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In this issue
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Introduction from EYCA President
EYCA’s thirtieth Conference is fast approaching and I am looking forward to working with you as well as having some fun in Zagreb. As always, this is an important conference and General Assembly for EYCA. We will ask you to agree a new vision and mission statement for the Association to help guide all of our work for the coming years, and also ask you to contribute to some of the practical projects which are being developed.
The conference and GA is also an opportunity for us to reflect on progress achieved over the past three years, and to learn about what has worked and what still needs to be done – and there is a lot still to be done!
This edition of EYCAtcher brings you information about some recent developments across EYCA as well as describing some of the plans and challenges that lie ahead. Please tell me and the Board what you think about any of what is included here. And follow up on the information to help EYCA member organisations make an even bigger difference to young people’s lives.
Jarkko Lehikoinen
EYCA President
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Sustainable member organisations
Maximising Impact update
Created to support EYCA member organisations when needed and to revise member support materials and systems, Maximising Impact has entered its third year. In December 2013, ten EYCA member organisations took part in the Maximising Impact Phase II seminar and produced a series of recommendations designed to guide the programme. Concrete steps have already been taken as a follow-up to these recommendations.
- A Tutorial Programme for associate members will start in May with a dedicated seminar taking place in Zagreb, one day before the EYCA General Assembly.
- Member organisations want more opportunities to share knowledge and to learn from each other. EYCA and Young Scot organised the Rewards Seminar in Edinburgh in January and you are invited back to Scotland again in April to a seminar on youth card partnerships with cities and the Young Scot Awards. On May 6 and 7 Jugendkarte GmbH Austria and EYCA will co-host a seminar to consider inclusive mobility – the first seminar for 2014 in EYCA’s Council of Europe Partial Agreement work programme.
- Participants in the MI seminar recommended focused support to only four member organisations every six months. For the first half of 2014 the office will work closely with EME Estonia; Foundation for Youth And Lifelong Learning, Greece; Euro26 Romania; Russian Union of Youth.
- The application form for EYCA membership has been revised in detail. Also, the Board and members have recommended a more standardised process to identify new member organisations, which has been implemented, and has already led to positive discussion with a potential member organisation in Ireland.
- A Standards of Excellence self/peer assessment tool, considered at the MI seminar, will be developed in the next few months.
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 What's your vision?
After consultations with all EYCA members, the Brand and Communications Group has almost agreed on proposals for vision and mission statements to be discussed and agreed at the General Assembly.
You may be interested to see the vision statements of some organisations across the EYCA network.
EYCA’s Croatian member CYHA has adopted a new vision statement to emphasise youth mobility and diversity in Europe: “Croatian Youth Hostel Association promotes and encourages youth mobility and youth participation to help young people experience and build greater understanding of peoples, places and cultures.”
The mission of 360 Youth Card, the regional EYCA card organisation in Vorarlberg, Austria “is to provide the youth card to every young person between 14 and 20 living in Vorarlberg, to help the young people to: get to know their own country and all the opportunities in Vorarlberg, make use of the financial support through the discounts, access youth information by youth information service “aha”.
Yet another example comes from Scotland: the Young Scot vision is “that young people take responsibility for changing our world now and tackling social issues – so they grow up in a Scotland that promotes aspiration, enterprise, opportunity, inclusion and wellbeing” while their mission is “to provide the best blend of information and engagement to support young people to make informed decisions and choices and engage in their communities”.
Another inspirational vision comes from Youth Work Ireland who are currently considering how to become an EYCA member organisation: “Young people create and define a proud new Ireland”.
What’s your vision?
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Meet the new team members in the EYCA office
Two new people have recently joined the EYCA office team in Brussels: Lara Vegas and Cristina Banita.
Lara Vegas is the latest addition to the EYCA Office team and your new Member Support and Operations Manager. A truly mobile and active young person, Lara comes from Spain and has worked in Spain and China before coming to Brussels and joining the EYCA Office team.
Cristina started working for EYCA in January as Communications/Office Assistant. A native Romanian, Cristina worked in the communication industry in Romania before doing a Master programme in European Studies in Belgium.
You will all have the chance to meet Lara and Cristina in person at the General Assembly.
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Quality discounts and benefits
 EYCA’s Common Cardholder Database
in the spotlight
The Common Cardholder Database (CCDB) is just starting to show its potential. So what are the advantages and opportunities?
CCDB
- Allows discount providers to check the validity of an EYC in a matter of seconds, thus making your work easier and your sales pitch more convincing.
