EYCE Annual Report 2010

“YOU WERE CALLED TO JUSTICE” (Galatians 5:13)

Activity and Development Report 2010

ECUMENICAL YOUTH COUNCIL IN EUROPEConseil Œcuménique de la Jeunesse en Europe aisblRue Brogniez 44, B - 1070 Bruxelles, BELGIUMTel. +32 2 510 6171 Fax +32 2 510 6172 E-mail: [email protected] website: www.eyce.org

Ecumenical Youth Council in Europe aisbl | Conseil Œcumènique de la Jeunesse en Europe aisbl

Rue Brogniez 44 – 1070 Bruxelles – BelgiumPhone: +32 2 5106171 – Fax: +32 2 5106172 – E-Mail: [email protected] – Web: www.eyce.org

Bank details: KBC Bank, Argence Marnix – BIC/Swift: KREDBEBB – IBAN: BE30 7340 0440 4011

Ecumenical Youth Councilin Europe aisbl

Ecumenical Youth Council in Europe

Table of Contents

1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 3

2. EYCE’s activities .................................................................................................................... 5EYCE training course “Democracy for All!A training course for youth leaders fostering inter-generational dialogue"................................... 5

"Overcome Fundamentalism!" Workshops in the Second Ecumenical Kirchentag .................................................................... 6

EYCE training course "Facing the Economic Crisis - role and possibilities of youth organisations" ............................................................................... 8

Steering Committee on EYCE's Future Development Meeting.................................................... 10

EYCE study session "Climate Justice Now!"................................................................................ 11

EYCE Conference "Fundamentalist or Responsible Citizen?".................................................... 13

Meeting of the Campaign Coordination Team of EYCE's Campaign to Promote Ecological Justice........................................................................ 15

EYCE Interreligious "Campaign to Overcome Fundamentalism"..................................................16

3. External Relations .................................................................................................................. 19

4. EYCE structural development ............................................................................................... 22

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1. Introduction

The year 2010 has been very busy for EYCE, bringing many opportunities to speak for youngpeople in Europe, to address various important issues through its events, as well as strengthenintercultural and interreligious understanding and cooperation among young people in Europe.

In 2010 EYCE has had a very intense and diverse thematic programme, following up the mandatesfrom the General Meeting and taking up new challenges and responsibilities in the ecumenicalworld. Much work has been done within the Campaign to Overcome Fundamentalism, since theyear 2010 was the final year of the campaign - not only the local initiatives and publications, butalso an innovative activity for EYCE, a large scale conference, has been organised.

EYCE was also very actively engaged with the issues of youth politics and matters addressedwithin the ecumenical movement, through its participation in various activities of the EuropeanYouth Forum, Conference of European Churches and World Council of Churches. Theserepresentations contributed largely to the visibility of EYCE and recognition of Europeanecumenical youth work.

A special highlight should be given to the work with EYCE's member organisations throughout theyear 2010. Several developments, where the member organisations and young people from thegrassroots level were actively engaged, took place. The meeting of National Correspondents,which took place in October in Belfast, Northern Ireland, has been a great success, as well as theinitial development of the Manual for EYCE's National Correspondents, which will be a materialgreatly supporting the work of member organisations and the communication with the EYCEstructures.

All the planned activities were carried out successfully and with remarkable results. For all activitiesthe participants gave very positive feedback. While there are always items that can be improved,the overall satisfaction with EYCE’s activities has increased – thanks to the impressive work youngvolunteers have put into developing and implementing EYCE’s seminars, training courses, andstudy sessions.

The work of the Executive Committee has been successful and all the respective responsibilitieshave been fulfilled as successfully as possible. In the beginning of the year EYCE had to co-optone member of the ExCo, since an ExCo member had resigned in the end of 2009 due to tragicpersonal reasons. However, this did not disturb the work of the ExCo and EYCE as the newmember fitted in rather smoothly. Thus, the ExCo worked successfully on planning andimplementing the themes outlined by the General Meeting.

It is also important to highlight that during the year 2010 the Christian and ecumenical identity of

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EYCE has been strengthened as more spiritual elements, such as Bible studies,addressing various issues from different denominational perspectives etc. have been emphasizedwithin the EYCE programmes.

Thus, it can be resumed that 2010 has been a successful year for EYCE, which has led toinnovative programmatic developments and strengthening EYCE's structures. Unfortunately thefunding was not always monitored carefully and raised to the level of sufficiency. However, theExCo and EYCE office look forward to strengthening this aspect of EYCE's work in the future andhope to maintain the development oriented work also in the years to come!

2. EYCE’s activities

EYCE training course “Democracy for All! A training course for youthleaders fostering inter-generational dialogue."

Tallinn, Estonia18th - 25th of April 2010

Today, when there are numerous changes and major decisionsneeded in many societies, it has to be asked how and by whomthese decisions are being made that affect the whole society. Aresponsible decision taking is a social responsibility to be taken up by

everybody in order to ensure fairness, equality and justice. With this training course, EYCE wantedto tackle this complex system of inter-generational responsibility in democratic societies. Thetraining course aimed at exploring the themes related to the participation of all groups in societyand its success due to a meaningful dialogue between the generations. It focused on questionssuch as: Is there a certain group in the society that concentrates the power? What are thedifferences in values and needs for this group? Are there possibilities to make a change in thosedecision making processes? Is there a possibility to bring in values that would bring more justice,responsibility and equality to decision making on behalf of others?

The training course aimed at training young Christians to actively participate in responsible anddemocratic decision making processes and equipping them with tools in lobbying, advocacy, andcampaigning, as well as at providing young people with practical skills and information to contribute

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with ideas for concrete activities regarding the issue on a local, regional and nationallevel.

In order to achieve the above stated aim, the following thematic objectives were identified:• to show an overview on the importance of active participation;• to analyse the difference of generational needs with regards to active participation on all

levels of democratic societies;• to identify common and different sets of values affecting decision making processes;• to develop ideas how young people can contribute to fostering responsible decision making

and inter-generational solidarity within societies;• to empower young Christians to make a difference and be inclusive in their work with

generational imbalances;• to provide participants with concrete tools and methods for active participation in inter-

generational dialogue;• to develop projects that are easy to implement and would increase generational equality

and social responsibility.

However, during the training course, the thematic scope was shifted slightly in accordance to theneeds of the participants. More focus was brought to active citizenship and involvement of youngpeople in the civil society. Even though the participants were coming from various social, culturaland religious backgrounds, most of them came from countries where the questions of decisionmaking and participation in democratic processes are not very much discussed, thus very relevantand necessary to raise. Therefore, the content of the training course, discussions andachievements were determined very much by the direct experiences or work of participants. Theseexperiences very much enriched the content of the training course and served as a learningelement.

