EYP Finland's strategy 2015–2017

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Strategy 2015–2017European Youth Parliament Finland

Approved by the board of EYP Finland on 20 November 2014.

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European Youth Parliament

Finland (EYP-Finland ry)

Uudenmaankatu 15 A 5

00120 Helsinki

http://www.eypfinland.org

[email protected]

Table of content

1. Foreword – 3

2. Past and present of EYP Finland – 4

2.1. History of EYP Finland – 4

2.2. EYP Finland today – 5

3. Mission, aims and values of EYP Finland – 6

3.1. Mission and aims of EYP Finland – 6

3.2. Values of EYP Finland – 7

4. EYP Finland and the Long-Term Strategy of the EYP – 9

4.1. “Developing” – 10

4.2. “Inspiring” – 14

4.3. “Achieving” – 18

5. Vision for 2017 – 24

5.1. Going forward – 24

5.2. Vision for 2017 – 26

5.3. Vision for 2017, part 1 – 28

5.4. Vision for 2017, part 2 – 32

5.5. Vision for 2017, part 3 – 36

6. Implementation and renewal – 40

7. Conclusion – 41

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The first Long-Term Strategy of the European Youth Parliament (EYP) was adopted

in spring 2013. It had been drafted by a strategy working group and approved by the

EYP’s Governing Body, National Committees and alumni, as well as the Schwarzkopf

Foundation, the EYP’s international umbrella organisation. The strategy was de-

signed for 2–3 years, and it was built around three focus areas: improving the EYP’s

inclusivity, increasing its academic professionalism and developing the international

EYP network. For each of these areas, means and success indicators were defined.

EYP Finland, the EYP’s National Committee in Finland, has also lacked a proper

strategy for some years now. Its activities are annually planned and supervised by its

board, but for a variety of reasons, there has recently been no proper long-term strat-

egy. For this reason, the board of EYP Finland established a strategy working group in

spring 2014. In May, the working group studied the current state of EYP Finland and

discussed avenues for its further development, both in relation to the international

Long-Term Strategy and independent of it. The board of EYP Finland then carried the

work forward in consultation with Jari Marjelund, former president of EYP Finland.

EYP Finland wishes to be on the forefront of development by ensuring that the Long-

Term Strategy is fully implemented in Finland. Chapter 4 of this document covers

this aspect. The international strategy, however, largely relates to the international

level of the EYP, and we have thus focused on exploring specific ways for EYP Finland

to develop. The general vision and the more specific aims, measures and success

indicators for EYP Finland in 2015–2017 are elaborated on in chapter 5.

The board of EYP Finland hopes that this strategy will be welcomed by the members

of EYP Finland, as the responsibility of implementing it and following strategic think-

ing lies with all of us. EYP Finland is a wonderful organisation, and we have achieved

a great deal over our 13-year-history. However, more can and must be done to ensure

that EYP Finland will have an ever brighter future.

1. Foreword

Strategy: timeline internation-

ally and in Finland

2009: An international strategy

summit is held in Berlin. Strate-

gy is discussed at the meeting of

the Board of National Commit-

tees in Helsinki. The so-called

strategy cycle is established.

2011: The strategy working

group is established. The group

meets in Paris and consults the

EYP’s stakeholders.

2013: The Long-Term Strategy is

approved by the EYP’s stake-

holders.

2014: The board of EYP Finland

establishes a strategy working

group. The strategy is approved

by the board and presented for

the autumn general meeting of

EYP Finland.

2015–2017: The long-term

strategy of EYP Finland will be

implemented.

2017: Preparations for the next

long-term strategy of EYP Fin-

land are set to start.

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2. Past and present of EYP Finland

2.1. History of EYP Finland

EYP Finland in its current form was established in 2001. From very modest origins,

it has developed into a well run organisation with a high number of annual activities.

By the end of 2014, EYP Finland had organised one International Session, 13 National

Sessions, 23 Regional Sessions and numerous other events. EYP Finland has sent

some 250 young people to attend International Sessions of the EYP and hundreds of

people to attend other EYP events abroad.

For years, most of the active members of EYP Finland were also part of its board,

and EYP Finland’s activities were focused in Helsinki. That is now history. The first

Regional Committees were established in Helsinki, Tampere and Turku in 2007–2008,

and EYP Finland has since expanded to include Regional Committees in both Eastern

and Northern Finland. Regional Sessions have been taking place since 2008 and have

recently been part of EYP Finland’s annual “Your European Citizenship” campaign.

The “EU – Take Part and Learn!” campaign, consisting of EYP-style parliament simu-

lations at schools, has also been organised on most years since 2008.

EYP Finland and its members have been active internationally, for instance by or-

ganising the 62nd International Session in Helsinki in October 2009. There has been

a Finnish member on the Governing Body of the EYP for a number of years now, and

the previous two Executive Directors have been Finnish. Two Finns have also presided

International Sessions, in 2010 and 2013.

EYP Finland has been on the foreront when it comes to promoting training in the EYP.

First weekend-long training courses for session officials were organised almost ten

years ago, and these courses continue to this day. EYP Finland also hosted the first

Training for EYP Trainers in 2010. EYP Finland’s alumni events include the Annual

Ball, organised since 2005, and other social gatherings and events.

National Sessions of EYP

Finland

2001: Espoo

2002: Helsinki

2003: Espoo

2004: Helsinki

2005: Oulu

2006: Tampere

2007: Helsinki

2009: Naantali

2010: Tampere

2011: Helsinki

2012: Tampere

2013: Joensuu

2014: Vantaa

More history

We welcome you to read more

about the history of EYP Finland

in its History 2001–2011, prepared

for the organisation’s 10th an-

niversary in 2011. The document

is available at http://issuu.com/

eypfinland/docs/eypfi_history.