- Puts EYCA in a much better position to negotiate significant pan-European discounts.
- Further opens the way for pan-European projects that strengthen the EYCA brand, boost visibility and attract new cardholders.
- Offers you and your discount providers new ways to measure discount performance and success rates.
Some EYCA members have confirmed their participation in the pan-European CCDB competition for cardholders. These members are: Young Scot, CJP Netherlands, PYPA Poland, Czech Council of Children and Youth, and Movijovem Portugal.
CCDB Pan-European competition – quick facts:
- The competition is called the EYCA City Break 2014
- Prizes - weekend packages for two, including accommodation and cultural opportunities offered by participating EYCA member organisations
- Competition active in April and May 2014
- The winners will be announced on June 5th, after a automated raffle draw
- Traffic generated will be used to test the statistics and analysis functionality of the CCDB and to provide intelligence to participating member organisations
- Short stories/testimonials will be written by winning cardholders, thus generating content for participating members to use in their communications.
To find out more about CCDB development, contact Lara at lara.vegas@eyca.org!
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Top discounts in the EYCA network
Our Polish colleagues came up with the idea to share the top 10 discounts in the EYCA network and that has led to online articles on the best EYCA discounts.
Each of the three articles published so far focuses on a specific type of discount: accommodation discounts, transport discounts and winter discounts. New articles will be published on a regular basis and will closely follow the EYCA Discount Database categories.
Over half of EYCA member organisations have already been mentioned in the Top Discounts articles published until now. Has your organisation been featured yet?
Through these articles, cardholders can have a quick overview of the best opportunities and can better understand the actual scope of the youth card, both geographically and in terms of quality of benefits. The best part is that, thanks to reciprocity of discounts, every member organisation benefits from other members’ discounts. So why not help yourself and everyone else and send your top discounts to Cristina Banita (banita@eyca.org)?
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Online discounts pilot
Mecenat, EYCA’s member organisation in Sweden, is working with five EYCA member organisations to identify how to extend Mecenat’s online discount infrastructure to different territories. Specific contracts will be agreed and Mecenat is currently exploring the technology issues for connecting their portal to others.
A practical development workshop with pilot members will take place within the conference in Zagreb.
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Youth mobility and active citizenship
 Exploring the new Erasmus+ with Pascal Lejeune, European Commission
 EYCA welcomes the launch of Erasmus+, a milestone for youth policy in Europe. In order to better understand the programme, we asked Pascal Lejeune, Youth and Erasmus+, Head of Unit, European Commission, to answer a few questions:
EYCA: Erasmus+ includes a significant emphasis on the role of social partners, NGOs and the corporate social responsibility programmes of companies to contribute to improving youth employability. Why is this given such an important emphasis in ERASMUS+ and what do you think this should mean for EYCA?
PL: As we move into a period of recovery from the economic crisis, it is clear that there needs to be a focus on improving the employability of young people, whilst continuing to encourage the participation of young people in democratic life in Europe.
The different parts of the new Erasmus+ programme will, for the first time, enable projects to be created between the formal and non-formal education sectors together with commercial companies, social enterprises and foundations, with the aim to improve the level of key competences and skills amongst young people, and at the same time promote active citizenship.
This opens up the potential for exciting new projects that create synergies between NGOs and the private sector by drawing upon the experiences of both. For instance, non-formal education sector organisations, such as EYCA, bring a wealth of knowledge and techniques on how to work with young people, and can help companies to better recognise and value the skills and competences gained through non-formal education. And commercial organisations can bring their business experience and methodologies to the project; they can help identify the skills and competencies gaps they face as employers; introduce new commercial tools and processes; and potentially bring resources to the project through their corporate social responsibility programmes.
The formal and non-formal education sectors have long been aware of the benefits that European youth programmes have for the young people they engage with, but the private sector needs to be introduced to the many positive outcomes that these programmes can bring to their current and future workforces. It is up to organisations like EYCA to take advantage of these opportunities, and to go out and spread the word that the new Erasmus+ programme is now open for new partners beyond the youth organisations traditionally engaged in European youth activities.
EYCA: EYCA is refreshing its vision statement to highlight how EYCA contributes to a Europe where all young people are mobile and active.
What advice would you give EYCA member organisations about the best way for the European Youth Card to contribute to mobility and active citizenship for as many young people as possible at both national and European levels?
PL: EYCA member organisations have a long tradition of evolving to meet the changing needs and expectations of young people, whilst maintaining the common purpose of encouraging and supporting youth mobility and active citizenship. The new vision statement is another example of how EYCA continues to adapt over time.
