#LNC15
Output
Editor’s Note There are many things we tell ourselves at the end of an EYP session to try and put meaning to our experience. After a week of whirlwind emotions, we feel like we have to put our feelings into words. We hope that describing this experience will help with that sudden empty feeling, with the desire to go back. But that is not always possible, sometimes words simply won’t do. They can’t accurately describe how you feel as the session draws to a close; as you hug your newfound friends goodbye; as you wave farewell while you climb aboard a train or into a taxi. We do not claim that these words, that this content, describes how we feel, or how you feel, about the session. Rather it is a place where we have gathered the output we created during the session, all in one place. Some of it you will have read before, some of it is brand new. It is not designed to act as a summary of the session, or to capture the essence of it in words. Rather we hope it acts as a trigger to bring back the good memories. We hope as you flick through these pages you remember the good times, the laughs, the emotions and that it’ll make you think back to all the different aspects that made up LNC15. Revisit the session day by day by reading the Delegate Diary Entries and take another look at the session’s theme by reading our Media Team Member’s insights in the Equality Series. Reminisce about the Golden Oscars and find out how to continue in EYP. EYP is a unique experience. It connects you to strangers in ways you wouldn’t have thought possible, it gives you the opportunity to make yourself heard and it can gift you with long lasting friendships. We gather together as strangers and after days of intense, in-your-face games and discussions, we leave with tears in our eyes and memories in our hearts.
David & Lāra
A conversation with the HOs Dear Diary... It’s the experience that matters How to continue in EYP Entering the EYP bubble When watching is not enough A journey through EYP Equality Series Gender Stereotypes All You Need Is Love The Judge – Discussing Prejudice in Society The Changing Nature of Europen Immigration Chauvinism - Recognising the Problem Passion Golden Oscars Output
Output Media
4 6 8 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 31 32 34 35
Alise Golovacka (LV) Anna Elina Vitola (LV) Annemari Sepp (EE) Ans Van Gasse (BE) Charlotte de Groot (NL) Christopher Nölte (DE) Ella Gemünd (DE) Jacques Paul Kyrou (SE) Rainers Knīss (LV) Raitis Pekuss (LV) Robyn Hanssens (BE) David Corish (IE) Lāra Niamh Eckert Reinfelds (CH)
In conversation with Raitis Pekuss
The first time I met Dana was at the Kurzeme Zemgale Regional Session 2014 where we both were organisers. At first, we did not get along well and we only stopped disliking each other after the Latgale Vidzeme Regional session which happened almost half of a year later. We finally clicked while we were waiting for foreign officials to come to the venues. The idea of head organising a session together came out of nowhere. We were having breakfast and I was telling her that I had figured to take a gap year. To that Dana responded with a suggestion that we should use our efficiently and co-organise the national selection conference. As at the moment nobody had applied to do that, we agreed to take upon this challenge. Dana and I have grown to become very good friends. We have probably even become too similar as we are sometimes found using the same nail polish or synchronizing our thoughts from time to time, which does becomes creepy. On the other hand, being so similar really helps when it comes to organising. We have a similar vision for the session, we acknowledge each other’s competences and we can rely on one another. I would not do it with anyone else. Nevertheless, organising a national conference was extremely hard even with such a good friend besides my shoulder. As we both have head organised sessions before, we have different approaches to how a session should be organised. Still it is healthy to have the arguments we have because they help us to get the best possible outcome afterwards. We learn from our fights, always. I really like our organising team as well. I guess I can say that we are like a small family in which I probably wear the pants. Dana is more considered to be the mother of the orga family because she is the nice one and she keeps the organisers happy. It has been a great journey. Even though I promised not to cry at the end, I know Dana is going to cry, therefore, I will most probably cry as well. I promised not to, but this is one of the promises I am not sure I can keep. If I went back in time and again talked with Dana about organising a session, I would say yes. If we are speaking about future, taking into account all of my future plans, most probably this is the last session I am head organising. Then again, I am not promising that because you can never promise something about the last times in EYP.
ith The Hea
Sigita
Sigita
A Conversation W
Dana
Dana
In conversation with Alise Golovacka Sigita and I met when we were both on an organisers’ team for a Regional Session about 2 years ago and at first we did not get on, we were quite different back then. However, last summer, we were officials together at another session. Afterwards we met for coffee and talked for 6 hours straight; naturally, we became friends. So, we were having lunch together (although, for Sigita it was breakfast) and she told me about her plan to take a GAP year because she didn’t like what she was studying back then. I thought it was decent idea and we just chatted away amongst. After a while though, I suddenly presented the idea of Head-Organising nationals together. I mean, it was perfect, she had so much free time and we were both on the board of EYP Latvia. We started talking and immediately had a million ideas, it all seemed crazy. Sigita is definitely the one wearing the pants in our relationship. She can be strict and professional and knows how to deal with contracts and money. On the other hand, the organisers call me the mum of the orga family. I’m always checking if everyone is where they need to be, if they are safe, if they have eaten and slept. In an organisers' boot camp we went to the mall and I said ‘’Kids, let’s go to the ice cream section’’ and they all started screaming. Considering how cute they are, we think of them as our children.
ad Organisers
We’ve certainly influenced the organisers team to some extent. Sigita and I have noticed that the way we feel about some things has had a strong influence on them. They always back us up in our hate against people, even if they don’t know anything about the situation. We always tell our team that the strongest survive –considering all the dropouts at this session, and they are real survivors. Besides, we are having a lot of fun. I don’t think we are going to be best friends forever but they all laugh as hard as they work and work as hard as they laugh. I am 100 % sure that the General Assembly speech will kill me. We are going to tell our own personal stories and I think that this could be my last session for some time and there is no better way to end your active EYP career than this.
