sustainable development. PCI itself is mostly run by young volunteers from around the world, and has been heavily involved in sustainable development and youth issues since before the 1992 conference.

Youth Participation in Rio +20

PCI is organising regional meetings in Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin America and North America where young people will be

ENCOURagINg yOUNg pEOpLE dOwN ThE paTh Of SUSTaINaBLE dEVELOpMENT

| faR aNd wIdE

PCI at the Copenhagen Climate Conference

Road to Rio+20

Peace Child Internationalinfo@peacechild.org www.peacechild.org

Road to Rio+20rio@peacechild.orgwww.roadtorioplus20.orgwww.groups.google.com/group/rio-20-youth

UN Conference on Sustainable DevelopmentAlso called "Rio+20", taking place in Rio de Janeiro in May 2012.www.uncsd2012.org

Earth Summit 1992 speech by Severn SuzukiGet inspired by listening to the girl who silenced the world for 5 minutes.www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQmz6Rbpnu0

UN CSD Youth CaucusInternational network of youth leaders facilitating youth input in UN Commission on Sustainable Development.www.youthcaucus.net/

Rescue Mission: Planet EarthA Children's edition of Agenda 21, the sus-tainable development blueprint that came out of the 1992 Earth Summit.www.amazon.com/Rescue-Mission-Child-rens-Association-Nations/dp/1856971759

RESOURCE BOx

Steven Heywood

Steven was born, raised and educated in the metallic clang of Birmingham, UK, where he picked up a BA in English. At university he campaigned with People & Planet on corporate power and environmental issues. Since then he’s spent some time as an English teacher in Guangzhou, China, and as an intern in Brussels, working on corporate lobbying and the extractive industries. He now lives in the sleepy little town of Buntingford in southern England.

able to discuss their hopes and expectations for Rio+20, and the ways of making these hopes a reality. They will receive training and support in a number of areas, such as advocacy, campaign planning, networking, negotiation and project management, and will come away from the meetings feeling inspired, and with concrete plans of how to run sustainable development projects in their region and the confidence to go out and ask for support for them.

These meetings will also be used to create a ‘focused political youth statement’ outlining the key demands that youth want to see emerge from the Rio+20 process. PCI and its partners will seek online endorsement of this statement by millions of young people and invite them to use it to lobby their politicians and call for action to achieve the transition to sustainability.

Youth-led Sustainable Development Projects

PCI will be running a number of projects related to sustainable development through the Road to Rio+20 campaign, and encouraging others to develop and take forward their own ideas. These projects will include a global survey of young people’s knowledge of and attitude towards the concept of sustainable development, which will be used to further inform PCI’s work in the run up to Rio+20. This survey will be translated into numerous languages and volunteers will take it to areas with no access to the Internet, to ensure the widest possible scope.

PCI will also be continuing its tradition of publishing excellent educational books with the release of a workbook for teachers and youth workers to encourage further discussion and training on the issues. They will also prepare a youth-created illustrated summary of the UN’s Human Development Report 2011 which is on the theme of sustainability – taking the best current thinking on the issues and translating it into language that youth – and everyone else – can understand. PCI has a history of developing musical theatre projects which can be adapted and performed around the world to explore important issues in an accessible way, and a new one is being created for the Road to Rio+20 project.

In addition to this, PCI will be organising a ‘Green Economy Business Innovations

Contest’, offering young people the chance to develop their ideas for a sustainable green

economy into viable business plans – or bold global plans for the transformation of the world’s economy to a sustainable model. Prizes will include funds for start-up enterprises, and internships with green businesses around the world.

The cumulative effect of these and many other projects will be that the governments and leaders of the world will not be able to dismiss the younger generation as mere dreamers with nice ideas but no grasp of reality – instead, we will be able to say to them ‘this is what we’ve done, now help us do more’

Get Involved

You can follow developments in the project through the Road to Rio+20 and PCI websites, and you can also find PCI on Facebook and Twitter. By using some of the other links in the resource box on the right you can learn more about sustainable development and Rio+20, and discuss the issues with people around you.

More actively, you can campaign for your government to involve young people in the preparations for Rio+20. Each country will be holding preparatory meetings to decide their position on the issues to be discussed, and PCI want as many young people as possible to be involved in these discussions. Or if you start your own sustainable development project, PCI and Road to Rio+20 would be very interested to hear about it.

