Dear applicant,

My name is Markel and I have the honour of presiding Plzeň RSC 2023!

Thank you for taking the time to read this document and for consi-
 dering applying for the session. I envision the Academic Team to
 be one where everyone can have ownership of their work and 
 where there is a spirit of personal growth and development.

I am looking for 3 passionate, hard-working, and committed 
 individuals with diverse backgrounds and varying levels of 
 experience to join me as Vice-Presidents, to together form a 
 supportive, reliable, and strong Academic Board for the Chair-
 persons. The internal Board structure will not be fully flat, but 
 the majority of the tasks will be carried out by any of us indistinctly, 
 and I aim the Academic Board to externally be presented as a single 
 united entity to the Chairpersons, where they can benefit from each of us depending on their needs.

As I wish to benefit from each other’s different experiences, diverse backgrounds, and unique personalities, while still being a single Academic Board with a common goal and vision, communication and trust will be essential. I hope I can build an Academic Board where each member can contribute with what they know and what they are good at, to become role models for our team. I want each one to own and be responsible for specific tasks without me being the only visible face of the Board. In spite of having a clear vision for the Board, I do not have one for the team or, better said, I do not want to further develop what I have in mind until the Board is complete.

The Academic Board will be there to facilitate, help, and support the team, but the Chairpersons will be the core of the Academic Team. As I want all four of us to be equally important to the Chairs and I want us to be on the same page with what we do, I want the vision for the Chairpersons to be written by all of us.

But if I insist with the concept of ownership, it is not because of what the concept is on its own, but because of what it leads to. Fun is always one of my priorities, I know I will have fun at the session, and I will personally make a huge effort to make sure everyone else does. But if fun were the only thing in EYP, I would have left after four or five sessions. Ownership and responsibility, which I see as means, make us learn and help us become better at what we do, and the goal of personal growth and development is what I will be looking for at Plzeň. Although this will be my first time presiding, I hope I can build the ideal environment for the Vice-Presidents to learn what they need to become the Presidents of tomorrow, and where we can all, as a Board, prepare our Chairpersons to vice-preside in the future.

When it comes to specifics, the theme of the session is “Seeking inspiration in the heart of Europe”, and the academic aspect of the session will aim to focus on current humanitarian and culturebased topics, such as economics, environmental issues, sustainable development or human rights. The Academic Board will jointly be elaborating the topics, and while we will be somewhat limited on the type of topics — because of fundraising-related arguments, as well as because of the vision of our sister RSC in Olomouc, which will focus more on technological topics—, I want us to try to be as creative, innovative, and diverse as possible within the established framewor .

All in all, I would love to share the following months with committed, diverse, and fun people interested in growing as EYPers and willing to help me lead the Academic Team of Plzeň RSC!

If you have any questions about the vision, the questions or anything else, do not hesitate to contact me by email (mar el erejeta@eyp be or other means!

Best,

Mar el

Markel Kerejeta President of Plzeň RSC 0 3