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Network Meeting Zagreb 2022

 

Do you already miss us? Network Meeting Zagreb was only two weeks ago!

 

But plenty of things happened! Have a look at this newsletter to check the latest updates from our network! Meet the newly elected EEC and president! 

Check the pictures of the network meeting here!

 
 
 

General Assembly and Elections

 

During the General Assembly, the members voted to elect the new representatives of the Eurodesk Executive Committee, the governing body of the international association. Lorena Baric (Croatia) was elected as the new President of the association, while Claire Conlon (France), Zsófia Bertalan (Hungary), Robert Helm-Pleuger (Germany), Miriam Petra Ómarsdóttir Awad (Iceland), Valentina Piras (Italy) and Pavlína Macounová (Czech Republic) have been elected as members of the Executive Committee. 

 

This meeting was also the last of Ingrida JotkaitÄ—'s mandate as Eurodesk President. During her 4-year mandate, she strongly advocated for the recognition of the youth information sector, to give a place to young people in the organisation and to develop cooperation with our partners. Thank you so much for your vision, support and cooperation!

 

Work Plan and Budget 2023

The members adopted the Eurodesk Work Plan and Budget 2023, giving an overview of the Eurodesk network activities for 2023 and serving as a basis for National Coordinators to prepare their national work plans. 

 

Check the draft minutes of the General Assembly.

 

 
 

Opening

 

Ingrida JotkaitÄ—, Eurodesk President and Karatina Brajdic, head of the European Solidarity Corps Department of the National Agency warmly welcomed participants to Zagreb. Participants then took part in a get together activity.

 
 

EBL Updates

 

Eurodesk Brussels Link gave an overview on the activities and initiatives which took place since the April Network Meeting in Budapest, such as the release of the Eurodesk Mobility Advisor Competence Framework and competence cards, the training activities and the TTM Campaign.

See the presentation.

 
 

Quality Catalogue

 

Robert Helm-Pleuger (ED Germany), member of the Quality Group, shared the impressive results of the quality assessment. Eurodesk counts 2.183 multipliers (+619), answered 238.559 enquiries (+21k), organised 856 Time to Move events (-80), 4345 public events, 589 Euroclasses and 200k+ newsletter subscribers, 353k+ video views, with a total of 12.89 million people reached (all means).

Robert then shared the recommendations of the quality group for each area, in particular using the Intranet Forums, signalling problems when there is no “memory transfer” when staff change, ensuring the Map is accurate, and respecting the obligations related to the EYP (answering enquiries in a timely manner and maintaining national content). The next assessment will take place in Feb/March, newcomers are invited to contact the group if needed. A webinar will also be organised.

See the presentation.

 
 
 

Pitches

 

Pavlina Macounova, Eurodesk Czech Republic

Eurodesk Czech Republic is cooperating with several multipliers in the context of promotional activities/events. They carried out a Presidency Roadshow with EuroCentres, with a Eurodesk stand in the fairs. eTwinning ambassadors attended events and disseminated the opportunities to young people. A cooperation between a European Heritage site, Eurodesk and Study IN took place during a DiscoverEU meet up. Finally, Eurodesk cooperates with the TCA officer on the training for culture. Let’s cooperate!

See the presentation.   

 

Valentina Piras, Eurodesk Italy
 

Eurodesk Italy developed a project aimed to reach young people in schools and connect them with the local multipliers, in times of Covid-19. A pool of Young Multipliers were created around the local multipliers. The students who participated in the training path received open badges. The schools could receive a physical information desk and the young multipliers could deliver the information inside the schools. 32 local multipliers joined the project with 1.276 students trained. In 2022 the project will be carried out again, with 50 multipliers involved. See the presentation, video and report.

 

 
 

Policy Updates

 

Mathieu Orphanides, European Commission
 

Gave updates on the #EYY2022 campaign, and more particularly the Voice Platform which had a very strong outreach but little impact in terms of voices recorded (67M impressions, 320 voices). 4.088 events took place (2.923 face to face, 759 online events, 406 hybrid). The digital outreach was very strong. The Level Up! Accelerating Change on 28-29 October is coming up in Brussels. Youth talks will continue. The closing conference will take place on 6 December. Policy dialogues have also taken place. The Commission is now reflecting on what to transfer from the #EYY to the #EYP. He then gave an update on the DiscoverEU round. The support process has evolved, with the setting up of a Help Centre. National coordinators should direct young people there. For technical questions they can submit a request from this page.

Check the full presentation here.

 
 

Panel discussion with Eurodesk, Eryica and Eyca

 

The directors of the three networks presented their initiatives around the participation of young people in their services. EYCA has had a youth panel since February 2021, aimed to bring a youth perspective on the management of the association. It is now a recognised body in its constitution. Eurodesk has implemented a pool of young journalists and co-hosts a show with a young person in the context of the BeEurope project. ERYICA has just closed an Erasmus+ YinfoPEERs project and envisages to integrate young people in its governing bodies. Eurodesk and ERYICA are working together on ”Guidelines on youth participation in youth information” to be released in December 2022.

 

 
 

Working groups

 

Eurodesk Structures

 

Participants shared the different ways Eurodesk is structured at national level, with one or more types of multipliers/ambassadors/info-points. Several coordinators shared that they were currently restructuring their networks or reflecting on setting one up. The group agreed that it would be useful to have European guidelines on the different structures and roles, but EBL should allow flexibility in adapting the model and focusing on maximum three types (multipliers, ambassadors and youth ambassadors). 