At the European Parliament

A campaign planning session

PCI in Mexico

11

| pOLITICS

by Meelika Jürisaar

The Estonian National Youth Council (ENL – Eesti Noorteühenduste Liit) started a civic education project which simulates the voting process and gives voting possibilities to young people from the age of 14. The aim of the project is to make young people’s voices better heard and teach them how to vote and make informed decisions.

Last year, prior to local elections in Tallinn and Tartu- Estonia’s biggest cities- shadow elections were piloted. Young people voted using the real list of candidates and the votes were counted, calculated and analyzed using the same programme as the real elections. The youth preferences were announced to the public in a press conference. The voting process simulation was very close to the real system.

Despite its innovation, the project started off to a shacky start, as accusations were made that it could influence people’s votes. Having difficulties in continuing the project at schools, the organization found an alternative solution: renting minibuses to be used as mobile pool stations.

Shadow elections go online and nation wide

ENL is preparing new online shadow elections, giving young people aged 14 - 20 the possibility to practice electronic voting. As Estonia was also the first country

Shadow Elections

GIvING UNDER-AGED YOUTH THE vOTING RIGHTS

13

Shadow ElectionsContact person: Mailis Ostramailis@enl.eewww.enl.ee

Estonian National Youth Council (ENL)enl@enl.eewww.enl.ee

European Youth Forum A youth-led platform representing 98 National Youth Councils and International Youth Organisationswww.youthforum.org

The FreeChild ProjectHelps young people and their adult allies learn more about young people & politicswww.freechild.org

Young People and Political ParticipationAn article by Rachel Brooks (2009)www.ideas.repec.org

Political ResourcesGet as much political information as you need in an easy and no-nonsense waywww.politicalresources.net

RESOURCE BOx

Meelika Jürisaar

Meelika Jürisaar is a 27 years old Estonian who studied communications and theater science in Tartu University. She is the public relations officer of the Estonian National Youth Council and a true believer of the civic society’s power to make things better.

to adapt e-voting in real elections, the organizers think it was a good idea.

“As we are organizing shadow elections nationwide for the first time, e-elections is a more realistic possibility. Doing traditional elections is very costly and basically involves almost as many people and resources as real elections”, explains Mailis Ostra, the project co-ordinator for the shadow elections.

Ostra is convinced that the e-elections will function well since Estonians are one of the most active internet users and there is widespread internet, computer and wireless access in public places across the county. “This doesn’t mean that traditional voting is not important or that in future we would not want to have both – this time we simply use technology in order to enable young people across the country to practice the most valuable right for a citizen – voting,” she adds.

In addition to the simulations, public youth debates, various contests for schools and simulations to teach young people how the government and decision making processes work will also take place.

The idea spreads across the Europe

The Estonian National Youth Council was inspired to start shadow elections from the

Finnish Youth Council Allianssi, which had been organizing similar projects for over a decade. In 2009 the Danish Youth Council started parctising local shadow elections as well.

The three youth councils have agreed to share their practices with their European umbrella organization, the European Youth Forum. As a result, the European Youth Forum has discussed the possibility of organizing Europe-wide shadow elections prior to the European parliamentary elections.

“It is our aim to spread the idea within Europe and have more countries organizing shadow elections, as voting habits and civic activism should be taught before the age of 18. Practice makes perfect and I assume we would all like young people to be more informed, capable and willing to have their say in issues concerning us all”, emphasized Ostra.Despite of the struggles during the start of the project, ENL has gained a lot of recognition: the shadow elections project has been selected as the best youth initiative by the Tartu City Government, and as the best civic initiative of 2009 by the Estonian Network of Nonprofit Organizations.

Shadow elections in Tartu schools

An advertisement

for shadow elections

Election comission at work

| SOCIaL

Nowadays urban Ukrainian citizens meet this story with either a grin or an expression of anxiety, you’re diverting them from work after all! Jumping over the fire, singing melodious songs have become elements of a dusted past. In cities, people are preoccupied with their business and work, and so time flies… Doesn’t this story sound familiar? When visiting Ukraine,

European tourists visit mostly the larger cities and towns, which are rich in historical and cultural sights, business centers, banks, offices of international organizations, and boutiques. It creates an atmosphere of recognition: tourists find themselves in a world that’s familiar to them, that has the same daily routine and life tempo. However, it is not the cities but rather the

Ukrainian villages that have managed to maintain the magic of some old traditions and customs. Even to this day, you are likely to be welcomed there as a special guest, by smiling people offering karavay, local bread, on a marvelous embroidered towel.