Teambu ilding
Dear Diary, Things got even weirder today. Despite all the singing and dancing yesterday, and all the songs about that moose and his juice, I did not think my fellow participants were in anyway musical. Last night though, there was this concert going on where they all appeared to be musical wonders all of a sudden. On top of that, everyone dressed super fancy, as if they weren’t strange at all - which clearly isn’t true, considering all the strange stuff they’ve been doing around here. Please, do not forget the moose ritual.
MOOSE RITUAL!!
Anyway, the concert was really nice and gave me a sense of normality for once, which was lovely of course. I was truly amazed by both the performing and the presenting skills of the people here. The afterparty was great, too, by the way; I highly recommend watching people floppy dance whilst wearing a suit. It was incredibly ridiculous. These people really have no idea how to act: are they fancy, are they random, who knows? But actually, I think I’m starting to like that attitude. Oh dear, I’m becoming a random moose chick myself. Send help! Bye diary
August 6th
What even?
August 5th
Dear Diary, After having survived a five hour train ride in the morning, I finally arrived at my first ever EYP-session. This seems like it might be the beginning of one of the strangest adventures in my life. Once I had dropped off my bags in a room full of people I don’t know, I was dragged into a giant circle of people performing a strange ritual involving a dance and a repetitive song. The song was about a moose named Fred, who drank juice in bed and spilled it all over his body. I don’t know Fred’s story, but in my opinion Fred needs to reevaluate some of his lifestyle choices. That can’t be healthy behaviour, even for a moose. I still don’t fully understand the reason for that weird ritual, but I’m guessing that in this part of Europe the Moose is an endangered species and that problem has to be brought to our attention. But if drowning in juice is the cause of extinction in these animals, do we actually want the species to remain on our planet? Maybe the European Union should start paying more attention to that and start facing the real problem. After that, I was forced to kiss my ‘fellow delegates’ - a.k.a. people I don’t know anything about - on the cheek. What is this EYP thing? Some kind of gathering for lovable but very touchy feely weirdos? Nothing special has happened yet, although most people are super hyper all of the time. They jump into each others arms and scream words that don’t even exist. I don’t have a clue what is going on, but I haven’t really noticed yet what the European Parliament has to do with any of this. Anyway, I get the Europe part. I mean; this place is full of people from different countries. Although that doesn’t come without it’s problems either. I really embarrassed myself when I started talking about pasta to a pastahating Italian. It was so awkward I was literally hoping the ground would swallow me whole... I guess stereotypes aren’t always true. Let’s see if tomorrow is less random. . . Bye Diary.
Dear Diary... August 7th
Dear Diary, I have started to get used to all the screaming and dancing, it actually turns out to be kind of fun. I don’t think I have ever made such a fool of myself in my life before, but weirdly enough it makes me feel really good. Besides, today we finally got down to serious business - committee work. It is so interesting to hear everyone's opinions and all the stuff people have prepared. It is really amazing just how smart everyone is! To be honest, there was one point today at which I hadn’t had anything to say for more than an hour and I started to feel really excluded and bad about myself. Then this one girl on my committee made a comment with which I just could not agree! It was complete nonsense to me, I just had to say something! So I jumped in and told her everything I had on my mind but she refused to listen to me! And everyone seemed to agree with her so I felt so frustrated I almost started crying. But then our chair stepped in and talked about how both of our ideas are actually the same thing, just coming from a different perspective. By now I feel so silly that I got angry. Always remember that there are many sides to a story! I should really try to keep my temper, trying to get your point across is really hard while you have tears dripping all over the flip chart. Anyway, it turns out my committee topic is a lot more interesting than I thought. I am definitely going to read more about it when I get home. But first, let me write a speech for General Assembly! Bye Diary.
Eu
ro
Dear Diary,
co n
ce
I'm at a loss for words. What a day I’ve had! It started with a wake up call involving pots and spoons being clanged, making a most godawful noise and ending with my committee passing our resolution! GA was the cherry on top of a fantastic week. Yesterday I went to bed quite late because I had to write a speech. Thankfully that wasn’t as difficult as I had imagined, because all of my new friends from my committee helped me. Only then did I actually understand the impact teambuilding had on us. I didn't know any of them 5 days ago but now I am able to trust all of them completely. Maybe the weird moose ritual wasn’t that silly after all. Trusting in my new friends has paid off, we passed our resolution and people actually came to me and congratulated me on my great speech! Defending our resolution, which we had been working on for 3 days, was very emotional. Seeing my fellow committee members support each other was magnificent. On top of that, I was surprised by the brilliant points made by people who were not in my committee. I mean, I didn`t know anything about our topic before the session, but these guys debated about it as though they were all doing their PhD thesis on the topics we were discussing. These "Moose preachers" have turned out to be some of the smartest people I have ever met! I came here with no expectations and the moose game sort of creeped me out. Now I can say most sincerely that I want to come back and I can't wait for the next session to happen. People in EYP are not only clever, they know how to find the silver lining in everything and combine their positive attitude with highly serious debates. Even though the session ends today, I am certain that this is not the last time I will reminisce about my EYP adventures here.
