EYP COUNCILS 2017 It is the time of the year when you have the possibility to join one of the EYP Councils, and to work with other motivated EYPers in an international working group on a field you are interested in, and to develop EYP further! Councils play a key role in implementing some practical tasks related to our existing strategy and programmes.
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General information about the EYP Councils The EYP Councils were introduced in 2013 to allow more active EYP members to participate in shaping and working for EYP on an international level. The EYP Councils are working groups of the Governing Body, and work independently on tasks set by the Governing Body and report on the progress of these tasks to the Governing Body. Each Council works on a specific area and with a specific set of tasks, identified by the Governing Body. In addition, if the councils want to, they also have room to develop own projects and additional tasks. Each EYP Council consists of around 6 active EYP members, one member of the Governing Body as the chairperson, as well as one staff member from the EYP International Office. The four permanent EYP Councils are:
Educational Council
Training and Alumni Development Council
Regional Development Council
Academic Council
Councils work in an international team, get to experience working with strategic tasks and developments of the EYP, and have the possibility to develop their skills further.
Open call for members to the EYP Councils 2017 At the beginning of each year, the members of the EYP Councils are selected through an open call. Anyone who is interested in joining one of the councils can put forward their application. Based on these applications, the Governing Body selects the members for the councils for the upcoming year. The mandate period for the EYP Councils is from 1 February 2017 until 31 January 2018. The selection is based on the following criteria:
motivation to work for the council,
relevant experience in the field of the specific council,
good understanding of and insight into the work of the EYP,
availability to contribute and work for the council.
The GB aims to find a balanced composition in terms of gender, nationality and experience in each council. National Committees can endorse applicants to the councils. Everyone who is interested is asked to fill in an online application form to the EYP Council of their choice at http://polls.eyp.org/councils-2017 no later than Sunday 15 January 2017.
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Working on the Councils: what to expect In the beginning of the term, each EYP Council maps out its tasks and responsibilities, agrees on a task division or distributes portfolios among its members, and develops a timeline for the tasks throughout the year. This work plan is also sent to the Governing Body, who provides feedback and comments on the plan, and then approves it for the respective councils. Since the EYP Councils are working groups of the Governing Body, many of the tasks of the EYP Councils come from the EYP International Strategy, and the measures identied to fulfil the strategic goals of the EYP network. Additionally, the councils have some core tasks in their respective fields. An overview of these is detailed below. The Governing Body member on each council is responsible for the overall performance of the council, and will in most cases also be the chair of the council. Other leadership responsibilities within the councils can still be assigned, especially when it comes to individual tasks and fields of work. The staff member from the International Office is not involved in executing the tasks and responsibilities of the council, but helps the councils with materials, advice and input from the office perspective. The staff member is often there to also ensure proper knowledge management within and between councils and continuity in the work of the council. For most of its work, the EYP Councils work and meet online on a regular basis. Next to these online meetings, the councils work over their respective e-mailing lists, and can also agree to use other online tools available. Depending on the portfolios and task division, each council member is expected to work on his or her tasks and responsibilities also individually. To faciliate the work of the EYP Councils, a joint EYP Councils Meeting is organised in Berlin on 10-12 March 2017, hosted by the EYP International Office. All council members are invited to this meeting and are expected to join it. Travel costs, accommodation and food will be covered for by the International Office. The meeting gives all councils members the opportunity to meet each other, plan their work together, and already start working on some of the tasks. Persons interested in applying for the EYP Councils should:
be committed to work on and execute the core tasks and responsibilities as defined for the council (see below);
be willing to work on these tasks independently and together with the other council members;
have some previous experience from the field of the EYP Council they are applying to;
have a creative mind in approaching EYP’s challenges;
be able to dedicate 2h/week throughout the whole year, and have the possibility to regularly check e-mails and react to ongoing discussions;
be able to attend online meetings of the council on a regular basis.
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Timeline during 2017 A few set deadlines during the mandate period apply:
1 February 2017
Start of the mandate period for all EYP Councils.
1 March 2017
First online meetings for all EYP Councils must have been held and a first task division and timeline agreed upon, based on the tasks identified by the GB (see below).
10-12 March 2017
Meeting of the EYP Councils in Berlin – all selected members are invited and required to attend. Costs are covered by the EYP International Office.
19 March 2017
One week after the meeting of the EYP Councils in Berlin all councils have a deadline to submit their work plan to the Governing Body.
