Conference concept for the European Youth Conference „Youth in Action for Diversity and Tolerance“ Berlin, 6-9 Nov. 2005
(as of 18 July 05)
A. Objectives of the Youth Conference
Impact of the European Youth Conference “Youth for Democracy and Tolerance” 2001
The outcome of the European youth conference 2001 “Youth for Tolerance and Democracy” which also took place in Berlin, will be evaluated at two levels: Political developments as well as initiatives and activities at European and national level since the conference will be presented.
This conference objective will be implemented in the opening phase of the conference, see B.2. below.
Exchange of experiences and best practices
The conference will allow for the exchange of best practices concerning methods and strategies in youth anti-racism projects at national, European and international level.
This objective will be implemented in the exchange and developing phase of the conference, see B.4. below. Moreover, the “Project Market” will be the informal centre for exchanging experience and for networking during the Conference.
Networking
The conference will provide an opportunity for participants to look beyond their own fields of activity, to network with projects from other countries and thus improve their activities. This networking will add to the European dimension of young people’s anti-racism work. The young participants will also be able to experience Europe in very concrete terms.
This objective will be implemented in the exchange and developing phase of the Conference, see B.4. below. Moreover, the “Project Market” will be the informal centre for exchanging experience and for networking during the conference. After the conference, the Internet platform will be a further, sustainable place for networking.
Final political declaration
The conference will close with the handing over of recommendations in form of a declaration from the participants to policymakers. This final declaration aims at enhancing the identification of all participants with the results of the conference and will be a major instrument for public relations work.
This political declaration will be developed by means of a discussion process, starting already on Monday afternoon during the thorough examination phase, by working out subjects relevant to the young participants and will be deepened in the workshops on Tuesday. In the feedback and adoption phase it will be finalised. On Wednesday afternoon, the declaration adopted by all participants will be handed over to decision-makers.
This objective will be implemented in the exchange and developing phase of the conference, see B.4 below, and in the feedback and adoption phase respectively, see B.5 below as well as in the closing phase, see B.6. below.
Action plan
In addition to the final political declaration (and maybe as part of it), the conference shall also bring recommendations for a concrete action plan in the sense of a self-commitment of the participants. The implementation of the action plan at national level will be discussed at the conference as well as networking strategies and a strengthening of the European dimension in the fight of young people against racism and discrimination. Such agreements aim at encouraging young people in their own project work and at promoting networking in Europe.
This objective will be implemented in the exchange and developing phase of the conference, see B.4 below, and in the feedback and adoption phase, see B. 5. below.
B. Methodical consequences of objectives for sequence of events during the Conference
The conference is subdivided into six phases:
Introduction / warming up
The evening before the conference will allow participants to get to know each other in an informal setting where the conference programme will be presented.
Participants will be welcomed informally by the organisers, the European Commission and the German Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth. The following introduction to the programme will be organised by IJAB/ JFE in a relaxed and easy-going way.
Opening phase
On Monday morning, the Conference will be opened officially by Federal Minister Ms Schmidt and Member of the EU Commission Mr Figel at the Centrum Judaicum.
This will be followed by a panel discussion (“talk-show”) with experts and representatives of NGOs to outline the topics of the Conference.
This opening phase aims at making the connection to the 2001 conference “Youth for Tolerance and Democracy” and its results.
Recommendations for the opening phase:
IJAB/JFE recommend highlighting the impact of the results of the 2001 conference.
Political developments since 2001 could be described by Federal Minister Ms Schmidt for the German government and Commissioner Mr Figel for the EU.
For the panel discussion IJAB/JFE propose the following participants:
- a representative of the Council of Europe,
- a representative of the Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities,
- a representative of the British EU Presidency,
- a young participant to the 2001 conference who should also be a member of the Advisory Board,
- another young participant.
Examination phase
In the beginning of the examination phase two keynote speeches will present the results and impacts since the 2001 conference as well as the current situation.
IJAB/JFE recommend the European Youth Forum to report on activities by young people and youth organisations since 2001 from a youth perspective.
It is recommended to complement this presentation by a second keynote speech delivered by the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC) in which changes since 2001 are looked at from a European perspective.