August 10th
General Assembly
Dear Diary,
August 14th
I miss Fred the moose. I miss my new friends. I miss my chair. God. After General Assembly we stood in a circle singing along to ‘Imagine’ by John Lennon. I thought that was cheesy at first, but boy did I tear up at the end. The fact that I might never see some of these people again has been killing me ever since I got home. My parents have told me many times to shut up about anything concerning the session, especially my newfound love for moose. I spent the last five hours researching moose eating patterns. Drinking juice is not normal. Anyway, nothing in EYP is quite normal; in the space of six days I partied, I delivered a speech, I debated, I danced, I played games, I made friends. I made friends in the weirdest way possible; I hit them with a newspaper, I fought with them for kisses, I smashed their arguments, I did JustDance with them, I attacked their resolutions and I wrote silly comments on their shirts. Nevertheless, I made friends, and I will remember them, even if I won’t be seeing them again. Bye Diary, I should go check my Facebook messages now.
rt
it’s the experience that matters At EYP sessions there are no winners or losers. No one can take these past few days from you. No one can take away the experiences, the joy or the memories. Merely attending a session makes you an EYPer.
to find a balance between fun and serious work. Not only are you developing yourself, you are submitting to a more participating and active thinking Europe. You are changing the future right here, in a school building in Olaine.
The experience you get out of a session is incredible. All of my favourite moments in the past few years have happened at EYP sessions. How many times have you caught yourself telling your friends or family about EYP? I bet quite a lot. These moments are the stories you will be telling to your children and grandchildren.
You never sat still. If you weren’t playing teambuilding games or working during committee work, you were writing notes to each other, taking hundreds of snapchats, posing for pictures at the photobooth, or playing ninja in the hallway.
We learn so much during a session. We acquire skills that they don’t teach you at school, such as socialising, forming an opinion, working in group. You learn how
You worked out at the Olympic games, challenged each other in order to solve the Mysterious Murder of David Corish and listened to some inspiring LNC talks. You even had the chance to have a great time with your new friends and enjoy the White T-shirt party.
– Robyn Hanssens What I am trying to say is that you shouldn’t be sad or disappointed if you’re not selected. You have achieved so much during this session. So if you do get sad, think about the beautiful moments. The moment where you and your committee finished your resolution, the energetic wake up calls in the morning, the kebab made by Erdem, the smell of coffee during the coffee breaks, the notes from the messaging system, the music, the fisheye pictures, the amazing videos… the list could be endless. A lot of people who are now very active in EYP weren’t originally selected at their National Selection Conference. They applied for International Sessions and Fora or applied as an official in their own country. As the delegates from Lithuania, Estonia and Turkey at this session can probably
confirm: everything changes when you go abroad. When you arrive home, take a nice nap and reflect on the session. What did it mean to you? What did you learn? When you have figured this out, tell your relatives about your experience. Talk about the positive and negative things. Take a look at the pictures on your phone, on Facebook. Choose your top 10 and save them in an album. Once in a while when you want to reflect on the session, take a look at them while singing the moose song. Don’t be sad, but look forward to your next experience. I promise you, you won’t regret it.
How to continue in EYP Not selected? No worries. Ella takes a look on how to continue your EYP journey
Picture this: It’s the end of the session. You have done your best, bonded with your committee, worked until you couldn’t keep your eyes open during committee work and made point after point in General Assembly. You have had an incredible time but now you’re wondering, did I get selected? Waiting for the selection results is nerve wrecking and in a few minutes they will announce who of you will be able to attend an International Session. There are several questions going through your head at this moment: Was I good enough? Will I be able to continue with EYP? Once they finally announce the names of the ones who have been selected you are either incredibly happy or a bit disappointed. However, not being selected, or not being selected for an International Session, does by no means end your EYP career. You have now become a part of this organisation and you have plenty of opportunities to continue and stay involved. If you ask around in the officials team you will notice that it is consists of only a few people who were selected at their first session. Alise, a Media Team Member, was not selected at her first conference. Instead she took part in the selection process again and has achieved quite a lot in EYP already: having head organised a session is only the tip of the iceberg. So here are a few tips on how to continue, whether or not you are selected.
Top Tips Keep in touch with the new friends you have made in EYP. They will keep your motivation up to participate and you can exchange information about all the sessions that are coming up. Participate at an International Forum abroad. Sometimes they have open calls for International Delegates and you can always approach your National Committee to find out if they could send you to a session. Media Team Member Robyn speaks from experience: “Of course I was disappointed when I was not selected. But then I went to an International Forum and the EYP spirit got me back immediately. It is such a good opportunity to meet EYPers from all over Europe and gain more experience.” Don’t hesitate – just start applying! Organiser, Media Team Member or Chairperson – Regional and National Sessions are the perfect place to be a first time official. In order to prepare yourself, keep an eye out for trainings which are mostly offered for prospective Chairs and Media Team Members. There are two very helpful links that can help you stay up to date with everything that is going on in the EYP community. Firstly, the EYP “Sessions” Facebook group, (www.facebook. com/groups/233076716771585/) As the name indicates, a lot of calls for session officials and delegates are published here. Secondly, the Alumni platform of EYP, (http://alumni.eypej.org/), gives you the opportunity to put your session history online. It also publishes important news and calls as well as providing a database with lots of information on games, chairing techniques and much more. There are many ways for you to continue in EYP, whether you are selected to go abroad or not. Don’t let the Jury’s decision discourage you and stay involved!