A variety of methods was used to meet different learning needs of participants. Due to thecircumstances caused by the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, guest speakers had to cancel their lectures.Nevertheless, team members adapted material sent by guest speakers to provide theoreticalknowledge along with practical examples. Many of the activities focused on group work, bringing inexamples from participant's countries. A local parish was visited in a field visit and a role playdeveloped to stimulate reflection on participation issues. Debates were initiated to enhance theexpression and analysis of the views on concepts of democratic societies. A significant part of theproject was dedicated to the development of skills and practical knowledge - workshops, casestudies and practical training on projects. Most of the participants came from youth organisations and gained a valuable experience inproject planning and implementation. During the training course, new experiences were gained,friendships and partnerships established and creative and good-quality projects developed.

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"OvercomeFundamentalism!"Workshops in the framework of the Campaign to Overcome Fundamentalism in Second Ecumenical KirchentagMunich, Germany12th - 16th of May 2011

Within the framework of the Campaign to OvercomeFundamentalism there were three workshops for

young people held during the 2nd Ecumenical Kirchentag in Munich, Germany. The SecondEcumenical Kirchentag took place from 12th - 16th of May, 2010 in Munich, Germany. With thetheme „That you may have hope“ (I Peter 1,21) people of various denominations and religiousbackgrounds gathered together promoting ecumenism, giving it a human face and advancing co-operation between Christians.

The Ecumenical Kirchentag is organised by the German Protestant Kirchentag (DEKT) and theCentral Committee of German Catholics (ZdK) in cooperation with the Working Group of ChristianChurches in Germany (ACK). Both DEKT and ZdK are church-independent lay organisations, andtherefore the Ecumenical Kirchentag is an event that is not related to the church bodies, (in)despite the fact that the churches contribute to the programme strongly and are present at theevent – as most of the people meeting there are member of either the Catholic, one of theprotestant or orthodox churches or another church.

The workshops gathered young people from Germany and beyond and presented the main ideasof the Campaign to Overcome Fundamentalism in various forms and by using various methods.The three different workshops focused on the themes of inter-religious encounters, religiousidentity and communication among people from various faith backgrounds. The workshops wererun by the members of the Leadership Team of the Campaign and volunteers from Germany.

The workshop “It concerns everyone! Inter-religious dialogue bec omes practical” was heldon Thursday, the 13th of May and focused mainly on various practical aspects of inter-religiousencounters. The participants worked in two groups, each of which analysed a case studyhighlighting another aspect of inter-religious dialogue. The first case study described an inter-religious group trip: when the hostel does not anticipate theMuslim participants and asks them to sit at a separate table, they feel excluded. The participantswere asked to discuss how they, as a member of the group for this trip, would cope with thesituation. Various ideas, how to resolve the situation, were presented by the participants, e.g.helping the kitchen staff with serving in order to ensure that everyone receives an appropriate mealor to have a vegetarian meal suitable for all participants.

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The second case described an inter-religious event: just before it starts, twoparticipants tell the organisers that their spiritual father has forbidden them to participate incommon prayers during the event. The participants agreed that no one should be forced to attenda prayer no matter, what reasons ever she/he might have. However there were proposals toencourage the participants to attend the prayers as enriching experience, still highlighting that it isnot compulsory.

After analysing both of the cases, the participants of the workshop agreed, that the spiritual aspectis much more complicated and requires more sensitivity to be dealt with. Nevertheless, thepractical aspects are of equal importance and should be attended to with care.

The workshop "… learn to love your neighbour? Get to know him!” held on Friday, the 14th ofMay focused on the religious identity and the place of it in the identity of participants as such. Each of the participants was asked to draw a star, where each corner of it would representa keystone of their identity. The various aspects of their identity and the role that faith plays in theirlife were discussed. The participants were encouraged to focus on those questions individually andthen discuss them with other participants, coming from different faith backgrounds. The discussionresulted in the conclusion that it is possible for people from various faith backgrounds to livetogether and cooperate in various ways, despite of the different views and beliefs.

The workshop “Hope? With respect!” held on Saturday, the 15th of May focused on the moredetailed question of inter-religious dialogue - the religious education in schools, which in realityincorporates much vaster question of religious identity, religious symbols and presence of religionin the social sphere. Should there be a separate, confessional religious education for each biggerreligious group, with Ethics being the option for non-believers? Or should children spend all theirschool time together, discussing religion from an objective perspective? Those were the questionsraised during the role play in the third workshop. Yet, the main focus of the activity was oncommunication. How to communicate in a way that will help us reach a certain level ofunderstanding and promote an acceptable solution? The hope theme of Kirchentag wasapproached by raising awareness about communication strategies and by presenting anexceptionally difficult communication situation.

The Christian, Muslim and Atheistic views were represented through the role play and a situationwas created, when the arguments of the other parties involved are not respected and evenignored. The participants were involved in solving the situation in an interactive way - anyone fromthe audience could shout "Freeze!" and exchange the role with any of the "actors" in the role play.The participants at all times were trying to suggest viable solutions. At times the roles played weremixed with the own beliefs of the participants and personal experiences of promoting religiousunderstanding in local schools were shared. Altogether the workshop set an example of a veryunderstanding-oriented communication.

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During all three of the workshops EYCE and its working areas were also presented.The Campaign to Overcome Fundamentalism, run in cooperation with the Federation of EuropeanMuslim Youth and Student Organisations (FEMYSO) was presented and the participants wereinvited to join and contribute to the Campaign.

EYCE training course "Facing theEconomic Crisis - role and possibilitiesof youth organisations."A training for ecumenical trainers in field ofeconomic justiceKlaipeda, Lithuania1st - 8th of August 2010

During the 37th EYCE General Meeting, which took place in May 2009 in Kekava, Latvia, EYCEmember organisations decided that a thematic training course concerning poverty and economicjustice should be implemented, as many youth organisations are affected by the economic andfinancial crisis. Today, when most of the European countries have experienced a period ofeconomic wealth, many of the European Counties, and in particular Eastern European countries,are experiencing an economic downturn, growing unemployment and people living below the lineof poverty. Also the gap between the socio-economic classes is increasing. An alarming number ofyoung people is affected by these circumstances, mainly those coming from disadvantaged socialor economic backgrounds, and many times from cultural or ethnic minority background, beingpractically illiterate, unmotivated and with quite few future perspectives. In many cases it is theyouth organisations, which are in a position to approach these young people and bring the change.

Considering that the youth organisations have structures and motivations to approach the issues ofeconomic justice, raise awareness of poverty and inclusion of all young people, but not always thecapacity and skills, the training course aimed at equipping the youth organisations with necessaryknowledge and skills for addressing the economic injustice, raising awareness of poverty andinclusion, as well as raise their capacity in practical youth work in these areas.

