project report "the hague 2013"
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The Hague 20132nd International Forum of EYP The Netherlands
Young Energy for Europe
Project Report
Stichting Europees Jeugd Parlement Nederland
Govert Flinckstraat 308-I voor1073 CJ AmsterdamThe Netherlands
The Hague 2013 - 2nd International Forum of EYP The Netherlands3 - 8 November, 2013
Introduction
ear Reader,
Between the 3rd and 8th of November 2013, a group of over 160 European
youngsters gathered in The Hague, The Netherlands, to participate in a con-
ference hosted by the European Youth Parliament (EYP) The Netherlands:
‘The Hague 2013’. During this conference, participants came together to
discuss a wide variety of topics related to the overarching theme of ‘Young
Energy for Europe’. A wide array of programme elements all served to sti-
mulate participants to constructively and comprehensively strive to provi-
de an answer to one of Europe’s most pressing issues: energy. This report
serves as a summary of the project, and will give an overview of the main
events, the participants and many other things. Ultimately, its aim is to give
an impression of what the project entailed, how it was experienced by its
participants, and how it has presented a unique opportunity for academic
and cultural exchange.
Dirk Hofland Karim Ben Hamda
Project Leader Project Leader
D
The European Youth Parliament
he European Youth Parliament is an organisation that brings European youth
together to comprehensively discuss European issues. Through simulating the Eu-
ropean Parliament, these youngsters are stimulated to develop their own vision on
the future of Europe. Through ‘EYP’, European youth discover the inner workings
of democracy, the influence of cultural differences in the workings of organisations
and how to express themselves in public. The European Youth Parliament consists
of a group of national organisations in member states of the Council of Europe.
These national organisations all organise a variety of events all over Europe. Such
events can be on a local, regional, national or international level and can differ vast-
ly in size and scope.
EYP The Netherlands, Stichting Europees Jeugdparlement Nederland is the Dutch
national organisation of the European Youth Parliament. With over 100 active
alumni, we organise many local, regional and national events on a yearly basis. EYP
The Netherlands is a completely voluntary organisation, and is financially depen-
dant on its fundraising activities.
The goals of the European Youth Parliament are:
• Raise awareness of European issues, encourage active European citizenship and motivate students to get engaged in European politics;
• Promote international understanding, intercultural dialogue and diversity of ideas and practices;
• Contribute to the personal skills development of European youth;
• Provide a forum in which young people of Europe can express their own opinions, without reverting to role play.
T
The Theme:“Young Energy for Europe”
he debate on energy is one of the
most important ones of our lifetimes:
under pressure from both an expo-
nentially growing world population as
well as a decrease in the availability of
fossil fuels, we are forced to find new
solutions to challenging problems. Sus-
tainable energy, in its capacity as a key
catalyst in economic and scientific de-
velopment, has as a goal been adopted
by many governments over the last de-
cades. The notion that fossil fuels play
a great part in the pollution of the en-
vironment has furthermore all but been
accepted as a scientific fact. Views on
how exactly this goal should be achie-
ved however, differ vastly. Its pursuit is
even further hampered by the political
reality of our time, with a small group
of countries holding disproportionate
amounts of resources and with a global
inability to collectively tackle the pro-
blem of climate change.
Ultimately, it cannot be denied that fin-
ding solutions to the energy-problem
is of paramount importance, but the
same questions remain. How exactly
should we meet the rising global need
for energy? How do we ensure that the
environment is not further polluted in
the process? What new and sustaina-
ble ways of energy production can be
found? And what are the consequen-
ces for an increasingly globalised world
with political tension ever on the rise?
These are just examples of the issues
with which the participants of ‘The Ha-
gue 2013’ were confronted in Novem-
ber 2013. All of them, however, sha-
re their relation to the theme of the
conference: ‘Young Energy for Europe’.
Not only was this theme evident in all
topics discussed (which can be found
further in this document), it was also
strongly emphasised in other ways. For
example, the organisation was lent an
electric car for the duration of the en-
tire conference, various ways of redu-
cing waste were implemented and the
innovative element of the topic was
present during all preparatory work of
the volunteers.
T
Participants
ver 190 participants were present during ‘The Hague 2013’. Over 130 de-
legates from over 20 countries were selected to participate, including Finnish,
Cypriot and Georgian delegations. Furthermore, over 30 experienced alumni of
the European Youth Parliament from all over Europe attended the conference in
a voluntary capacity. They took the role of committee chairperson or journalist.
Lastly, a group of teachers accompanying the delegates was also present, as well
as the volunteers that organised the conference.
Journalists
Lead by two editors from Germany and the United Kingdom, a team of international journalists provided coverage in the form of a confe-rence newspaper. This paper included critical, opinionated articles designed to further stimulate the participants. Furthermore, photo’s and other coverage of the activities provided a clear and concise summary of the project.