Entering the EYP Bubble – Jacques Paul Kyrou
For Jacques, #LNC15 was his first ever EYP session, never having attended one as a delegate. He offers his views on joining the EYP Bubble. Participating in the European Youth Parliament (EYP) for the very first time is similar to going to a busy international airport. There are loads of people, all eager to communicate, eager to move around and eager to find food and a quick coffee to consume. There are people from every corner of Europe and there’s a sense of excitement amongst the participants; they are looking forward to what’s coming. EYP officials and delegates come from various backgrounds and all contribute very differently. Whether it is their digital creativity, their persistence or their longterm memory being able to remember approximately seventy-three teambuilding songs that energise you, the inspiration is guaranteed. Prior to my arrival to Riga, I was trying to predict and break down my expectations of the upcoming dates. Without prior experience within the seemingly closeknitted world of EYP, I was still unsure of what to expect even as it was happening right in front of my eyes. As the newcomer, and already an official at a National Session, I pushed myself to quickly adapt and understand the procedures, to learn processes and the operations of the session. Formal and informal terms, songs and phrases; all exclusive to this weird and wonderful EYP language confused me and I continually found myself trying to figure out the definitions. Once the terminological barriers were broken down, I would use these phrases myself and openly refer to things as institutional abbreviations and discuss golden rules. The idea of EYP is simple, it is an organisation run and led by youths, for youths. It is a place where political discussions thrive and aspirational goals are established. It is an opportunity for the youth of Europe to have their voices heard, strengthened and documented. Yet, there is a lot more included in the shiny bubble that is an EYP-session. This may perhaps sound generic, or maybe even avant-garde to some ears, but a family is born at every session. It might be the lack of personal space, the constant coffee consumption or the almost cult-like bonding activities that bring us closer. During the session, you spend every hour awake with your team, your committee and the officials and it creates a rigid bond. We are all young, all dedicated and all out of your comfort zones, especially when the game you are playing forces you to mimic a flying chicken pilot. Concluding by returning to the airport metaphor, instead of leaving the airport with a stamp in your passport, you leave an EYP session with an emotional stamp on your heart, and if you are lucky, a brand new facebook profile picture.
Watching paint dry might not sound like an activity anyone would actually take up: simply sitting and concentrating on the process going on in front of your eyes, while the paint dries. Finding similarities between paint drying and life. To be honest, a mere month ago, I would have been shocked to think like that. For a girl who spent over 14 years running around in art schools whilst always being covered in paint, I was still a newbie when it came to realising the true value of paint drying. Last month I visited a friend of mine from high school who was renovating his apartment. We were joking around about watching the paint dry until I decided to take on the challenge. I sat and watched the paint dry in absolute silence. After the first five minutes I thought I was going mental, it seemed like my mind was bursting with thoughts. I could not come up with anything to think about, yet everyday problems were racing through my mind. Minutes passed and so I sat there – alone, lost in my own thoughts and an unchanging environment. After about half an hour, I started to see a change of colour on the wall. While my thoughts where getting deeper and more philosophical, the wall was turning just a little bit lighter with every passing minute. I was truly surprised when I discovered the connection between my thoughts and the changes I was observing on the wall. As it was drying my thoughts became clearer and more structured. I started to question every aspect of my life. If the wall can change its appearance and purpose so easily then why can’t I? Why is it so hard for me to change – to let everything go? Then it hit me. While the wall changes slowly and the change is not visible until the process is done, the same applies to us. People are born into this world as a white wall, which is then splashed with paint by their environment around. The paint dries as time passes, but there is always new paint splashed on top, so some spots will never dry fully. When painting a wall, you need to be careful to cover it neatly and make sure it is smooth all over. All mistakes will be visible and it will be harder to fix them once the paint has dried. The same theory works for life as well – you can’t erase your past and mistakes. Everything that happens in life will stay as a coat of paint. You can always change your environment and get a new coat, but that does not scrap off the old layer. Sometimes a new layer will not be thick enough and therefore the past will remain visible underneath. Painting over a red wall with white paint will not be successful unless you add layer after layer until the red does not show anymore. I believe that taking just one hour to watch paint dry could be an eye-opening experience for all of us. Afterwards we might be more open to reevaluating our situation in life and the choices we make. If someone truly wants to understand human nature they should learn how to focus their thoughts, for instance by watching paint dry.
When watching is not enough
– Annemari Sepp
P Y E h g u o r h t y e n r u a jo ce National Conferen 3 1 e th h g u ro th ey
rs on their journ Tracking four EYPe
ate) Kurts Auza (Deleg How do you feel right now? Excited! I can’t wait to start the session and meet my committee! Express your feelings about the session so far in only one sentence. I really enjoyed meeting my fellow committee members and it felt great getting to know more about them. What do you think is going to happen next? Our resolution passes.
th
of EYP Latvia
niser)
rga LuÄŤze Zalcmane (O
How do you feel right now? Great, a bit exhausted but not enough for me to be really bothered by it. Express your feelings about the session so far in a one sentence. It has been 38 hours of awesomeness! What do you think is going to happen next? Something unexpected but very, very nice. Something I can reminisce about whenever I feel sad and that will make me feel happy again.
Part One air)
Samuel David (Ch
Alise Golovacka er) b (Media Team Mem
How do you feel right now? I am really looking forward to committee work. I think our committee is great and able to do a lot. I feel hyped!
How do you feel right now? I’m happy! I talked to some delegates and we had a lovely chat, which was very nice. These are some of the best delegates I’ve ever met.
Express your feelings about the session so far in only one sentence. So far this has been my coolest challenge in EYP yet!
Express your feelings about the session so far in only one sentence. Everyone is so hot!
What do you think is going to happen next? Our committee is going to create the best resolution EYP has ever seen!