The conference participants will have the chance to discuss further to the keynote speeches in the following workshops, thus providing a basis for the development of the political declaration.
At a second stage of the examination phase, expert discussions will take place in 10 small groups. The small groups will facilitate discussions about current developments, concepts and methods of youth policy and youth work in connection with the commitment for diversity and tolerance and against racism and discrimination in Europe. They will also focus on the role of young people in “anti-racism and anti-discrimination work”.
The speakers shall be chosen and the small groups arranged in a way suited to young people, allowing active discussions and integrating the experiences of young people from Europe.
Before the conference, participants shall enrol for one of the 10 small groups. The groups will be led by experienced and young moderators. Speakers shall give short inputs in order to orientate the discussions. Towards the end of the expert discussions, each small group will choose 2 to 3 subjects which have come up in the group discussions and which shall be discussed in greater detail in the workshops on Tuesday.
In the late afternoon, these subjects will be collected and presented in a plenary session. The forming of clusters will help to determine 10 subjects for the workshops on Tuesday. The participants will be able to choose a workshop according to their main interests.
Exchange and developing phase
In the workshops participants will exchange ideas in an experience-oriented way on the respective subject, focussing on the elaboration of elements for the political declaration as well as for the action plan. Young moderators will make sure that the workshops will be arranged in a way to allow each participant to bring in his/her experiences and competences in the field of anti-racism and anti-discrimination work and to start a process of exchange of experiences and networking by keeping the focus on the aim of developing a political declaration and an action plan.
After the workshops, rapporteurs will summarise the recommendations of their respective groups. The results of each workshop will be presented in a plenary session at the end of the afternoon. Thus, all participants will get to know the specific subjects tackled in the different groups and the recommendations resulting from them. These recommendations will form a first draft of the declaration and the action plan.
Feedback and adoption phase
On Wednesday morning, 10 feedback-groups will be installed according to the 10 workshop subjects. These feedback-groups will be run in parallel in 4 rounds of 30 minutes. Each participant will have the possibility to take part in 4 of the feedback-groups. The recommendations of the day before will be discussed, amended or changed in a way that all participants can agree to them.
The feedback-groups will be followed by a presentation of the results in a plenary session where final comments on both papers can be made. The political declaration and the action plan will be adopted by the participants at the end of the morning.
Closing phase
In the closing phase on Wednesday afternoon the political declaration together with the action plan will be handed over to representatives of the Federal German government, the EU-Commission, the EU-Presidency, the EU-Parliament and the Council of Europe. The representatives of these institutions will have the opportunity to react to both documents in a panel discussion. This widespread circle of addressees is aimed to ensure an as wide reception and implementation of the declaration as possible in Europe.
C. Editing of the final declaration and the action plan
Before the conference, and to be confirmed on Sunday evening at the latest, some participants will be asked to form an “editorial board for the final declaration”. This editorial board will be supported by IJAB/JFE.
On Tuesday evening, at the end of the feedback and developing phase, the editorial board will put together the recommendations summarised by the rapporteurs of the workshops .They will present them in the plenary session and will edit a first draft of the declaration and the action plan. All participants will receive these drafts as a basis for further discussion on Wednesday. On Wednesday morning, the editorial board will incorporate the proposals from the feedback phase, so that on Wednesday afternoon, the then adopted final declaration can be handed over to decision-makers and participants.
D. Target group of the Youth Conference “Youth in Action for Diversity and Tolerance”
The Conference will be attended mainly by young people between the age of 15 and 25. The participants will come from the Programme countries of the European Youth Programme (25 Member States of the European Union, the EFTA States as well as Bulgaria, Rumania and Turkey). Besides, the Council of Europe will propose up to 25 young people and experts from Member States of the Council of Europe.
The discussions and networking process will facilitate an exchange of views and experiences between young people, experts in the field of youth work and decision-makers in youth policy.
The role of the experts will be to contribute their experience in national and international youth work with a focus on the promotion of diversity and tolerance. They will also be encouraged to help implement the conference results at national and international level in order to make them sustainable.
