YIE n°6 by Yie yie

July 2011 n.06

YoUNG PEOpLE BUILdING EUrOpE

Dear Readers, we hope that Young Innovations Europe continues to inspire and amaze you with its stories of ingenuity, courage and action! The team is as excited as ever to discover new ideas, bring you innovations and create dialogue around a youth-imagined Europe! So much so that in the past few months we could not stand idle, and have launched our second free, online course for young journalists – now underway – and have worked out many more great ideas (you’ll find out soon, don’t worry). We are also proud to feature Radio Celinac in this issue, the winner of our competition, bringing free waves, minds and perspectives to Bosnia. And we are also humbled by the fact that the very issue you’re reading, the sixth one, was made possible by a grant from Dockers® and their LOVE WHAT YOU DO Campaign! It’s great to see that other people LOVE what we do. Oh, and yes, we would love to hear from you as well…so keep sending us your stories, your inventions, your comments and help us shape a new Europe for all.

The m a YIE te

www.younginnovationseurope.org To see all the other great projects supported by Dockers® http://www.facebook.com/Dockers?sk=app_120265014711788

Index 4 AIESEC When young people work out a better world

12 Radio Celinac Free mind, free sound! Editor Selene Biffi

Project Manager Silvia Raccagni PR Manager Paola Ciaffi Content Coordinator Bettina Benzinger and Natalia Rencic

ECO-UNESCO Young Environmentalist Awards

8 EDV European Disaster Volunteers move to Haiti

Dialogue CafĂŠ Enabling global conversations and collaborations

Proofreader Peter Seenan Graphics Francesco Franciosi www.francescofranciosi.com Writers Peter Seenan, Julie Caulier-Griece, Alfonso Campo Macia, Bettina Benzinger, Stevan Stancic, Elaine Nevin, Emma Taylor. Images Courtesy of AIESEC, ECO-Unesco, European Disaster Volunteer, Radio Celinac, My Bnk, Dialogue CafĂŠ, Youth Initiative Centre.

YIC Making youth smile in Armenia

Sponsor:

MYBNK One can never learn too much about finance

If you want to get involved, tell us about an innovation or for general enquiries, please send an email to: info@younginnovationseurope.org

Young Innovations Europe is a project of Youth Action for Change (YAC), a global, youth-led organisation inspiring and empowering young people to become active agents of change in their own communities and the world at large

The Young Innovation Europe logo, project and content are covered by copyright.

| BUSINESS

n i h t u o Y ness, i s u B C E S E I A e th y a w zinger n e B a n i t by Bet

people g When youna better world work out

Think about Bill Clinton, and former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl. As well as Junichiro Koizumi, former Prime Minister of Japan. And the list of famous names could go on even more. What do all these people have in common?

original construction when the organization started as a network of students in economic subjects, AIESEC is no longer limited to those in one academic discipline.

In their youth, they were students looking for jobs, or junior practitioners who enjoyed dinner with friends after a long day of work. But importantly they were also people that decided to create international networks.

Driven by what some commentators would term ‘BHAG’ for short (big, hairy, audacious goal) - to bring ‘piece and fulfilment of humankind’s potential’ - AIESEC has consistently made progress in this direction. But how is such a vision of idealism being achieved?

At some point in their student lives they decided to join the same iconic student organisation – not any student organisation but one that can claim to be the largest student-run organisation in the world. AIESEC is today present in more than 100 countries, harnessing the potential of its more than 54,000 members around the globe. AIESEC is all about professional and personal development stirred into a potent mix with a lot of fun. But AIESEC was founded at the end of the Second World War on a foundation of lofty, global values. Known informally by many as an organisation that encourages music and dance to bridge barriers, AIESEC was founded on a vision of intercultural understanding and peace building. While the acronym AIESEC refers to its

Cultivating human potential

AIESEC believes in the potential of its members: developing its members professionally and personally is what it does. It operates as a business model structured around all the usual departments: HR, PR, Finance, the lot. But AIESEC today is more than about managerial structure, it is about its human capital. It is about young people taking leadership roles, gaining experience in international working environments and broadening their networks across the globe. It means going on international internships, attending conferences, and sharing fun, learning experiences together. AIESEC’s structure means that interested youth can quickly engage in their communities by becoming a member of

