ACADEMIC PREPARATION KIT

EYP-UA WEEKEND IN KHERSON

1-2 OF MARCH, 2014

INTRODUCTION

Dearest delegates,

This booklet which was prepared by your chairpersons will briefly introduce you to

your topic, walk you through all of the vital background information, inspire your

inquisitive minds to think beyond our limits, and greatly prepare you for EYP-UA

Weekend in Mykolaiv.

I will for now just leave you with 3 small pieces of advice to help you through this week

until we finally meet:

- Read your topic overview at least twice; the more knowledge a committee has, the

more powerful and emotion-filled time you will have;

- Take a closer look to links for further research;

- Prepare to amaze and be amazed.

Wish you a successful preparation and interesting reading!

Good luck everyone, we are looking forward to meeting every single one of you very

soon.

President of Kherson EYP-UA Weekend,

Kristina Chelmakina

Committee on Culture and Education

CULT

With differences in the quality of education and funding resources in Western and

post-socialistic European countries, how should the governments ensure high-quality

primary and secondary education all over Europe?

“Today, education is seen as a way to decrease the social inequalities, to avoid conflicts, to

learn respect and tolerance and to preserve Human Rights. Europe, in general terms, has

succeeded in the policy of ‘school for all’, says Heiko Vogl, in his project “FaceIt”

presentation.

Primary and secondary education is compulsory in all the European Union (EU)

Member States, and most post-socialist European states.

In most of the EU countries, there is quite a long transition from primary to

secondary education (about 7 years) which provides coverage of the basic studies on the

world, culture, religion, art, philosophy, etc. This smooth transition into more subject-

oriented secondary education serves as a fundamental platform for further education in

a diverse region of the EU. The education systems and curricula are therefore made to

serve this purpose as well. This might seem like “flattening” education to suit every

country to some people, although on the other hand there are opponents of this opinion

who say that it gives countries an opportunity to learn from each other’s experience. It

is very often that the European Parliament or the European Commission report on the

carried out projects of comparing multiple countries’ primary and secondary education

systems. Then they outline the fundamentals for the whole EU community. Such

projects also include non-formal education alongside with the formal in many Western

European states in the same manner which might be considered a factor that contradicts

with the general unofficial policy and harms the country’s identity.

A common theory nowadays is that, trying to transform their socialistic societies

into more democratic ones, post-socialistic countries borrow too much of “the Western

values of diversity” into their educational systems, which sometimes does not help

achieve goals governments set for their countries.

Most countries make investment into education their top priority. However, the

outcomes are not the same. This being kept in mind, such facts should be considered

comparing funding for education in Western European and post-socialist states: 1) Post-

socialist countries that are not in the EU have less funding; 2) Working as one system

and having quite similar ‘European mentality’ type, being secured partially by the

funding opportunities backed up by the European Commission, Western European

states (and the previously socialistic Member States) are capable of holding projects,

researches, observations, which is helpful to bring up new educational strategies and

curricula; 3) There are very few exchange programs between post-socialist and Western

countries for secondary school students in Europe. These facts initiate a concern

whether the both sides should keep moving in the same direction?

Keywords: Western European States; post-socialistic states in Europe; primary and

secondary education; formal and non-formal education; education projects of the

European Commission.

Official information resources:

1. Report on key competences for a changing world: implementation of the Education and

Training 2010 work programme (2010/2013(INI)). Primary and Secondary Education:

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&reference=A7-

2010-0141&format=XML&language=EN

2. Structure of European education systems 2013/2014:

http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/education/eurydice/documents/facts_and_figures/educ

ation_structures_EN.pdf

Articles of introductory character:

1. Varieties of Educational Trans formations: Politics, Economics, and Cultures after

Socialism: http://www.irex.org/system/files/SILOVA_0.pdf

2. Some trends on school education in Europe:

http://www.slideshare.net/heiko.vogl/some-trends-on-school-education-in-

europe

3. Eurypedia – The European Encyclopedia on National Education Systems

http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/education/eurydice/eurypedia_en.php

Relevant articles:

1. “Education for all” (archive):

http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/i-fight-poverty/think-goal-2.html

2. Western Europe - Educational Roots, Reform in the Twentieth Century, Contemporary

Reform Trends, Future Challenges:

http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/2547/Western-Europe.html

3. European School:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_School

4. Project “FaceIt”:

http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/llp/project_reports/documents/comenius/all/com_mp_1

34362%20_%20face_it.pdf

by

Lyudmyla Krasnytska

Committee on Employment and Social Affairs

EMPL

When many European countries face the challenge of high youth unemployment,

what concrete steps should be taken to ensure that post-graduates do not become

irreversibly excluded from the labour market?