We are aware of many exciting developments amongst EYCA members. For instance, Young Scot illustrates how youth cards can play a pivotal role in delivering a wide range of youth policy initiatives, including using smartcard technologies linked to mobile phone apps to increase participation in volunteering, democratic processes, sport, etc. Other great examples come from Sweden, the Netherlands and Catalonia. We welcome the efforts that the EYCA Office is making and encourage all EYCA members to consider how Erasmus+ can help develop new ideas to promote active citizenship.
The European Commission's Structured Dialogue initiative is another area where EYCA members can have a direct effect. Several EYCA members, including Finland and Poland, have already demonstrated very effective partnerships with the Structured Dialogue National Working Groups, and greatly increased the number of participants in the national consultations. We encourage all EYCA organisations in EU member states to get involved.
EYCA: EYCA has just been awarded Action 4.6 Youth In Action funding to connect the European Youth Card more closely to employability and entrepreneurship opportunities for young people. For this project “Mobility In the Mind” means helping young people develop the life skills and mental attitudes that will help them be more employable and entrepreneurial.
What do you think of the term “Mobility In the Mind" and what do you think is important to promote in relation to this term?
PL: It is quite apparent that many of the barriers to mobility are indeed "in the mind".
The competency of the European Commission is to promote cross-border mobility for work, training, learning and volunteering. However, we recognise that, for some young people, even going on a trip to their nearest city centre is a major event; the concept of going to volunteer in another European country would be like suggesting they walk on the moon! Therefore activities around mobility need to be tailored to the needs of individuals at local, regional and national levels – not everyone is immediately ready to leap into a six-month European Voluntary Service placement!
EYCA members and their partners can play crucial roles in five key areas around mobility:
- Inspire - tell the stories of young people that can act as role models for mobility and help spark the interest in a young person's mind.
- Inform – give practical information about how to make mobility happen.
- Support – make mobility more affordable and sustainable through the European Youth Card discounts.
- Engage – help young people to engage with new communities and cultures.
- Reflect – help young people to translate their mobility experience into skills and competences valued by employers.
For many, the first steps towards mobility and to gaining the skills and competences that mobility offers must, by necessity, be small; but this will allow them to grow in confidence and take on progressively bigger challenges, and potentially even enable them to reap the full benefits of an extended period of cross-border mobility.
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 Mobility in The Mind: Helping young people open their minds to new opportunities
EYCA has secured European Commission funding for an 18-month initiative to support youth employability and entrepreneurship.
Mobility in the Mind aims to gather and develop good practice on how European Youth Cards can use non-formal education and card services to support young people to be more employable and develop entrepreneurial mindsets. The project will be launched in April 2014.
Mobility in the Mind will generate intelligence about supporting young people to co-create routes to finding and generating work for themselves in Europe. EYCA will co-operate with stakeholders, including the business sector, to identify and create youth card-related opportunities in specific sectors of the economy.
Five EYCA members will take the lead in five areas with potential growth:
- Green energy; environmental conservation; sustainable construction etc.
- Tourism and hospitality
- Communications/digital technology
- Cultural industries
- Social enterprise.
EYCA will support 20 young people to create their own business plans and find new routes into the labour market.
The programme will feature a symposium preparing a detailed project plan, a competition to select 20 young entrepreneurs, five seminars and much more. Further information will soon be available so stay tuned to EYCA!
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Promote the vote
With the European Parliament elections just around the corner (22 - 25 May), this is the time to focus on active citizenship and encourage young people to vote.
While in 2009, 70% of young people did not vote in the European elections, 100% of young people had their lives influenced by decisions made at the European level in the past 5 years. The economic crisis, in particular, has hit young people the hardest, with youth unemployment rates reaching an all-time high. Therefore, it is essential that young Europeans get involved in European politics and select leaders to represent them and their interests. Here are some great examples of encouraging voting and active citizenship from around the EYCA network.
Carte Jeunes, Belgium
The EYCA member organisation in French-speaking Belgium is organising a series of political debates for students in the largest student centres in the region: Brussels, Namur and Liege. During these events, students have the opportunity to speak to well known politicians, address the issues that interest them and make an informed decision when voting.
The debates are scheduled to take place in March, April and early May 2014 in preparation for May 25, the day of regional, federal and European elections in Belgium.