AIESEC at local level. But it is frequently the international opportunities that provide the biggest headlines. Through AIESEC young people can apply for an internship in a variety of disciplines, such as technical, management or social, in partnership with major international companies such as Microsoft, UPS and Electrolux, to name a few. More than 13,000 internships were offered last year: that’s 13,000 life-affirming experiences for young people covering the globe. “I am 22 years old and I manage 50 people from 15 different nationalities,” says Salomé, beaming from a large poster for the Danish AIESEC committee. Salomé is just one person set to benefit from involvement at local level. With local coordination taking on ever increasing magnitude employers are sitting up and taking notice of this kind of responsibility on a CV. Creative challenges to push youth to be on their mettle AIESEC is not only about internships. It is multi-faceted and cross-sectoral and aims to empower youth to make a positive social impact. AIESEC encourages young people to think big and project themselves; to consider the global picture. It tries to promote equity and with its projects

Promoting Green Power Now in China

Working on team effectiveness

Bettina Benzinger

AIESEC Participants start 'Initiate the Tour' in Australia

AIESEC Australia hosting ‘Initiate the tour’

around the world it aims to enhance the opportunities for young people in the job market. Here is a sprinkling of AIESEC initiatives which shine a spotlight on the AIESEC way: In Denmark’s second largest city, Aarhus, AIESEC relies on new, exciting ways to challenge members’ creativity and innovation, like this recent initiative: One marketing problem; 24 hours. In small teams competitors were quickly equipped with practical knowledge by AIESEC, centring on teamwork, pitching an idea and delivering and receiving feedback. With a 24 hour deadline looming and a public presentation rapidly approaching, the competitors learned quickly in an unusual environment. “We received very good feedback about the session as the participants had a chance to use the tools for personal development’, explains Diana Buliga, president of the Organising Committee. The global financial crisis has had implications for people in every corner of the world. In Australia, AIESEC chose to harness the crisis as a springboard for launching a series of workshops equipping today’s youth with vital skills in leadership development. ‘Initiate the tour – coming of age after the crisis’, aimed to develop members and was just one event run in five states across the country fixating upon post-crisis recovery, multiculturalism and entrepreneurship. ‘Initiate the future’ is another great initiative in the same vein: 500 young leaders, one city and an entire

day devoted to a seminar on leadership development. “Events such as these give us an opportunity to bring young people and our partners together and work towards our long term and mid-term goals’, Ashek Rahman, state manager from AIESEC New South Wales, explains. For Ashek, the long term is about creating a positive impact in society and in the mid-term he believes that engagement of young people is achievable. Environmental sustainability is in the spotlight with the help of a nationwide project initiated by AIESEC in mainland China in 2008. ‘Green Power Now’ informs secondary school students about a low carbon economy, clean energy and biodiversity. In tandem, an annual national conference and competition further raises public awareness to positively impact society. AIESEC’s impact is neatly emphasised by the fact that this project is recognised by a public audience. Indeed the project has been so successful that at an international AIESEC meeting in Mexico this year it was awarded the ‘Global Sustainability Impact Award’ out of entries from 110 countries. Daisy Liu, national vice president for projects in China, is proud to describe its national impact: “Nowadays, AIESECers’ green footprints have covered 12 cities across the nation. In each city, 20 high schools and 2,000 local students participated’.

Passionate about writing, interested in different cultures and very curious discover new places and new things: that is Bettina Benzinger in a nutshell. Bettina is taking a Master degree in journalism and media, which takes her to different countries. Due to her Bachelor in a pedagogy related field, she believes in the potential of youth and young people and is very glad to promote innovative ideas that keep society alive.

RESOURCE BOX AIESEC international www.aiesec.org Interested in joining AIESEC? Find your local committee on www.myaiesec.net Some original insights into AIESEC stories from AIESECers: live.myaiesec.net/blog Other resources:

Enternships Entrepreneurial internships and graduate jobs www.enternships.com

| ENVIRONMENT

ECO-UNESCO Young Environmentalist Awards Environmental protection through Youth Action by Elaine Nevin

ECO-UNESCO’s Young Environmentalist Awards is an award programme that empowers young people to become better citizens, build awareness of environmental issues and promote simple lifestyle changes to improve the environment. Each year the Awards showcase and ceremony recognises and rewards the green achievements of young people taking ECO-Action. ECO-UNESCO’s Young Environmentalist Awards has been running since 1999, attracting the participation of over 24,000 young people, and reaching countless others with awareness-raising campaigns for over 1,500 youth groups, schools and communities in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. pitch their projects to an expert panel for a place in the final), has allowed more young people than ever to participate. The 2011 Awards have surpassed expectations growing into Ireland’s biggest celebration of young people taking environmental action.