O
Committee chairpersons
The committee chairpersons had a very important role during the conference. It was their task to guide the delegates through the dif-ferent session elements: Teambuilding, Committee Work and the General Assembly, providing council and stimulating them to con-structively and comprehensively discuss the topics. The chairper-sons were lead by an Austrian president and two vice-presidents from Ireland and the Czech Republic respectively, who also provi-ding council and training.
Participants
Teachers
All delegates were accompanied by a teacher. The European Youth Parliament is an educative project that is being supported by schools. Hence, delegations that were selected to attend usually all belonged to one school, and accompanied by one or two teachers. These aided the delegates with their academic preparation. During the conferen-ce, an extensive teachers’ programme was organised that included workshops, discussions on education in Europe and other relevant themes, as well as a variety of opportunities for the teachers to get to know The Hague and The Netherlands.
Organisation
‘The Hague 2013’ was organised by a team of 17 volunteers, all alum-ni of the European Youth Parliament. Lead by Project Leaders Dirk Hofland and Karim Ben Hamda, they were responsible for all lo-gistical aspects of the conference, and over more than nine months worked hard to realise it. The Project Leaders were highly experi-enced alumni of the European Youth Parliament themselves, with ex-perience in project management both from within and outside ‘EYP’. Karim Ben Hamda (20) is a first-year student of politics at the Univer-sity of Amsterdam, and Dirk Hofland (19) studies Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Durham University (UK). Both are highly experien-ced alumni of the European Youth Parliament themselves, and gained substantial experience in project management both from within and outside of ‘EYP’.
Programme
‘ he Hague 2013’ started on No-
vember 3rd with a welcome event,
designed to the participants with each
other briefly. All volunteers had arrived
several days before to participate in
trainings and finalise all preparations.
On the morning of November 4th
the participants were divided over ten
different committees of around twel-
ve delegates each. They had never met
each other before and of course had
widely differing cultural backgrounds. In
order to cope with this, and in order to
form a team that functions efficiently,
they participated in Teambuilding,
lead by a committee chairperson they
participated in a series of activities.
Some of these were sports, others of a
creative or problem-solving nature, but
all with the aim of forming a solid and
well-functioning team. With this the
fundament was laid for the productive
political discussions during Committee
Work and the General assembly.
After Teambuilding, the different
delegations got the opportunity to get
acquainted with the cultural back-
grounds of other participants during
Eurovillage. This event, with the aim
of inter-cultural dialogue and exchange,
included cultural presentation as well
as the sharing of culinary specialities
from Europe’s different regions.
The main activity of November 4th and
5th was Committee Work. Before
this commenced, however, the confe-
rence was officially opened during the
Opening Ceremony. Here, the
President of the Conference, as well as
the Project Leaders and the President
of EYP The Netherlands held a short
speech, stimulating the delegates to
take active part in the conference. Du-
ring both the Opening Ceremony and
Committee Work we were generously
hosted by The Hague University of Ap-
plied Sciences.
During Committee Work, the cen-
tral event of the conference, all com-
mittees discussed a separate issue,
each related to the conference theme
T
of ‘Young Energy for Europe’, and are all
included below. The aim of Committee
Work was for the individual commit-
tees to write a resolution in which they
address all the issues related to their
topic. Consensus was a requirement,
and it could therefore be a challenge
for the group to come to a compromi-
se. The committee chairpersons had a
large role in leading the discussion and
ensuring that everyone was able to ex-
press their opinions. Ultimately all the-
se ideas were discusses and collected
in the end-result of Committee Work:
a resolution.
The morning of November 7th all par-
ticipants were further prepared for
the General Assembly by means
of a debate training. Lead by a team of
experienced alumni of the European
Youth Parliament, the delegates recei-
ved rhetoric training and were further
coached in expressing themselves in
public and rhetoric. After this training,
the General Assembly was formally
opened by keynote speakers such as
Marietje Schaake, a Dutch Mem-
ber of European Parliament, and re-
presentatives from financial supporters
of the conference. During the General
Assembly, each committee in turn got
the opportunity to briefly present their
resolution, and make an argument for
its validity. Subsequently, all other par-
ticipants were allowed the opportunity
to participate in the open debate, after
which the proposing committee sum-
marised the debate. After each debate
a brief vote was held, before moving on
to the next resolution.
Programme
Resolution Booklet
The resolution booklet of ‘The Hague 2013’ can be viewed and downloaded here.
Press here to view
Committee Topics
1. Committee on Foreign Affairs I – AFET I
Dependence or interdependence: with Russia as the EU’s big-gest importer of oil, uranium and coal, how can the EU balance its role as an advocate of democracy whilst ensuring the safety
of its energy supply from Russia?
