Calendar - November 09

Dear reader,

again we fill your postbox with a fresh issue of Calendar that provides you with the youngest updates of the Naturefriends in Europe. We hope to put the colors of the autumn trees also in this newsletter... InTouch, our seminar on International Youth Exchange Management, starts next week and will be for sure very colourful: Participants from all over Europe will enjoy it in the beautiful German city Dresden. Also, the German Naturefriends had the great possibility to enjoy the summer colors of Turkey. Within an exchange with the Alevi Youth of Germany they organised a trip to this wonderful country.

This and much more you can read above!
Have a nice November!

Enjoy reading!

Vanessa
Calendar's editor

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IYNF activities

InTouch – training workshop on youth exchange project management

3-8 November 2009, Germany
Only a few days are left before our training on youth exchanges, kindly supported by the Youth in Action Programme, will start in Dresden, Germany. It is an excellent opportunity for all local groups to work in an international environment. About 20 participants from all over Europe will learn every needed step to organise a successful youth exchange. Treated subjects are e.g. grant application writing, project management, intercultural cooperation and many more. It will not only be a place to learn, but also a possibility to make new friends and find partners for future youth projects. We wish all participants a successful seminar and a lot of fun!
Here you can read more about it.

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Activities and offers of member organisations

ATB International Alpine Training for youngsters (16-25) in 2010

ATB - Belgium Naturefriends encourages you to already think one year ahead about…one whole week of camping amidst towering mountains, of sleeping in huts above vast glaciers, getting a through-out initiation in high-alpine techniques such as glacier-walking, orienteering, scrambling on high rocks and touch the clouds at almost 4000 m ! Go climb that mountain! Apply now!
Dates:10-18 July 2010
Place: Les Ecrins(French Alps), Base-camp (tents): Ailefroide (F)
Conditions for participation:

• be between 16 and 25 years old
• be a member of one of the IYNF MOs
• love the outdoors and be in good physical condition
• like international encounters and speak good English
• lack of vertigo and have basic skills in rock-climbing (no alpine experience required)
• pay participation fee (´full board´) according to IYNF standards (Belgians pay 500 Euro, others pay less - or more - according to IYNF scales)
  

For more information + application please contact directly Wilfried Meulenbergs (wilfried.meulenbergs[at]nfi.at)

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IYNF News

COMEM European Youth Forum

From 13-14 November 2009 the Council of Members (COMEM) of the European Youth Forum will take place in Torino, Italy. The COMEM is an important moment in the life-cycle of the YFJ, gathering youth leaders from across Europe to reflect on the work achieved by the youth movement over the last six months. They work together to shape the future activity of their platform. The German IYNF volunteer Klara-Maeve O Reilly will represent the International Young Naturefriends as a delegate at this big and important event. On the agenda of the next COMEM is the approval of political documents but also working groups on topics like Culture of Peace, E-society, Evaluation of Statutory Bodies, Democracy, Migration and Climate Change.

YFJ Secretaries meeting Brussels

Our project coordinator Joris Taanman and Finance - and Office coordinator Ivan left the office last week to join the Fundraising and Networking day. Joris Taanman, our future Secretary General, also took part at the Secretary Generals meeting. Both events were organised by the European Youth Forum. They are an organisation that talk to the policy makers in Brussels for Youth Organisations. The meeting was a good opportunity to know more about different grants that are available, to find other ways for funding and to share experience with different Youth Organisations.

LTTX X-perience is over

The long-term training course on Experiential and Intercultural Education organised by IYNF together with Belgium and Czech branches of Outward Bound and Lithuanian organisation Kitokie Projektai is over. About 20 participants and five team members met after almost half a year for the second time to continue their educational process of becoming trainers in experiential field. This time the programme hasn’t been so packed and extreme, still challenging enough. There was more time to get deeper in the tackled topics and areas, and to reflect on the role and competencies of oneself as trainer in experiential education field. There are already some follow up activities planned by the participants and team, like environmental education centre in Kosovo opening and international workcamp and seminar hosted there, another Experiential and Outdoor sports seminar organised by IYNF, music album with love songs and stories from all round Europe and many others. You can already think of profit by hiring one of the newbie trainers for your up-coming activities, they might speak one of your languages and they will all be Xperienced.

News from member organisations

NFJD Trip to Turkey

German Young Nature Friends enjoyed a German-Turkish Youth Exchange in Tunceli Province (Dersim) in September. It took place in cooperation with Alevi Youth in Germany, an organisation of migrants of Turkish origin. German Young Nature Friends cooperate with this youth organisation for two years now and is going to intensify the cooperation. As Germany has a very big Turkish minority, it is great to see that the youth organisations find a way to work together and build bridges. Find the report with pictures of the great group and the overwhelming mountains (in German) here.

ATB National Youth structure

Our Belgium Member organisation ATB - Belgium Naturefriends officially started a national youth structure. With a first official activity on 28th November they will work on this youth structure. This activity will be in cooperation with their neighbours (Nivon in The Netherlands. The Belgium Young Naturefriends will join there the "Ontpop Festival" in Amsterdam, the most sustainable and ecological festival in The Netherlands. The person coordinating and creating this youth structure is Griet Veris, working in the ATB office. They are happy about the great work she is doing to make ATB young and full of live again.

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