The event brought together more than 24 participants coming from all over Europe and beyond,with different cultural, social and denominational backgrounds, creating a unique and diverse basisfor the discussions on the economic situation in various countries, and the positions of youngpeople in these situations. Furthermore, the possible contributions of young people addressingthese socially challenging situations were discussed by the participants.

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Corresponding to various parts of the training course, the most appropriate methods were appliedin order to meet different learning needs and learning styles of the participants. The activitiescombined theoretical input with practical experiences. In a context of a multi-national compositionthe issues of economic justice and the underlying social and economic patterns were addressed.Small group work was used to enhance the reflection and discussion on the theme, as well as abetter cooperation and understanding between the participants, ensuring a better expression ofideas and opinions of every participant. Practical workshops on finance management, fundraising,and application writing were offered in order to strengthen their knowledge and gain practical skills.

During the training course inputs of three different guest speakers were provided to view thethemes of the training course from various aspects. Entrepreneur and economist Jānis Ošlejs fromLatvia gave an overview of the Economic situation in Europe, the unequal position of various socialgroups in Europe and beyond, as well as causes and consequences of these economic injustices.Theologian and Pastor Daniel Müller-Thor from Germany provided the theological aspects ofeconomic justice, as well as touched upon the role of churches, and young people in churches inparticular in order to address the economic injustices on various levels in Europe. The final part ofthe training course focused on practical work in order to address the economic injustice, as well asthe fundraising possibilities and financial management of the youth organisations. Guest speakerPaul Welch from the United Kingdom gave a valuable input for the practical part of the trainingcourse.

Intercultural learning was an integral part of the training course. Several programme elements andmethods were designed to enable a maximal exchange of various perspectives and culturalbackgrounds. In many sessions participants were invited to share their experiences and examplesfrom their countries and regions. Also, some informal programme elements provided theparticipants with the opportunity to experience various cultures and traditions, e.g. the InternationalBanquet or the Lithuanian cultural evening.

Participants contributed actively to the process of the training course with their experiences andknowledge of the subject, and enriched the atmosphere of the event greatly with the creativeapproaches to the activities. Educational projects for Roma minority, projects addressing youth andsenior employment, youth exchange featuring intercultural dialogue, projects with orphans andideas on how to raise the economically positive thinking in Iceland were among many of thecreative ideas discussed during the training course.

This training course was organised in cooperation with the local partner Taurage EvangelicalLutheran Parish.

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Steering Committee on EYCE's Future DevelopmentMeetingFrankfurt am Main, Germany 3rd 6th of August 2010

During the 37th EYCE General Meeting, which took place in May 2009 in Kekava, Latvia, theCommittee on EYCE’s future development discussed the question of EYCE’s identity and vision forthe future. They noted that political and confessional situations have changed over the lastdecades, as well as have changed the interests and needs of young people. It was stated thatEYCE needs to have clear, distinctive features so that member organisations, partners, andparticipants know what makes EYCE special. Subsequently, a decision was made to establish asteering committee on EYCE's future development, which would work on developing distinctivefeatures of EYCE by considering its aims, structures, and identity.

A call was sent to the EYCE member organisations in order to establish a well balanced team. Itconsists of young people coming from EYCE's member organisatons in Germany, Latvia, Bulgaria,Iceland and Czech Republic, thus ensuring regional balance. Also gender and denominationalbalance are important criteria for the input from the members of the steering committee.Furthermore, different levels of the experience within EYCE ensures the well balanced input offresh ideas and approaches and tested solutions. The steering committee will continue its workuntil the EYCE General Meeting, which will take place in October 2011, where a report, includingrecommendations for the further work, will be made.

In August 2010 the steering committee gathered for their first meeting in Frankfurt, Germany. Thesteering committee defined the main challenges within a successful functioning of EYCE, as wellas looked into potential solutions for those challenges. Several fields have to be addressed, suchas activities, member organisations, audience and structure of EYCE were identified. The steeringcommittee also focused on aims, mission and identity of EYCE, as well as relations with itsmembers and partners.

Until the next meeting of the steering committee, which will take place in July 2011, the furtherwork is being done through e-mails and Skype meetings.

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EYCE study session "ClimateJustice Now!"European Youth Centre, Strasbourg, France12th - 18th of September 2010

The study session sought to address the climatechange as one of the most alarming issues today.Gathering young people and students from diversebackgrounds, it addressed and promoted interculturaland ecumenical dialogue about the social, political,

economic, cultural and theological dimensions of the climate crisis.

The study session aimed at raising awareness of climate change and enhancing activeenvironmental responsibility among young Europeans, by deepening factual knowledge, changingday-to-day ecological habits, and by providing concrete skills and tools for them to be activepromoters of green thinking.

The study session brought together 30 participants from all over Europe, as well as a participantfrom Latin America. The participants brought different cultural, social and denominationalbackgrounds to the study session, thus creating a unique and diverse basis for discussions on theecological situation in various countries, and the role and responsibility of young Christians in thesesituations.

There were several aspects of causes and consequences of the climate change discussed duringthe study session, both in informal discussion, lectures, the workshops and group work. One of themain issues discussed throughout the week, was one of the consequences of the climate change,namely - the climate refugees. This question was elaborated in the lecture of Cosmin Corendea,and further developed by the participants in the discussions, as well as included in the finalstatement by the participants, which calls for legal recognition of the climate refugees.

The two other guest speakers raised the question of the role of churches in pursuing an active rolein addressing climate change, as well as the theological perspective of the responsibility ofhumankind towards the creation. Those aspects were further developed into a discussion over anddefining the roles and responsibilities of young Christians in tackling the issues of climate changeand raising awareness of the current situation in the world. Also, the concept of being goodexamples was developed by the participants.

Participants also discussed the causes of the climate change, such as excessive consumerism andlack of climate education, which often entails one another, as well as other social challenges in theworld and their links to the climate challenges. Workshops provided for the participants gave thema possibility to develop practical ideas, as well as methods to address these causes.

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There was a good variety of the methods used in order to achieve the aim and objectives in thebest possible way and to meet learning needs of the participants. The theoretic and factual basisfor the study session was given by the lecturers invited, whose input was then followed up in thesmall group discussions, practical workshops and training of the participants. As the interactiveapproach was essential for the success of the study session, the participants also contributedgreatly by their knowledge and experiences through bringing their local realities into the postersession, sharing best practices from their countries and developing creative approaches in thecase studies and most importantly contributing to the development of the statement.