2. Committee on Foreign Affairs II – AFET II
Deserted energy: In the aftermath of the uprisings in the Arab world and recent developments within the foundation, the De-sertec project has entered a stage of uncertainty. After initial praise and wide range support, what should be the future of this
project? What role should the European Union take in it?
3. Committee on Climate Change I – CLIM I
Keeping up with Kyoto: With growing criticism on the EU’s Emis-sion Trading Scheme (ETS) and the weakened European energy market, is the ETS a mere distraction to fighting climate change
as some claim? What is the future of the ETS?
4. Committee on Development I – DEVE I
“Energising Development”: With one in five people still ‘living in the dark’ and in the framework of the UN’s Sustainable Energy for All Initiative (SE4All), how can the EU fulfil its commitment to
bring sustainable energy to everyone by 2030?
5. Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safe-ty I – ENVI I
The future of Europe’s energy supply or a recipe for disaster? With Member States’ highly differing stances on nuclear power, how can the EU continue its path towards an emission-friendly
supply, while ensuring the safety of its citizens?
6. Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety II - ENVI II
Is fracking the future? With shale gas posing an attractive opti-on for reliable domestic energy production, what stance should
the EU take on the matter taking into account both potential implications for environmental integrity and implications for
the development of carbon-free technologies?
7. Committee on Industry, Research and Energy I - ITRE I
Filling the policy gap between the Europe 2020 Targets and the Energy Roadmap 2050: With a new climate and energy
framework on the horizon, what long-term policies and binding targets should the European Union introduce with a view to
ensuring a secure, competitive and low-carbon energy sector beyond 2020?
8. Committee on Industry, Research and Energy II - ITRE II
New fuel for the economy: with the economic crisis slowly be-hind us, is there a chance for Member States to increase their spending in Research and Development? Should the EU focus more on research and development, especially when it comes
to safeguarding sustainable energy supplies?
9. Committee on Industry, Research and Energy III - ITRE III
A renewable power plant in every home? In order to achieve the EU’s ambitious goals in the field of future energy produc-tion, what strategy should Europe adopt when developing its
future energy grid?
10. Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs - LIBE
“Not In My Back Yard”? With the ever-growing need to invest in new energy infrastructure, how can we balance private proper-ty rights with projects aimed at building new energy sources? What role can citizens play in the future of the EU’s energy infra-
structure?
Committee Topics
Evaluation
fter the conference ended, the participants were asked to fill in an evaluative
questionnaire. An excerpt of the results is displayed below. Results are in percen-
tages, with 94 respondents.
A
0% 2%
11%
58%
29%
My par'cipa'on in this session mo'vated me to get into topics that
were new to me Strongly disagree Disagree No opinion Agree Strongly agree
0%
13% 6%
36%
45%
Teambuilding helped build mutual trust and form a real team
Strongly disagree Disagree No opinion Agree Strongly agree
0%
7% 12%
46%
35%
Teambuilding helped to develop a feeling for the diversity of cultures and opinions
in Europe and The Netherlands Strongly disagree Disagree No opinion Agree Strongly agree
1%
11%
15%
43%
30%
In my commi)ee, we exchanged very different perspec8ves and opinions
Strongly disagree Disagree No opinion Agree Strongly agree
0% 3% 5%
54%
38%
During Commi+ee Work, I have learned to recognise and respect different
perspec;ves Strongly disagree Disagree No opinion Agree Strongly agree
1%
7% 9%
46%
37%
I went through a truly democra2c decision-‐making process
Strongly disagree Disagree No opinion Agree Strongly agree
Evaluation
1%
7% 15%
45%
32%
I felt like I was truly taking part in the democra7c decision making process
during the General Assembly Strongly disagree Disagree No opinion Agree Strongly agree
0%
5% 11%
33%
51%
I feel I have become more interested in Europe than I did before the session
Strongly disagree Disagree No opinion Agree Strongly agree
0% 4% 6%
30%
60%
This event and its prepara.on have improved my knowledge and awareness of
cultural diversity in Europe Strongly disagree Disagree No opinion Agree Strongly agree 0%
4% 21%
42%
33%
With this session, I learned to appreciate the values of freedom, liberty and diversity Strongly disagree Disagree No opinion Agree Strongly agree
0% 2%
8%
49%
41%
My par'cipa'on in this session helped improve my knowledge and understanding
of different cultures Strongly disagree Disagree No opinion Agree Strongly agree 0% 0%
10%
45%
45%
my par'cipa'on in this session taught me to appreciate cultural diversity
Strongly disagree Disagree No opinion Agree Strongly agree
The Hague 2013 - 2nd International Forum of EYP The Netherlandsis supported by:
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