Ireland’s biggest celebration of young people taking ECO-Action! The introduction of a new element this year; the regional ECO-Dens (where groups

There were more than 200 entries from passionate and talented young people from every county in the island of Ireland. 55 shortlisted projects went on display at the ECO-UNESCO Young Environmentalist Awards ceremony held in

Dublin documenting the hard work, time and effort invested by young people across Ireland. Continued improvement Elaine Nevin, Director of ECO-UNESCO, is delighted with the consistently high standard of entries: “We’ve had such an outstanding range of projects this year, focusing on diverse environmental issues including climate change, biodiversity, and water and waste issues. We are consistently impressed with

ECO UNESCO AWARDS

young people’s creativity and dedication to their projects and (we) are already looking forward to celebrating more achievements at ECO-UNESCO Young Environmentalist Awards 2012”. This year’s highlights - A project raising awareness about climate change in Dublin city centre with the use of public Polar bear sculptures made from recycled materials; - A group of young people who motivated their community to join forces to clean up plastic debris from local beaches; - One school class who worked towards making their school go paperless; - A group of school children who began harvesting rainwater in their school; - A young conservationist who carried out a project to protect reintroduced eagles; - A group of young environmentalists who raised awareness about the importance of bees for the environment.

“Over the past decade, the ECO-UNESCO Young Environmentalist Awards have inspired, encouraged and supported young people, school groups and youth clubs all over Ireland as they promote environmental conservation in their local areas. I congratulate all who have participated in the Awards over the years and in particular I thank this year’s competitors for their hard work and wish them every success.” Mary McAleese, President of Ireland and Patron of ECO-UNESCO “I think the awards are a great way of promoting the environmental issues that affect us and give young people a chance to have their views on saving the environment heard.” Sarah, ‘Re-Juice Your Journey’ group, Galway “The Young Environmentalist Award isn’t about just doing a project for prizes; it’s about trying to make a difference little by little.” Aoife, ‘Where Will We Bee?’ group, Kerry

Why not get a group together and carry out your own environmental action project?

Elaine Nevin Elaine Nevin is the National Director (Chief Executive Officer) of ECO-UNESCO and has been since 2002. She has worked in the field of environmental education since 1995 and believes that empowering, educating and engaging young people is an essential component for achieving sustainable development.

RESOURCE BOX

6 Steps to success: Step 1. Decide on a team Step 2. Decide on an environmental issue Step 3. Decide on a plan Step 4. Decide on positive action Step 5. Carry out your project Step 6. Raise awareness about it

ECO-UNESCO’s Young Environmentalist Awards yea@ecounesco.ie www.ecounesco.ie Other resources:

Non-formal education quality assurance network www.nfenetwork.eu

SALTO www.salto-youth.net

UNESCO Youth www.unesco.org/new/en/ social-and-human-sciences/themes/ social-transformations/youth/

Youth ideas for Rio+20 rioplus20somethings.ideascale.com The event

Ireland's President kicks off the ECO-UNESCO AWARDS Overall Senior Winners ECO-UNESCO AWARDS

Hait | Far and Wide

by Emma Taylor

European Disaster Volunteers move to

Last spring, YIE featured European Disaster Volunteers (EDV) as they assessed disaster zones worldwide. We explored their plans. Today’s update comes from Haiti where those plans have turned into concrete action. EDV in Haiti

EDV is a volunteer driven charity registered in England and Wales, that helps disaster affected communities worldwide achieve sustainable recovery. EDV believes that you don’t need to be a doctor, engineer, or rich to help those affected by disaster. EDV has been in Haiti since June 2010 and between December last year and March 2011, it has welcomed 76 volunteers from twelve countries. The majority of these volunteers have been young people tired of just reading about the problems in Haiti. Many say they’ve always wanted to help, but felt they couldn’t because they didn’t have the right experience or enough money.

At EDV, we do everything in our power to eliminate these barriers so that young people worldwide can join the fight to help communities get back on their feet. We make it as easy as possible to join us by keeping costs as low as possible.

This means that rather than simply addressing the scars of the earthquake still visible across Port au Prince, volunteers work on projects which address the root issues that prevent Haitians from taking the lead in their own recovery.

Focusing on Long-term Recovery in Haiti Volunteers are never charged any type of registration or participation fee and are only asked to pay for their living and travel expenses so that we can use donated money to help those who need it most. While working in Haiti, volunteers have the opportunity to work on projects which aim to help survivors find long-term solutions to the issues they face.

