Calendar - February 10

Dear reader,

With this first issue of Calendar of the year 2010 we would like to welcome you to another Naturefriends Year full of joy, unforgettable moments, interesting activities and sunny days in nature.
Maybe you can experience this at one of the activities that we offer you in this Newsletter:
You could become one of the two new EVS Volunteers in our Secretariat in Prague, take part in one or even two photo contests, experience what nature offers us every day during our Green Workshops or go for a Weekend-Camp to Germany... about this and much more you can read above.

We hope to inspire you and to see you soon somewhere in Europe!

Enjoy reading!

Vanessa,
Calendar's editor

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IYNF activities

EVS in the office of IYNF in Prague

IYNF is looking for two new EVS volunteers in the IYNF office in Prague for the Networking and Communication Project starting in September 2010. Funded by the Youth in Action Program of the European Comission, the European Voluntary Service gives young persons the chance to live and work abroad for one. Becoming EVS in the secretariat of IYNF is a very special chance: The volunteers have the possibility to work in an international team, experience the life of an international youth NGO and of course to live for one year in beautiful Prague.

• Dates: September 2010 - October 2011
  

• Read the detailed project description
  

• Apply from now on on our website. The deadline is 10th February 2010.
  

• For more information about the EVS please visit the homepage of the European Comission.
  

IYNF Photo Competition

We invite you all to take part in our photo contest: Don’t store it – share it!”
We want to capture the smiles, great ideas and people that come to our activities. And in order to have the best photos from all of you photographers, we want you to join our photo contest so we have material for our offers, activities, printed texts, website, posters and leaflets. Some information and rules:

• Our photo contest is open to all people who were present at one of the IYNF activities or meetings. Each person can send up to 5 photos which were not modified or improved in any way.
  

• Only the digital pictures will be accepted and they should be in JPG or RAW file with a resolution of (at least) 72 dpi.
  

• You can send us the chosen pictures by post on CD or via e-mail to our office
  

• Deadline: One month after each activity
  

• The results and rewards of the contest will be announced within three months after each activity.

For more information please contact anna(at)iynf.org or visit our website!

Green Workshops

The green year of IYNF has just started and therefore we would like to present you our two Green Workshops that will take place in the spring of 2010. The "GetGreen Campaigning" Workshop taking place from 20-25 April in Eben am Achensee (Austria) will provide all participants with the possibility to learn and develop environmental campaigning methods on how to adopt a more sustainable lifestyle. The participants will work in international workgroups and set up a campaign themselves that can be used back home! The workgroups are assisted by experienced people in campaigning and youth activities. Only one month later, from 18-23 May 2010, the "Green Games" Workshop will happen in Germany. It is meant for youth leaders, youth workers and youth trainers to learn and develop non formal and experiential education methods connected with environmental themes. During this training the participants will experience an ongoing process of discussion, sharing and experiencing the potential of these methods. Apply until 1 February and get the discount of 10Euro!

Meet the Freak # 6

Meet the Freak 2010 will be in Poland!
This year's edition of our famous Amateur Art Camp Meet the Freak is for the first time going to take place close to the Baltic Sea at the Polish coast.
This two weeks long international summer camp uses the method of Amateur Art to give young people the possibility to experience art in a less formal and more creative way. Participants don't need any skills beforehand. In different Art Groups lead by the Art Group Leaders they can try out their creativity. We are glad that CAT - CENTRUM AKTYWNOŚCI TWÓRCZEJ in Poland is the local hosting organisation and also that the team is growing. If you are interested in joining the team or the group of participants, keep checking our website.

• Date: 7 - 22 August 2010
• Place: Poland, close to Gdansk
• Application open in March/April
  

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Activities and offers from and for member organisations

The Dutch Coast Path will be Dutch 'Kiss Path' on Valentines Day 2010

At Valentine’s Day, Sunday 14 February 2010, hikers, bikers and other nature loving travellers are very welcome in the three Nivon Naturefriendshouses along the long distance hiking route of the Dutch Coast Path (Hollands Kustpad): The Zeehuis (Bergen aan Zee), Banjaert (Wijk aan Zee) and the August Reitsmahuis (Hoek van Holland).These beautiful Dutch coast houses are situated in the dunes at walking distance from the North Sea and relatively close to Amsterdam.
In case you want to stay only for a short time, the tea is ready between 3 and 5 p.m. served with special Valentine's cookies and sweets. For those who prefer an overnight-stay, there is a special offer: € 30 for dinner and overnight stay on 14 February (by reservation for two persons) in the Naturefriendshouses Zeehuis (Bergen aan Zee) and Banjaert (Wijk aan Zee). Overnight stay on February 14th, 15th and 16th costs € 21,75 per night per adult.
If you want to make a reservation please contact the relevant house at banjaert@nivon.nl or zeehuis@nivon.nl
For general information about staying in Dutch Naturefriendshouses contact info@nivon.nl or 0031 (0)20-4350700.