As climate change is a globally challenging issue, the global perspective was brought into theprogramme through the participant from Colombia, who shared her experience from the angle ofanother continent, as well as within the movie night, which featured a documentary film showingsituations in various continents regarding the consequences of the climate change.

One of the most important aspects of the methods used was the intercultural learning, manifestedthrough the international banquet and evening programme. Also, the prayers were a great part ofthe intercultural learning by providing the participants with the knowledge about variousdenominations present at the study session. According to the evaluation of the participants, theintercultural learning aspect has been very crucial for the programme's success.

The most important outcome of the study session is the statement developed by the participants,which includes the main points of discussion that have emerged during the week. Furthermore,following up the discussions and workshops, the participants developed several tools and methodsfor addressing climate change in their local context, such as public awareness raising campaign,several activities for the youth groups (e.g. "eco-treasure hunt", interactive "green footprint quiz"),as well as drama with an elaborate scenario and usage of the “spectactor” method.

The study session was organised in cooperation with the World Student Christian FederationEurope Region (WSCF-E) and the Directorate of Youth and Sport of the Council of Europe.

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EYCE Conference"Fundamentalist or ResponsibleCitizen?"Contribution of religious communities to formationof European citizensSarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina28th of November - 5th of December 2010

This conference was marking the final stage of EYCE'sCampaign to Overcome Fundamentalism, which was ongoing from 2008 - 2010. Summarising theresults and outcomes of the campaign, the main thematic focus of the conference was the role ofreligious communities in shaping the society and the contribution of young religious people to it.The conference aimed at empowering and inspiring young people to be key actors within theirreligious/social/ethnic communities to prevent fundamentalism as an attitude promoting theisolation of religious communities and individuals, as well as to foster responsible citizenshipcontributing to a diverse European identity.

The conference brought together more than 50 young Europeans from various religiousbackgrounds. The participants for this conference came from various Christian, Muslim and Jewishcommunities, similarly as in the other activities of the campaign.

The conference was an innovative project for EYCE as it was the first project on such a scale. Agreat visibility in the network of EYCE's members and partners was achieved, as well as publicityin Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Balkan region. This project was foreseen to achieve morevisibility for EYCE's Campaign to Overcome Fundamentalism, therefore the methods chosen wereadapted to this aspect of the conference.

A variety of activities were offered to the participants in order to meet the various needs and bringdiversity to the programme. There were more formal lectures, but also practical, creative andinteractive workshops, e.g. in graffiti writing, panel discussions, an open door afternoon, studyvisits to the religious sites in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Sarajevo, as well as developing acommon statement. Spirituality and prayers had an important place during the conference -participants learned about one another's faith and traditions.

The conference was officially opened by a greeting from Husejin ef. Smajic, Sarajevo Mufti,President of the Assembly of IRC, followed by a keynote speech entitled „Is fundamentalismchallenging for European society?“ by Bashy Quraishy (European Network Against Racism,Denmark). A large number of guest speakers and workshop leaders contributed to the programmeof the conference with their knowledge and expertise. Imam Ajmal Masroor (editor, politician, UK)

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gave a speech entitled “Fundamentalism – harmful or helpful?”, Greis, a Swissgraffiti-artist, musician (MTV music award 2010 as Best European Act) and social activist gave aninsight in his own experiences of being active and performed creative workshops with theparticipants. In addition, other practical workshops were led by young people from EYCE's networkand the Jewish Community Centre in Krakow. During the Open Door afternoon a panel discussionwas held with the participation of IRC members Ms. Bozana Katava, Dr. Aid Smajic and Ms.Olivera Jovanovic, as well as Mr. Hasan Patel (BBC journalist, UK). Afterwards, the Swissbeatboxer Knackeboul gave an interactive performance for the opening of the interculturalreception, which was a great success. Towards the end of the week Dirk Thesenvitz (youth officerfor Ecumenical and International Youth Work, Germany) spoke about the role of young people infostering responsible citizenship.

There were two main thematic lines throughout the conference, which eventually were viewed as acommon concept. Both of the themes - responsible citizenship and participation of the religiouscommunities in the society were received well and found important. The practical workshopsdedicated to active citizenship and work on grass-roots level in the particular religious communitieswere well received and linked strongly to the concept of responsible citizenship and contributed tothe growth of a holistic and just European society.

As the main outcome of the conference, a common statement on behalf of young peoplerepresenting the various faith communities was developed and adopted during the conference withregards to these issues. The statement highlights that various religious and secular communitiesand the civil society have to work together towards common objectives to develop a fairer society,e.g. by formal, non-formal and informal educational initiatives, various forms of dialogue andcollaboration, as well as active engagement of young religious people in civil society! Thestatement was distributed in EYCE’s network and among its partners, thus gaining more visibilityand impact to it. Also, the statement will be brought to EYCE’s General Meeting in October 2011,where the member organisations will be encouraged to discuss and adopt it and further developEYCE’s inter-religious policies based on this statement.

Also, during the conference the interreligious dialogue between the participants and also betweenthe organisations was brought to a new level, where the partners went beyond the superficialdialogue through recognising the common past and seeing into the common future. For anydialogue it is important to move beyond the pleasant and comfortable themes, also looking atchallenges, which might threaten the dialogue. During the conference this was achieved, bylooking at and recognising the common past, e.g. the third Balkan war and atrocities towards thepeople of various faith communities during these times. Also, the common understanding of thecontribution of young people representing various faith communities to the shaping of a peaceful,just and inclusive Europe and world, was achieved, thus leading into a more meaningful and fruitfuldialogue.

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The event was organized in cooperation with the Forum of European Muslim Youthand Student Organisations (FEMYSO) and the Interreligious Council in Bosnia and Herzegovina(IRC).

Meeting of the Campaign CoordinationTeam of EYCE's Campaign to PromoteEcological JusticeBrussels, Belgium10th - 12th of December 2010

Following the recommendation by the 37th EYCE General Meeting, which took place in May 2009in Kekava, Latvia to give a special highlight to the issues of climate change in the work of EYCE,the Executive Committee decided to launch a three year Campaign to Promote Ecological Justice.The official launch of the campaign took place in March 28th 2011, and the campaign itself will berun throughout the years 2011 – 2013.

Nevertheless, already in December 2010 the Campaign Coordination Team (CCT) met in order toprepare the outline and content of the campaign. In this meeting the CCT drafted the guidelines forthe work of the campaign for the years 2011-2013.

