-- February 2010 -- Aims and objectives for the year 2010
Working Group on Youth Policy meeting in Szczecin, Poland
The BSSSC Working Group on Youth Policy (WGYP) met in Szczecin on 26-28 February 2010 to discuss the aims and objectives for the year 2010 and to work on the issue of unemployment of young people in the time of crisis.
25 representatives from Estonia, Germany, Poland, Norway, Denmark, Lithuania and Russia summarized BSSSC meeting in Brussels and Szczecin, YESS event in Zealand and presented the projects which are or were in action since May 2009. Participants of the meeting, organized by the Secretariat for Youth of the Westpomeranian Region, exchanged best practices and ideas of different projects which are involving young people e.g. “Do it Yourself” (Germany), “Why City “ (Dennmark) , “Klimapark 2469” (Poland & Norway), “Baltic Youth Goes Europe !” (Germany & Sweden & Poland).
A burning issue for the WGYP Group was a necessity to create ‘living’ web page. Participants agreed that having a new web page will be a great opportunity not only to exchange ideas but also to intensify WGYP cooperation. The web page should be a platform for exchange ideas and opinions of youth of the BSR. It will promote the idea of sustainable development and sustainable lifestyle among the youth. It will serve as a tool for better preparatory process of the youth event and youth part of the BSSSC Annual conference 2010 in Tallinn. The leading partner of the project will be Estonia.
The input to the discussion on the problem of youth unemployment in time of crisis was given by the EURES advisor Mrs. Iwona Ziejewicz from Voivodship Labour Office in Szczecin. The presentation was followed by the heated discussion on unemployment of the young people in connection with educational systems and labour market. The topic will be developed at the Annual Conference so the task of the working group members is to work closely with the youth in regions in order to come up with youth opinion on the issue.
-- October 2009 -- YESS- Youth Event on Sustainable Societies
50 youth representatives from Poland, Germany, Russia, Lithuania, Estonia, Denmark, Sweden and Norway gathered in Roskilde, Denmark, on 12-15 October 2009 to share knowledge, exchange ideas and create visions about sustainable societies.
Hosted by Region Zealand, the BSSSC youth event ran in parallel
to the BSSSC Annual Conference in Ringsted. The Region Zealand Youth Team provided a unique program encouraging the young participants to reflect on sustainability in its environmental, social and economical aspects and to set up a 10+1 Action Plan.
YESS concept
The basic philosophy of the YESS concept is to build on the ideas and engagement of the participants. By the means of dialogues, social interaction and creative techniques the participants are developing various projects, activities and products.
YESS workshop
The YESS workshop was the result of a triple participatory process:
1) The workshop ideas were developed through a creative workshop at the BSSSC Annual Conference 2008 in Kaunas.
2) The BSSSC Working Group on Youth Policy and others have provided input at meetings and via e-mail and Facebook.
3) A group of young people and youth advisers in Denmark, the Region Zealand Youth Team, has taken care of the detailed planning. The youths themselves have developed the YESS logo and the graphic concept of the workshop products.
This participatory approach was continued throughout the YESS workshop where the decisions are made by the participants.
The YESS workshop in Roskilde focused on three themes: Sustainable lifestyles, Youth culture and Youth democracy.
Outlook on the future from the Youth perspective
Download reports and presentation here and learn more about:
How we produce and consume in modern society?
How to make green events?
Anarchy or democracy?
Report from the Youth Event on Sustainable Societies (YESS) in Roskilde and at the BSSSC Annual Conference in Ringsted, October 2009, by Pawel Grzadko, BSSSC Youth Network
Ideas for a sustainable Baltic Sea Region – presentation of the outcome of the YESS workshop, by Gerd Tarand, rep. of BSSSC Working Group on Youth Policy.
Youth Democracy – differences between emerging youth democracy patterns and traditional "adult democracy" by Jakob Villadsen, project manager of Y City 2009 and member of Region Zealand Youth Team.
-- February 2009 -- We are the future you are planning for!
BSSSC youth conference in the framework of the European Commission’s Strategy for the Baltic Sea in Hamburg, 3 - 4 February 2009
Youth voices sounded clear and firm on the BSSSC youth conference on the EU Baltic Sea Strategy. Under the slogan “Nothing about us without us” about 80 young people from all over the Baltic Sea region gathered in Hamburg to discuss with politicians and representatives of the EU Commission their hopes, demands and concerns.
The main requests of the participants of the youth conference in Hamburg were presented by the BSSSC youth representatives Alexandra Ehlers (Germany) and Gerd Tarand (Estonia) at the 2nd EU Stakeholder Conference in Rostock on 5-6 of February 2009.
To learn more about the activities of the conference, the results, a report by Alexandra Ehlers and a film can be downloaded here. For further information see also BSSSC newsletter 1/2009
Young People & the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region The BSSSC Youth Network and the BSSSC Working Group on Youth Policy presented a position paper to the EU Baltic Sea Strategy itself and to its implementation in December 2008.
Following the core principle of youth policy in Europe when speaking about involvement and participation of young people, they underline: “Nothing about us without us!”
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