The Owlery.
It is now time for a farewell. I am sitting on the balcony in the GA venue, looking down at all of you, listening to your debates. I could not be more proud of you; well done. This is my first time during the Session being around Delegates, and I have only communicated with you during my Editorials. Please continue in EYP, and I promise you I will find time to really get to know you. During the Session, I have had Alex Guzenko as my Editorial Assistant, who has been nothing but brilliant. I have had a fantastic Journo team, and no words can express my graditute towards you guys. Please Delegates, give them an extra clap on the shoulder and tell them how well they have done their job. I do not have much left to say at this point. I am not a girl who is left speechless often, but I am now. Instead, I will just post a few pictures of owls. See you again, Christina Daubjerg Newman, Editor.
Editorial
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I would like to dedicate all these issues to my close friend Weronika Myck (President of EYP Poland). Thank you for always being an inspiration, for being one of my role models and for being my friend. I love you always.
The Owlery is brought to you by
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Alex Guzenko (Editorial Assistant) Christiane Hansen Kahrs Anniken Knutsen Mari Frostad Marie Storli Harry Heath Clemence Rerolle Leonard Bagiu Riikka Nieminen
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How to enter the world of EYP By Christiane Kahrs and Marie Storli
Now that you have attended a Norwegian National Session, you are invited to become a member of the Norwegian Alumni Association (EYPNAA). As a member, you will be updated on the affairs of the EYP and get the opportunity to attend the many events. Having attended a national session you are qualified to apply as an official for Sessions and Forums in the EYP. There are a few International Sessions every year, in addition to countless national and regional Sessions. The EYP consists of 36 associations and organisations where thousands of young people participating at more than 200 sessions every year. It is one of the largest platforms in Europe where youths meet for political debates, intercultural encounters, political educational work, trainings and exchange of ideas. As a member of EYPNAA you can vote in the General Assembly held annually, where the National Board is elected. You can also participate in other activities organised by the EYPNAA such as the winter training where you can practice the different official roles such as Chair, Journo and Orga. This year's Winter Session focused on how to organise a regional session, which was arranged for the first time in Norway in Trondheim 2012. In addition they plan on having a regional session in Oslo next year and possibly one in Bergen in the future.
To become a member of the EYPNAA you can simply register online at: alumni.eypej.org. You should also join the Facebook group “EYPNAA” where calls for officials will be posted so you can easily stay updated on what is going on. The group will serve as a platform you to stay in touch with other EYPers. We hope that you have enjoyed this session and hope that you will take the opportunity to attend further Sessions. If you do, there are lots of experiences and friends out there waiting to be discovered.
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The Life of an Orga Harry Heath takes a look into the lives of some of the the session’s most vital people
The Organisers, or Orgas as they are better known, are like the bees of an EYP session as, like bees silently support the ecosystem, the Orgas quietly run the whole of the Session and stop the entire event collapsing into ruin. If you choose to continue doing EYP beyond this session in Lillehammer, then becoming an Orga is one of the highest roles to aim for and shows you have really made it in the organisation! Here in Lillehammer all the pressure of organising has been in the hands of only 4 people. The fact that this session has gone so smoothly and without fault is of real credit to them. So how do you know if being an Orga is right for you? Firstly, you need to have a calm head - if you panic and crumble under pressure, then organising an EYP session is probably not for you; you have to be aware that at some point you will loose all your Sellotape or you will realise that you need to print one hundred resolution booklets with only 1 pack of printer paper - these are all everyday obstacles that the normal human being would be defeated by, but the Orga carries on and makes the best of it. If you stick with EYP, you could also be an organiser for an International Session, where the Organising Team numbers well over 20 people. You can be certain that by the end of the session all 20 of these people will be your firm friends; it really is an excellent opportunity to meet new people and learn new skills. To be an Orga you also need to be a humble person, as despite you super human eorts to make the session happen, you know you will only ever elicit a slight nod of recognition from most delegates whilst the Chairs and Journos get all the glory (and rightly so!). The life of an Orga is a unpretentious one, but one which is very rewarding all the same.