TravelEast

The German Young Naturefriends (NFJD) built the homepage www.traveleast.eu during the project "Venues, Know-how and Informationflow for Children- and Youthtravels and International Youth Exchanges in Central- and Eastern Europe" . It is a site for everyone who wants to go alone or with a group on journeys to the less known but very attractive destinations in Central and Eastern Europe. The idea for establishing this project was the estimation that the listet countries are much more attractive than the number of journeys and youth exchanges to and with these countries would suggest.
Traveleast is a project which was made possible by financial support of the German Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth. The homepage is available in German and English.

Landscape of the Year: The Slovak Karst - Aggtelek Karst

Every two years, a European cross-border region of high ecological value is designated “Landscape of the Year” by Naturefriends International (NFI) with the aim of drawing public attention to the landscape in question and of promoting the sustainable development of the region concerned. The Landscape of the Year 2010/11 – Slovak Karst – Aggtelek Karst – is situated at the northern Hungarian and southern Slovak border. The area is one of the largest Karst areas in Central Europe and is part of the southern limestone foothills of the Carpathian Mountains. This geographically homogeneous region boasts more than 1200 caves and an enchanting landscape. You are cordially invited to the official opening, as part of a three-day Naturefriends Festival, in Aggtelek (Hungary), from 21-24 May 2010. For more information contact anita.pinter[at]nf-int.org.

13th - 16th May 2010: Children's Summit in Marburg (DE)

The federal leadership of the German Young Naturefriends(NFJD) decided to take Marburg (DE) as the venue for the Children's Summit 2010. The university city of Hessen convinced with her big dedication to fair trade and the well arranged Youth Parliament. The children council met for the preparation the first time in the end of September 2009 and decided upon the themes for workshops and the slogan: "Eine Welt - Eine Zukunft - Unsere Chance. Wir fairaendern." (english: "One World - One Future - Our Chance. We change."). The topics of the workshops will be among others child labor, poverty, health and fair trade. The Children Summit will be financed by the Inwent GmbH through funds from the German Federal Ministry of Economic Co-operation and Development. For further information please contact Tobias Thiele ( tobias (at) naturfreundejugen.de )or visit the homepage (in German) of the Children Summit.

[berg:frei 2010] Break out against the Mainstream

The German Young Naturefriends offer a great weekend camp: Being in nature, spending days full of workshops, sports, theatre, acrobatics, cooking and trying out these things yourself. The best is that nothing is structured and fixed. With a lot of space the participants can make out of the weekend what they want.
Important facts:

• For young people between 16 and 23
• Thursday 3 June until Sunday 6 June 2010 on a campsite in Schwerte, Germany.
• Costs for sleeping in a tent and full catering: 49 EUR (for Naturefriends), 59 EUR (Not-yet-Naturefriends).
• Individual travel
• Registration until 15 April 2010
• Informationen at: Julia Fehlisch, Naturfreundejugend Deutschlands, Tel.: +49/2228/941513, e-mail: julia.fehlisch[at]naturfreundejugend.de
  

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

ATB - Belgium Naturefriends invites you to 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)
Participants must:

• 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)

NFI photo competition on Biodiversity

Our adult organisation Naturefriends International invites you to send in your best photos on the theme Biodiversity for their competition. This competition is set up to draw attention to the Biodiversity year 2010 and seeks initiatives to reduce the loss of biodiversity. Maybe you have spotted some butterflies, bisons or other extinct or even undiscovered animals around Naturehouses, along Natura trails,etc.?
In total there are four different categories and also a general Biodiversity theme. If you would like to know how to apply or if you want to know more about biodiversity, please visit the homepage of NFI.

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IYNF News

Yearbook 2009 IYNF

For the first time in the history of IYNF we might be going to have a yearbook, a documentation of all the things we have done throughout the previous year. It shows and preserves another wonderful Naturefriends year filled with meetings and activities. It is also a way to introduce people, who helped us and gave us support.
The publishing of the Yearbook is foreseen by the end of February 2010.
Still, we are searching for some contributions in the content chapter – articles on different fields of expertise and interest within Young Naturefriends, such as experiential education, outdoor education, amateur art, participation, young leaders, environmental education, networking in practise etc.
For further information please contact Lucie, the main editor of Yearbook directly at lucie [@] iynf.org.

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News from member organisations

Lively discussion on „Climate Justice in Tourism“ in Copenhagen

On the occasion of the UN Climate Summit, our mother organisation NFI, other NGOs and the World Tourism Organization were discussing the challenges for the international tourism industry with regard to climate and development policy on 10 December 2009 at the “Klimaforum09” in Copenhagen.
The event “Climate Justice in Tourism” dealt with the possibilities of integrating tourism into mandatory emission reduction targets under the umbrella of the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change), without loosing sight of the implications for poor people in developing countries. The alarming emission growth forecasts of the tourism sector were examined, as well as the reduction potentials and social effects of the mitigation instruments that are currently being promoted, most notably agrofuels and carbon trading. Read more on the website of NFI or download the publication Tourism Development in a Changing Climate.