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2.2. EYP Finland today

Today’s EYP Finland is a “small big organisation”. Its resources can still be consid-

ered small in relation to the scope of its activities: annually, EYP Finland organises

five sessions, 2–3 weekend-long training events and 1–2 campaigns entirely on a

voluntary basis. It has had a permanent office in Helsinki since spring 2013 but is still

lacking permanent support staff, which is evident when one observes the board and

other key volunteers’ workload in the busiest seasons of EYP Finland’s work year.

Each Regional Session reaches 60–100 new delegates; National Sessions have

recently had around 120 delegates from Finland and abroad. With the young peo-

ple taking part in the school tour of the “Your European Citizenship” campaign and

parliament simulations of the “EU – Take Part and Learn!” campaign, EYP Finland

reaches around 500–800 new people each year (around 400–600 of whom take part

in the basic “EYP experience”, i.e. attend a session or a parliament simulation). The

total number of participants in all of EYP Finland’s activities has recently been around

1,200 per year. In October 2014, EYP Finland had some 1,300 members.

EYP Finland’s total annual expenditure has recently been around 70,000 EUR. A grant

by the Ministry of Education and Culture (9,000 EUR in 2014) provides EYP Finland

with its basic annual funding. Most of EYP Finland’s funding, however, is project- or

event-related. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has in previous years supported EYP

Finland’s campaigns with 5,000–10,000 EUR, and other public and private part-

ners provide the rest of the funding. In the past few years, EYP Finland has become

increasingly good in attracting private funding and prominent partners, such as the

Academy of Finland.

Members of EYP Finland attended EYP events abroad some 130 times in 2013. Most

delegates at our National Session get the chance to attend an event abroad.

EYP Finland’s expenditure in

2013

Expenses in total:

73,187.65 EUR

Active citizenship:

44,702.68 EUR –61 %

International activities:

9,350.30 EUR – 13 %

Training activities:

1,656.04 EUR – 2 %

Other projects:

3,388.53 EUR – 5 %

Alumni and local activities:

1,940.40 EUR – 3 %

Administration:

12,149.70 EUR –17 %

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3. Mission, aims and values of EYP Finland

3.1. Mission and aims of EYP Finland

The mission of the European Youth Parliament is “to support the development of

young people into politically aware and responsible citizens by involving them in

European political thinking and promoting intercultural understanding.” The EYP also

has four aims, listed on its Charter. The EYP aims to:

1. “raise awareness of European issues and encourage active European citizenship,

and to motivate students to get engaged in European politics;

2. promote international understanding, intercultural dialogue and diversity of ideas

and practices;

3. contribute to the personal skills development of European youth;

4. provide a forum in which young people of Europe can express and debate their own

opinions, without reverting to role-play”.

As a National Committee of the EYP, EYP Finland also abides by this mission and

these aims, and we acknowledge that they closely correspond with how EYP has

traditionally been viewed in Finland. However, all National Committees have evolved

in different environments, and their philosophies and activities have always varied to

some extent. Thus, we wish to elaborate on some of the aspects of the EYP’s mission

and aims in relation to EYP Finland.

In general, the personal development aspect (aim 3) has always had a strong role in

Finland. EYP Finland has, for instance, been active in developing the training aspect

of the EYP. Using a traditional EYP trichotomy, it could be argued that the “people”

and the “process” have mattered more than the “product”. The quality of resolutions

at our sessions, for instance, is not as important as the overall learning experience

the participants are provided with. “Academic quality” has become a popular theme in

the EYP network in the recent years, and though EYP Finland is generally interested

Why should we think about our

mission, aims and values?

It is fairly simple to describe

what the EYP does. However, we

often struggle with the question

why – why does the EYP exist?.

“Why?” is the crucial question;

the who, the what and the how

only follow it. Answering the why

is important for “selling” the

EYP to potential participants and

partners, for instance, as they

want to know why they should

invest their time or money in

EYP – what aims does their time

and money help us pursue?

Understanding the why is also

important for organisational de-

velopment. As will be discussed

below, the EYP’s mission doesn’t

limit us to organising parlia-

mentary simulations – they are

merely one means, though an

important one. Keeping the why

in mind will allow us to expand

our activities meaningfully.

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in ensuring the academic quality of its events, we believe the central focus should be

in ensuring and further developing the educational value of the EYP experience. We

would also like to highlight a broad interpreration of “citizenship”: for EYP Finland,

it doesn’t only relate to participation in the political process but all forms of social

activity. These are all issues EYP Finland must also better communicate to outside

observes in the future, as they often see the EYP as an overly EU-related, political

organisation.

At the same time, we believe that in EYP Finland and the wider EYP network, differ-

ent opinions on the EYP’s mission and aims can co-exist – and that an active debate

between these opinions is beneficial for the development of our organisation. Thus,

the views expressed in this chapter shouldn’t be understood as a straightjacket for

the members of EYP Finland. Understanding EYP Finland’s history and traditional

preferences, however, helps us better steer the organisation forward.

3.2. Values of EYP Finland

The international EYP currently has no explicitly stated values, though they may be

discussed in the near future by the international bodies. Should this discussion take

place, we recommend EYP Finland to actively contribute to it, and we have already

had some discussions about what might be the core values of EYP Finland and the

EYP more generally. The list has five items:

1. Democracy: The EYP promotes active citizenship and participation in the demo-

cratic process. Democracy, transparency and “power of the strongest argument”

should also apply to the way EYP Finland functions, i.e. how the organisation and its

events are run. EYP Finland cannot be a closed club; for the development of a strong

organisational culture, it is important that the decision-making is brought close to

the members and that they can feel ownership of EYP Finland.

Though political affairs and

debate are often in the core of

the EYP experience, we believe

that EYP is by no means a mere

debate competition. Rather, it is

possible for our participants to

develop a wide variety of skills

and knowledge, such as leader-

ship, teambuilding, training, pro-

ject and NGO management and

intercultural communication.