Allianssi, Finland
In Finland, EYCA member organisation Allianssi is the local branch of the League of Young Voters. Jarkko Lehikonen explains: “We will encourage young people not only to vote in the elections but also to be informed and involved in the decision-making. We promote the young candidates of different parties, organise panels and talk with the parties and candidates about issues important to young people.”
Allianssi are also organising shadow elections at schools for young people who are too young to vote (13-17), and will send a letter to all young people entitled to vote for the first time in these elections.
League of Young Voters
The League of Young Voters is an initiative to get young people to vote – and it's also a movement that brings together all young people who want to choose what decisions politicians will make on issues that concern them. It's a European movement designed by young people, for young people.
To find out what you can do to support young voters and promote active citizenship, contact your own national LYV coordinators (run by National Youth Councils) - www.youngvoters.eu |
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EU Structured Dialogue: Participatory policy-making for youth
The EU Youth Conference took place in Thessaloniki on March 10-12 under the Greek EU presidency and concluded the third cycle of the Structured Dialogue process. Under the trio presidency of Ireland, Lithuania and Greece, the process focused on the social inclusion of young people, with the Greek presidency looking specifically into ways to boost youth entrepreneurship.
EYCA member organisations are significant contributors to the Structured Dialogue process, and the latest round provides a good illustration of how the European Youth Card is a tool for shaping youth policy in the EU.
Many EYCA members have engaged young people and have helped to collect a significant proportion of all responses gathered during the national consultation phase of the process. However, EYCA’s role does not end here: by offering training to young people interested in social entrepreneurship, providing discounted access to learning opportunities, non-formal education, mobility experiences and quality volunteering or internships, many EYCA member organisations contribute to solutions to the issues identified in the Structured Dialogue process.
Good practice examples relating to the Structured Dialogue come from EYCA member organisations in Finland, Sweden, Poland, Austria, Greece and Malta. For more details and to find out how you can get involved, check out GPS 4 on Structured Dialogue and visit europa.eu/youth/structured-dialogue_en. At the end of March, the European Steering Committee for Structured Dialogue sent a letter to every National Working Group to recommend that they work closely with their national youth card organisation to promote Structured Dialogue.
The Structured Dialogue priorities of the next trio presidency of the EU – Italy, Latvia and Luxembourg – will soon be announced. Stay tuned!
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 No Hate Speech Campaign update: One year on
EYCA is a partner to the Council of Europe No Hate Speech Movement (NHSM) campaign.
Good practice examples relating to the No Hate Speech Campaign come from all over the EYCA network. 21 EYCA member organisations already actively promote the campaign to cardholders using their communication networks.
In Serbia, EYCA member organisation Evropski Omladinski Centar has become an official partner to the campaign and has also issued a special edition of the European Youth Card dedicated to the NHSM. The organisation constantly supports and takes part in No Hate events, engaging young people both online and offline.
EYCA member organisations in Finland and Slovenia have also issued a special No Hate edition of the European Youth Card and Croatia will soon follow.
The No Hate Speech Campaign is also gaining momentum in Malta, where Aġenzija Żgħażagħ, EYCA’s member organisation and the National Coordinator of the campaign, has produced a series of posters bearing the No Hate message and has displayed them in bus stops around the island. Furthermore, young people have got involved, organising flash mobs against hate speech in Malta’s capital city of Valletta.
The campaign will continue in 2014 with upcoming events including the European Action Day against Antigypsysism and in Solidarity with Roma People (April 8), the European Action Day against Homophobia and Transphobia (May 17) and the European Action Day in Support of Refugees and Asylum Seekers (June 20). To see the full campaign calendar, click here.
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Knowledge of young people
Youth card for a new generation breaking records in Catalunya, Spain
Through the work of Agencia Catalana de la Joventut, the European Youth Card in Catalunya, Spain is doing better than ever!
- 4 out of every 10 young people in Catalunya, Spain had a European Youth Card in 2013. This is an all-time high of 525,709 cardholders.
- 38.76% of Catalans aged 14 to 29 have a Youth Card - a 1.7 % increase compared to the previous year.
- The numbers are even higher for 18 to 25 year olds, with 47.31% being cardholders.
This is the result of a very impressive plan, which includes a new concept for the card – the Generation Youth Card, a very visible communication campaign, a virtual card in a new mobile app, better and more benefits and several participation initiatives.
The new concept of the Generation Youth Card was promoted through a communication campaign that highlighted the values of the card and associated its use with the feeling of belonging to a community. The fact that the television ad featured cardholders, not actors, made the campaign more authentic and honest.