More than a year after the earthquake, the problems facing Haiti have less to do with the physical damage of the earthquake and more to do with a pre-existing lack of development. In fact, Haiti is a perfect illustration of how pre-existing development issues contribute to disaster, inhibit long-term recovery, and leave communities even more vulnerable to future challenges.

Haitian and International teachers reviewing an English test together

EDV volunteers giving a class on gender based violence to local women During a break on the construction site

Emma Taylor

Relax after a work day

To help Haiti recover we must focus on more than just clearing the earthquake’s physical effects – we have to address the underlying issues.

Take education and employment, for example. 52.9% of Haiti’s adult population is illiterate, more than two thirds of the population has no formal employment1, and 55% of the population lives below the international poverty line of $1.25 a day. In attempting to recover from the disaster, these dire statistics inhibit communities’ ability to recover at every turn. Without an education, adults are unable to find steady, gainful employment which would allow them to accumulate wealth. This means that when a disaster happens, they have no savings allowing them to rebuild damaged houses or restart crippled businesses. So today, now a year after the disaster, many families who were just getting by before the earthquake cannot afford basic necessities. Without the tools to put their lives back together – basic education and gainful employment – they may never recover.

International and Haitian volunteers work together on the construction of a classroom

employment, and health to give communities the tools they need to achieve real recovery. This means that our volunteers spend their days working with Haitian English teachers, thereby giving Haitian community leaders the ability to teach English in small, community based classes. As English is a vocational skill here, this addresses the need for gainful employment. It’s the focus on education that we’re pushing very hard right now. Education breaks the cycle of poverty which condemns children to the same insecurity their parents’ experience. To help secure access to education, our volunteers build classrooms for low-cost, high-performing schools so that more children can access this essential resource. We also provide scholarships for the most vulnerable children. Plans for the Future

Parents are unable to send their children to school putting their children at risk of facing the same uncertain future as their parents. The disaster has compounded existing problems reinforcing the cycle of poverty which already existed in Haiti. Volunteers Working for Long-term Change Our projects aim to break this cycle by addressing the issues at their roots. Rather than focusing on visible damage of the earthquake, we focus on education,

EDV’s Media and Marketing Director, Emma Taylor, started her volunteer journey straight out of university. She planned to volunteer for about two weeks and wound up staying for nine months and leading the construction of a house, bathroom, and school. She now puts her writing degree and volunteer leadership experience to work as a director and founding member of EDV.

Eventually we’ll leave Haiti and move onto another disaster zone, but before then we’ll have helped equip Haitian community leaders to meet community needs. That means our volunteers will have played a part in creating a stronger, more self-sufficient Haiti. And ultimately, that’s what we offer volunteers from around the world: The opportunity to help disaster survivors do more than just pick up the pieces. The chance to make a real, long-term impact.

RESOURCE BOX EDV info@edvolunteers.com http://www.edvolunteers.org Other resources:

Learn more about Haiti www.trust.org/alertnet/crisis-centre/ crisis/haiti-earthquake-2010

Great books about the challenges Haiti faces: Mountains Beyond Mountains - Tracy Kidder Where the Hands are Many - Jennie M. Smith Travesty in Haiti - Timothy T Schwartz Breath, Eyes, Memory - Edwidge Danticat

Interesting books on development in general and living in disaster zones: Paradise Built in Hell - Rebecca Solnit Rising from the Ashes - Woodrow and Anderson Development as Freedom - Amartya Sen

| FINANCE

One can never learn too much about finance by Alfonso Campo Macia The current economic crisis has left a devastating footprint on our society. The impact has been terrible, and this crisis has highlighted that much of society lacks a sound understanding of economics. Terminology such as GDP, subprime mortgages, public debt and interest rates began to appear in the media with increasing frequency and even journalists had difficulties explaining these terms to a public audience. The challenging terminology of economics formed part of the basis for the creation of MyBnk, a finance and enterprise charity set up to work with young people in schools, colleges and youth organizations. Created by Lily Lapenna, MyBnk is focused on giving young people knowledge on topics such as saving & budgeting, university finance, and growing an enterprise from inception to reality. MyBnk develops innovative youth-led educational tools for young people to build the knowledge, skills and confidence to manage their money effectively, and to make enterprising choices throughout their lives. Moreover, MyBnk created the first ever

independent Financial Services Authorityapproved banking scheme run by young people for young people, providing an accessible place to save regularly and access interest free loans to set up enterprises. Since 2007, MyBnk has provided nearly 30,000 young people with financial and enterprise education in 170 schools, academies, and youth groups throughout London and the South East. Through 24 microfinance schemes, it offers a youth-led school banking system in combination with Europe's first online bank launched in 2009. The idea for this project came through Lapenna’s personal experiences: “When I was 18 I left London for rural Zimbabwe and worked on youth AIDS awareness programmes enabling the voices and concerns of young people to be expressed through participatory education”, she states. “It gave me a sense of real purpose and this is when I realized that I wanted to start working with young people, creating opportunities for them and facilitating social change.” After Zimbabwe she went back to London to pursue a degree in Development Studies and African Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of