What do Europeans associate with Ukraine?

EUROBUSBUILDING BRIDGES BETWEEN EUROPE AND UKRAINE

by Kateryna Tyshchenko

HAvE YOU EvER DREAMT OF ALL THE WORLD’S WEALTH BECOMING YOURS? IT MIGHT BE POSSIBLE UNDER THE CONDITION THAT YOU FIND A FERN FLOWER ON THE STARLESS NIGHT OF IvANA KUPALA. REMEMBER THOUGH TO WATCH YOUR STEP, BECAUSE QUITE ACTIvE DARK FORCES PROTECT THE MAGIC FLOWER.

15

EurobusTel: +38 050 162 50 31info@eurobus.org.uawww.eurobus.org.ua

Mobility in EuropeThe European Union’s website with all infor-mation on mobility in Europeec.europa.eu/citizenship

Intercultural dialogueThe European Union’s page with tips for cultural exchangeec.europa.eu/culture

The EU Cultural program AwardsCelebrating the excellent quality and success of European artists, music groups, architects, authors and those working in the field of cultural heritageec.europa.eu/culture

RESOURCE BOx

Kateryna Tyshchenko

Kateryna is fond of literature, especially poetry, which she sees as a perfect way of understanding and personifying the world. She also enjoys learning foreign languages.Kateryna got her Master’s degree in the field of Turkology and is now working as assistant at the Turkish International Cooperation and Development Agency, an organization providing technical support. Kateryna deals with various issues, from development of rural tourism to the organization of educational programmes.

A traditional house

Handicrafts from Ukraine

Presenting Eurobus

Reaching out.

Children meeting with European guests

What do we Ukrainians, especially those living in villages and who don’t enjoy the attentions of foreigners, know about the European Union? Is there a way to build a bridge between two cultures, or would it be more appropriate to say, a road, uniting Ukraine and Europe? By Ukraine, I do not mean an urban part of the country with modern life style and values, but rather, rural areas. People living there have quite a vague notion of internet and globalization, but rural areas, not industrial ones help the country to preserve its national colour and ethnic flavor.

Enter the Eurobus!

The Eurobus Project, a joint project by Ukrainian, Polish and German NGOs and receiving support from the tri-national funding program of the Stefan Batory Foundation (Poland), the Robert Bosch Foundation (Germany) and the PAUCI Foundation (Ukraine), answers with confidence this question.: “YES, it is really possible to build a lasting and strong bridge between two cultures”. Eurobus thus aims to catalyze the development of civic activities in rural Ukraine, ensuring cultural exchange and cross-border cooperation. Overall, it is a great opportunity for two cultures to meet each other and dispose of stereotypes and social prejudice.

Initiator of the project is the Ukrainian NGO ‘Foundation of Regional Initiatives’ with the support of Polish and German organizations such as the Forum of young diplomats and the Forum für Europäische Begegnungen. The first Eurobus was launched in May 2007, with a second one taking place two years later. Since this project received positive responses from more than 2000 beneficiaries and participants who enjoyed their trips and new experiences, it was decided to turn Eurobus into annual initiative.

The road less traveled

In 2010 Eurobus focused more on rural areas, villages and small towns in Ukraine, selected with an open contest. Within the framework of this project young people traveled across Ukraine for two weeks, meeting with local youth and hosting conversations about the future of integration for Ukraine and the cultural peculiarities of Europe.

European youth had a unique chance to understand the diverse Ukrainian culture better. They were welcome at Ukrainian fairs, took part in competitions and attractions held in villages, compiled folk legends and stories of old times about hunger and war, bravery and friendship that were later shared by the fire dancing to a flute.

What the future holds

European youth returned home with new knowledge and experience, and young Ukrainians stayed in their villages filled with hope for the future and new understanding of the European Union and integration issues. This project is thus also a great opportunity to inspire young people living in villages to further consider and work for the development of the rural areas they live in.

Eurobus is a real challenge for those young people who are eager to represent their culture and also learn about foreign cultures. Ukrainian small towns and villages are a bastion of maintained folk traditions and customs, representing the Ukraine in a far different light.