After reviewing the concept of the campaign, the team started to draft a more concrete descriptionfor the three-years thematic division. Some aspects, e.g. the theological perspective on ecologicaljustice, will be an integral part of every year's activities. During the first year (2011) the focus will beon international eco-politics. As a consequential progression, the second year (2012) will focus onexploring the relation between ecology, economy and politics, including reviewing ecology issuesas basis for numerous conflicts. The centre of the third year's work (2013) will be the broad field ofsustainability in general and especially the sustainability in the further work of EYCE itself, as wellas its member organisations. As one of the final outcomes of the campaign, a final policy paper willbe developed and presented at EYCE's General Meeting in 2013. The members will beencouraged to adopt this policy paper both for the work and the work in their organsiations on thelocal level.

During the meeting the CCT roughly planned concrete activities of the campaign, e.g. the firstcampaign event - the summer training course “Taking steps towards an ecologically responsiblesociety. Political and theological perspectives”, which will take place from 3rd - 10th July 2011 inKiev, Ukraine and the dissemination visit in July 2011 in Belarus and Ukraine directly prior to theevent. The CCT also started preparing the official launch of the campaign, which took place in

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Brussels on the 28th of March and was the presentation of the outline of thecampaign work for the upcoming 3 years.

During this meeting awareness raising materials, e.g. such as designs for logo, drafts of thebrochures and the campaign website, were discussed and developed.

EYCE Interreligious "Campaign to OvercomeFundamentalism" Inter-religious dialogue is a key element in creating a peaceful andrespectful world. Yet, we realise that actors in this dialogue oftenface fundamentalist attitudes. Ignoring the reality of religiousfundamentalism could lead to a situation, where a feworganisations engage in dialogue, but where this work represents

only a small part of the society. In order to address the issues of fundamentalism and challengesrelated to this phenomenon, EYCE has been leading a three year Campaign to OvercomeFundamentalism. The campaign focused on promoting awareness, offering practical tools, andgood practice on overcoming fundamentalism. The Campaign was coordinated by a LeadershipTeam, composed of young volunteers coming from various religious and cultural backgrounds.

In 2010, the final year of the campaign, the main thematic focus was on Fundamentalism andEuropean Citizenship. It is clear that the religious communities play a great role in the formation ofthe value system of not only young people, but the entire part of the society belonging to therespective faith community. With this thematic focus EYCE wanted to explore the role of religiouscommunities in promoting fruitful and meaningful engagement in addressing common socialchallenges. Are the attitudes and educational approaches contributing to mutual enrichmentbetween communities and common work towards social improvements, or, rather preventing thedialogue and even creating obstacles? The outcomes of the campaign were very good and there were many ideas for following up thethematic work of this year of the campaign.

The following activities were undertaken during the final year of the campaign: • Publication of the magazine “Fundamental Issues”, 3 issues.

The issues focused on three different aspects of interreligious dialogue: social justice, freedom ofexpression and education. The content and materials for the magazines were developed andgathered by the Leadership Team of the campaign. Also, the editing, layout and coordination wasdone by the LT, which is a group of volunteers coming from the network of EYCE and its partners.The magazines were distributed in printed copies in those networks, as well as to the participants

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of the local initiatives and participants of the final conference of the campaign.

• The development and production of the awareness raising materials – T-shirts, postcardsand brochures. Also, those materials were designed and developed by the LT anddistributed in the networks of EYCE and its partners for the campaign. The awarenessraising materials and “Fundamental Issues” magazines were distributed in printed copiesthrough these networks, as well as available for download on EYCE’s websitewww.eyce.org.

• Local initiatives during the last year of the campaign. The interreligious workshops heldduring the 2nd Ecumenical Kirchentag (OKT) in Munich, Germany need to be especiallyhighlighted. There were 3 workshops held during the 3 days of the OKT and wereaddressing the young people in Germany interested in inter-religious dialogue.

• The interreligious conference “Fundamentalist or responsible Citizen?”, which was heldfrom 28th of November to 5th of December 2010 in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina asthe closing event of the campaign. It involved young people from networks of EYCE and itspartners for the campaign and was organised by the LT and EYCE office. The conferencefocused on the role of religious communities in shaping civil society in Europe and theiractive participation. Various activities took place during the conference, where the highlightswere the lectures by Bashy Quraishy (European Network Against Racism), Ajmal Masroor(Islamic Scholar, UK), the graffiti painting in Sarajevo by the participants, the paneldiscussion with the representatives of the 4 local religious communities and Islamic scholar/BBC journalist Hasan Patel, as well as the Open door event and a common statementdeveloped by the participants.

There were several important achievements during the campaign in the year 2010.

• A good visibility of the campaign. Throughout all the 3 years of the Campaign to OvercomeFundamentalism, there was a good visibility of it throughout the networks of EYCE and itspartners for this campaign. The final year of the campaign, especially the Conference“Fundamentalist or Responsible citizen?” brought an added visibility to the campaign. Themass media in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as in the whole Balkan region, was greatlyinterested in the conference and its outcomes. There were two media events organized –upon the opening of the event as well as during the open event and reception. Both werevery well attended by the press and television in Bosnia and Herzegovina and neighbouringcountries, as well as the Radio Free Europe.

• Fostering further understanding and reconciliation between the local communities. Therewere several activities held on the local level, especially during the final conference of the

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campaign – a panel discussion with the representatives of all major local faithcommunities has been organised, thus fostering further dialogue, as well as the meetingsamong the young people from these communities, thus providing them with a possibility forfurther encounters, dialogue and building the cooperation among the communities.

• Sharing the good practice examples from the Balkan region with the young representativesof faith communities from all over Europe. The Balkan region was chosen as a main focusof the campaign for two reasons – the need for dialogue there is still present, but also thereis already a great expertise and practical experience in dialogue and cooperation. Havingthe current debates in the inter-religious context in Europe and the need for a genuine andopen dialogue, it was very beneficial for young people taking part in this campaign, to get toknow these good examples and adapt them to their own contexts, thus increasing thedialogue, cooperation or quality of those between communities.

Throughout the campaign events, meetings and publications, it has become clear that manysocieties and organisations all over Europe are challenged by the phenomenon of fundamentalism,and there is a consequent strong need, especially for young people, to explore in more depth thedifferent aspects of this phenomenon and to be equipped with tools to face its challenges in theirown contexts. Also, during the final year of the campaign the importance of active engagement ofreligious communities in shaping the civil society was greatly discussed in light of the dialogue withthe secular society and article 17 of the Lisbon treaty. The dialogue with secular society will befollowed up by EYCE and its partner organisations in the study session in 2011, thus following upthe interreligous work EYCE has been doing for the past 3 years and looking into the futureperspectives of this work.

The participation in the Campaign of as many religious communities in Europe as possible was abasic requirement for its success and outreach. The campaign was planned and carried out by theteam of young volunteers of Christian and Muslim backgrounds, coming from EYCE and FEMYSOnetworks. The campaign was organized in cooperation with the Forum of European Muslim Youthand Student Organisations (FEMYSO), the European Union of Jewish Students (EUJS), Religionsfor Peace network (RfP) and the Interreligious Council in Bosnia and Herzegovina (IRC).