London, and a year at the Oriental Institute, Naples, on an Erasmus Scholarship. But it was in South Asia where she saw the potential for microfinance to be used as a powerful educational tool, whilst working for the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee. The MyBnk team comprises teachers, financial experts, youth-workers, social entrepreneurs, journalists and former corporate sector employees. Numbering around 20, only two members are over 30 years old, but everyone brings a wealth of experience. Some changed career because they were disillusioned with the firms for which they were working, while others fancied a new challenge and wanted to make a difference. Having a company operated by young people ensures freshness and dynamism. As Lapenna says, “young people are natural innovators; they have such low attention spans that before you know it they are already onto the next thing”. MyBnk works on a local authority level engaging directly with schools, and council-provided services (Connexions, Youth Services, Positive Activities for Young People, etc), as well as independent youth organisations such as Kids Company, SE1

Alfonso Campo Macia Alfonso is a young Spanish journalist living in Denmark. Right now he is studying for a Master’s in Journalism within Globalization, with a specialization in Business and Finance Journalism. The project of MyBnk makes him believe that in the near future our own well-being will be improved and past mistakes may be avoided. MyBnk founder Lily Lapenna

United and Rathbone. To reinforce this, in December 2009 Lily launched Enterprise-in-a-Box, an all inclusive social enterprise start-up toolkit. It gives budding youth entrepreneurs the sort of vital tools required for creating their own social enterprise, featuring a unique ethical product and guide which lays out the key steps for turning an idea into a reality. In 2008, Lily was made UK Young Social Entrepreneur of the Year by New Statesman magazine and in 2010 she was elected an Ashoka fellow. Later that year, she was delighted to see her education team win the ‘Financial Capability Award’ for MyBnk's ‘Money Twist’ sessions at the Children and Young People Now Awards. Her most recent accolade is selection as a Young Global Leader in 2011 by the World Economic Forum, in recognition of her commitment to shaping a global future. In the short term MyBnk is planning expansion on a national and then international level, starting from its first first social franchise partner in Cumbria, North West England. But, most of all, MyBnk wants to be consistently at the forefront of innovation in financial and enterprise education.

Pounds and pence questions and queries

RESOURCE BOX MyBnk

Students at Woodbridge High in a Loans Challenge

info@mybnk.org www.mybnk.org

Enterprise-in-a-Box The newest MyBnk product: an all inclusive social enterprise start-up toolkit. www.enterpriseinabox.org Other resources:

World Economic Forum A MyBnk-In-A-Box branch opens for business

Independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. www.weforum.org

Ashoka MyBnker London Nautical School gets to grips with managing, saving, banking and borrowing money

The main non-profit organisation for social entrepreneurship www.as hoka.org

| MEDIA

d n u o r g k c a b Balkan

Every beginning is difficult. It may sound like a cliché, but I believe it to be true. If you have ever in your private or professional life tried to turn an idea into action and sustain it, then you know what I'm talking about.

by Stevan Stancic

As a young person in Bosnia, wanting to be objectively informed is challenging to say the least. Public broadcast services and commercial media tend to focus on the past and the horrors of war, offering very little for the youth of today and the future that lies ahead. Celinac is a small municipality in northcentral Bosnia and Herzegovina, situated in the central part of the Republic of Serbia. This municipality did not experience direct war damage but economic, social, and political scars are evident. Media life in Celinac is also limited, with printed newspapers appearing on a monthly basis. The local radio station stopped working

in 2007 and ever since there has been a deafening silence. This is where I enter the story, frustrated by the lack of activity. Compelled to establish a radio station for local issues, I did not have a lot of journalistic experience and I had no technical skills. Nor did I have a job and I had no capital to fund my idea. But this was my vision and this was the struggle. The costs to get up and running were very high. Starting a commercial radio station requires a studio and technical equipment, while podcast radio needed a fast and expensive internet connection and

professional audio recorders. But my co-visionaries and I did not lose hope. We decided to focus on low-cost or free of charge internet technologies, and discovered free internet servers for broadcasting sound - ‘listen2myradio’ - and upload web servers such as ‘4shared’ for podcasts. And since we had no money to fund the creation of a website, we began a blog and started a Facebook profile, which are now our main web platforms. Sadly none of these technologies were suitable for live broadcast but that didn’t stop us. We decided that our radio dream would mean several weekly recorded shows. This was the start of something big.

