ich möchte euch ermutigen, euch für das Projekt der Bundeszentrale für Politische Bildung zu bewerben http://www.bpb.de/veranstaltungen/netzwerke/europa-gestalten/130293/stipendium-und-zeitplan-2012-2013.

Im letzten Jahr hat Sepsi Szablocs sich als YCDN-Gesandter mit dem Projekt „Menschenhandel im Donauraum“ bei dieser Aktion der Bundeszentrale beworben und wurde genommen. Nach einem mehrmonatigen Praktikum (alles bezahlt: Reisen, Weiterbildungen, Verpflegung aber auch Gehalt ca. 280Euro/Woche) hat er die YCDN-Kampagne „FreedomKeepers“ ins Leben gerufen, nimmt am Bundeswettbewerb für Politische Bildung teil und organisiert verschiedenste Ländergruppen zu diesem Thema.

Ihr könnte alle Informationen finden unter www.ycdn.eu oder www.freedomkeepers.eu

Wir möchten wieder jemanden über das YCDN teilnehmen lassen und bitten euch um eure Vorschläge: welche Ideen habt ihr für das YCDN? Für den Donauraum? Für die Zivilgesellschaft etc.? Schaut auf die Strategie des Netzwerkes und bringt eure Gedanken vor.

Bei Fragen könnt ihr euch gerne an mich (wulf@ycdn.eu) an Juliane Gierach (gierach@ycdn.eu) oder an Szablocs wenden (szablocs@ycdn.eu).

Es gibt viel zu tun im Donauraum, engagiert euch!

Bitte schickt uns eure Ideen und Projektvorschläge bis zum 04.05.2011. Wir werden diese dann durchlesen und uns dann mit euch zusammensetzen und schauen, welche Ideen die meisten Chancen zur Umsetzung haben.

Herzlich, euer YCDN-Team

„FreedomKeepers” campaign launched!

• www.freedomkeepers.eu
• facebook.com/FreedomKeepers

The first workshop of the FreedomKeepers team was held 7-8 March in Düsseldorf, Germany, hosted by Arbeit und Leben NRW. Ivan Matic and Szabolcs Sepsi were present as organizers on behalf of YCDN.

Besides giving the participants a chance to get to know each other and build a good team, the main goal of the workshop was establishing the clear targets, frames and limitations of the peer-to-peer online prevention campaign on human trafficking in the Danube Region.

Ivan Matic facilitated the sessions of the first day, focusing on identifying the problem and possible solutions. The participants identified the lack of information about modern-day slavery as the main challenge they will face. Misconceptions about trafficking, prejudices, stereotypes and taboos, shame and victim stigma, idealistic expectations of life in the “west” as well as lack of economic opportunities are all connected with these problems.

The goal of the campaign should, as a consequence, be to address the lack of information and lack of interest of 14-18 year olds towards modern-day slavery. It has also been emphasized that we focus exclusively on prevention, coordinate among the target countries and place an importance on the peer-to-peer method.

On the second day of the workshop, facilitated by Sophie Langmeier and Szabolcs Sepsi, the participants had the chance to learn about online campaigning. The name FreedomKeepers was chosen for the campaign because of its positive message and energy.

You can find more information on the campaign here:
http://freedomkeepers.eu/aboutthb/about-the-campaign/

Follow it on Facebook!
facebook.com/FreedomKeepers

I’d like to inform you about a great scholarship programm for European students who would like to study in Berlin! Last year I participated in it, too – and I can only say that it was great! It is called “Studienkolleg zu Berlin”, and brings together European students to discuss and work on the future of Europe.

The Studienkolleg zu Berlin wants to strengthen the „European dimension“ in the thinking of young people on whose decisions the future shape of Europe is likely to depend. Thirty students from all over Europe can participate. The idea is to study “normally” at one of the universities in Berlin or Brandenburg, but you also attend lectures and seminars on topics related to European history, culture and politics. The core module of the college year is a project on current issues relating to European themes on which small teams of participants cooperate during the entire year (my team worked on the Danube Region). The Studienkolleg’s working language is German – meaning you need to speak enough German to talk about Europe… (but the Studienkolleg pays for language classes, too!)