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2. Belief in personal potential: Our participants should be challenged and given the

chance to gradually develop themselves to take more and more responsibility in the

EYP and elsewhere. Importantly, EYP Finland should be a place for both thinkers and

doers – and cooperation between them. As an organisation, we must ensure that all

sorts of talents are recognised and used. Our approach is also meritocratic: positions

at our events, for instance, should be given out in a fair and transparent manner.

3. Volunteerism: We are proud of the things we achieve on a voluntary basis. Though

one of the key objectives of this strategy is for EYP Finland to hire permanent support

staff, this must not be understood as a move away from a strong belief in the power

and importance of volunteer work. Our members should understand that the EYP

needs active volunteers to function. We believe that volunteers with a powerful cause

can achieve great things and, in the process, greatly benefit from it themselves.

4. Internationalism: While the EYP doesn’t nominally promote further integration in

Europe, for instance, interest in other cultures and a belief in peaceful intercultural

cooperation are strong in our culture. EYP Finland shouldn’t be a closed national

club, either, but actively cooperate with other National Committees, participate in the

international governance of the EYP, send participants to events abroad – and espe-

cially welcome foreign participants to its events. In the near future, special emphasis

should be put on reaching out to National Committees previously less familiar to us,

such as the recently established ones in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus, and both

support their development and benefit from their fresh approaches to the EYP.

5. Fun: In EYP, we often seem to take many things fairly seriously, but we also consid-

er fun an integral part of the EYP experience. EYP shouldn’t only be about challenges

and hard work but also celebrating the successes and taking it easy every once in a

while. EYP Finland and its members shouldn’t take themselves too seriously – EYP is,

after all, a youth parliament.

Does EYP Finland compete with

other Finnish youth organisa-

tions?

EYP Finland doesn’t seek to

compete with any other youth

organisation as such, as the field

of non-formal political education

in Finland is not exactly filled

with actors. However, the pool

of available (public) funding for

youth organisations is more or

less the same, and maintaining

the high quality of our activities

is essential for us to remain suc-

cessful in this competition.

EYP Finland also needs to com-

pete with other youth organisa-

tions for active members, as

many organisations target young

people with similar interests. Too

many of our members seem to

lose their interest in EYP Finland

after they have started studying

in university, and we should be

better at making our activities

attractive to people over 20 years

of age.

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4. EYP Finland and the Long-Term Strategy of the EYP

The Long-Term Strategy of the EYP was adopted in 2013 for 2–3 years. Thus, we are

now approaching the half-way mark in its implementation. (The first implementation

report, based on the National Committees’ reports from 2013, was published in 2014.)

EYP Finland wishes to be on the forefront of development in the international EYP,

and we have carefully studied the Long-Term Strategy and how it relates to EYP Fin-

land. National Committees are responsible for organising most of the EYP’s activities,

and many of the objectives, means and success indicators in the strategy are their

responsibility. Others, on the other hand, are the international bodies’ responsibility.

In this chapter, we go through each of the three key focus areas of the Long-Term

Strategy. First, we discuss each section in general terms. Second, we study the

specific means and success indicators and whether EYP Finland fulfills them. (For

clarity and ease, most of the strategy is quoted verbatim.) In general, we believe EYP

Finland is on track implementing the Long-Term Strategy. The second section, “In-

spiring”, is where the whole EYP is falling behind, and EYP Finland also needs to take

action on the field. The first section, “Developing”, closely relates to the second part

of the vision presented in chapter 5. There, EYP Finland generally fulfills the success

indicators, but there are many EYP Finland-specific areas for development that will

be further elaborated on in chapter 5. The third section, “Achieving”, we find the least

meaningful, though academic quality at our events is generally sufficient.

While the “means” on the Long-Term Strategy are rather broad and could inspire a

variety of supporting measures by EYP Finland, we have decided to focus on fulfill-

ing the immediate success indicators. Otherwise, this strategy would have become

too wide. However, many of the measures in chapter 5 can be considered supporting

measures, and there is overlap between the two strategies. Many of the means are

actually rather trivial, and the overall success shouldn’t be measured by simply list-

ing the fulfilled objectives. It is much more important – and difficult – to increase our

outreach than to, say, start using position papers at our sessions.

The Long-Term Strategy

The Long-Term Strategy of the

EYP can be read at http://eyp.

org/gb/LongTermStrategyEYP.

pdf.

Abbreviations

NC = The National Committees,

the EYP’s independent national

chapters.

GB = The Governing Body,

the EYP’s international board,

responsible for its strategic

development.

BNC = The Board of National

Committees, the assembly and

“voice” of the National Commit-

tees.

For more information on the

EYP’s structure, please see

http://eyp.org/about/organisa-

tion/.

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4.1. “Developing”

Vision

“To build a stronger EYP network in order to allow further development in terms of

quality and quantity and thus realise EYP’s full potential.”

Aim

“The European Youth Parliament has National Committees (NC) in almost 40 Euro-

pean countries – from Russia to Portugal, from Norway to Turkey – and thus it seems

the geographical limits of the EYP network have almost been reached. While we

already involve thousands of young people annually, there is still a lot of potential for

the further development of this network in terms of both quantity and quality.

While many of our well-established National Committees are successful and thriving

non-profit organisations, we see other National Committees struggling to move for-

ward or even continue their current level of activities – often they are facing similar

challenges that other National Committees have managed to overcome. We believe

the support and coordination structures within our EYP network should be strength-

ened to allow further development in terms of quality and quantity of our activities.

We believe that EYP should aim at building international level structures that are

engines for the future development of the whole EYP. At the same time, National

Committees should increase their engagement on the international level of the EYP,

since so far involvement on the international level is too often put aside in favour of

national matters. EYP needs to create a framework that facilitates and stimulates

international involvement of National Committees.

Until now our activities and sessions are almost always based on the same principle:

one National Committee organises an activity and other National Committees send

Participation in international

governance

In connection to the adoption of

the Long-Term Strategy, a thor-

ough governance reform took

place on the international level

of the EYP in 2013. The most

important change was for the

Board of National Committees

to become an equal decision-

maker with the Governing Body

in almost all issues.

