Archive for the ‘Tips & Info’ Category

In September, the European Commission will adopt ‘Youth on the Move’, an initiative that aims to promote the mobility of students and trainees and to improve the employment situation of young people. ‘Youth on the Move’ will encourage EU countries to work together to give young people in Europe better opportunities to make the best of their skills. The Commission’s upcoming proposal is a contribution to Europe 2020, the EU’s reform strategy for the coming decade to develop an economy that is based on knowledge and innovation. Young people have an important role to play in this but they need more support in order to unleash their full potential. ‘Youth on the Move’ provides this support by contributing to better education, training and access to labour market.

Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou will hold a press conference dedicated to ‘Youth on the Move’ on September 15. She is also keen to have an open dialogue about these important matters with the main people concerned. Their interest, opinions, experiences and participation is of course key to the success of the initiative and to achieving the Europe 2020 goals. She will therefore host a webstreamed debate with European youth on September 17. During this debate, the Commissioner will answer questions from a live audience, as well as from remote participants who choose to send in questions, either beforehand or in real time. More details about this event will soon be available on Commissioner Vassiliou’s website.

1. Making friends:
EVS brings like-minded people together in a common setting where they’ll all be working towards a common goal.
2. Networking:
You can also network with others who might be in a position to help you turn your voluntary work  into a paid career you’ll enjoy.
3. CV improvement:
Employers recognize the value that voluntary work adds to a CV in terms.
4. Decision making:
Sometimes you need a little help in determining what kind of job or career path you wish to follow. EVS helps to decide the type of work you might prefer.
5. Building self-confidence:
EVS is a useful way to increase your self-esteem and confidence.  

And last, but not least…You make a difference that far outweigh any form of financial reward.

This year the European Union made its World Expo debut at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo. The EU’s pavilion is based around the theme of ‘Intelligent Europe’, containing 4 parts respectively titled ‘Building Europe’, ‘Open Europe’, ‘Green Europe’ and ‘Living Europe’. On the web site EU @ Shanghai 2010 you can visit the EU virtual pavilion, play the game ‘Discovering Europe’ or read more about the European Union by topic.

The World Expo 2010 will be held from 1 May to 31 October 2010 and is expected to attract 70 million visitors.

Do you want to pay less for: culture, transport, travel, shops and services? Then get yourself a European Youth Card EURO<26 with up to 100.000 discounts in 38 countries! This card is a key for young Europeans up to the age of 26 (or 30) to information, mobility, culture and participation. Through a range of services, discounts and advantages, the EURO<26 card encourages young people to make informed life choices, explore their world, and play a full part as citizens of Europe in today’s society. Find out more or buy Euro<26 online.

Eurodesk is an information service, which provides European information for young people and offers professional support to the youth field in 29 countries in Europe. Youth programmes and other European opportunities offer young people a whole range of different activities in other countries of Europe or beyond. For example volunteering, exchanges, citizenship actions, information projects, internships, studying abroad. Check your European opportunities online at the Eurodesk web site or contact your local Eurodesk.

Getting your foot in the door is even harder with the economic and financial crisis. A lot of young people have turned to unpaid internships to flesh out their CVs. But these don’t always lead to employment, and Member of the European Parliament Emilie Turunen wants to guarantee jobs for the young.

Orangelog.eu aims to provide an interactive, multimedia platform for youth event coverage (such as meetings, conventions, workshops, competitions) for an European audience. Orangelog.eu focuses on the cultural part of each event and report about the differences and the commonalities of the participating countries. The information about the events includes videos, pod casts, pictures and different kinds of texts. On the blog there are also printed Orangelog editions available in pdf. Young journalist from European countries report for readers all over Europe. Orangelog.eu will soon be reporting from the 4^th meeting of the AER Youth Regional Network in Croatia.

Eve is an innovative, promotional tool available for project beneficiaries of the “Lifelong learning”, “Culture”, “Youth in Action” and “Citizenship” programmes, to have visibility on the European Union website. It showcases plenty of useful information about thousand of projects and their results supported by programmes managed by the European Commission in the fields of Education, Training, Culture, Youth and Citizenship. Eve is a rich source of information. You can access a wide range of learning materials, handbooks, websites, policy papers, photos, personal testimonials from project participants and much more.

A member of our YouthNetworks network, Manuel Montero (Youth Information Center in Ribadavia, Spain), has warned us for someone who is abusing his email account. This ’spammer’ uses Manuel’s name and an email address almost similar to his and asks for money. So everybody look out for a spammer who’s active within the field of the Youth in Action network. Don’t buy for it! The right email address of Manuel is: omix_ribadavia@yahoo.com and the spammer uses: omix_ribadavia2@yahoo.com. So never reply to that last one. If you have similar experience or if you have doubts about an email you received, please contact us for advice. We are on top of it. Thank you for your attention.

Below you can read an example of the email message the spammer wrote: Read the rest of this entry »

European Youth Information and Councelling Agency (ERYICA) recently produced in cooperation with the Council of Europe an Youth Information Starter Kit. This kit provide information for those interested in opening a Youth Information centre and seeking for professional guidance in pursuing this goal. The Starter Kit gives an initial insight into what youth information is, the underlying working principles and functions, how to start developing youth information services and some practical information about what the various European bodies have to offer to those who want to start out in the world of youth information. Are you interested in receiving a copy the Starter Kit, please contact the ERYICA office at: cornelia.untersberger@eryica.org