TOY - Trainers Online for Youth
This is a reference for Charis Charalambous
The EU Youth Conference is an element of the structured dialogue process that was
established by the Council of the European Union in the Resolution on the Renewed
Framework for European Cooperation in the Youth Field (2010-2018).
The structured dialogue is an instrument to ensure that the opinion of young people is taken into account in the formation of youth policy in the EU. For the duration of the 18 month Trio Presidency (1 July 2011 – 31 December 2012), the Trio Presidency of Poland, Denmark and Cyprus in cooperation with the European Commission and the European Youth Forum made a common decision to implement the structured dialogue on the theme of youth participation in democratic life in Europe with a chosen specific focus area for each of the three presidencies. The structured dialogue under the Cyprus Presidency (that was implemented in the EU Youth Conference in September 2012) focused on Youth Participation and Social Inclusion, with an emphasis on young people with migrant background. The conference was organized by the Youth Board of Cyprus with the support of the European Youth Forum. The conference aimed at identifying joint recommendations about: existing obstacles, suggested actions and measures that needed to be developed, good practices that needed to be enhanced.
The facilitators' group for this activity consisted of 8 National (selected by the Youth Board of Cyprus) and 8 International trainers (representing the European Youth Forum) that worked together in pairs. The 260 participants of the Conference (coming from the EU member states, candidate countries and the EEA region) were youth delegates, ministry representatives, representatives of EU structures and institutions.
The active and participatory methods used in this activity were energizers, activities for getting to know each other, discussions and work in small group format and plenary discussions.
The Conference was a success, as through the facilitation of the workshops, the following recommendations were given on the following topics ( http://www.cy2012.eu/index.php/en/file/pKsPEfJPEjX2nxXo9+AUZw== ) :
INFORMATION – Role of Information Provision and Media in Social Inclusion
EDUCATION AND LANGUAGE – Quality Education for Quality Inclusion
ATTITUDE – From prejudices to Intercultural Dialogue
EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES – From Combating Discrimination to Equal Access to Labour Market and Social Welfare
SUPPORT MECHANISMS AND TOOLS – Better Policies, Programmes and Practices for Better Social Inclusion
PARTICIPATION – Youth Participation in Democratic and Social Life
YOUTH ORGANISATIONS – The Role of Youth Organisations in Social Inclusion
As National Facilitator, my tasks were:
•Preparation of the Education and Language workshop’s methodology and program;
•Facilitation of the workshop in a participatory and inclusive manner;
•Preparation of the workshop’s recommendations;
•Ensuring that the required outcomes/documentation from the workshops were produced;
•Being available to fully attend all preparatory meetings and the whole duration of the Youth Conference.