What do you think is going to happen next? So far the session has blown all of my expectations away, therefore I have fair reason to believe that this is going to be a great event!
P Y E h g u o r h t y e n r u o j a rs Tracking four EYPe
rence of EYP Latvia
3th National Confe rney through the 1
on their jou
rganiser) (O e n a m lc a Z e 朝z Lu How do you feel right now? I really want to go take a shower, but unfortunately there is a sports team using them now so I have to wait for one of our shower shifts. Express your feelings about the session so far. Sandwiches all over the place! What do you think is going to happen next? Besides the coffee break which is going to happen in a few moments, I am going to hug Dana because she seems a bit grumpy and I want to make her happy.
ate) Kurts Auza (Deleg How do you feel right now? Even though I am struggling with the committee work a bit, I feel very good. We have a lot to do but we are steadily heading to our goals. Express your feelings about the session so far. This is the 3rd day so I feel a bit more tired. Nevertheless, I still feel excited and can not wait to see the resolution which we will come up with. What do you think is going to happen next? LNC talks! Besides that, I have to win the Golden Oscar for the best hairs of the session.
Part Two Alise Golovacka er) b (Media Team Mem How do you feel right now? I feel very tired because the Media Team has been working very hard and I did not get a lot of sleep. I have been wandering around busying myself because I am afraid I will fall asleep if I stop! Express your feelings about the session so far. We are very cool. What do you think is going to happen next? I am going to crash, haha! On a more serious note, I think delegates are working very hard and I think their resolutions are going to be great. I also look forward to the volunteer work. Furthermore, I already feel sad that all of this is going to end soon.
air)
Samuel David (Ch
How do you feel right now? Everything is going according to plan and even better than I could have hoped. I keep on meeting people who are enjoying the session and feeling relaxed. It’s great! Express your feelings about the session so far. As all of the committees are quite small, chairs are chairing solo, delegates are very experienced and we have a lot of time. I think I have cracked the mystery and understand that this is a Forum rather than a National Conference. What do you think is going to happen next? I am really looking forward to GA because we will then be able to see whether teambuilding built up enough of a group spirit and whether we produced resolutions that will pass.
P Y E h g u o r h t y e n r u o j a rs Tracking four EYPe
rence of EYP Latvia
3th National Confe rney through the 1
on their jou
rganiser) (O e n a m lc a Z e 朝z Lu
How do you feel right now? I feel tired, but really happy and proud about the job that we have done. But exactly right now I feel like I have a lot of garbage bags to carry outside and my mop is simply my best friend. Describe your feelings about the session so far? It was a struggle but it had a great outcome.
ate) Kurts Auza (Deleg How do you feel right now? Tired, but of course, also excited, really looking forward to our resolution getting passed. As the session is coming to an end, I start to value all the new knowledge I have gained here as well as all the new friends and great emotions experienced with them.
Describe your feelings about the session so far. Very pleased with the session. It has been What do you think is going to happen next? organised really feel, the food could have been better, but overall it was really nice! I am going to be very happy to finally see my shower, with hot water in it, and, of course, my Especially the LNC talks, which I found very emotional and educational at the same time. great bed, as well. But later on I am going to think about those stupid moments and what What do you think is going to happen next? we did at the night time, how we laughed Hopefully, all the resolutions will pass! about awful things. In other words- PED will start to kick in.
Part Three Alise Golovacka er) b (Media Team Mem How do you feel right now? I am a little bit sad that the volunteer day did not happen, because it has proven to be a great experience in previous sessions. Then again, it is good that the delegates had all day to prepare for GA, I hope it will definitely reflect in today’s debates. Describe your feelings about the session so far? No other session has made me think and develop myself as much as this one. What do you think is going to happen next? I am going to cry. I hope the delegates will cry as well. We all are going to cry, because this is a very beautiful, emotional and bonding moment. And for all of us, there will definitely be a reason to cry.
air)
Samuel David (Ch
How do you feel right now? I am afraid of the end, I don’t want this to end, but at the same time I am really satisfied with what people here have achieved. We all have grown during this session more than we can imagine. I can not even think of everything I have gained in this session. Right now, I feel like I need to go home and revaluate my whole life, this was really life changing. Describe your feelings about the session so far? This was a rollercoaster, starting with the LNC talks, it has been an overwhelmed amount of emotions, I simply feel like I just came out much stronger in a really cool way. What do you think is going to happen next? Closing ceremony is going to be really sad, I think I am going to cry for the first time in half a year.
