ERYICA NEWSLETTER - MARCH 2006

This is the first issue of the ERYICA Newsletter produced on-line on the ERYICA web-site. Further issues are planned for June and September this year. All comments, and suggestions for future issues, will be welcome. The issues this year will be published in English and French; by 2007, it is hoped that it will be possible to add a Spanish version.

The newsletter is aimed at people and organisations who are working in the field of youth information all over Europe. It will contain news about the activities of ERYICA and about the national partners of the Agency and their activities, and information about issues that affect youth information work, especially at the European level. By providing information about existing and new "products", initiatives and methods (local, regional, national and international), the newsletter will also contribute to the sharing of experience that is such an important element of European co-operation in this field.

Contributors: Anyone who has a project or activity in the field of youth information which may be of interest to colleagues elsewhere is invited to contribute to this newsletter. Each article should be clear and concise but can include an attached file with a longer text. Written in English or French, articles should be sent to services@eryica.org

Subscribers: If you wish to receive the newsletter by e-mail automatically each time a new issue is published (3-4 times a year), you can subscribe to it (or un-subscribe) here.

20 Years - Already !This year is the 20th Anniversary of the creation of ERYICA, by a Constitutive Meeting held in Madrid on 17 April 1986.

In that time, so much has changed: in Europe (our sphere of operations), in the implantation of "generalist" youth information services (300 centres in 15 countries in 1985; more than 8,000 centres in 30 countries now), in youth programmes with a European dimension, in the technologies of information and communication, in the place of youth information work as a part of youth work. But the core mission of ERYICA member organisations not only rests very much the same: a user-centred approach to meeting the information and counselling needs expressed by young people, but it has been strengthened by the confirmation over time of the professional principles that underlie the work of youth information workers, expressed in the European Youth Information Charter.

The Agency has a number of solid achievements to celebrate, and a larger number of as yet unfulfilled ambitions. Various ERYICA partners are planning initiatives to mark the 20th Anniversary - more about those in future issues of the Newsletter.

Ljubljana was the venue of the 16th ERYICA General Assembly on 24-27 November 2005, organised by MISSS, the Slovenian member organisation, with support from the Youth Office of Slovenia.

In addition to adopting the Work Programme for 2006 and the Draft Budget for 2006, the Assembly adopted a set of Indicators for a National Youth Information Policy (see next article). It also modified the ERYICA Standing Orders, and started discussions which will lead to a Strategic Plan for the development of the Agency.

Looking forward to its next session (in 2006) that will renew a part of the Governing Board, the Assembly prolonged by one year the present mandates of the President (Ljubo Raicevic, MISSS-Slovenia) and Treasurer (Liam Curran, YCNI-Northern Ireland).

As of January 2006, Emmanuelle Rosello has joined the ERYICA secretariat as Co-ordinator of Internet Services. Previously in a similar post for a cultural association, Emmanuelle is French, speaks fluent English, has some notions of Spanish and German, and is a jazz-lover.

A big welcome to you, Emmanuelle!

As part of their work to strengthen and develop youth information work through co-operation at the European level, ERYICA and its national partners have always supported moves to organise and co-ordinate youth information policy and practice at the national level.

In recent years, important steps forward in this direction have been taken in a number of countries, and it is to be hoped that more countries will respond to the call for "... the development in Member States of comprehensive, coherent and coordinated information services which take account of the specific needs of young people and are as youth friendly and economically accessible as possible" in the European Union's "common objectives" for youth information. As a further contribution to the advocacy of a national and co-ordinated approach to youth information work, the ERYICA General Assembly adopted on 24 November 2005 a set of 12 Indicators for a National Youth Information Policy. These indicators are proposed as guidelines for people in government departments and other official bodies responsible for youth policy, as well as for other persons who are interested in the development of youth information work.

ERYICA, Eurodesk and the European Youth Card Association (EYCA) are continuing their co-operation in 2006 with a further contribution to the implementation of the European Union's "common objectives" for youth information. In April, with their Austrian partners, and in the framework of the Austrian Presidency of the European Union, the 3 European organisations will organise together a European Seminar on "Participation of Young People in Youth Information Work" in Vienna.

As with the similar seminar in Paris last year on quality in youth information work, the seminar will focus 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 is expected that around 60 persons from 20-25 countries will participate in the seminar.

In April 2006, a group of youth information workers representing ERYICA member organisations in 9 countries and existing or potential partner organisations in 6 non-E.U. countries, will make a study visit to Saint Petersburg. The aim of the visit is to promote contacts and dialogue between youth work organisations in Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Bulgaria, Georgia, Ukraine and youth information bodies in European Union countries, with a particular focus on youth information work, and with a view to developing co-operation in the future.

Funded by the European Union's Youth Programme, this project is being co-ordinated by In Petto (Flanders / Belgium). The hosting organisation is the NGO Youth Information Centre of Saint Petersburg.

The first youth information centre in Malta opened its doors in April 2005. Called the National Youth Information Centre (NYIC), it is located on the campus of the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST) in Paola, and is co-ordinated by Robert Cassar. The centre is a joint project of the Ministry of Youth, Education and Employment (Youth Section) and MCAST. With governmental and NGO partners, the centre has developed a national youth information portal (www.youthinfo.gov.mt), which will be launched on 21 March.

Robert has contributed the attached "credo" to this issue of the Newsletter.