This change has put increased

pressure on the BNC as a

decision-making body and

National Committees’ partici-

pation in it. EYP Finland must

take this increased responsi-

bility more seriously: efficient

decision-making on the BNC

level requires active participation

by the National Committees on

all relevant issues.

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participants there. We believe that there is room for increased ‘multilateral’ coopera-

tion between National Committees, where different groups of National Committees

organise common activities and projects.”

EYP Finland

While EYP Finland can be considered an “established” National Committee, it also

often struggles with its administration and activities. In general, we are running on

the edge of our resources. EYP Finland doesn’t need particular support from the

international bodies or other National Committees, but it must focus on consolidating

its resources and the scope of its activities. We will return to this theme in chapter 5.

EYP Finland and its members should be more active on the international level. While

there has been a Finnish member on the Governing Body for years now and the previ-

ous two Executive Directors have been Finnish, no Finns are currently active in the

Alumni Councils, and EYP Finland has recently not been a driving force on any issue

internationally. It is the established National Committees that can be expected to car-

ry the EYP network forward, and while focusing on national matters is understand-

able, EYP Finland shouldn’t have excuses for not taking an active role internationally.

The board of EYP Finland should focus more on international governance, for in-

stance by properly discussing the agenda of each meeting of the Board of National

Committees and then more forcefully promoting its positions at the meetings. The

board member for international affairs is in key position to ensure this by following

international developments and discussions and acting as the voice of EYP Finland

internationally. At the same time, the whole board can benefit from staying up to date

on these developments and discussions, and it should indeed do so. International is-

sues must be adequately covered at all board training weekends and meetings. These

issues will also be covered more extensively in chapter 5.

Cooperation with other Nation-

al Committees

The board of EYP Finland has

often discussed cooperation

with other National Committees,

especially EYP Estonia, to the

south, and EYP Sweden, to the

west. The ideas have varied from

joint International Sessions to

smaller alumni gatherings, but

in the end, most of them have

led to nothing.

We believe such cooperation can

be beneficial, but the National

Committees need to think care-

fully what goals they are trying to

meet through it: cooperation for

cooperation’s sake is usually not

productive. There is, however,

some potential in cooperation

in the Baltic Sea region, at least

with smaller gatherings and

sending more participants to

each others’ events – our mem-

bers are at times surprisingly

hesitant to take the trip “across

the pond”.

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Means Success indicators EYP Finland Supporting measures

Strengthening the basic

activities of the National

Committees.

At least 40 National Com-

mittees organise a National

Session and send delegates

to at least two International

Sessions a year.

Fulfilled: EYP Finland or-

ganises a National Session

and sends delegates to three

International Sessions each

year.

Assuring the continued

growth of the EYP network.

EYP reaches 30,000 young

people every year.

EYP organises 300 events

every year.

Lacking: EYP Finland reaches

around 400–600 new people

each year.

Fulfilled: EYP Finland or-

ganises five sessions, 2–3

weekend-long training events

and multiple other events

every year.

EYP Finland expands its

reach by organising addi-

tional Regional Sessions and

expanding its campaigns.

Improving best practise shar-

ing and developing solutions

to common challenges.

Organising at least one event

every year where National

Committees come together

and share best practices.

Organising at least one

training event on National

Committee Management and

Development annually.

(Success indicator not ap-

plicable.)


plicable.)

EYP Finland sends repre-

sentatives to all events where

best practices are shared.

Involving the National Com-

mittees on the international

level on a more regular basis.

All biannual meetings of the

Board of National Commit-

tees attended by at least one

representative of every Na-

tional Committee or Initiative.

Fulfilled: at least one rep-

resentative of EYP Finland

attends each BNC meeting.

EYP Finland prepares its

positions better and argues

them more forcefully at BNC

meetings.

Improving and increasing

training given to alumni on

the national level.

Every National Commit-

tee organises at least one

training event for EYP alumni

annually.

Fulfilled: EYP Finland organ-

ises 2–3 international training

events, an alumni train-

ing weekend and multiple

smaller training events each

year.

EYP Finland and its Regional

Committees organise 10–20

smaller training events each

year.

Developing a strategic culture

throughout the EYP network.

EYP implements an interna-

tional long-term strategy and

updates it regularly.

All National Committees

and Initiatives implement a

long-term strategy, which is

updated regularly.

Fulfilled: EYP Finland has a

strategy developed in relation

to the long-term strategy.

DEVELOPING

TO BUILD A STRONGER EYP NETWORK IN ORDER TO ALLOW FURTHER DEVELOPMENT IN TERMS OF

QUALITY AND QUANTITY AND THUS REALISE EYP’S FULL POTENTIAL.

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Increasing the recognition

of EYP’s activities among

decision-makers.

Creating and implementing a

public relations strategy for

the EYP.

At least 50 Members of the

European Parliament and

three European Commission-

ers attend EYP events every

year.


plicable.)

Fulfilled: 1–3 Members of the

European Parliament attend

EYP Finland’s events each

year.

EYP Finland creates a na-

tional PR strategy based on

the international strategy.

Improving the support given

to volunteers on a daily basis.

One third of the National

Committees have an office

with permanent support staff

to assist them in their work.

Fulfilled: EYP Finland has a

permanent office.

Lacking: EYP Finland has no

permanent staff.

EYP Finland employs a full-

time secretary general.

Increasing the visibility of EYP

towards the general public.

EYP is covered in major

regional and national printed

and online press five times

per year in each active coun-

try.

Fulfilled: EYP Finland is

covered in local or national

media 5–10 times each year.

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Vision

“Our vision is that EYP shall become a truly open and inclusive youth organisation,

involving all young people who wish to take part in our activities.”

Aim

“The EYP is not an organisation that is made to deal with social emergences or dis-

abilities, but it can open new perspectives to young people that would not have other-

wise had these opportunities due to their social, economic or educational situation.