“Equality means that we are all the same, human beings.” “Equality is the new Black” “Equality is the chance to be myself and do what I love without the fear of getting oppressed” “I believe in equality, if we have 5 working days and then a 5 day weekend” “Equality is about equal opportunities, equal privileges, equal rights and equal access regardless of heritage, gender or sexuality”
Equality Series “We are all born equal, but somewhere along the way, society makes us unequal” “Try explain to a small child what inequality is, they won’t understand it. As we grow up, society teaches us inequality is a part of everyday life. We need to stop this.” “Love is love. Equal is equal” “Equality is easy once you’re kind, honest, caring and loving. Start small” “Everyone is equal. No ‘ifs’ and no ‘buts’, just equal”
s e p y t o e r e t S r e d n e G inions One Issue Two Op
– Alise Golovacka It seems unlikely that equality between sexes, free of assumptions, stereotypes and prejudices, has ever existed on our planet. Why do we still strive for it? On a basis of our biological make up, the sexes differs strongly in some points, giving certain advantages for specific purposes. I know it, you know it, we all know it. This, amongst other things, has led to traditional ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ roles being attributed to a specific gender for a long time. This is something we want to change. Traditionally, men have been seen as the ones who do physical work and women take care of children. Men are expected to support their families financially and women are in charge of the household. These stereotypes have been around for centuries. They are not necessarily wrong, after all, we are a mammals and our main aim is reproduction. Hard work and stress can be harmful for the human body, so keeping in mind that one of the main tasks for the female body is to carry out healthy little human beings it
could make sense that women are seen as the ones who do less physically demanding tasks. But this is not the case in this day and age. Nowadays society has developed into a place where lifestyle choices and vocation possibilities seem endless. At least theoretically, as we are still holding on to old views of gender roles. We are at a point where we can enjoy the privilege of freedom of speech and freedom of choice. At least theoretically, as there will always be someone with more power who can restrict your actions. We have to keep in mind that people can be judgmental, prejudiced and spoilt. Those who strive for a different lifestyle to the one our society is accustomed to have to be prepared for criticism and ridicule. To many of us a female construction worker or a stay at home dad still seem weird and unusual. But that is natural, as we have been brought up in this manner and we have been living this way for many years. But we have come to a point where we can identify problems, understand their causes and make changes. We have to educate ourselves, our peers and our children and hope that gender equality in society is possible and part of our future.
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– Ans Van Gasse As a girl, you have probably heard the phrase 'Are you on your period? Relax.’ more often than you would want to. As a boy, you have most likely been brainwashed to believe that you cannot be vulnerable. Although there might be a small core of truth with some of these stereotypes, many of them are gross exaggerations and worst of all generalisations. Although many studies have proven that popular gender stereotypes are largely false, they are so established in our society that it is a struggle to identify them as such. As said before, some of them have a small core of biological truth, but many stereotypes endure simply by being passed on by generation to generation as an ingrained part of our culture rather than an actual truth. Present a gender specific toy to a baby, and it will love – no matter the sex. It is only later, when we try to identify ourselves with what is between our legs, that we discover the world of gender, mainly because our parents have decided – long before we do – how we will present ourselves to the outside world. Girls will start wearing pink ruffly frocks and acting sweet, whereas boys are encouraged to play in the dirt and be obsessed with cars. Girls will be expected to excel in languages, whereas boys are often seen as effeminate when they are not straight
A students in science and mathematics. The world seems to think that the female and the male brain are structured completely differently – which is simply not true. Yes, hormones and body structures differ between sexes, but most stereotypical characteristics are caused by the conditioning we experience through our social system rather than biological differences. An argument often used to defend the idea of gender personalities is that collaboration between men and women is often seen as difficult. This argument however is invalid for the very reason that bad communication is often merely a consequence of not regarding men and women as equals. We have been conditioned throughout most of our history to believe that women need to stay at home and men should go out and hunt or work. This eventually resulted in a general belief that women are incapable of certain things that are best left to men. A comparable example is that boys are often seen as troublemakers who do not understand stern talk and need more severe punishment. This belief leads to supervisors such as caretakers and parents not considering other options for defusing situations, which can often lead to boys overreacting, thus reinforcing the general idea that boys are hard to handle. Gender is a word which is often misused and which has a far wider range than we like to assume. We can not be afraid to break with traditions and fixed opinions, if we are to combat the inequality between men and women.
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All you need is
love
During the session, some of you might have used the messaging system to complete one of our Media Team challenges: send a message of love to another person. If you didn’t, maybe you received one instead. It might have made you very happy. In fact, I hope it did. Despite this being a worn out cliché, love is amazing. It gives us a sense of comfort, it makes us feel appreciated and valued. A kiss on the forehead or a kind word can turn a bad day good. Love is essential to our lives. It’s a basic human right. Yet leaders all over the world deprive it from certain groups of people. LGBT rights – Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender – are heavily violated or ignored in large parts of the world. It wasn’t until 2011 that the United Nations even recognised LGBT rights. The fact that we have to classify something as ‘LGBT rights’ rather than automatically assuming them to be part of basic human rights shows that we’re mishandling the situation. Homosexuals are human, so all human rights should apply for them, right? Apparently not all people agree.
– Ans Van Gasse Homosexuals have always existed, and they have always been rejected by parts of society. In ancient Rome, marriage was listed as an exclusively heterosexual bond, although rich men were credited with having a dominant relationship with a young boy. According to passages in the Old Testament, God forbids men to lie with other men. Since Christianity spread like wildfire in the Middle Ages, the general belief that homosexuality was morally wrong was quickly adapted throughout Western Europe, where it became ingrained in society.
the last European State to do so, with many other Member States such as Germany failing to legally recognised same-sex marriage.
From the eighteenth century onwards, same-sex sexual activity was decriminalised in many parts of the world, but it was still seen as ‘wrong’. Gay marriage was simply not discussed, it was hidden away and ignored. During the sexual revolution in the seventies, perceptions started liberalising in the Western world. Nevertheless, it wasn’t until May of this year that Ireland passed a referendum supporting same-sex marriages, the first country to do so by popular vote, yet Ireland is not even
In terms of equality, we should be trying to forget about the term LGBT rights. They should be unnecessary. We shouldn’t aim to further categorise people. True equality means accepting everyone for who they are, no strings attached. As cheesy as it sounds, love is vital.