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3. External Relations

Strategic meeting with Forum of European Muslim Youth and Student Organisa tions (FEMYSO)6th of March, Brussels, BelgiumThe meeting with FEMYSO was foreseen to follow up and evaluate the experiences gainedthrough the cooperation within the Campaign to Overcome Fundamentalism and to plan thecooperation for the last year of the campaign.Member of EYCE Executive Committee Adriana Florea and EYCE General Secretary KristineJansone met with the member of the FEMYSO Executive Committee Najatte Kaaoiss to discussthe cooperation between the two organisations, the ways how to still improve this cooperation anddevelop successful communication strategies, as well as to build a solid basis for the futurecooperation.

Meeting with European faith based youth organisatio ns12th - 14th of March, Brussels, BelgiumThe Faith Based Expert Group (FBEG) of the European Youth Forum (YFJ) has been an essentialpart of the work of the European faith based youth organisations, who are members of YFJ, overthe past few years. In the past years the cooperation has been very successful, two workingseminars have been organised together, and as the result of this work the tool kit on the Inter-religious dialogue has been published by YFJ in 2008. After publishing the T-kit, the FBEG has notbeen very active, and the common aims for the future collaboration are not clear. At the YFJGeneral Assembly 2008, which took place in Rotterdam, it was voted not to include this expertgroup in the work plan, therefore it was not budgeted.

This meeting was organised in order to detect and outline the possible future commitment to acommon work by the faith based member organisations of the YFJ. During the meeting a commonstrategy was discussed in order to bring the faith based issues back on the agenda of YFJ.Therefore, the common aim and objectives need to be re-defined and an active role taken withinthe YFJ. It was agreed that the faith based organisations will be organising a Thematic Squareduring the Council of Members of the YFJ in April 2010.

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Council of Members of Youth Forum Jeunesse23rd - 24th of April, Brussels, BelgiumFrom April 23rd - 24th 2010 the Council of Members of the Youth Forum Jeunesse took place inBrussels, Belgium. This meeting was a good opportunity for EYCE to network with other youthorganisations in Europe. Three EYCE representatives - Catharina Covolo (EYCE Vice-Chairperson), Adriana Florea (EYCE ExCo) and Felix Beck (EYCE Office volunteer) attended themeeting. Among other discussions and networking meetings, EYCE representatives, together withother faith based member organisations of YFJ organised a Thematic Square, where the commonwork and contribution towards the work of YFJ of the faith based organisations was discussed. Asa conclusion of the Thematic Square, the faith based organisations expressed the interest andwillingness to engage into all work fields of YFJ, not only those concerning religion. Thus, astronger contribution will be put forward in the future.The Council of Members itself was dedicated to discuss different thematic themes, such as climatechange, Youth in Action Programme, democracy, new media and globalisation. In addition,statutory changes of the Youth Forum Jeunesse were discussed.EYCE aims at engaging more in the work of the Youth Forum Jeunesse again in the followingyears.

Plenary Meeting of the Church and Society Commissio n (CSC) of the Conference of European ChurchesMay 25th - May 29th, Haguenau/ Strasbourg, France

EYCE Vice-Chairperson Catharina Covolo took part in the plenary meeting of CSC as an observerfor EYCE. The meetings main theme was "Religion in the Public Sphere" and different cases fromvarious countries, such as Switzerland, France and Italy where discussed. In addition, the groupvisited the Council of Europe, where discussions took place with the Council of Europe and theEuropean Court of Human Rights.Furthermore, it was the first meeting of the new CSC and elections to the Executive Committeetook place. EYCE used this meeting for networking and strengthening the relationships with CEC.

Agape International Camp (political)1st - 8th of August, Agape Centro Ecumenico, Prali, ItalyIn the framework of Campaign to Overcome Fundamentalism EYCE was invited to give acontribution towards the political camp of Ecumenical Centre Agape in Prali, Italy. Each year, twointernational camps, a political and a theological camp, are organised. Since the theme of the

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political camp 2010 was fundamentalism, the representatives of the Leadershipteam were invited to contribute to the camp with their knowledge and expertise.

Adriana Florea (EYCE ExCo) as the member of the Executive Committee responsible for theinterreligious dialogue and the campaign represented EYCE in this camp, where the theme offundamentalism was approached from three perspectives: political, social and religious. Thequestions addressed during this camp included the manifestation of various religions in extremeand radical ways and the expected reactions of the society towards those manifestations. What dowe say to this? What is the basis of our political choices? How do we respond to those who tell usof a religion based on absolute truths that are often imposed on others through clashes rather thandialogue? How do we talk to a world where even economy uses fundamentalism to impose itscreed?

European Youth Forum General Assembly18th - 21st of November 2010, Kyiv, Ukraine

From 18th - 21st of November member of EYCE's Executive Committee Adriana Florea attendedthe General Assembly of European Youth Forum (YFJ). During this meeting a new board waselected and the elections defined the whole meeting. Adriana Florea participated in two workinggroups - the working group on a position paper on the Youth in Action programme and the workinggroup on the youth work policy in Europe.

A separate meeting was dedicated to the cooperation among the faith based memberorganisations of the YFJ. There, the questions of more successful cooperation, e.g. continuationand organisational memory, as well as diverse needs and aims of the faith based organisationswere discussed. Nevertheless, it was agreed that the interreligious dialogue should be once againbecome a prioritised working area of YFJ. The newly elected president of the YFJ Peter Matjašičattended the meeting and highlighted the need for a precise work plan of the faith basedorganisations within the YFJ, as well as concrete aims towards the implementation of theinterreligious perspective into the work of YFJ.

The assembly also gave opportunity to establish new contacts and strengthen the existing ones.

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Poverty-Wealth-Ecology in EuropeConsultation of Conference of European Churches8th - 12th of November, Budapest, Hungary Together with other European Ecumenical youth organisations - World Student ChristianFederation Europe Region (WSCF-E) and SYNDESMOS, the World Fellowship of Orthodox Youth,EYCE prepared and coordinated the youth input towards the consultation Poverty-Wealth-Ecologyin Europe, which was organised by the Conference of European Churches (CEC) and was part ofthe global Poverty-Wealth-Ecology programme by the World Council of Churches (WCC).

EYCE coordinated the youth input prepared - three workshops that were offered to the delegates inthe consultation, as well as the final youth declaration, which was prepared by the youth delegatesof the consultation. The inputs prepared by the young people were based on the outcomes of theEYCE and WSCF-E study session "Climate Justice Now!" and followed-up the themes and issuesdiscussed by the participants there and contributions from young people in EYCE's network.