Once our team of four people was formed we set up a proper agenda for the programmes: four weekly shows each two hours in duration: ‘Preko veze’ (Across), informing young people about scholarships, jobs, seminars, and education opportunities; ‘Žuti most’ (Yellow Bridge), the standard radio program; ‘Konglomerat’ (Conglomerate), with focus on local culture; ‘Nagonca’, dealing with taboo subjects: sex, homosexuality, social psychology, and a whole lot more.

Logo

Broadcasting Launch Radio Celinac started broadcasting in December 2010. Since then it has hosted 80 guests from political youth activists, to local bands, artists, young businessmen, and nongovernmental activists. We have focused on young people and those without prior access to the media. Emphasis has been placed on positive themes and stories. Working with local partners we still make use of cafes to host our programs, and on average, every show has an audience of 82 people.

Interview in a cafe

Stevan Stancic Stevan Stancic is a journalist, youth activist, environmentalist and traveler. He has experience in radio journalism at the national radio of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He is the winner of the award "Populari" for the best political deconstructed text in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2010 and is the founder and editor of the nonprofit entity Radio Celinac.

Preparing the radio show

Non-profit or commercial media? After three months of airtime radio Celinac started receiving funds and donations. Local NGO, Interfob donated a computer and audio equipment while the Municipality of Celinac provided a financial donation. Then we won a competition initiated by Young Innovations Europe celebrating its first anniversary. That was an enormous boost: we used the money to purchase technical equipment such as software, sound cards and microphones. At this point other media organizations started to take note. Radio Celinac has an advantage because it is the only active electronic media in the area so we have been contacted by local companies seeking publicity. For the moment, radio Celinac has decided not to follow this route but the extra funds available make it a tempting possibility. Overall, this story is that of a few people who had a dream that they wanted to transform into a reality. Radio Celinac is on the up and with it we have created a new motto for our proposed expansion: “Slobodan um – Slobodan zvuk!” Or, Free mind – free sound!

Program promotion

RESOURCE BOX Internet / podcast radio Celinac radiocelinac@gmail.com www.radiocelinac.blogspot.com www.celinac-live.com

Recording an interview

Other resources:

Blog Community of Bosnia and Herzegovina Radio blog is in the top 100 blog list of Bosnia and Herzegovina www.bhblog.net

Listen2myradio A free internet server for broadcasting sound www.listen2myradio.com

4shared A free upload web server that can be used for podcasts www.4shared.com

| POLITICS

Let’s go to Dialogue Café!

by Julie Caulier-Griece

Enabling global conversations and collaborations through Dialogue Café

Technology and social media are having profound effects in all aspects of our lives: from government and education to business and society. They enable us to rally around common causes and come together to collaborate in new and different ways: they are tools for ‘co-creation’. Social media and new technologies are providing platforms for ‘ordinary’ citizens to become journalists, educators, activists, funders, entrepreneurs and innovators themselves. Nowhere has this impact been more clearly felt than in the Middle East and North Africa, especially Tunisia and Egypt, where mobile phones, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and online communities such as Al Jazeera Talk have paved a path for protest and revolution. If these tools and platforms can enable a revolution, as in Egypt, can they help achieve democracy? Can social media and other technologies be used to co-create democracy and strengthen civil society? Can they help co-create institutions that are more open, transparent and user-centred? How can social media and other technologies be used to support

governments “by” and “with” the people and not just “for” the people? What are the key challenges facing the transition to democracy and can these be overcome through citizen engagement? Can we create the global and regional platforms and programs that will enable us to share knowledge and learn from one another? These are just some of the questions that were asked at Dialogue Café on May 24th and 25th 2011, in a series of global conversations which brought together - via video conferencing - civil society actors, academics, NGOs, students, media activists, policy-makers and social innovators in Cairo, Doha, Dubai, Lisbon, Amsterdam and Rio de Janeiro as part of the Social Innovation eXchange Spring School 2011 on Co-creating Democracy: Citizen Passion in the 21st Century. We were joined by dozens of people across the six countries including the writer Tarek Osman and successful entrepreneur Loula Zaklama in Cairo; Yomna Taher and Ahmed Ashour from Al Jazeera Talk and students from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar, Doha;