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EYP’s furry tale
EYP is not only about solving complex European issues; involving in EYP creates close friendships for life. Here comes a story of how EYPers meet, get to know each other, say goodbye and then stumble upon each other again. Our tale is a fiction based on actual stories collected from different EYPers. By Clémence Rérolle and Mari Frostad
Once upon a time, in the year 2013, Lillehammer hosted its 11th National Selection Conference. Lars, a witty Norwegian boy, was experiencing his very first EYP session as a CRIM Delegate. During Teambuilding he got to know Maria, a fellow Delegate visiting from Italy, with whom he bonded really well… They became such close friends that as the session ended, amidst the nostalgia of the Closing Ceremony, they decided to keep in touch. Back in school, Lars and his friend Martin, who had also attended the session as a DROI Delegate, were suffering from Post-EYP Depression. A feeling they had been warned of by the journalists… They decided to deal with PED by going interrailing together over the spring holidays, as it would be an excellent opportunity for them to visit their fellow EYPers who they met in Lillehammer. They began their journey in Milan, where they met up with Maria and spent two days with her. Then, they headed to Mannheim, the German city where Clemens, Martin’s Committee friend, lived. As the boys dined at a restaurant, they decided the next step would be Ukraine, and Clemens mentioned a former Ukrainian Editor, Alex, whom he got to know in Ghent. Confused with all the names, yet? That is what usually happens in EYP. But here comes more… The boys searched Alex up on Facebook, asking him if he could possibly host them. Getting a positive response from him, Lars, Martin and Clemens departed for Kiev. There was actually a Regional Session going on there – one to which Maria was attending as a Chair. As Maria let them take part in GA as Session visitors, Lars had the chance to meet Chrisoula, a Greek Organiser, and spend a few hours in her company. Chrisoula particularly appreciated his eloquence and eccentric sense of humour. As for Lars, there was something intriguing about this Greek woman that he felt the urge to understand and explain. He therefore asked Chrisoula her home address, which enabled him to start a letter exchange with her. After two months of sending letters back and forth, they agreed to meet up at the 76th International Session happening in Barcelona, to which they applied as Delegates. NB: Any Delegate who gets selected for one of the two next IS gets an EYP Alumni membership, which allows him or her to participate to a summer IS, such as the one in Barcelona. Luckily, they got accepted to the IS. During those ten days, they made new extraordinary encounters and also gained new perspectives on a personal level. By the time this unique experience was over, Lars and Chrisoula realised that in EYP, the end of a session always calls for a new one: not only is EYP about new relationships, it is also a relationship in itself.
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Interview with the Delegates
This day when here, in Lillehammer, the 11th National Selection Conference of EYPNAA comes to an end, the Delegates shared their thoughts and impressions from the passing by week. I got to do an interview with six wonderful Delegates; Peter, Mina, Rasmus, Jenny, Liv and Fredrick. Hopefully we will be seeing more of them and you after this Session as active members of EYPNAA. By Anniken Knutsen
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Peter Wan, ITRE, 16years 1.'How do you feel about your topic? Do you think it is relevant to the problems Europe is facing at the moment? a.'IRTE is about innovation. This is the way to get out of the crisis we are in now, we need to focus on this topic. Innovation is a key problem European politicians should focus on, so I believe it is a highly relevant problem in Europe at the moment. 2.'If you could choose any topic, problem etc. to work with, what would it be? a.'I would probably choose Human Rights because I am a member of NS international and it would be interesting for me to explore it. Or else I am really fond of ITRE, the Committee I am in now. 3.'Do you have any awkward stories from this session? (Love aairs, quotes, something someone said/did etc...) a.'First day of Teambuilding we had to stand in a line and arrange ourselves by the colour of our underwear. Light to dark. It was awkward but fun. 4.'Are you hooked on EYP? Is this something you want to continue doing? a.'I do like EYP, but it is a bit stressful as well. 5.'Who is the coolest person you have met during this session? (Fellow Delegates, Chairs, Organisers, etc.) a.'My chair, he is so deeply reflected and has control over everything and get us back on track 6.'If you had the chance of making one wish come true, what would it be? a.'Every country in the EU would fund as many Innovation projects as possible
Mina Tangen, DROI, 18 years, from Oslo Katedralskole 1.' How do you feel about your topic? Do you think it is relevant to the problems Europe is facing at the moment? a.' Yes, really relevant because the roman people are facing one of the biggest issues in Europe today. 2.' If you could choose any topic, problem etc. to work with, what would it be? a.' Probably what I am working on right now, DROI 3.'Do you have any awkward stories from this session? (Love aairs, quotes, something someone said/did etc...) a.'Summing up the first day, one of the delegates walked in and said it was like we all knew each other and we were this friend gang which he repeated in every game we did. 4.'Did you bring everything you needed for this session? (I forgot my toothbrush) a.'I bring everything I needed for this session, surprisingly 5.'Are you hooked on EYP? Is this something you want to continue doing? a.'I would probably continue in EYP. I was a bit nervous before we arrived but this session has changed my mind. It is really fun! I probably want to go to an IS, and my dream location would be somewhere warm. 6.'Who is the coolest person you have met during this session? (Fellow Delegates, Chairs, Organisers, etc.) a.'My chair is the coolest person I have met. 7.'If you had the chance of making one wish come true, what would it be a.'That all discrimination and violence against Romani people would end.