We have identified a range of obstacles that could prevent a youngster from taking

part in our activities – note that these will probably vary according to the National

Committee – including: social obstacles, disabilities, economic obstacles, educa-

tional difficulties, geographic obstacles and cultural differences.

Though we are seeing how more and more National Committees have been organ-

ising inclusivity projects during the last years, we have identified two reasons to

explain why EYP is not as inclusive as it could be. Firstly, EYP lacks the information

to evaluate the state of the EYP network in terms of inclusivity. Hence why we should

thoroughly evaluate and research the profile and background of EYP participants,

something we have not done before. It is time for EYP to develop outreach methods

tailored to our projects and goals, using external information, but also sharing the

already available knowledge which some National Committees have built up.

Secondly, the very nature of EYP could hold some young people back from taking part

in our activities. Some youngsters might be scared by their initial limited knowledge

of politics, the high academic level, participation costs or even be hesitant of speak-

ing a foreign language or travelling abroad. To deal with this, we need a two-branch

4.2. “Inspiring”

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approach. For one, we need to work on including so-far-excluded youth into our al-

ready existing events, while also further build our range of activities in order to offer

educational events to all young Europeans.

We realise that outreach and inclusivity projects will often be even more resource-

intensive (HR, time-wise, costs) than some of our other events, but feel that in order

to fulfil our mission statement, EYP needs to increase its inclusiveness on all levels.”

EYP Finland

Finland has a relatively equalitarian school system, and our participants generally

come from fairly varied backgrounds, though certain “better schools” have always

been over-represented in our activities. It is obvious, however, that more should be

done.

First, we believe there is great potential in outreach. EYP Finland still reaches

relatively few new people each year – in 2013, we had participants from around 60

schools, and the majority of youth in Finland will currently never even hear about the

EYP. We must thus work to increase our visibility and reach, e.g. by organising 5–6

Regional Sessions and a more extensive school tour each year. These measures will

be discussed more extensively in chapter 5.

Second, we believe that the international strategy’s point about expanding the range

of our activities to offer educational experiences to all young Europeans is very valid,

and as we state below, EYP Finland should also seek to organise activities that cor-

respond to a broader interpretation of the EYP’s mission. EYP Finland’s parliament

simulations, where the treshold for participation is lower (the simulations are done

in Finnish and organised at schools), are a step towards the right direction, but EYP

Finland can still go further.

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Evaluating EYP’s state of in-

clusiveness, aimed at identi-

fying barriers to inclusiveness

inside National Committees.

At least three reports on the

state of EYP’s inclusiveness

have been published and

presented at meetings of the

Board of National Commit-

tees.


plicable.)

EYP Finland evaluates its

state of inclusiveness in its

annual work reports.

Writing a toolbox for National

Committees on how to devel-

op and strengthen inclusivity

programmes.

A first version of a toolbox

for National Committees is

finished and spread around

the EYP network.


plicable.)

EYP Finland evaluates its

activities on the basis of the

toolbox once it is finished.

Looking for outside expertise,

involving teachers and other

non-governmental organisa-

tions.

At least two international

events have been organised

at developing EYP-specific

outreach and inclusivity

methods.


plicable.)

EYP Finland contacts relevant

national organisations to

develop its outreach and

inclusivity.

Supporting international

training events on outreach

and inclusivity methods.

At least 15 training events on

inclusivity methods have been

organised by the National

Committees.


plicable.)

EYP Finland sends represent-

atives to one or more such

training events.

National Committees develop

their own outreach and inclu-

sivity programmes.

Two thirds of the National

Committeess should have

a country-specific outreach

programme.

Partly fulfilled: EYP Finland’s

annual campaigns aim at

outreach.

EYP Finland expands its

campaigns.

Coordinating a European

project and accessory fund

for National Committees with

inclusivity programmes.

At least two long-term part-

nerships have been set up

to run an international EYP

outreach programme.


plicable.)

EYP Finland takes part in

planning and implementing

international projects.

Strengthening our human re-

sources to develop outreach

and inclusivity methods.

The international EYP office

in Berlin has hired a Project

Manager to work on outreach

and inclusivity programmes.

Every National Committee

board has at least one board

member with outreach and

inclusivity in their portfolio.


plicable.)

Lacking: EYP Finland has no

board member with out-

reach and inclusivity in their

portfolio.

The board of EYP Finland

includes outreach and inclu-

sivity in one of the existing

portfolios.

INSPIRING

OUR VISION IS THAT EYP SHALL BECOME A TRULY OPEN AND INCLUSIVE YOUTH ORGANISATION,

INVOLVING ALL YOUNG PEOPLE WHO WISH TO TAKE PART IN OUR ACTIVITIES.

17

Obstacles to EYP Finland’s outreach and inclusiveness

High costs and geography: Even though the participation

fees to EYP Finland’s sessions and training events are usually

only in the range of 15–30 EUR, attending EYP events can get

rather expensive with the travel costs in a large country like

Finland. As J. K. Paasikivi said, “we cannot do anything about

geography”, but EYP Finland can mitigate the problem by

spreading its sessions as wide as possible every year. Organis-

ing a Regional Session in Oulu for the past two years has been

an important step forward, but in fact, about half of Finland

is still north of Oulu. Thus, organising a Regional Session in

Rovaniemi, for instance, could be an option in the near future.

In this respect, the National Session will remain the most

problematic event, as it naturally cannot be spread around.

Unfortunately, EYP Finland cannot currently reimburse any

travel costs to its sessions – this could easily amount to

thousands of euros each year. It should, however, always seek

to keep the participation fees to a minimum. Participation

fees of our alumni events are already very low, and key events

are organised in different cities each year. Luckily, schools or

school-affiliated foundations are generally also rather keen to

support their students’ participation in EYP events.

In addition to spreading its sessions as wide as possible, EYP

Finland will aim to organise 30–50 parliamentary simula-

tions in schools each year – essentially, to bring EYP to the

students, rather than expect the students to come to EYP. This

will be a relatively cost-efficient way to bring the EYP experi-

ence to hundreds of young people each year.