June 2017
Mid-term review of EYP Councils and individual councils members by the Governing Body.
31 January 2018
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End of the mandate period for all EYP Councils. Deadline for short term reports for all EYP Councils.
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Educational Council This Council consists both of active EYP teachers but also other active members, interested to develop the educational experience offered by EYP and working on helping National Committees integrate and include the teacher-aspect into their work. The main tasks for the Educational Council in 2017 are to:
Analyse the teachers’ role in the EYP and at EYP events, and how National Committees work and engage with teachers;
Review and update the EYP Teachers’ guide throughout the year;
Provide input on a guide for teachers on the educational methodology of the EYP;
Advise EYP National Committees from a teacher/school perspective: How to use teachers to reach out to new schools? How can teachers help EYP reach out to new target groups?
Offer at least one webinar training to the National Committees on teacher involvement;
Maintain and uphold the current Facebook-group “EYP Teachers” and take further steps on how networks of EYP teachers can be established;
Support and advise the development of the teachers’ programme at International Sessions and other events depending on National Committee needs; and analyse the teachers’ evaluations from the International Sessions.
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Regional Development Council The task of the Regional Development Council is to work with and provide support to the National Committees of the EYP. The Council supports and advises especially newer EYP organisations. It also works on knowledge sharing between National Committees, to ensure a more equal development of the EYP Network. In 2017, the RDC will focus on strategic measures in the field of inclusion, and stability and continuity. The main tasks of the Regional Development Council in 2017 are to:
Help create a transition package for National Committee boards;
Support National Committees in their development process;
Guide and advice young National Committees, Candidate National Committees and EYP Initiatives;
Offer at least one webinar training to the National Committees on one of the topics the council is working on;
Produce the “State of the EYP network” overview for 2017;
Map out mobility within the EYP network and address regional imbalance within EYP practices;
Analyse the main barriers for participation of the five identified outreach groups in EYP: young people from a low socio-economic background; student from vocational schools; ethnic minority groups; students with immigrant backgrounds; and geographically remote students;
Create and publish an toolkit for National Committees on ways of approaching outreach;
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Training and Alumni Development Council The Trainings and Alumni Development Council aims to help the EYP network and the EYP National Committees in the field of training and capacity building events and measures, help spread a common understanding of the EYP’s educational aims and methodology, and aims to improve the quality of the volunteer experience by making clear what skills there are to gain while participating in different roles within the network. The peer-to-peer approach in EYP is one of our main methodological cornerstones, and the council therefore also helps EYP volunteers to learn how to train and pass on knowledge. The main tasks of the Training and Alumni Development Council in 2017 are to:
Develop a general training module on the educational methodology of the EYP as outlined in ‘Education in the EYP’, to promote the understanding of why we do what we do and to cater to different trainees’ needs;
Related to this general training module, further develop:
a timeline and outline for tailored training modules on the EYP methodology for active members involved in NC management or as session officials;
a paper on EYP methodology targeted at teachers, so that they understand what we do in EYP better and are able to use the EYP methodology themselves.
Increase long-term volunteering in EYP by helping the GB to review and develop the EYP Competence Framework, to make it clearer what skills there are to gain while participating in different roles within the network;
Offer at least one webinar training to the National Committees on one of the topics the council is working on;
Help National Committees with materials related to training events, help them find trainers for their training events, and give input on the content and concept of training events.
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Academic Council The Academic Council works on improving our organisation when it comes to innovations, academic preparations and quality of our events. The Academic Council also takes an increasingly important role in the development of the EYP International Sessions, helping the Governing Body take informed decisions based on past experiences and evaluation results. The main tasks of the Academic Council in 2017 are to:
Develop a strategy and system for tracking innovations and new concepts tried out at EYP events;
Compile best practices for the different International Session elements (teambuilding, committee work, cultural programme, general assembly) based on past IS session reports and evaluation results;
Support the Governing Body and the International Office to compile these best practices regarding International Session programmes, for organisers to take into account;
Analyse past International Session evaluation reports;
Maintain and further develop the topic database with an overview of past committee topics used in EYP;
Comment and give input on the development of topics for the EYP International Sessions and other sessions;
Offer at least one webinar training to the National Committees on one of the topics the council is working on;
Comment on the development of the new EYP Competence Framework, developed by the GB and the Training and Alumni Development Council.
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