Now it is young Ukrainians’ turn to cast their vote for places they would like to visit, determining priorities for this year’s program.

| SpORT

What is korfball?

In 1902, Nico Broekhuysen, a school teacher living in Amsterdam, took part in a seminar about sports in Sweden. During the seminar’s breaks, he realised that the local people used to play a game known as Ring-ball. This game, similar to basketball, was very interesting for Broekhuysen not only because of the 3.5 meters (11 feet) high baskets, but also because it was played by mixed teams of boys and girls. Once he was

back in Amsterdam, he tried to teach the sport to his pupils, changing some rules and renaming it ‘Korfball’ (from the Dutch ‘korf’, basket). It became very popular in a couple of years, and in 1933 the International Federation was founded. Today, Korfball is recognized by the International Olympic Committee and is played in 57 countries around the world. The Korfball World Championship has been running since 1978 and the next one is taking place in China in 2011.

Not just a game

Korfball is not only a game. It can also be used as an innovative tool to promote the integration of marginalized or disadvantaged people in local communities. Furthermore, as the only official sport with mixed teams, korfball demonstrates the value of integration between people of different ages or gender.

Following on from the idea of integration

KOrfBallOr hOw tO achieve gender equality and sOcial inclusiOnby Diana Kulikowski

Gantalcalá d.castillo@gantalcala.orginfo@gantalcala.org www.gantalcala.com

IKF Official site with links to the International Korfball Federationwww.korfball.org

Youth in Action ProgramEU’s mobility and non-formal education programs targeting young people: eacea.ec.europa.eu/youth

European Commission, DG SportThe European Commission’s page dedicated to the essential role of sport in the European societyec.europa.eu/sport

The Europe for Citizens ProgrammeA page with specific actions targeted at Europe-wide civil society organisations, to receive support for their projects ec.europa.eu/citizenship

RESOURCE BOx

Diana Kulikowski

Diana Kulikowski is vice president of the Gantalcalá Youth Association, where she is responsible for the Youth Creativity and Entrepreneurship Program and coordinator of the Sharing Korfbal project. She is an expert in non-formal education, participation and youth employment.

through sports, Sharing Korfball (Compartiendo el Korfbal) was developed by a group of young volunteers from the Spanish non-profit organisation Gantalcalá. After taking part in a seminar about integration through sports, the volunteers decided to promote korfball among the local children of their city, Alcalá de Guadaíra (in the South of Spain). Motivated by the high needs of the children in the neighbourhood of San Miguel-El Castillo, they decided to use korfball as an alternative sport that children could enjoy during their free time, and so promote at the same time the value of healthier life habits and social integration.

Speaking in figures, 20.5% of the population in this area is are unable to read or write, 66.1% have no further studies in any level and only 9.56% have finished their compulsory studies. This difficult situation combined with the lack of motivation of the children of this neighborhood has been attributed to the high illiteracy level in their families, the long distance between their home and school, the use of the children for domestic labour or taking care of their brothers and sisters, and the high level of unemployment. As a result, children are not introduced to activities that are providing economic benefits to the families. Most of these families depend on help from the government and have no economic independence, creating an environment of isolation.

Serious outcomes

After a door to door information campaign, the local children took part in the first meeting, participating in non formal games connected with korfball. Little by little, children learned the values that korfball promotes: teamwork, gender equality and non-violence. After a couple of sessions, the group achieved a great bond in spite of the social and cultural differences of the children (most of them with gipsy roots), their ages (between 4 and 13 years-old) or their gender. Each week, the group met to train with the volunteers of Gantalcalá, who shared the different techniques and rules of this sport. Once the project was about to finish, Gantalcalá organized a final event in which volunteers and children, teachers and pupils played a match together. With their relatives and friends as spectators, the mixed teams of adults and children showed the neighbours of San Migel-El Castillo how this innovative practice could include so many different people sharing a common interest. Finally, all the children received a medal and a certificate in recognition of their participation.

THANKS TO GANTALCALá AND KORFBALL, A FIRST STEP HAS BEEN TAKEN BY THE CHILDREN OF SAN MIGUEL-EL CASTILLO AND THEIR FAMILIES TOWARD A BETTER FUTURE.

17

At play

Learning the game

www.youn

ginnovation

seurope.org