Disabilities: Unfortunately, while occasional accusations of

elitism are overblown, EYP Finland is still an organisation for

healthy upper secondary school students with fairly similar

interests. In this respect, EYP Finland should do much more

to open its activities. Relatively little has so far been done

internationally to examine our working methods in relation to

young people with disabilities, for instance, but EYP Finland

must closely follow these developments and use whatever

resources, such as the toolbox mentioned in the Long-Term

Strategy, are made available.

Already, the board is to include inclusiveness in one of its port-

folios, and the board member with the portfolio in question

should examine the redesigned “Your European Citizenship”

campaign from the inclusiveness perspective and explore new

ways of cooperation with relevant national organisations, for

instance. EYP Finland should be a welcoming environment for

all kinds of young people.

Educational background: While EYP Finland seeks to involve

students from select vocational schools in its sessions and

parliamentary simulations, it is likely to remain an organisa-

tion mostly run by upper secondary school students. However,

it should be remembered and communicated externally that

there are absolutely no obstacles for vocational school stu-

dents to attend EYP Finland’s events, and EYP Finland should

pay more attention to young people who may not study social

studies in school but are socially active and responsible. Deep

knowledge of or even particular interest in European politi-

cal affairs is, a bit surprisingly, not a prerequisite for taking

part in EYP – contrary to a typical stereotype, a majority of our

members are not “EU nerds”.

Language skills: EYP Finland’s parliamentary simulations are

usually done in Finnish or Swedish, which lowers the thresh-

old of participation. When it comes to the sessions, we believe

that communicating in a foreign language is a key part of the

experience, and there is little space for the use of the partici-

pants’ native languages – also because a full fourth or third of

each session’s participants are other than Finnish. However,

the participants’ English doesn’t need to be perfect in any way.

An EYP session is first and foremost a chance to practice your

English in an interesting way seldom offered by traditional

education.

18

Vision

“Our vision is that EYP establishes a culture of academic professionalism, throughout

our organisation and in everything we do.”

Aim

“One of the core elements of the European Youth Parliament is that is a volunteer-

based organisation, all EYP events are organised and run by young people, for young

people. Because of this, we sometimes lack the resources to adequately prepare for

the tasks we take on. Though this has advanced a lot already during the last years, we

feel that there is still a lot of room for improvement and we strongly believe that our

volunteerism can go hand in hand with a strong culture of academic professionalism

in all we do. We see room for improvement on a number of levels.

On an organisational level we want to spread a culture of academic professionalism

throughout EYP – raising the levels of professionalism and academic quality of the

work of our National Committees and the international governance bodies of the EYP

– the Board of National Committees and Governing Body. We feel it is vital to work

on our organisational learning processes, by more sharing of knowledge and best

practices throughout the network and thus striving for synergies. At the same time,

we should be looking more to what is going on outside of our network by consult-

ing other organisations, seeking solutions elsewhere and truly reflect on our needs

together with other stakeholders such as teachers, experts, etc.

We are also aiming to continue the development of the academic quality of our ses-

sions and events. Our flagship events, International Sessions, are recognised as

events of excellent academic standard, but we should not stop striving to do more

and better. We should also spread the best practices and knowledge used at Interna-

4.3. “Achieving”

19

tional Sessions to our other events, where there is more room for improvement. We

aim that all our events and sessions are of a comprehensive educational quality: with

well-designed topics, informative topic overviews, top-quality resolution booklets,

and resulting in a high standard of debates and participation. If we provide even bet-

ter prepared, well-trained chairpersons, our delegates will profit in terms of prepara-

tion, the level of debate and discussion and a deepened learning process.”

EYP Finland

In our opinion, this section of the Long-Term Strategy is somewhat confusing, as it

seems to combine two distinct feature of the EYP’s activities: professionalism in run-

ning the organisation and the “academic quality” of its events. We will consequently

discuss them separately.

“Professionalism” in running the EYP is important, though it is often not clear what

is meant by it. First and foremost, EYP Finland also wishes to be a strong volunteer

organisation but continue improving its organisational culture, such as how its board

functions and how its events are run. Professionalism is understood as aspects such

as timely planning and execution of all projects, sound volunteer management, and

full use of existing know-how. These themes will also be elaborated on in chapter 5.

As stated before, “academic excellence” hasn’t previously been a priority for EYP

Finland, and we believe it shouldn’t be a key strategic aim for us in the future, either

– at least if understood narrowly. For first-time participants, the overall educational

experience is crucial, and we believe there is only so much we can ask from them

in terms of preparation and knowledge. For this reason, we are not too keen to start

using fact sheets and position papers at our sessions, for instance. However, we do

believe there is room for improvement in the academic knowledge and skills of our

older members.

20


Establishing a learning cul-

ture by gathering solutions

to commonly encountered

problems and sharing them.

An up-to-date knowledge

platform with information

relevant to different bodies is

created, updated and avail-

able to all.


plicable.)

EYP Finland takes part

in sharing best practices

through all channels.

Publishing the agenda and

minutes of all meetings on

the international level at least

two weeks prior to/after the

meeting.

The agenda and minutes of

all the meetings of the GB

and the BNC are published

two weeks respectively prior

and after the meeting.


plicable.)

EYP Finland disseminates

international documents via

its communication channels.

Publishing positions of the

Governing Body and National

Committees in advance of

meetings of the Board of

National Committees.

The positions of National

Committees and the GB on

the agenda of BNC meetings

are published at least one

week prior to the meetings.


plicable.)

The board of EYP Finland dis-

cusses its positions for each

BNC meeting on time.

Introducing workshops and

training modules on Euro-

pean affairs at EYP events.

At least 40 workshops and

training modules on Euro-

pean affairs are included in

the events of National Com-

mittees.

Lacking: EYP Finland does

not have workshops or train-

ing modules on European

affairs.

