ERYICA NEWSLETTER - JUNE 2006

On 19 June, the Infomobil Service has been re-launched at www.infomobil.org. Following a complete re-structuring of the web-site, primarily to give the source organisation in each country the possibility to edit their country data on-line at any time, the information about each country has been updated. This process has been completed for 10 countries, and is under way for a further 10 countries. The data is (will be) in English for all countries, and in the language of the country (when appropriate); some countries have added other language versions.

The information on each country covers the following topics: Country Profile, Entering the Country, Studying, Working / Training, Transport, Things to Do and See, Daily Life, Accommodation, In Case of Problems, Youth Information Services, and How to Meet Other People. Containing short informative texts, links to relevant web-sites, and lists of addresses, the Infomobil Service provides useful practical information for young people who wish to study, work or live in another European country, or simply visit it.

The European Seminar on the “Participation of Young People in Youth Information Work” was held in Vienna on 20-23 April, hosted by Jugendinfo.cc and supported by the Austrian Ministry for Family, Generations and Consumer Protection, the Council of Europe and the European Commission. The second such seminar jointly organised by the 3 European organisations, it was attended by 57 participants from 16 countries.

The programme focused on presentations of projects and methods by organisations from different countries that have experience of directly involving young people in various aspects of youth information work. It included joint sessions with a group of 20 young people involved in youth information projects in 5 countries who were on a youth exchange in Vienna at the same time. A Compendium of 60 youth participation projects, prepared and distributed to the participants before the seminar, together with other information about the seminar, can be found on the joint web-site which the 3 European organisations have created to present their co-operation in the implementation of the E.U. common objectives for youth information: www.eryica-eurodesk-eyca.net. The report of the seminar will also be put on this site in the near future.

In December 2005, the Flemish Council of Ministers adopted the “Information Tools for Children, Teenagers and Young People” project within the framework of its new Youth Information Policy. Delta co-ordinates the project under contract with the Flemish Youth Ministry. To realise the project, Delta works together with the Cultural Youth Passport (CJP), with In Petto, with Jeugdwerknet (‘Youth Work Online’), with Kinder- en Jongerentelefoon (‘Children’s and Youth Telephone’), and with Kinderrechtswinkels (‘Children’s Rights Shop’).

Delta and these partner organisations have to develop a booklet and a web-site for each of the above-mentioned age groups. The products will provide information about a wide range of subjects (e.g. culture, education, relationships, …). The European Youth Information Charter is used as a guideline for these products.

To view whole article, click on the link below.

The Youth Information Centre run by the Western Education and Library Board (WELB) moved to its new premised in July 2005. The premises had been newly refurbished and allow for a state of the art centre to meet the needs of young people. Since this the Youth Information Service has gone from strength to strength.

The reason why the WELB Youth Service has gone to great lengths in the opening of this Youth Information Centre is that young people are constantly living their lives in transition. One of the most important ways to help guide young people through these transitions is through relevant, current and accurate information.

The opening of the Centre followed shortly after the launching of the national youth information web-site (www.niyouthinfo.org) in April 2005, which is housed and run by the Centre.

To view whole article, click on the link below.

MISSS, the ERYICA member organisation in Slovenia, is co-operating with Microsoft in a project that seeks to promote computer literacy and to transmit practical computer skills to unemployed young people. Called “Unlimited Potential”, the programme has been organised by Microsoft for a number of years, and now is operating in more than 60 countries.

Microsoft provides computers and software to the project, and MISSS organises the courses through the youth information centres in different towns (7 at the moment; probably 5 more in the near future). As of April this year, around 200 young people had benefited from these courses.

To view whole article, click on the link below.

The Study Visit (see issue n° 11) that took place in St. Petersburg on 21-28 April was a great success. Organised by Johan Bertels of In Petto (Belgium), it was hosted by Rouzanna Ivanian and her colleagues of the NGO Youth Information Centre. The group making the visit included participants nominated by ERYICA partners in Belarus, Belgium, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Norway, Slovakia, Slovenia and Wales, as well as from other organisations in Armenia, Bulgaria, Russian Federation and Ukraine.

A number of proposals have been made by the group for joint activities in the future, to develop exchange and co-operation in the field of youth information, involving both these organisations and other interested ERYICA partners.

The report of the Study Visit will be completed soon, and will be distributed to all ERYICA partners.

Contacts: Johan Bertels, and Rouzanna Ivanian

Are you wondering how you can make your youth information centre (or service) known to local youth groups or in local schools? Or are you looking for ideas for a leaflet or poster?

Then take a look at this PowerPoint produced by Xarxa Infojove (Balearic Islands) by clicking on the link below.