The Studienkolleg pays a monthly scholarship of € 650 as well as up to € 1.000 for travel expenses if you have to move to Germany from abroad.

Formal criteria are:

• current academic student (of any discipline)
• completion of basic studies (in at the least third year of study in one discipline, no Ph.D. students)
• up to 28 years old
• “excellent” academic achievements (sounds terrible. But if you think, you are not a bad student, you should try, don`t let them scare you, chances are quite good)
• strong interest in European issues
• ability to work in a team and willingness to do intensive project work
• all candidates have to apply independently for a place at a university in Berlin or Brandenburg

Closing date for applications is 1 April 2012.

Please find the Flyer here: SKB 1213_Call for Applications

http://www.youngdanubians.eu/wp/wp-content/uploads/History_of_YCDN.pdf

The EU Danube Region Strategy (DRS) has reached its next phase since its adoption by the European Council in June 2010. The focus is now on the implementation of the specific projects. For the success of the strategy the assessment, evaluation and the presentation of best practices are highly important. Energy policy is one of the key issues. Around 40 percent of our energy consumption is due to the bad conditions of the buildings in the Danube region. About 11 percent of the energy supplement is imported into the European Union (EU). Without the reduction of the energy demand of the buildings, the CO2 emission reduction targets for 2020 will not be reached. The new energy policy of the region is targeting the reduction of the energy demand in general and the replacement of fossils by renewables. As a member of the YCDN it was indeed exciting to get informed on the spot about the latest developments of the strategy. The conference under the title “Sustainable energy for the Danube Region” was a great opportunity to discuss about the most important issues regarding the energy efficiency in the region. The MEP Danube Forum was held in the European Parliament (EP) on the February 7th in Brussels.

In the European Parliament, two members in particular are highly dedicated to a better cooperation and a greater success of the Danube Region Strategy (DRS). In her introduction, MEP Silva-Adriana Ticau, has maintained that besides the Baltic Sea strategy the DRS is a crucial part of the “EU 2020” strategy. Since the interest in the real action is still not high enough a common analysis is important. The issue of the sustainable energy is a common interest of the whole Danube region whether it is a member state of the European Union or not. Energy efficiency, alternatives, and energy security are key terms.

The Vice-Chair of the Danube Forum MEP Michael Theurer, stressed that this strategy is a good chance to overcome regional fragmentation and getting back to a European growth path. It is not a question whether a stronger regional cooperation is needed. The question is how this could be realized. Energy supply is certainly a field where innovation and new technologies can be boosted. Furthermore, this is an area where numerous of new local jobs can be created.

According to the latest data of the European Commission for the funding period 2007-2013, 24 percent of the available money has not been used. During the economy crisis the importance of the absorption rate of the EU structural funds has to be emphasized again and again since the current financial period is still not over. A more effective exploitation of the EU funds is crucial for the DRS since the main principle is the so called “3 no”-s: “no need for more money, no need for new institutions and no need for new EU legislation”.

Monika Zsigri, the policy coordinator representing the European Commission’s Directorate General Energy, has talked about the strategy in respect of the “EU 2020” strategy. Her main points were that resource efficiency could be achieved only by a secure energy supply. The infrastructure, one of the main goals of the energy and climate policy is not sufficient enough in the region. The main tasks are in this field. Connecting Europe Facility provides 50 billion Euro for developing energy supply, telecommunication, and transport.

Olga Svitakova, priority coordinator and member of the Danube Forum of the EP emphasized that the Danube strategy is particular because it focuses on the specific regional needs. Connecting the countries in the region means focusing more on what binds us together. This is among others transport, tourism, and of course the energy issue.

Several examples have been introduced on the conference, such as the Ostrava Smart City Initiative. These programmes are focusing on increasing energy efficiency, decreasing CO2 emission, involving the citizens, developing new tools, and using new energy resources. The Ostrava initiative is a good example for a complex funded programme. It is financed together by the city of Ostrava, the EU and the Czech government.