EYP Finland includes a train-

ing module on European af-

fairs in its Alumni Weekend.

The Regional Committees

organise at least three work-

shops on European affairs

each year.

Boosting the learning process

of EYP alumni by contacts

with European institutions,

politicians, experts and the

private sector.

At least 50 Members of the

European Parliament and

three European Commission-

ers attend EYP events every

year. Every National Session

has at least one relevant poli-

tician, expert or private sector

representative in attendance.

Trips and visits which are

open to EYP alumni are regu-

larly organised to European

institutions.

Fulfilled: the National Ses-

sion is attended by politicians,

experts and private sector

representatives.


not organise regular visits to

European institutions.

EYP Finland invites a Finnish

MEP to attend each National

Session.

EYP Finland explores the

possibility to organise a trip a

European institution.

Ensuring academic qual-

ity and cultural-educational

impact of International Ses-

sions.

Criterion of “Academic quality

and cultural-economic im-

pact of the session” is added

to the guideline for assess-

ment of bids to host Interna-

tional Sessions.


plicable.)

EYP Finland ensures its In-

ternational Session delegates

are well-prepared academi-

cally and culturally.

21

Conscious topic choices of

delegates and constructive

research of delegates for

International Sessions.

Explanatory paragraphs are

added to the International

Session topic list before par-

ticipants choose their pre-

ferred topics for all sessions.


plicable.)

EYP Finland supports its

International Session del-

egates’ preparation.

Constructive input of experts

participating in International

and National Sessions.

Expert briefing for experts

participating in EYP events

prepared and circulated for

relevant international and

national events.

Fulfilled: experts at the Na-

tional Session are briefed in

advance.

EYP sessions follow good-

quality, debatable topics, spe-

cifically tailored to the need of

specific EYP events.

Pool of topics and rationales

specifically tailored to the

need of International Ses-

sions is provided every year

by the Academic Council.


plicable.)

EYP Finland pays attention

to the quality of topics at its

sessions.

Guides and all other aca-

demic preparation material is

regularly updated.

National Committees or ses-

sion presidents can also ask

the Alumni Council for assis-

tance with topics for national

and regional events.

Guide on topic formulation for

presidents and a harmonised

guide on topic overviews

prepared.


plicable.)


plicable.)

Establishing sound delegate

preparation system within

the national and the interna-

tional level, including teacher

involvement.

Position papers and fact

sheets are used at all Inter-

national Sessions. If they are

not used, delegate prepara-

tion is guaranteed in a differ-

ent way.


plicable.)

EYP Finland supports its

International Session del-

egates’ preparation.

Sharing of best practices on

delegate preparation within

the National Committees.

At least one third NCs use

PPs and FCs in their delegate

preparation.

Best practices of delegate

preparation in the National

Committees are gathered and

compiled. National Com-

mitees introduce the best

practices within their events.


not use position papers or

fact sheets at its sessions.


plicable.)

EYP Finland considers using

position papers at its National

Session.

EYP Finland participates in

the sharing of best practices.

22

A timely selection of Inter-

national Session delegates

allowing sufficient time for

academic preparation.

All delegations for Interna-

tional Sessions are selected

at least two months in ad-

vance.

Fulfilled: EYP Finland selects

its delegations to Interna-

tional Sessions at least two

months in advance.

Introducing debating culture

in the General Assembly.

Debating training introduced

as a part of General Assembly

preparation at all Interna-

tional Sessions and at least

15 national events.

Lacking: the National Session

has no debate training.

EYP Finland considers intro-

ducing debate training at its

National Sessions.

Ensuring high level of the

Chairs’ Academic Training of

International Sessions.

Chairs’ Academic Training

follows the updated guide-

lines of the Governing Body

and have sufficient modules

on the EU, Europe and topics.

Necessary trainer or external

expert is invited to CAT for

specific modules.


plicable.)

Allowing for further develop-

ment of EYP alumni: organis-

ing alumni forums, a Training

for EYP Ttrainers etc.

At least one alumni forum

and one T4ET is organised

every year for experienced

EYP alumni.


plicable.)

EYP Finland encourages

its members to attend the

Training for EYP Trainers and

alumni forums.

Sharing of best practises on

academic elements of the

session: resolution typ-

ing process, using position

papers and fact sheets in

committee work, topic prepa-

ration etc.

A separate section on these

topics is developed in the

renewed Knowledge Bank.


plicable.)

EYP Finland takes part in

sharing best practices.

Advanced training for presi-

dents and board members.

Training events for session

presidents are organised.


not organise training events

for board members.

EYP Finland organises an an-

nual mini-training for board

members.

23

“European affairs”: EYP and its academic focus

There has recently been discussions about the EYP’s political

neutrality and its academic focus on the international level.

Though the EYP is not EU-affiliated or explicitly promote fur-

ther European integration, we are in reality very EU-focused:

the discussion topics at our sessions most often have the EU

as the actor expected to act on something, and the factual

knowledge we expect our participants to have is mainly EU-re-

lated. This is evident at the Chairs’ Academic Trainings for our

International Sessions and in the preparation booklets handed

out at many other sessions around Europe, for instance.

To a certain extent, focus on the EU is only understandable

and desirable. We wish to discuss pan-European issues, and

the EU is the pan-European actor with the most power to do

something about these issues. One of EYP Finland’s key priori-

ties is to educate its participants not only on “European af-

fairs” in general but the EU in particular, given the EU’s huge

importance for European states and societies. EYP Finland

can and should support schools in teaching their students

about the EU: the EU is a challenging topic of study, and the

EYP’s unique approach to it can be very beneficial.

At the same time, we believe EYP Finland should indeed have

“European affairs” (rather than “EU affairs) as its academic

focus area. In practice, this means e.g. not limiting the discus-

sion topics at our sessions to issues the EU can directly do

something about but including in them a wide variety of issues

governments are the primary actors in – in other words, “what

should European governments do” rather than “what should

the EU do”. This is something we already do in EYP Finland

and internationally. An approach we could still develop is to

explore other pan-European forums of cooperation: the Coun-

cil of Europe, the EEA/EFTA, the OSCE and even the NATO. Our

members’ knowledge of such forums is often non-existent,

which is a shame.