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Rasmus Kvall Andersen, ITRE 17years, from Trondheim Katedralskole 1.'How do you feel about your topic? Do you think it is relevant to the problems Europe is facing at the moment? a.'The topic is highly relevant because the research which is being done in the topic of ITRE is essential to make progress. 2.'If you could choose any topic, problem etc. to work with, what would it be? a.'I do not know. I think everything is quite interesting! I want to angle the topics in a way that makes them interesting for me to work with. 3.'Did you bring everything you needed for this session? a.'I did bring everything I need, I think 4.'Are you hooked on EYP? Is this something you want to continue doing? a.'It depends. I may work with organising a regional session after Christmas. But I will see it from there. 5.'Who is the coolest person you have met during this session? (Fellow Delegates, Chairs, Organisers, etc.) a.'I met way to many cool persons to just mention only one 6.'If you had the chance of making one wish come true, what would it be a.'World peace
Jenny Auran, FEMM, 17 years, from Røros 1.'How do you feel about your topic? Do you think it is relevant to the problems Europe is facing at the moment? a.'Yes, definitely! This topic is not really in focus at the moment, so I think it is good we are exposing all its relevance right now. 2.'If you could choose any topic, problem etc. to work with, what would it be? a.'I really like FEMM because of its relevancy but I am also passionate about environmental issues as well 3.'Do you have any awkward stories from this session? (Love affairs, quotes, something someone said/did etc...) a.'We used some words we did not understand, so instead of saying were against the problem it seemed we were saying that we were incredible pro. 4.'Are you hooked on EYP? Is this something you want to continue doing? a.'Yes, absolutely! I really want to go to an IS if I had the opportunity and my dream location would probably be Athens 5.'Who is the coolest person you have met during this session? (Fellow Delegates, Chairs, Organisers, etc.) a.'Ingrid in my group is the coolest person I have met. She is really funny 6.'If you had the chance of making one wish come true, what would it be a.'I wish that the things we have been working on these past days will be taken seriously and that we will be able to use it in some way.
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Liv Reistad Haukaas, ENVI I, 16years and Fredrick Gran, CRIM 18years from Bergen Handelsgymnasium -' How do you feel about your topic? Do you think it is relevant to the problems Europe is facing at the moment? o'Liv: I guess so. But before I got this topic I did not really know there was a water scarcity in Europe -' If you could choose any topic, problem etc. to work with, what would it be? o'Liv; I have no Idea. Maybe I would make sure to save endangered species all over the world. -' Do you have any awkward stories from this session? (Love affairs, quotes, something someone said/did etc...) o'Liv: not really, everything has been kind of fun but I cannot remember any of them o'Fredrick: I lost my shoes, or they were stolen, so the only ones I have left are these pink sneakers. I actually got a lot of compliments for them, but I looked really silly. o'Did you bring everything you needed for this session? o'Both: We actually brought everything! -' Are you hooked on EYP? Is this something you want to continue doing? o'Of course! It is like a big pizza, you just want it -' Who is the coolest person you have met during this session? (Fellow Delegates, Chairs, Organisers etc.) o'Fredrick: Except from Liv? Probably the Greek guy from DROI -' If you had the chance of making one wish come true, what would it be? o'Liv: travel around the world o'Fredrick: It is world peace
EYP evolution & revolution By Leo Bagiu Widely known, the European Youth Parliament is a large organisation with around 40,000 members in total and approximately 5000 active members. Every year there are 3 major events held around Europe – the International Sessions with an average attendance of 250 people. Bearing in mind this enormous success of the largest European Youth Organisation, the following question arises: What is the history of EYP? The organisation has changed a lot since it was founded in 1987. Originally, EYP was a French organisation only, but as time progressed the organisation grew and extended its borders from Portugal to Norway, from Ireland to Azerbaijan, and now consists of 37 National Committees. Firstly, the official language was French, which soon shared its spot with English language. As EYP held its first International Session 1988, it quickly grew international as several countries joined the initiative. Considering how large EYP is today, it is a funny thought that it was initially established as a student initiative in “Lycée François-ler” in Fontainebleau, which is in the Southern Paris. Three of the four first International Sessions were held at this school. In 1991, EYP moved to Witney, Oxfordshire, and was then recognised as a legal subsidiary of a charity. EYP then started having National Committees outside of the European Union, as EYP has the focus on all of Europe rather than the EU. EYP encountered major financial issues between 2001 and 2004, but on November 4, 2004, the “Heinz-Schwarzkopf Stiftung Junges Europa” took over with EYP, which resulted in the organisation being hosted in Berlin thereafter. This had a large impact on EYP, as it received a large financial aid from the Heinz-Schwarzkopf Stiftung Junges Europa”, which meant that the amount of International Sessions each year increased from 1 to 3. Not only has EYP moved around between countries for its Head Office, but changes in the means like technology have had a major impact on the organisation. One of the largest things to ever happen to EYP is the Internet. When the internet started to become a normal thing in each household, EYP established its Alumni Platform, which made it much easier to apply for and get informed about Sessions throughout Europe. Internet gave EYP a major boost in internationalism, thus the organisation grew much quicker than before. Not only did it become much easier to apply for Sessions through the Alumni Platform, but the process of registration for becoming an Alumnus became much easier and quicker. EYP has undergone a large evolution since 1987, in practicality, in size and economic status. Since then, the organisation has grown remarkably, and now it exists in countries like Ukraine, Turkey and Norway. EYP takes gradual steps to extend outside the borders of the European Union. Most of the major changes of EYP have even been large enough to be called revolutions. Such revolutions have been mentioned earlier, and have had a major impact not only on EYP, but the people within the organisation. EYP changed the lives of thousands of people, which is the main asset to the European Union as it unifies the citizens of different countries, promotes further cooperation and builds the bridges of international friendship. EYP has not only caused revolutions within the organisation itself, but caused major changes in the lives of many people as well as the entire European you 10
It is not a goodbye, it is a “I wi! see you soon” Cause nothing compares to you By Riikka Nieminen
Just when you have got to know all these new people, it is time to leave the session in Lillehammer. The past three days have been really intense and full of action. On the other hand you cannot wait to get back to home and sleep in your own bed but at the same time you may feel that you are not ready to leave the Session and all these wonderful people. People that have never seen each other before became best friends, they have shared the most private moments of their lives during the silliest games, they overcame the tough moments of tiredness and produced remarkable products – the Resolutions. When are you going to meet these people again or is that even ever going to happen? After you have experienced a session like this, coming back to your normal daily routines can be complicated. Nobody at school will understand what the General Assembly is and how great your speech was or how much fun you had during the Teambuilding. When you try to tell your parents how many new friends you got and how you still keep on thinking in English they just stare at you or murmur something about how they are happy for you. But you do not have to worry. These symptoms are completely normal and they just tell that you are having “PED”. This so called Post-EYP-Depression is what strikes you after a session. You just wish you could hang around with the people you have met a bit longer. Luckily, there are many things you can do to get over this irritating problem. Thanks to social media you can use Facebook, Skype, Twitter and all other ways to keep in touch with your new friends. There will also be a photo or two of you in Facebook thanks to journalists who have been taking pictures of you all the time. What could be nicer than going through those pictures and “liking” them, recalling the warm moments of joy and happiness!
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Though the social media is a really efficient way to get over PED, but the live meetings prove to be a better remedy for PED. Next time you visit Oslo, go ahead and give a call to that girl who was in your Committee. You can literally sit for hours just talking about EYP and how great your last Session was. But in the end and all in all the ultimately best way to get over the Post-EYP-Depression is: to attend MORE SESSIONS! At various EYP Sessions across Europe you can meet your old friends from earlier sessions and have a really good time together, recalling and dreaming of the more Sessions together. Not only you can get to see your old friends but also you will meet many lovely people from all over Europe. At some point you realize that you actually have friends in many different countries like France, Denmark, Finland or Ukraine… The list is endless!
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But if PED is the result of going to a Session, why would somebody go through it again? That is probably a question nobody can answer. But when you start to think about the pros and the cons of getting involved with EYP and going to Sessions, you will realize that, though, you may feel exhausted after the Session, it is all worth it. All memories you gain from one Session make you want more. You want to create more memories alike. So instead crying at home alone, attend more Sessions and make more bright memories to cherish!
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