Fréderic Boyer on behalf of the Energy Cities and Olivier Loebel Secretary General of the PU Europe has continued with the best practices presentation. They presented the concept of the low energy city. According to this, instead of a strong centralized approach the energy policy should be significantly more distributive. Local authorities should create more jobs and involve citizens as key actors.

But how can a citizen be involved or what can we do in order to realize sustainable energy? First of all we need to change our consumer behaviour. Our energy needs have to be reduced by recycling and reusing energy surplus. One key element is the replacement of fossil fuels by renewables. This should be promoted locally and this is where the Mayors in action initiative comes into play. The participation of 3500 European cities created jobs, thus boosting the labour market on local level. In this respect the EP is playing an important role. Local authorities need to be supported by the EP.

The new regional energy policy in the frame of the DRS can create more than 1 million local jobs, reduce the risk of fuel poverty, and last but not least improve air quality. The Danube Region Action Plan on Renewables seeks more European energy independence and less import. The current tasks are first of all presenting the possible solutions and share the experiences in order to find synergies and cooperate more effectively in the field of energy policy. The success of the implementation of the certain projects is now depending, on one side, on local authorities, and on the other, on the cooperation between them and the EU institutions. Exchanging experiences in the EP with the participation of key actors was definitely a useful interim balance.

“I wish I could make a television commercial telling everyone what happens to trafficking victims. I wish I could help poor people have a better life so they will not be treated this way.”
- Survivor of sexual slavery

Modern day slavery happens right at our doorstep. Literally, women and children are brutally exploited for sex; men are forced to work without pay and under inhuman conditions in virtually every European country, often in broad daylight, in city centres or a few hundred meters away from where we pass by every day. And symbolically, human trafficking became an alarmingly common human rights abuse, a quickly growing problem and a huge illicit business at the “doorstep” of the old European Union. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, Central and eastern European countries became some of the largest supply and transit markets of the global slave trade. Geographically well connected with west European destination states, with opening borders, facilitated by the growing social inequalities and the economic desperation of entire regions, slave trade became a lucrative business with extremely high profits and very low risks. Further facilitated by unaddressed problems of the source countries such as corruption, gender bias against women or domestic violence, trafficking in human beings has become common in countries of the Danube Region, including EU members, EU candidates and third countries.

Anybody could become a victim of human trafficking. The victims differ from each other in many aspects such as social background, education or gender. But they tend to have one thing in common: they are very often young and the vast majority are internet users. In fact, traffickers often recruit their victims over the internet and over social networking sites. The Young Citizens Danube Network therefore decided to address this gross human rights violation over the internet, especially through social networking sites like Facebook.

The aim of the campaign “Slavery next door” is to reach as many fourteen to eighteen year old girls and boys from the Danube Region as possible, to let them know that human trafficking is a danger that could prey over any young person thinking about accepting a dubious job offer in a foreign country and to teach them safeguards that always need to be taken before they travel abroad for work.

Creative and bold campaign material will be used on social networks to capture attention and raise awareness, completed by a blog with resources on human trafficking prevention. Thanks to our local partners and activists, the campaign will be implemented in Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Germany in parallel, in the local languages of each country. The local country coordinators will also organize presentations, discussions, film clubs and activities to underline the message of the online campaign. They will meet in Düsseldorf for a workshop organized by our partner organization Arbeit und Leben NRW, between 7-8 March where the last preparations of the campaign will take place.

The campaign will launch on Facebook and blogs on the International Women’s Day, 8 March 2012. Stay tuned!

The Young Citizens Danube Network (YCDN) is an international NGO, founded in 2010 in Serbia. It provides a youth network for the Danube Strategy of the European Union and brings together young people who want to participate in civil society from all 14 countries of the Danube Strategy.

Contact:
Szabolcs Sepsi
Young Citizens Danube Network
Pollack Mihály tér 3
1088 Budapest, Hungary
Email: szabolcs@ycdn.eu
Web: http://www.youngdanubians.eu/