The youth contribution to the consultation was a great success and established better workingrelations with partners, such as CEC, WSCF-E, ECHOS Youth Commission of WCC andSYNDESMOS.

4. EYCE structural development

Executive Committee meeting25th of February - 1st of March, Stockholm, Sweden

The first EYCE Executive Committee meeting in 2010 served to plan the foreseen running of theyear in order to steer EYCE. The ExCo reviewed and evaluated the work that has been done sincetheir last meeting in October 2009 in Sarajevo, as well as further developed action plans forcarrying out the mandates given by the General Meeting, and defining the priorities of eachworking area of the Council. The ExCo decided democratically on the daily running of theorganisation.

The agenda of the meeting included the planning of the Council's work for 2010, as well asdeveloping the outline for themes and events in 2011. A large part of the work has been dedicatedto outlining the new EYCE campaign, which will focus on ecology and justice. It is planned tolaunch the "Campaign to Promote Ecological Justice" in January 2011.

The ExCo reviewed the involvement and cooperation with other ecumenical bodies in Europe,

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such as WSCF-E and CEC, including the common engagement into the WCC"Poverty, Wealth and Ecology" programme in 2010, and discussed the cooperation with the inter-religious partner Forum of European Muslim Youth and Student Organisations (FEMYSO).

An important part of this meeting was meeting with young people and youth organisations inSweden to re-vitalise the participation of Swedish youth in EYCE events. A meeting with thechairperson of Equmenia, a network of Baptist, Methodist and Mission Covenant Church youth ofSweden, Johan Nilsson and the meeting with the chairperson of Church of Sweden Youth JohanBerkman were very interesting and fruitful.

Meeting to Prepare Manual for EYCE'S National Corre spondents11th of May, Munich, Germany

The EYCE General Secretary met with the National Correspondents from Germany and Romaniato develop the initial framework and content of the foreseen manual. The decision to create such amanual was made already during the 37th EYCE General Meeting in 2009. The Manual forNational Correspondents will be used to ensure the smooth handover between responsiblepersons within the EYCE's member organisations, as well as to provide the basic informationabout the structures, working areas and decision making mechanisms within EYCE to thenewcomers within the organisation.

Executive Committee meeting24th - 27th of June, Klisursky Monastery, Bulgaria During the second Executive Committee meeting of the year 2010, it reviewed and evaluated thework that has been done since their last meeting in February, as well as further developed actionplans for carrying out the mandates given by the General Meeting, and defining the priorities ofeach working area of the Council.The agenda of the ExCo meeting included discussions on the upcoming EYCE summer event tobe held in cooperation with the Taurage Lutheran Parish in Lithuania "Facing the Economic Crisis -role and possibilities of youth organisations", 1st-8th of August, Klaipeda, Lithuania. Among other things, the ExCo discussed the preparations for the National CorrespondentsMeeting (8th-12th October in Belfast, Northern Ireland), as well as preparations for the 38th GeneralMeeting, which is scheduled for 2011 and will be hosted by EYCE’s German Member Organisation- aej. The meeting also provided time for meeting EYCE's Bulgarian Member organisation – theChristian Youth Council of Bulgaria (CYCB). EYCE's ExCo had the opportunity to introduce

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themselves to the young people active in CYCB and present the current work ofEYCE. Also, CYCB informed the ExCo about their work, history, and priorities for the future. Themeeting was very interesting and fruitful. In addition to meeting the young people from CYCB, theExCo also had the opportunity to meet one of the founders of CYCB at Klisursky Monastery,Archimandrit Polikarp Petrov. The Archimandrit expressed his happiness about the visit of theExCo to Bulgaria and invited EYCE to strengthen the cooperation with CYCB and the youngpeople in Bulgaria.

EYCE – WSCF-Europe joint strategy meeting 3rd - 5th of September, Amsterdam, the Netherlands The annual strategic meeting brought together the Treasurers and General Secretaries of twomajor international youth NGO’s, EYCE and WSCF-Europe. This meeting provided the space forexchanging experience and review the previous cooperation. These included common aims as well as joint funding proposals and a strategy to promote activedemocratic involvement of the Christian youth in Europe. Since EYCE and WSCF-E work in thesame field, it was agreed to build an even closer network to better communicate the needs ofyoung people towards European Organisations and Institutions like the European Youth ForumJeunesse and the Advisory Council on Youth of the Council of Europe. An important part of this meeting was the visit to one of the common donors - Kerk in Actie, aChurch donor agency in the Netherlands. This gave a great opportunity to present bothorganisations and their work, as well as to establish good contacts with the donor agency.

Meeting with the Dutch Council of Churches4th of September, Amsterdam, the Netherlands EYCE Vice-Chairperson Catharina Covolo and EYCE Treasurer Pavlina Buzkova visited the DutchCouncil of Churches. The main purpose of this meeting was to discuss the possibility to renew themembership and strengthen the ecumenical network of young people in The Netherlands. TheEYCE representatives met with the leaders of the Dutch Council of Churches, as well as with youthrepresentatives.

Meeting with a Member Organisation28th - 29th of September, Budapest, HungaryEYCE Vice-Chairperson Catharina Covolo and EYCE Treasurer Pavlina Buzkova visited EYCE’smember organisation Ecumenical Council of Churches in Hungary. The main purpose of this

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meeting was to discuss the future perspectives of this member organisation as in avery unfortunate way for EYCE the Ecumenical Council of Churches in Hungary had decided toresign from EYCE, due to (the) financial and structural difficulties. Nevertheless, it was agreed tolook forward to reinforcing the network of ecumenical young people in Hungary in the future.

Meeting of EYCE National Correspondents 8th - 12th of October, Belfast, Northern IrelandIn 2010 the second meeting of EYCE's National Correspondents took place. It brought together theNational Correspondents, the Executive Committee and the Office staff of EYCE.During the National Correspondents meeting issues concerning the role and future of EYCE werediscussed, as well as significant time was allocated for meeting and networking with delegatesfrom churches and youth organisations from the U.K. and Northern Ireland.Among other items on the agenda the creation of a manual for the National Correspondents, whichshould be a guide through the structures and work of EYCE and the special role of the NationalCorrespondent as an ambassador, promoter and communicator, was reviewed. The manual will becreated and used as a practical work guide originating from the experience of former NationalCorrespondents, Office and ExCo. During the networking meeting with representatives fromCYMFed, the Church of Ireland's Youth Department and the Department of Youth and ChildrenWork of the Methodist Church of Ireland the group discussed the best ways of cooperationbetween EYCE and the youth organisations present. The meeting was very fruitful and theparticipants showed great motivation to deepen the contacts initiated. During the National Correspondents meeting a midterm evaluation of the ExCo's work took place,as well as a discussion on the outcomes of the work of the Steering Committee on EYCE's FutureDevelopment.