the founders of the VJ Movement, a global platform for journalists and citizen journalists, and the independent film maker Maartje Nevejan in Amsterdam; President Jorge Sampaio, High Representative for the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations and journalists Pedro Lomba and Bruno Faria Lopes in Lisbon; and Dr. Tarik Yousef, Dean and founder of the Dubai School of Government in Dubai. Through Dialogue Café, theses participants came face to face, through life-size high definition video and sound, allowing them to talk and meet in real time despite being located on different sides of the world. Dialogue Café uses state of the art video conferencing technology to enable faceto-face conversations between diverse groups of people from around the world so that they can share experiences, learn from each other and work together to

make the world a better place. It provides a platform for transnational conversations and collaborations. Dialogue Café is based on the radical but simple idea that people have many things in common and given the opportunity, they will explore their common interests, sparking collaborations and stimulating ideas that address the major issues of today. These kinds of conversations and collaborations can lead to new ways of thinking and doing: they can empower individuals and communities, break down prejudice and misconceptions and promote greater understanding and co-operation across cultures. Together with the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, Cisco Systems, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and local partners, the Dialogue Café Association is creating a global network of physical spaces – Dialogue Cafés. These Dialogue Cafés provide access to video conferencing technology and are connected through a global technology platform to enable city-to-city and multicity conversations and activities.

Dialogue Cafés are open to individuals and organizations with a social, educational or cultural mission – including foundations, civil society organizations, community groups, universities, social enterprises and public sector bodies. Since launching the first two Dialogue Cafés last year, events and activities have been organised with students, researchers, scientists, designers, policy makers, public servants, artists, musicians, NGOs, social entrepreneurs and social innovators – on themes as diverse as the life sciences, design and ageing, platforms for creative collaborations, social finance and public sector innovation. Over the next months Dialogue Café wants to achieve many more ambitious programmes – with more events, activities and collaborations. You are invited to take part! Dialogue Café is a platform for co-creation. It’s your platform. Join the conversation!

Julie Caulier-Griece Julie works at Dialogue Café as a Program Manager. Before that, she worked at the Young Foundation, where she led the organisation’s research on social innovation, co-authoring a series of publications including Social Venturing and The Open Book of Social Innovation. Other publications explored ways of funding community activity, civil society’s role in campaigning for social change and meeting social needs and primary school reform.

RESOURCE BOX

The first three Dialogue Cafes are now open in Lisbon at MUDE – the Museum of Design and Fashion, in Amsterdam at the Waag Society and in Rio de Janeiro at the Candido Mendes University. In the next 12 months, we will open Dialogue Cafés in London, Sao Paulo, Lille, Paris, Wroclaw, Helsinki, Ramallah, Cairo and Doha.

Dialogue Café info@dialoguecafe.org www.dialoguecafe.org For more information about events and activities at Dialogue Café, visit their blog at www.dialoguecafe.org/blog

Dialogue Café is a low cost, low carbon way of connecting to people in other parts of the world. It is a platform for creativity and collaboration and aims to promote social innovation and cross-cultural dialogue.

Other resources:

The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation www.gulbenkian.org.uk

The Universidade Candido Mendes (UCAM) www.candidomendes.br

The Waag Society Communicating with El Cairo

Students in Rio de Janeiro

Dialogue Cafe Launch in Rio de Janeiro

In Amsterdam

www.waag.org

The Social Innovation Exchange A network of thousands of individuals and organisations involved in social innovation, social enterprise and public innovation. www.socialinnovationexchange.org

The Open Book of Social Innovation Describes the methods and tools for innovation being used across the world and across the different sectors – the public and private sectors, civil society and the household – and in the overlapping fields of social economy, social entrepreneurship and social enterprise. www.nesta.org.uk

| Social

by Peter Seenan Youth Initiative Centre (YIC) is an Armenian NGO from the city of Gyumri, situated about 120km from the Armenian capital, Yerevan. Formed by a proactive group of young people, YIC set out with a mission to develop youth participation and propel the voices of youth into public consciousness through concerted advocacy. Considered the principal education and cultural centre of Northern Armenia, Gyumri seems a likely birthplace for an organisation that aims to put youth civic engagement, cultural exchanges and education at the top of the agenda. The pioneering group of founders of the Youth Initiative Centre breathed life into their vision of an NGO mainstreaming youth on the national and international levels with a potent mix of vision, enthusiasm and experience. Drawing from a rich diversity of crosssectoral youth advocacy and empowerment expertise, volunteerism has been at the heart of the inception and growth of YIC and continues to be one of its defining components, as with a majority of youthled organisations around the world. At a time of high youth unemployment in Europe, social entrepreneurship of the kind exemplified by YIC provides a vision of the future.