For millions of well-educated, willing and promising European youngsters the

task of finding a job, which could allow them to receive a decent salary and to put into

practice their knowledge and ambitiousness, remains unsolved. Levels of informal

employment among young people are soaring and they are finding it even more

difficult to find jobs that match their skills and education. With on-going political and

economic crisis in most European countries the rates of youth unemployment continue

to arise alarmingly: 21.4% in European Union, 17.6% in Central and South-eastern

Europe according to World Economic Forum 2013. The most shocking tendencies

belong to Spain and Greece- 57.4% and 58% respectively. This complicated issue leads

to a vast number of repercussions: leak of highly skilled labour force, poverty,

deepening of the economic crisis, growth of resentment consequently leading to

outbreaks of social crisis, separatism and crime etc.

Despite unfavourable situation, currently there are over 4 million vacancies in the

EU, capable to provide approximately 70 per cent of the unemployed youth with a job,

which is reported by the European Commission. Economically speaking, the EU faces

the problem of the so called structural unemployment, meaning that there is a visible

absence of connection between employers` demand and workers, available on the

labour market. The McKinsey survey provides some illumination: 43% of employers

said that candidates do not possess the skills they need. Yet 72% of educators believe

new graduates are qualified to land jobs in the real world. There is an obvious

mismatch in this sphere: graduates may have skills, but not the right ones, because

education is often not adequately tailored to the needs of the labour market. Moreover,

economic stagnation in the country causes the phenomenon of cyclical unemployment,

which is why Member States more affected by the financial crisis experience higher

rates of unemployment, unable to create sufficient jobs.

Government, authorities, research and development institutions do not leave the

problem of youth unemployment aside. In April 2012 the EC created the Employment

Package, focusing on concrete measures to boost the level of employment in the

Member States. Unlike previous educational programmes, the new Package contains

specific economic recommendations concerning all aspects of this problem. As an

innovative example, the EC suggests governments to develop areas where a significant

amount of workplaces could be created. Currently, the health service, the Information

and Communication Technology (ICT) sector and the green economy are identified as

such possessing the biggest job potential.

Still as it remains a big challenge to predict the demand for specialists. It is

crucially important to prepare youth to be easily adjustable to fast-changing

environment through educational reforms and increase of mobility. Career orientation

services and school-to-work transition remain a weak link thus complicating the

problem. The support of new graduates during their first steps on the labour market

needs to be protected and regulated from the beginning, if necessary, by universities

themselves. On the other hand, employers need to be supported with suitable securities

as well.

Our future is at stake. It is not just discouraged young people who lose out if they

cannot find work-society as a whole will suffer tremendously. Unemployment figures

are expected to increase this year. Countries will continue to suffer significant losses if

little or no action is taken to address the root issues of unemployment. We cannot stress

this enough: it is paramount for governments to make impressive and corrective efforts

to keep the crisis from worsening. In order to find ways to overcome this deep crisis,

one should answer the following questions: what measures should be taken in order to

develop better matching between skills (gained throughout education?) and labour

market needs? How can the gap between the worlds of education and work be bridged?

What are the ways of promoting better anticipation of future skills need? What are the

roles of government institutions, educational establishments and employers in tackling

youth unemployment?

Keywords: youth unemployment; labour market; cyclical unemployment; business

cycles; economy recession; Employment Package; green economy; job-rich sectors;

lifelong learning; skills mismatch; structural unemployment; school to work transition.

Links for further research:

1. Content of the Employment package

http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?langId=en&catId=101&newsId=1270&further

News=yes

2. Understanding backgrounds of unemployment

http://education-portal.com/academy/topic/understanding-unemployment.html

3. EU measures to tackle youth unemployment

http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-13-968_en.htm

Further reading:

1. Resolving high youth unemployment

http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20140123072437586

2. Science and technology skills key to tackling EU youth unemployment

http://www.theparliament.com/latest-news/article/newsarticle/science-and-

technology-skills-key-to-tackling-eu-youth-unemployment/#.Uvz_bGOp40Y

3. Youth unemployment: how to prevent and tackle it?

http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?langId=en&catId=89&newsId=1989&furtherN

ews=yes

4. Could stronger EU measures help reduce youth unemployment?

http://www.debatingeurope.eu/2013/11/14/could-stronger-eu-measures-help-

reduce-youth-unemployment/#.Uv0B1mOp40Y

Videos as topic introduction:

1. Youth Unemployment: A Global Emergency

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VN3XBXaI9Q

2. Europe’s unemployment set to continue in 2013

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUJDG21WIfc

3. Jobs for youth: lost for years to come

http://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/multimedia/video/video-news-

releases/WCMS_181114/lang--en/index.htm

4. Europe's young and unemployed

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7bjoylDuhs

by

Natalia Sniegur

Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

ENVI

Today the majority of European countries have introduced environmental education

systems for children and youth. What steps can European governments take to

educate the adult population on environmental issues and to further cultivate eco-

friendly habits in society?

“Environmental education has become an important pillar of sustainable development, a pillar

that is set to increase in importance in the years to come”.

Karl-Heinz Florenz,

Chairman of the Environmental Committee

European Parliament

The United Nations designated the period from 2005 to 2014 as a decade of

“Education for Sustainable Development”. To achieve sustainable development, it is

necessary to change people’s ecological, economic and social perceptions. The challenge

that countries around the world face is the integration of the concept of sustainable

development in their education processes.

