CfA: East-West Dialogue 2002 for young Europeans (successor to the Minority Course)

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From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2001 18:44:21 +0200 (EET)
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Subject: CfA: East-West Dialogue 2002 for young Europeans (successor to the Minority Course)

From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>

Original sender: Jesper Nielsen <[email protected]>

CfA: East-West Dialogue 2002 for young Europeans (successor
to the Minority Course)



*** News from the Peoplesite (www.people.hojoster.dk) ***


News from Peoplesite, December 2001
Headline: East-West Dialogue 2002 (successor to the Minority Course)


I am very pleased to present to you next summer's course for young
Europeans at Hojskolen Ostersoen. The title is "East-West Dialogue
2002 for young Europeans" and will debate how to connect "Europe" and
the "local/regional". Below you will find a short desciption of aim
and content of the event. We hope you will help us inform about it in
your networks. The event is carried out from July 21st 2002 to August
10th 2002 in Denmark and Poland.

A very provisional programme is available on Peoplesite at:
http://www.people.hojoster.dk/2002/program.htm


Hojskolen Ostersoen has decided to renew our annual courses in terms
of topic and on a few other points, but of course the basic concept is
still the same. To bring together 60 young Europeans to debate common
challenges.

The deadline for application is March 10th 2002 for Central and
Eastern European applicants and April 12th 2002 for West European
applicants.

The application form is also available on Peoplesite at:
http://www.people.hojoster.dk/2002/index.htm


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Invitation: East-West Dialogue 2002 for young Europeans
July 21st to August 10th 2002

With this we invite young NGO-activist or students interested in
European issues to take part in the following youth event to be held
in Aabenraa Denmark and Poznan Poland in the summer 2002. We hope that
you will take an interest in our idea and will distribute this
information within your networks.

The basic aim of East-West Dialogue 2002 is to enhance personal and
intercultural understanding among the participating 60 young
Europeans, who will represent Central, East, and West Europe, majority
population-groups and minority population-groups. We expect
participation from 25 countries and about 35 cultures, nationalities
and linguistic population-groups. We especially invite minority
representatives as their perspective is crucial for the Course.

Dialogue connecting Europe and local/regional communities

Why? Parallel to the EU's largest enlargement ever, Europe is still
witnessing widespread indifference to the integration-process among
ordinary citizens. This is the case in both East and West and it is a
huge democratic challenge. How can there be integration without
popular support or even interest? Citizens feel excluded because they
experience a distant Union that does not really concern them in their
everyday life. People lack knowledge about the real connections
between European issues and their community, as they are absent from
local and regional political and media agendas. However the EU does
have relevance for local/regional communities in many ways, beside
subsidies, that does matter for local democracy and people's everyday
life.

How? East-West Dialogue 2002 will bring the "local" and the "European"
together as an inspiration for a joint European debate about how to
bring the Union closer to the citizen. How is the EU actually linked
with the communities of the 60 participants themselves? The
participants will contribute actively with experiences on how Europe
effects their community by beforehand interviewing a local or regional
politician in order to benefit from their practical experience. The
results will be made available for the other participants and the
wider European public at the website of the project "Peoplesite" at
www.people.hojoster.dk.

East-West Dialogue 2002 will take as it's point of departure how two
of the main challenges on the current European agenda directly links
with local and regional communities: The East enlargement of the EU
and the debate on the future role of the regions in the European
landscape. Case studies will be presented in lectures and workshops
and a 3-day programme will be carried out in Poznan Poland. This so
that the participants better realise that many challenges are common
European challenges effecting real communities and real people
throughout Europe.

Ideas for the future

East-West Dialogue 2002 will also look to the future! Can more be done
by local politicians/civil society/local media to bring the EU onto
local agendas of debate and to generally raise European awareness
locally? During East-West Dialogue 2002 the participants will work out
recommendations and ideas aimed at bringing the Union closer to the
attention of citizens on local level. The ideas will be presented to
the wider public at a final one-day conference and local politicians
in the communities of the participants will after the Course be
invited to comment on and debate the ideas on the internet. In this
way East-West Dialogue 2002 will be an experiment in how citizens can
reflect and debate European while acting locally!

East-West Dialogue 2002 is not an academic course for experts, but for
young people interested in European issues who wants to debate Europe
on a general level. The aim of the Course is just as much the
personal, social and intercultural learning. This means that the
Course is also a social event, where close personal friendships and
contacts will evolve, and which can serve as the basis of a future
network among the 60 participants.

H�jskolen �sters�en has long tradition of carrying out European youth
meetings. In the past the annual Minority Course bringing young
Europeans with minority and majority backgrounds together for a debate
about minority-majority relations. East-West Dialogue 2002 is the
successor to the Minority Courses continuing to target common
challenges facing all Europeans!

Practical information: Young Europeans between the age of 18 and 25
active in an NGO or students especially interested in European issues
are invited. A significant number of participants with minority
backgrounds will be invited as their regional experience is of
particular interest. An application-form should be send to H�jskolen
�sters�en before March 10th 2002 for Central and Eastern European
applicants and April 12th 2002 for West European applicants. To
participate, English must be well understood and spoken. There is a
participation fee of 100 EURO, which covers full cost of travel
to/from Denmark, board and lodging for the 3 weeks and programme in
Denmark and Poland.

Best wishes and looking forward to hearing from you.

Jesper Nielsen, Project co-ordinator
Email: [email protected] 
Telephone: +45 74 62 47 00 
Fax: +45 74 62 47 01

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