Trans-national Youth seminar – Participation for integration

WHY the actual project?

European Platform for Youth Development (EPYD) launches a call to
young people and those responsible for youth policy to a four day
Trans-national Youth Seminar – PARTICIPATION FOR INTEGRATION, which
will take place between 29th of May to 1st of June 2008 in the
ceremony aula of the University in Craiova, Romania.

The seminar is developed in the framework of Youth Empowerment
Programme (a pilot programme) with the support of the Regional
Association for Rural Development, Gorj County Council, Gorj
Prefecture, Youngsters without Borders, Norwegian Youth Council, UK
Youth Parliament–Eastern Region and Norfolk County Council-Norfolk
Children's Services and ALTER ECO – Communicating though Media,
Romania.

The design of the Participation for Integration seminar is based on
four negative trends facing youths all over Europe:

a. A steeply increasing scale in terms of young people
migration from rural to urban areas

b. A high wave of youth emigration from the new Member States
of the EU to the old EU Member States, as to the mirage of the West.

c. A drastic fall down of the rate of youth participation in
politics and volunteering

d. Explosion of extremist movements, particularly in
neighborhoods with a great number of immigrants, with racial
discrimination from the majority and chauvinism from the minority
groups.

WHAT?

The hypothesis the current project is that increasing scope and means
for youth participation in local governance, there are better chances
to smooth the way to integration.

Hence, it draws heavily on the Open Method of Coordination in the
Youth Field.

The seminar will focus on the following issues:

• How to encourage youth local active participation in local
governance?
• How to foster a genuine youth local civil society?
• How to promote and sustain youth inter-community governance?
• How to bring local government and public administration
closer to its youths?
• How to prevent young citizen from mass migration from their
communities through participation?
• How to ease down discrimination?
• How to conceive understanding amongst majority and minority
groups?

EPYD is a non-governmental, non-profit, apolitical body based on
regional cooperation between the European Union and partner countries
from SEE & Caucasus.

EPYDs mission is to increase the quality & accountability, support
the development, lobby for the recognition, and advocate the active
participation of organizations working in the youth field. EPYD has
emerged as an innovative tool to work on the lack of recognition and
validation of youth work, poor quality of international youth
projects and scarcity of capacity building and sustainable
development in the youth field.

Regional Association for Rural Development (ARDR) will have the role
of the technical assisting organization for this seminar.

We are searching for co-operating organizations which are working in
the field of youth participation in local democracy and local
governments.

If you are interested in sharing ideas and experiences, please send
us the attached Part III, until 30th of January, by fax (+40. 353 805
988) or scanned and compulsory originals until 5th of February 2008
at the address: STR. LOCOTENENT DUMITRU PETRESCU, BL. 19, AP. 6, SC.
2, 210183 TARGU JIU, JUD, GORJ, ROMANIA.

Contact information:

Seminar coordinator
Kerstin Grundberg
+40(0)76- 45 18 607
kerstin.grundberg@gmail.com

Technical assistant
Jessica Gröbel
+40(0)76 -4518 640
jessica_groebel@yahoo.de