According to the Catalan Government’s official survey of young people in the region, Carnet Jove cardholders are indeed a young generation with distinct features that set them apart from non-cardholders:
- Participation - young people who are cardholders have higher levels of participation, social concern and are involved in related activities.
- Culture - they have more hobbies and interests and use cultural leisure options more than young people who are not cardholders.
- Information technology - they use it more and for more things.
The youth card mobile app, which was first launched in 2012, has been revamped to include a virtual youth card, improved navigation, a portal for partners and a new design.
Discounts and benefits have not been overlooked: in 2014 cardholders can choose between over 8,000 discounts and benefits, a record number in the card’s history. Furthermore, there are plenty of social and participatory initiatives such as the Get Connected programme, the Youth Card Grants and the Solidarity programme.
Feeling inspired? Get more information! Contact Domènec Ballester i Montserrat at domenecballester@gencat.cat and check out www.acjoventut.cat.
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European Youth Event – “Ideas for a Better Europe” Strasbourg, 9-11 May 2014
The European Parliament is preparing to welcome over 5,000 participants to the European Youth Event 2014 in Strasbourg in May. Organised by the European Youth Forum, debates and workshops will focus on:
- New perspectives on youth unemployment
- The digital revolution, its implications and opportunities
- Sustainability – sustainable business and living
- European values and the future of the European Union
One of the main aims of EYE 2014 is to showcase the impact youth organisations can have and to highlight the positive contribution young people make to Europe.
All these activities are going to be part of the 5th edition of the Yo!Fest, including a YO!Village, outside the European Parliament, where national and international youth organisations will organise discussions, sports activities, artistic performances and music with live bands and DJs on Saturday evening.
You can encourage young people to take part in the debates online, by following the live streaming of workshops and panel discussions and by posting their questions or comments on Twitter.
More info on the event at www.europarl.europa.eu/eye2014.
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 EYCA & Council Of Europe Partial Agreement Current work programme: Inclusive Youth Mobility
The specific objectives for work programme 2014-15 are to generate and disseminate knowledge about youth mobility in Europe and support governments to create better responses to youth mobility issues.
In addition, the programme aims to engage a wide range of stakeholders, including European institutions, governments, business, experts, and young people. The programme will also support youth card practice that contributes to better youth mobility solutions.
The two-year programme will feature the following elements:
- Youth mobility seminars
- Production and dissemination of youth mobility knowledge, through research and case studies
- Thematic/policy presentations to the CDEJ
- A final book/publication, incorporating relevant research, innovative practice and including European level policy recommendations.
Youth mobility seminars
Three seminars are planned for this year, with Jugendkarte GmbH, EYCA’s Austrian member organisation, already preparing the first from May 5 to 7 in Vienna. The seminar will focus on inclusive youth mobility, bringing together Partial Agreement Government representatives and EYCA member organisations to discuss better mobility opportunities for young people with disabilities or from disadvantaged backgrounds. Other themes identified as the potential focus for individual seminars/workshops include:
- Youth mobility definitions
- Developing better policy on youth mobility
- Supporting governments to engage young people to develop mobility solutions
- Inclusion of all young people in mobility opportunities
- Understanding the impact of youth mobility on young people and on society
- Youth mobility, employability and entrepreneurship
- Building evidence and knowledge about youth mobility
- Youth mobility and the ‘brain drain’ effect
- European youth mobility within a global context.
Sharing the knowledge
Case studies and evidence of what works will be collated from each seminar and published in EYCA GPS (Good Practice Series) leaflets. Publications will be co-designed with national partners to ensure that they are of future value in the national policy context.
A high-profile final publication will be produced to include research findings and good practice examples. This publication will form the basis of European policy recommendations relating to the specific value of the potential contribution of youth cards to youth mobility, and will inform the 2016-2017 work programme.
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Communications
Brand and communications update
The EYCA Brand and Communications Group have been hard at work revising statements to describe EYCA’s vision, mission and values.
After an initial meeting in Brussels in December 2013, the working group agreed on draft vision and mission statements, which was then submitted to an all-members consultation. The results of the consultation were discussed during the second meeting of the group, in Warsaw, in March. The final proposals will be discussed and voted on during the General Assembly in Zagreb.
The Brand and Communications Group will work on a brand and communications strategy for EYCA. Make sure you ask members of this group about their work.
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Quick communications
- Preparations for the next EYCA GA are under way in Zagreb. Don’t forget to fill out the application form and send it to conference@eyca.org by April 4! Croatia, here we come!
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