1/2009

Theme

Lucie Frisova

Sustainability – an overused word nowadays!
Just via internet you can search hundred of quotes on sustainability… which of I chose two rather shorts ones.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"The best way to predict the future... is to create it.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" *) source unknown

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Unless we change direction, we are likely to end up where we are going.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"*) Chinese proverb

So let us do something about it and have a look at the packed Theme part of this issue. For this issue we gave it a time which resulted in a good number of articles which all together are truly supporting the name of this magazine.
First of all I would like to invite you to visit a “neighbours’ kitchen” with Matthias Fenner, President of Erasmus Students Network (ESN), who is leading us through the organisational measures ESN has developed for sustainable management of such a big network organisation.
If you seek for a metaphors and modules you can easily understand too and get inspired by, I recommend you to take your time and read the article by Ondrej Pohanka. Ondrej is in his article getting inspired by basic nature and evolutionary laws and theories by contemporary famous theorists in the field of organisational and personal management together with his own experience with working in leadership of youth organisation for many years.
A brief article about the challenge with Social enterprise as one of the means for sustainable financial management of an NGO is presented by the most competent person, Petra Steigerova, who went with IYNF through all the steps needed for development of such a social enterprise.
Meet the Freak (MTF), the amateur art project is one of the key and most sustainable activities IYNF is organising, while the work is almost completely done by the group of international volunteers and very little support of the headquarters. What makes it for already some years so special? Are there any measures of sustainability we could adapt in other activities and daily life of an organisation?
We collected two articles motivated by the breaking experience of the authors with taking an active role in MTF preparation and running. Agnieszka is a rather newcomer, for the last volume of MTF she took a role of freak leader- coordinator of the Polish national group. The following article was written by Alena Capova – person who is involved in MTF since the very beginning baby idea of that art project.
Not to run too far away, the last article of the Theme will took us to Portugal, place where MTF was hosted in 2008. Joao is having deep and critical look at one of the national organisations that is having an active approach towards cooperation with IYNF – Rota Jovem, Portuguese youth organisation which celebrated sixteen years of its existence in November 2008.
Dear readers, I am finishing with another quotation:
“Kindly leave this planet as you would wish to find it…” *)
Enjoy reading!

*Resources: http://www.oursouthwest.com/news/quotes1sd.htm (2/2/09)

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