Strong partnerships to move forward Partnership is an essential aspect of YIC's operations and its partners read as a who's who in the realm of youth work and development nationally and internationally. YIC's record of innovation, its strong public profile and its commitment to the promotion of volunteerism is embodied in its recent successful partnership with the United Nations Office in Armenia for the occasion of the International Youth Day in 2010 and the launch of the International Year of Youth. Manifesting its vision of ''campaigns and events directed to the inclusion and active participation of youth in the process of youth policy development and decision making'', YIC in partnership with the UN in Armenia, government, and fellow civil society organisations organised the day around the theme of volunteerism for promoting youth partnership in development. The day was shaped by the climax of the Youth Video Festival which sought to honour Armenian youth engaged in voluntary initiatives by inviting the submission of short films from the field. By requesting the public to judge the submissions, YIC and the UN in Armenia hoped to inform a national audience about youth volunteerism. Notably, YIC is a member of the Salto Eastern Europe and Caucasus Resource Centre Network of Multipliers. Anna Yeghoyan is a youth worker from YIC selected to support the development

and visibility of the Youth in Action programme in the EECA region.The Salto EECA platform enables YIC to enhance and fulfil many of its objectives. The benefit of promoting its organisational activities to a regional audience is increased openings for international voluntary initiatives, long and short-term trainings and exchanges, and intercultural cooperation and mutual understanding. Promoting intercultural dialogue and cooperation YIC is committed to providing a taste of youth and Europe, via ''exchanges promoting cross-border cooperation and intercultural dialogue among youth'', but one novel idea has been rocking the tastebuds of youth in Armenia a little closer to home. The YIC International Club was launched in March 2011 with the idea of enhancing intercultural awareness of young people in Gyumri and the local area. YIC's members select one country for one month at a time for group exploration through the frame of history and geography, society, and gastronomy. ''To organize language and cultural clubs directed to the development of linguistic and communication skills, and of the aesthetic taste of youth'' states the YIC charter. For the participants of a Polish cooking class in May there was no mistaking the beautiful flavours of youth!

YIC is successful because it combines the simple concept of youth mainstreaming with the richness of the diverse interests of its members and staff, including a majority of female staff. The staff of YIC mainly work on a voluntary basis and the board comprises five experts in youth development and organisational management. Membership is open to nonArmenians and even youth under the age of fourteen may apply. Other initiatives Many recent initiatives highlight the depth of members' interests and the impact of YIC on cross-sectoral themes. Earth Hour is an initiative that began in Australia but which now counts on the participation of 135 countries around the globe and YIC. Awareness-raising of sustainability issues is at the heart of the movement which encourages households and businesses to switch off non-essential lights and other electrical appliances for one hour on the last Saturday of March annually.

Earth Hour aims to showcase what can be achieved when people unite with a common purpose and rally to action; a vision in harmony with YIC: ''Individual action on a mass scale can help change our planet for the better.'' ''Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s all about giving people a voice and working together to create a better future for our planet'' writes YIC about Earth Hour, in a statement of intent that could quite easily have come from YIC's very own mission statement. Many other ideas constantly flow from the innovative juices of the YIC and one only needs to dip into YIC's Facebook Page to be stimulated. From video celebrations for Europe day to flash mobs and soft skills workshops, YIC is making a difference to the lives of young people. Gyumri is said to be the capital of humour in Armenia. And with YIC's broadening impact we can be sure that even more people in Gyumri will have smiles on their faces.

Peter Seenan Peter has, for an extended number of years been advocating to international institutions and governments that youth must be treated as equal partners in society. He is committed to promoting formal and non-formal educational opportunities for young people particularly in the pursuit of intercultural understanding, and this year he has principally focussed on building a global education curriculum in Finnish secondary schools.

RESOURCE BOX

At a training

Europe Day

YIC yic_ngo@yahoo.com www.yic.info.am

Other resources:

Salto Eastern Europe and Caucasus (EECA) Resource Centre www.salto-youth.net Launching the Year of Youth

Cooking class cooperation

IREX Armenia An international nonprofit organization providing leadership and innovative programmes to improve the quality of education, strengthen independent media and foster pluralistic civil society www.irex.am

European Youth Week www.youthweek.eu

UN in Armenia www.un.am