We’re on our way to a more equal world, certainly, but there’s a long and bumpy road ahead of us. In other parts of the world, the road hasn’t even been found yet. For example, on the African continent, homosexuality is outlawed in thirty-eight countries. We’re not talking hollow sayings here; there even have been gay travellers that ended up in jail, or worse, for having same-sex relations.
The right to love is even more so.
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Our society has embraced the judgement of others and has accepted it as a norm rather than an offence, while the consequences are often left unacknowledged. Why do we let this happen and worse still, participate in it? Throughout our lives, it is highly likely that all of us have heard the word ‘judging’ at least a couple of times. The word, derived from the rather virtuous noun ‘justice’ is mostly used to express negative opinions on someone else’s behaviour or looks. How did such a decent and neutral word evolve to be just another word we use to describe our prejudices against people? And more importantly, why is there need to use such a word? Why do we judge people? Studies have shown that it takes only seven seconds to form an opinion on someone you meet for the first time. Our brain is programmed to be
The Judge prejudiced, an obvious benefit in evolutionary talk. For instance, when encountering a lion, it is essential we know not to stroke it. But why do we process these impressions through our brain as facts? The only explanation I can think of is that society is structured in a way that doesn’t leave any other option. We seem to think that in this world it is possible to put everything and everyone into a box. We have labels and we like to put them on people – and ourselves - and thereby put everything and everyone into these boxes. You may call yourself a hipster, a punk, a boho chick and you dress accordingly. That way you might seem to choose to have your personality narrowed down to what your looks say. This might seem as you limiting yourself
y t ie c o s r u o in e ic d u j e r p Discussing to a box, a label. But we are all so much more. We have feelings, interests and ideals, and we try to convey them through our clothing and our behaviour. You could say we are actually avoiding being horribly prejudiced. Still, stereotypes and boxes exist and everyone has a certain opinion about what you should and should not look like. We start judging someone from the moment they walk into the room. Prejudices are not however limited to someone’s looks, we also like to bash people’s personal decisions. We have certain ideals as to how someone’s life should look like. A single mother? She must be promiscuous and irresponsible. An adult that doesn’t know how to drive a car? They must be stupid. A girl studying law? She must have no social life and be super smart. Someone who can’t afford an iPhone? They must be so lazy and poor. We draw conclusions faster than we should and hurt people with our warped views of them. As Karen Joy Fowler states in her
book ‘We are all completely besides ourselves’: “Where you succeed will never matter so much as where you fail. We label. We don’t forget. We comment on everything that we experience as wrong, projecting our own hopes and dreams onto other people.” We are not all the same. We differ: people are thin, fat, curvy, redheads, bald, sweet, daring, intelligent or timid. We are all equal though. We are all just as perfect as the next person and should stop caring about what others choose to be or do. Judging is wrong and it’s going to be a tough job to abandon it completely. Don’t label people, forget about the boxes. The world is not all that organised: all the stuff is just lying around and that’s alright.
– Ans Van Gasse
The Changing Nature of European Immigration Political unrest is the main cause for human immigration and in recent years European immigration has increased tremendously due to various reasons. Different European countries are expressing their opinions on the matter and are implementing specific national strategies and procedures to manage, or prevent, immigration. Southern countries with major coastlines, such as Italy and Spain, have been points of illegal disembarkment for decades. Other regions, such as Scandinavia, have mostly been been dealing with more regulated immigration. Whether Europe should distribute incoming immigrants equally amongst Member States or according to feasibility and space are topics that are currently being discussed by every major European media outlet. There is a general fear that the standard of living will diminish or that immigrant interests will be prioritised over those of local natives. Prejudices towards immigrants exist in every country and are consistently perpetuated by subjective media and politicians. Immigrants are thereby often exploited as scapegoats when the country’s infrastructure or employment rates change. The hosting countries must create assimilation strategies in order to encourage integration of immigrants into society. Complex issues, such as the current problematic nature of the economic situation of the eurozone, are hindering countries ability to allocate capital to immigration management. Extreme right-wing parties and political agendas are increasingly found in European countries and reduction in immigration is often regarded as their main objective.
Equality and immigration are two controversially intertwined topics. Does a state promote equality amongst all or does it act in self-interest? Due to complex contextual factors there is no right or wrong answer. Europe is a continent with wellestablished and well-developed infrastructures and societal procedures. People in unstable countries which fail to protect human rights and endanger lives, whether it is due to political unrest, religious beliefs or specific forms of discrimination, must be able to emigrate to benefit from the same structural system as Europeans do. With Syrian refugees in need of a new location to call home, Europe has to open its’ minds and its’ border in order to act in the interest of humanitarianism.