Executive Committee meeting12-14th of October, Belfast, Northern IrelandDuring the meeting the ExCo reviewed and evaluated the work that has been done since their lastmeeting in June 2010 in Klisursky, Bulgaria. Much time of the ExCo meeting was dedicated to the concrete planning of EYCE's furtheractivities, e.g. the conference "Fundamentalist or Responsible Citizen?", which would take place inSarajevo in December 2010, events for the year 2011 and the upcoming EYCE "Campaign toPromote Ecological Justice" to be launched in January 2011. The evaluation of the NationalCorrespondents meeting, including the networking meeting with representatives from churches andyouth organisations from the U.K. and Northern Ireland, took place alongside with practicalplanning for implementation of the concrete suggestions in the work of the Office and ExCo. Also,the update on the work of the Steering Committee on EYCE's Future Development and its

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implications for the ExCo's work was discussed as a part of this evaluation. The ExCo also reviewed the involvement and cooperation with other ecumenical and religiousbodies in Europe, such as the WSCF-E and the Forum of European Muslim Youth and StudentOrganisations (FEMYSO).During the last day of the meeting the ExCo visited the new office of Youth Link, the localecumenical youth organisation and member of EYCE. Both partners expressed their will toreinforce the cooperation.

Meeting with donors and networking with regional pa rtners13th - 15th of October, Geneva, SwitzerlandThe meeting organised by the World Council of Churches (WCC) Youth Desk took place inGeneva, Switzerland. Representatives from the WCC Youth Desk and the ecumenical youthorganisations from the various global regions - Africa, Middle East, Latin America, Pacific andEurope took part in this meeting. The ongoing transformation of the WCC and the work of theYouth Desk within it were discussed, as well the cooperation between the organisations within thelight of these changes. It was pointed out that the work done by the youth organisations in regionsis important and necessary. Therefore, the possible new ways of collaboration were reviewed andexisting experiences exchanged.

Also the possible youth contribution to the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation (IEPC),which will take place in May 2011 in Kingston, Jamaica was discussed and the potential means ofcontribution and issues to be addressed identified.

Having in mind that EYCE always brings the perspective of other global regions to its eventsthrough one or two participants, the meeting provided good possibilities for EYCE to network withthe organisations in other regions and follow up the events and issues addressed from the globalperspective.

Meeting to prepare the 38th EYCE General Meeting27th of October, Frankfurt, GermanyThis meeting was foreseen to initiate the preparations for the EYCE 38th General Meeting, whichwill be held in Germany, close to Frankfurt in October 2011. The meeting brought together EYCE'sVice-Chairperson, General Secretary, German National Correspondent, as well as therepresentatives of the local hosting organisation in Germany. The general framework for thepreparations was developed and the responsibilities divided, as well as the first practicalitiesarranged.

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Meeting with a Member Organisation19th - 20th of November, Brussels, Belgium

On their annual visit to Brussels, among other organisations and EU institutions the group ofdelegates met with EYCE's Vice-Chairperson and General Secretary. During this meeting EYCE'sinvolvement in youth politics was discussed, as well as the mechanisms, how to emphasize theimpact of EYCE and its member organisations to the legislative and decision making processeswith regards to the matters related to young people.

Volunteer TrainingSeptember-November, Brussels, BelgiumStarting at 6th of September 2010, Vera Kockler joined the EYCE Office as the new intern.In the beginning of the internship a training was provided for the new volunteer, both by EYCEExCo member responsible for the Internship Programme - Ms. Inka Lindroos and the GeneralSecretary Kristine Jansone, as well as a special meeting was arranged with the mentor for EYCE'svolunteers Ms. Janine Beier.

During the training the volunteer was introduced to the main working areas of EYCE, especiallyhighlighting the special working focus of the volunteer – ecological justice.

During the meeting with the mentor on 30th of October issues such as reviewing the aims of thevolunteer, her expectations and fears, introduction to the structures of EYCE and the role of thevolunteer in them, the positive and negative experiences within her work so far, as well as thepossibilities for the improvements were discussed. Also, the further communication arrangementswere made together with the mentor.

Volunteer ProgrammeJanuary - August; September – December 2010, Brusse ls, BelgiumEYCE’s Volunteer Programme aims at providing training for young people as youthleaders/workers involved in European/ national organisations. It also provides an opportunity foryoung people to work in an international organisation and get involved in intercultural learning.

In 2010 EYCE was privileged to host three volunteers altogether. During the first half of the year2010 the two long-term volunteers - Ms. Alina Marinescu from Romania and Mr. Felix Beck fromGermany - still continued their work with EYCE, whereas during the second half of the year EYCE

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office welcome a new long-term volunteer, Ms. Vera Kockler from Germany.

The work of Ms. Marinescu in 2010 mainly focused on the issues of youth participation andinclusion of minorities. Ms. Marinescu mainly worked on the preparation, implementation andfollow-up of the EYCE training course "Democracy for all!", which took place in April in Tallinn,Estonia. Apart of working directly with this EYCE event, Ms. Marinescu represented EYCE invarious events and trainings for youth leaders. Having studied Political science, Ms. Marinescu hadthe necessary knowledge and skills to contribute successfully to the content of EYCE'sprogramme. During her work with EYCE Ms. Marinescu added the practical experience of planning,implementing and evaluation work with young people, thus giving a practical aspect to herplacement.

The work of Mr. Beck in 2010 mainly focused on various issues of youth politics, as well aspreparing the input of EYCE to the 2nd Ecumenical Kirchentag, which took place in May in Munich,Germany. Mr. Beck also worked on preparation, implementation and follow-up of the EYCE trainingcourse "Facing Economic Crisis - Role and Possibilities of the Youth Organisations", which tookplace in July in Klaipeda, Lithuania. Mr. Beck also contributed to structuring EYCE's work byworking directly with the member organisations and increasing the involvement of the youngpeople from EYCE's networks.

During her work with EYCE in 2010, Ms. Kockler was responsible for various themes and seminarswhere she helped in the planning process of the event and has contributed to the event itself withher competence and knowledge. However, the particular focus of Ms. Kocklers work has been onEYCE's Campaign to Promote Ecological Justice, where she has been coordinating the team ofthe campaign, researching the resources and developing the publicity materials relevant to thecampaign, as well as organising meetings and events in the framework of this campaign.

The work of the Ecumenical Youth Council in Europe has been supported by the European Commission and the Council of Europe. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and neither the European Commission, nor Council of Europe cannot be held re-

sponsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

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EYCE Annual Report 2010

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