Environmental education is the central aspect of change towards sustainable

environmental development. Now is the time when we realise that the environment is

not just a factor in this game, but is a game itself; a game in which we are all players

and on which our future existence depends. Environmental problems, such as climate

change, threaten our health, prosperity and economic development. Human kind is the

major cause of environmental problems and, as a result, they can only be solved on the

basis of cooperative actions. Environmental education, like education for sustainable

development, is based on building awareness and identification in personal living

environments.

Based on this knowledge, the Green Dot and partner organizations have

contributed to the integration of waste separation and recycling concept into everyday

life and establishing a European platform for environmental awareness. They promote

active citizenship through diverse local, regional and national education programmes

for the entire education chain, from pre-schools through vocational training

establishments to comprehensive consumer communication measures. Many of the

activities are realised in partnership programmes with manufacturing and retail

enterprises, authorities and recycling companies.

Global environmental issues, such as the greenhouse effect, the decimation of

biological diversity and the consumption of finite resources can only be solved on the

basis of more intensive international cooperation. People with an understanding of the

ecological, economic and social correlations at global level are needed to overcome

these challenges. PRO EUROPE (Packaging Recovery Organisation Europe) is playing a

pioneering role in promoting cooperation on environmental topics.

So, the question remains at stake with a well-educated younger generation, what

steps can the European governments take so as to educate the adult population on

environmental issues? Who and in what way can cultivate eco-friendly habits in society

today?

Keywords: sustainable development, adult environmental education, the Green Dot,

PRO EUROPE (Packaging Recycling Organisation Europe).

Links for further research:

1. European Commission, “Green Paper – Towards a European strategy for the security of

energy supply”, 2000

http://europa.eu.int

2. Europe goes Green Dot

http://www.zalais.lv/files/europe_goes_gd.pdf

3. The PRO EUROPE brochure entitled “Effective packaging – effective prevention” (2004)

provides detailed information about the prevention of environmental pollution and

packaging waste recycling

http://www.pro-e.org

4. Environmental Education – the path to Sustainable Development

http://www.pro-europe.info

5. Workshop: Environmental education – Renewable Energies for children and youth

http://opus.kobv.de/zlb/volltexte/2007/1325/pdf/WorkshopEnvironmental.pdf

6. How to recycle:

www.recycle-more.co.uk

by

Inna Shcherbyna

Committee on Industry, Technology and Research

ITRE

In the aftermath of Fukushima disaster European states face the issue of balancing

between environmental security and the need for cheap energy. Hence, what role

should nuclear energy take in the energy sectors of the Eastern European countries?

The Eastern European countries are active consumers of cheap nuclear energy.

Such countries as Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia, Slovakia, and Ukraine

meet more than one third of their electricity demand from nuclear energy sources.

Nuclear power plants are producers of one of the most eco-friendly and cheap energy

sources. On the other hand, in a case of accident, they may cause the most dangerous

disasters in the world. The problems linked with nuclear energy sources are

modernization of the power plants and limited lifespan, shortage of nuclear fuel and

the lack of methods for nuclear waste disposal. Nuclear power plants provide Eastern

European countries with cheap energy and thousands of working places.

Nuclear accidents in Chernobyl and Fukushima forced European leaders to

review the safety of nuclear power plants. As a result, stress tests were held in 145

reactors to evaluate whether nuclear power plants could withstand naturals disasters

and terrorist attacks. Nuclear accidents caused by naturals disasters (e.g. earthquake,

tsunamis) or human error have huge influence on environment and public health.

The challenge is to decide whether benefits Eastern European countries get from

nuclear energy cover its risks. Are there any alternative energy sources which are

enough effective, cheep and more secure at the same time? What should be top

priorities for Eastern European countries energy policy? What role nuclear energy

should play in meeting those priorities?

Keywords

Nuclear energy, energy mix, nuclear accidents, alternative energy sources

Useful links

1. Post-Fukushima policy

http://ehron.jrc.ec.europa.eu/post-fukushima-policy

2. DW: Nuclear power on the rise in Eastern Europe

http://www.dw.de/nuclear-power-on-the-rise-in-eastern-europe/a-17177810

3. "How competitive is nuclear energy?" by J. H. Keppler

http://www.oecd-nea.org/nea-news/2010/28-1/NEA-News-28-1-1-how-

competitive.pdf

4. Nuclear Energy Safety: Lessons of Fukushima for Europe [VIDEO]

http://theenergycollective.com/vieuws-eu-policy-broadcaster/202486/nuclear-

safety-lessons-fukushima-europe-video

5. EC: Nuclear safety

http://ec.europa.eu/energy/nuclear/safety/safety_en.htm

6. EC: Key figures on energy in Europe

http://ec.europa.eu/energy/observatory/countries/doc/key_figures.pdf

7. Global Politics: Is Europe Going Nuclear?

http://www.global-politics.co.uk/issue7/Poliscanova/

by

Dmytro Zinchuk