– Jacques Paul Kyrou
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– Ella Gemünd
Chauvinism –
recognising the problem Chauvinism is deeply rooted in our society. One explanation of the word is: an attitude. It is a concept that is omnipresent, more or less visible everywhere on this planet. Supposedly ironic sentences such as ‘Women belong in the kitchen.’ or the very low number of women in “traditionally male professions” are clear indicators as to how far chauvinism reaches in all our daily lives. In order to solve the problem of women still being disadvantaged in almost all areas of life, chauvinism needs to be understood and defeated. There are many different possible approaches. A highly controversial one is to introduce a quota for women in leading positions. The thought behind it is to prove to men that women are indispensable for leading a company and to prove their chauvinistic attitude wrong as well as give women the kind of support men have traditionally been receiving. Although many people argue that these quotas only applies to a very small number of women, they could change the general attitude towards women in leading positions. When there are women who can actually make important decisions, men are obliged to listen to
them and consider their opinions. They have the opportunity to notice that men are not at all ‘always better’ and women can be good team leaders and decision makers. But it is not only large companies where we are faced with this problem – when looking at universities, there are more women, or the same number of women as men studying for a bachelor’s degree but a far smaller number of these women will continue studying for higher degrees. The number of men is significantly higher there. It is not only that women are considered to be less well educated and unsuitable for possessions such as that of a professor, but also the lack of self-confidence in women themselves. It takes a lot of courage and confidence to prevail in a male domain, not to forget the social pressure most women are under. Here again, the state is under obligation to do its best to finally make it easier for women to gain a foothold in different areas such sciences, without being questioned all the time. In the ongoing race for the White House in the United States, Hillary Clinton, one of the most promising candidates running for the Democratic Party, has stated: “The main issue of the 21st century is to find a way to finally use the 50 percent of the world’s human resources which are currently ignored”. Being aware of the problem that chauvinism is and the problems caused by it, is an important step in the right direction. If the profile of the issue can be raised and made an everyday topic, people might be persuaded to reevaluate their opinions and behaviour. Measures such as introducing gender quotas might not be the best or only solution, but it is important to bear in mind that society changes very slowly so these measures need to be seen as catalysers. They address people who are delaying change in our society, the citizens and decision makers who think retrogressively. It is the duty of every government to try to accelerate the process of diminishing chauvinism as effectively and rapidly as possible. At the same time, everyone should revise his or her own behavior in order to get rid of that tiny bit of chauvinistic thinking that is ingrained in most of us – both men and women.
Passion Participants talk about their passions in life
Ričards Žaļmežš Delegate
Last summer my friend got a Penny board and was riding it all the time, so naturally I ended up wanting one too. Unfortunately I have really large feet and it was a bit awkward and uncomfortable. Therefore I decided to buy a longboard instead. Since then I have tried every bridge and every hill in Ventspils, the maximum speed that I have managed to reach is about 40 – 45 km per hour, which is pretty cool. My first longboard was not that good, so after some time I wanted to buy a new one. I surfed the Internet and I couldn’t find what I wanted. At that time me and a friend of mine we were thinking of making a wooden clock start-up but since I had such a struggle finding a suitable longboard for myself, I thought, why not just make one for myself! I now have a garage in Ventspils where I make longboards. I glue several layers of veneer together and then weigh them down with something heavy to make a curve. And then it is up to your own creativity to make it stylish, so it can stand out. Up until now I have made 6 longboards in total, four of them I have sold to my friends and I am really happy that they like them and actually use them as well. Longboards are my passion, I am not interested in making profit, I just really enjoy making them; it is a nice hobby to have. I haven’t decided what I am going to call my longboards yet, but my surname Zaļmežš means ‘’the green wood’’ so ‘’The Greenwood Boards’’ might be cool.
Find out about the secret passions of session participants by watching the video here.
Romāns Galaiko Organiser
Lego. It may seem like an unusual passion for such a serious and grown-up young man to have, but Romāns believes that LEGO played an important role in shaping him into the person he is today. He played with LEGO throughout his childhood, at least until the age of 14. Now Romāns has come to the conclusion that LEGO could have been the main reason for his virtues and mental advantages. Imagine a LEGO castle. Although it may seem like just a waste of time for children, it takes incredible patience, imagination and logical thinking to build one. It trains your mind, it makes you think and wonder. Besides, the whole world around us is based on mathematical thinking and problem solving. For Romāns, LEGO has helped to develop his skills in geometry and graphic design, which requires perfectionism and 3 dimensional thinking – that is exactly what LEGO cubes are teaching. Besides geometry, Romāns uses his constructive thinking in always keeping his surroundings tidy and his hair perfectly sleek. Unfortunately, LEGO is not a thing that Romāns does every day, now it is just more of an admiration. Although, he has bought several sets for him and he believes that in his old age he will have an enormous LEGO city in his basement where his children will also develop their thinking and perception of the world for future advantages.
Niks Bērziņš Jury Member
“Google ‘sick jokes’, pick any one of them and I will probably know it’’ – Niks has a passion for jokes, especially sick, dark ones. They make his blood boil. He believes that every joke can be funny in the right context and company. Plenty of jokes he knows are too dark for specific contexts, for example he would not go around a hospital telling jokes about aids. Obviously, jokes are meant to make people laugh and Niks feels very disappointed in himself if his joke has offended someone. There is a thin line with inappropriate joking – it is funny only if you can’t associate yourself with the situation. Niks started developing his sense of humour in EYP. Here he found out about ‘’That’s what she said’’ and dead baby jokes, and now he collects them. EYP is a great environment for Niks to shine – here people are very, very open minded and unprejudiced. They understand that these jokes don’t form your opinion; it is just a way of entertainment. Besides, laughing bonds people and works as a great icebreaker. Niks is very sure that he will try stand up comedy at some point in his life. His daily schedule includes watching comedians and analysing their performances - the diction, the pauses, the facial expressions. Niks has already started writing his own jokes. After so many years in EYP where he has witnessed bountiful interactions, he could easily joke about relationships between people. Let’s hope to someday roll on the floor laughing in a Euroconcert. Although, knowing the sense of humour Niks has, some jokes will make you wish you could un-hear them.
Golden Oscars Official with the biggest smile Raitis Pekuss
Best dressed delegate Elizabete Gaile
Best hair Romāns Galaiko
Hottest delegate Toms Henšelis
first one on the dance floor Reinis Frēlihs
most points during GA Jānis Galakrodznieks Delegate who is always sleeping Elizabete Šmite
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