Invitation to the Baltic Youth Exchange 2014

17-24 September 2014 in the Youth Educational Centre Haus Rothfos in Mözen (www.haus-rothfos.de), Schleswig-Holstein

“Local and Regional Participation of Youth in the Baltic Sea Region: Youth Participation and International Co-operation”

Short Description of Project

This Baltic Sea youth project has two main aims:

It intends to give young people in the Baltic Sea region (BSR) a platform on which they can exchange experiences and information on their opportunities to participate in civic society and to make their voices heard with respect to decision-making processes on the local, regional, national, Baltic Sea and European levels. Another goal is to promote intercultural learning, teambuilding skills and the willingness to become involved in voluntary activities (e.g. European Voluntary Service) in the Baltic Sea Region.

The youth exchange will be organized by the Regional Youth Council of Schleswig-Holstein and supported by the German National Committee for International Youth Work and the Schleswig-Holstein Ministry for Social Affairs, Health, Family and Equal Rights.

We expect 27 participants including group leaders and youth (age 16-25) from the BSR (Norway, Finland, Denmark, Poland, Estonia, Lithuania, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern und Schleswig-Holstein). The language of the youth exchange will be English. Participation is free, participants from Poland, Estonia and Lithuania receive a contribution to the international travel costs. The exchange of experiences and information will take place in three workshop phases with the following topics:

1) What is needed to promote youth participation?

2) Action Plan: Youth for the Baltic Sea Region. What do youth in the BSR expect from international co-operation in the BSR and from European youth politics?

3) Where do we go from here? How can we improve our own work and co-operation?

During plenary sessions the youth participants will introduce their own participation projects (e.g. BSSSC Youth Network) and they will receive information on the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region. Youth not directly involved in a participation project may also attend.

Besides working in workshops we will have a lot of outdoor team-building activities and exercises in intercultural learning, including international evenings.

During the youth exchange the participants will visit the historic World Cultural Heritage site in the city of Lübeck. Lübeck was considered to be the Queen of the Hanseatic League in the 12th and 13th centuries, a merchant and commercial co-operation between Northern German cities and cities of the Baltic Sea region. The participants will learn to recognize not only the present but also the historical importance of Baltic Sea co-operation.

For more information and registration please contact John Goss, Baltic Youth Office, info@ostseejugendbuero.de, Tel. +49 (0) 431 800 9848

• Invitation (15.32 KB)
• Preliminary program (228 KB)
• Application (28 KB)