What different types of events does the EYP organise? – Part 2: Capacity Building, Members, Outreach, etc.

The National Committees and the International Office of the European Youth Parliament organise almost 500 events annually, all run by voluntary young people. The types of events are as diverse  as the places they’re organised in. Here’s an insight into the different events organised by the European Youth Parliaments outside of sessions.

Capacity Building Events

EYP is a training-based organisation. We strive for a high degree of professionalism in our work by young people for young people. By taking part in the European Youth Parliament’s activities, young participants improve their participation skills and engage in active European citizenship. To support the personal development of volunteers, and further their skills, to take up various roles within the organisation, the EYP organises capacity building training courses focused on a diverse set of skills, such as facilitation, leadership, communication, fundraising, organising, project management, inclusion, outreach, and intercultural dialogue.
EYP thereby prepares these young European citizens to not only take an active role in our network, but to also use these skills to the benefit of society as a whole. You can find out more about EYP’s Capacity Building here.

T4ET (Training for EYP Trainers)

Trainings for EYP Trainers (T4ET) are an integral element to the development of the organisation, contributing to the broadening of our active members and ultimately assisting the enhancement of their educational experience, increasing the quality of events and strengthening EYP as a training-based organisation.

Summer Academy

The EYP Summer Academy is a training event aiming at supporting the work of our National Committees by providing training courses for board members and active members of the National Committees. The training course focuses on four areas: National Committee Management and Development, Fundraising, Outreach & Inclusion and PR & Communications.
The EYP Summer Academy will take place in Porto, Portugal from 7-10 September 2017, hosted by EYP Portugal. The training will last four days, including parallel training modules. It aims to enable 80 trainees from all over Europe to develop their skills and help them better run and further develop the work of their EYP National Committee. Read more about the training event here.

Member Meetings

Across 40 countries, the European Youth Parliament is run by young people who plan and implement all activities within the network. There are regional and national groups that cooperate with each other, to bring events and ideas of EYP closer to youngsters, for example in different schools. All in all, around 3,000 young people are currently active in EYP. Also, all ideas on how to develop the network are created on the level of the volunteers: they communicate with each other nationally and internationally to determine the next steps and to generate the coolest ideas for future projects. 

The National Committees usually meet at least once a year to exchange ideas, set new goals and ensure democratic decision making among their members in a bottom-up approach. A list of National Committees and their contact details can be found here.

Outreach and Inclusion Activities

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  Through outreach activities the National Committees try to provide activities to young people who would otherwise not have access to EYP or would not naturally be active in EYP. Outreach activities and events generally target five identified target groups in particular:

  • Young people from a lower socio-economic background
  • Student from vocational schools
  • Ethnic minority groups
  • Students with immigrant backgrounds
  • Geographically remote students

  Inclusion within the network is understood as an organisational practice and goal, creating equal opportunities for all members within our network, ensuring that all young participants are equally welcome and able to participate. Activities in this field include for example events at schools in more remote areas, reaching out to different school types or trainings on the topic for our members to create awareness.

  Understanding Europe

  While being politically impartial, it is our mission is to inspire and empower young Europeans to become open-minded, tolerant and active citizens. Our aim is to inform young people about the decision-making process in Europe, making this process visible and tangible. In interactive, four-hour seminars in schools in the project Understanding Europe, we aim at giving pupils a basic understanding of European politics, engaging pupils in an open discussion about current European topics and at encouraging them to become active.

  This project was initiated by the Schwarzkopf-Stiftung, the EYP’s international umbrella organisation since 2004, and together we have built up a network of young voluntary peer trainers. You can find more information about the Understanding Europe Project here.

  Governance Activities

  The National Committees, which run EYP’s activities on a national level, send representatives to the biannual meeting of all NCs – the Board of National Committees (BNC). The BNC is in turn chaired by an elected board. To guide the strategic development of the network, a Governing Body of six elected members, four of which are elected by the National Committees and two by EYP volunteers, works throughout the year. There are four EYP Councils which are working groups of the network on different tasks and topics set by the Governing Body.