Graphic design tips
 

We learned about some of the fundamentals of visual communication. We started with a point on history talking about the moderniste heritage. Then we focused on some considerations to keep in mind when creating efficient graphic design: simplicity, balance and contrast, dealing with fonts, consistency, and the use of colours. We ended the session with a practical exercise to experiment with the rules we had just learned.

 

Use of the games in Eurodesk activities 
 

The group checked which games are known and used by participants in their national networks. Feedback was gathered on the TTM card games based on the outcomes of the working group "TTM game" that took place in June. Participants agreed that the game should focus on opportunities, other countries, cultures and languages. They supported the proposal of creating a giant map of Europe on which to include non-EU countries as well. There is the need of improving the cards with bigger size cards (80x120 mm), different levels of difficulties, new questions, different tasks, challenges, activities, more missions. 

 

National coordinators interested in joining the working group are encouraged to contact Karolina.

 

Working with multipliers
 

Participants agreed on the challenges that emerged in the NA-ED report. The lack of finances and human resources is problematic as working with multipliers takes a lot of time especially to keep them active and motivated. The group shared various practices at national level that work. It’s key to listen to multipliers to design work plans and incentives (giving space during the meetings, asking them what activities they want to carry out (Euroclasses, etc.) consulting them); creating space for community building (e.g. dinners, team building activities); showing appreciation (eg. attending their events, giving feedback, awards); communicating with them on a regular basis (e.g. sending information, personal contacts, venting moments) and building an incentive plan based on their needs (information, prizes, study visits, etc.) 

 

 

Time to Move
 

We exchanged memories of past events and ideas for future events. Covid made the organisation of events difficult and forced us to explore digital tools. In the future we will go back to real events. Digital tools can still be used to easily organise events across countries, to allow young people to meet internationally and to give them a taste of travelling abroad. Going further with the idea of connecting people across borders, we considered what could be done to connect multipliers, allow them to learn from one another and eventually collaborate during TTM events and during the rest of the year.

 

How to introduce mental health, ethics and values in our daily work?

Participants analysed the Eurodesk Mobility Advisor Competence Framework cards, checking which are related to mental health. There was a brief discussion on mental health in the context of the Eurodesk network and it was noted that there is a growing need to address this topic. Participants were divided into 2 smaller groups, in which they analysed the current situation and the needs of 2 target groups - young people and NC and Multipliers.
NC & Multipliers: trainings during the Network meetings and Multipliers’ Seminar (mental health abc; information exchange); webinars;

 

materials (manuals: how to talk with people about mental health; check lists (self/others); burn out); empowering stories; more budget; space for venting time; experts on mental health to the Eurodesk pool of the trainers.
Young people: empathetic communication; showing understanding in situations that come up; providing information / informing young people: whom to contact if something happens in the host country, resources/support available in the programmes, guidance peer-to-peer information; brochures on the topics; infographics on mental health; get testimonials from young people; more practical instructions. 

 

 

Eurodesk Branding

 

First, we learned that branding isn't restricted to visual matters, but goes further to define the various aspects of a group identity. EBL is following a methodology aimed at defining Eurodesk mission, purpose, vision, values and persona. Once defined, this strategy will inform us on how to communicate in order to preserve the integrity of the Eurodesk identity, and promote our values and message more efficiently. The values EBL has identified so far are: diversity and inclusion, friendship and solidarity, exploration and development, creativity and innovation.

 

Later during this session, the participants went through different creative exercises meant to explore their perception of the Eurodesk persona. EBL will use those inputs to fine-tune the strategy.

 

The next step of this project is the redesign of Eurodesk visual identity and the implementation of this strategy in our assets. The goal is to align how we look, with who we are by developing a more human and dynamic visual vocabulary. The second challenge of this visual identity redesign is to be more digital-oriented with more flexible templates, allowing a consistent but varied communication across countries. A proposal will be presented at the next network meeting.

 

National coordinators interested in the process are encouraged to contact Sara and Audrey.

 

 

Eurodesk Stars

 

For the first time in the history of the Eurodesk network, we awarded Eurodesk Stars!
The participants of the Network Meeting in Zagreb did not have an easy task - all the nominations they received deserved a star! During the anonymous vote, the National Coordinators awarded the best (and the worst :P) in the following four categories:  

 
  • Best information product - Pen with QR code by Eurodesk Czechia
    QR codes can be used as a new and youth way to inform young people about Eurodesk & DiscoverEU instead of giving them flyers. 

  • Greenest information product - Upcycling goodies by Eurodesk Germany
    The typical "Give away" is a product created and produced out of new ressources. Eurodesk Germany decided not to create products any more which are using new ressources like plastic or metal. Upcycling was the solution: so they created different products out of old information roll ups. TIP - if you need to produce roll ups for fairs or events, always use PVC material - it can easily be used for upcycling. 

  • Best game - Giant Jenga by Eurodesk Poland
    An educational and dexterity game. It weighs 16 kg and is ideal for animating Eurodesk's outdoor information stands. The quiz questions are directly “printed” on the bricks. It is hugely popular at all events. 

  • Worst promotional item ever  - Cover for the webcam by Eurodesk Iceland
    Not only is it made from cheap plastic, it's in a really ugly kind of greyish colour and the glue on the back is really bad, so it doesn't stay in place to do it's ONLY job, which is to be a cover for the webcam.

 
 
 

Special thanks to our marvelous hosts!

 
 

Next Network Meeting: Tbilisi, Georgia from the 27-31 of March 2023!

 

Feel free to share your ideas with the EEC by sending an email to the Director.