A wider focus on “European affairs” should also be good for

EYP Finland’s public relations. EYP Finland is by no means

ashamed of its international approach or pro-integration

views of many of its members, but it can benefit from mak-

ing it more clear to external observers – such as schools and

potential partners – that EU issues are only a part of the EYP

experience and that EYP Finland doesn’t promote further

European integration as such.

By promoting a wider European focus, EYP Finland can also

take an active role in the development of the EYP network and

enhance its relations with National Committees in non-EU

countries, such as EYP Norway and EYP Switzerland and

National Committees in the Balkan and Caucasus countries.

For Norwegian and Swiss participants, for instance, a wider

European focus is usually very important, and EYP Finland can

benefit from taking one.

24

5. Vision for 2017

5.1. Going forward

The time period covered by this strategy will start with a particularly challenging year

for EYP Finland. In addition to organising the annual National Session, Regional Ses-

sions and various other projects in 2015, EYP Finland will host the 79th International

Session of the EYP in Tampere. An International Session is a project of considerable

scale (a 10-day event for nearly 300 participants from 35-odd countries, with a budget

of over 200,000 EUR), and EYP Finland’s resources, both human and financial, will

be strained throughout the year. Thus, we are proposing no other major initiatives

for 2015. In fact, we believe that EYP Finland should generally – also after 2015 – be

rather careful with expanding its activities.

Organising the current level of EYP Finland’s activities requires considerable effort,

and to this day, this effort has often too heavily fallen on the shoulders of the few. For

a number of years of now, the board of EYP Finland has acknowledged that any sig-

nificant expansion of its activities will require permanent support staff, i.e. a full-time

secretary general to run the organisation’s day-to-day administration and activities.

This is not a matter of losing faith in volunteer work or wasting funding that could be

used in organising more events; it is simply that our activities are currently so wide

and require so much administrative work that some of our volunteers are under un-

necessarily high levels of stress. The board, for instance, is currently unable to take

the strategic role it would have in the ideal situation.

Hiring the central office in Helsinki in 2013 was an important step towards hiring a

secretary general, but a lot still needs to happen for this goal to be fulfilled. The chal-

lenge is primarily financial: currently, EYP Finland does not receive enough non-pro-

ject-related funding to hire staff. Thus, we are urging the board to focus on fundrais-

ing and sound financial management in 2015–2017. Public funding is important for

us. We believe that EYP Finland already matches or surpasses the level of activities

Vision for 2017

1. EYP Finland is recognised

as the leading organisation in

the field of non-formal political

education in Finland. It is well-

known and respected among

schools, other youth organisa-

tions and public institutions and

the general public.

2. EYP Finland is a professionally

run organisation. It has a strong

culture of participation and long-

term commitment.

3. EYP Finland organises varied

activities that correspond with

a broad interpretation of its

mission and the interests of its

members.

25

of some youth organisations that receive more funding than EYP Finland. What needs

to happen for our funding to increase is for EYP Finland to raise its visibility and

especially expand its reach among young people. Luckily, doing so is something that

won’t necessarily require leaps forward in terms of resources: our Regional Sessions

(currently the “Your European Citizenship” campaign), for instance, are cost-efficient

and usually well-funded. It should also be relatively easy to expand our reach con-

siderably through what are now the parliament simulations of the “EU – Take Part

and Learn!” campaign. In general, we should aim at moving from the current 1,200

participants in all of our activities per year to around 2,000–2,500.

In the EYP, big steps that ambitious National Committees can take forward are

often rather narrowly understood as hosting International Sessions or International

Forums. Organising such sessions guarantee international visibility, and it is under-

standable that National Committees still seek to do so – and the EYP naturally needs

enough hosts for such sessions. As implied, however, we believe it would be wise for

EYP Finland to depart from this thinking and focus on other avenues for development.

Our thinking is also guided by our reading of the international environment: in our

opinion, there is currently no lack of International Forums in the EYP. If EYP Finland

wishes to support the development of the international network in the near future,

hosting international training events, for instance, would be more beneficial.

In sum, we believe EYP Finland’s priority should be to consolidate its resources and

expand its reach. Resources should be consolidated by focusing on fundraising and

employing a full-time secretary general; reach should be expanded by increasing the

number of Regional Sessions and organising a more extensive tour in schools. These

aims are interconnected: wider reach helps us raise funds, and better resources help

us expand our reach. This strategy includes dozens of specific measures and success

indicators for the coming three years, but most of them are subsidiary to these key

“battles” that must be won. Next, we will discuss our vision for 2017 in more detail.

Strategic thinking in EYP Fin-

land

In volunteer organisation, the fo-

cus is usually on the day-to-day

activities and immediate goals:

securing the minimum funding

for the next event, submitting a

report by the deadline or reply-

ing to dozens of more or less

urgent emails. In this environ-

ment, strategic thinking is often

neglected.

In the past years, the board of

EYP Finland has taken steps to

ensure that it can be a suffi-

ciently strategic body. This is the

right direction, and the board

must further ensure that “doing

stuff” is the primary responsibil-

ity of someone else.

However, it is not only the board

that should think and act strate-

gically. The Regional Committee

boards, for instance, also have a

responsibility to do so.

26

5.2. Vision for 2017

With this background, we have decided on a vision for EYP Finland for 2017. The vi-

sion has three parts:

1. EYP Finland is recognised as the leading organisation in the field of non-

formal political education in Finland. It is well-known and respected among

schools, other youth organisations and public institutions and the general

public.

2. EYP Finland is a professionally run organisation. It has a strong culture of

participation and long-term commitment.

3. EYP Finland organises varied activities that correspond with a broad inter

pretation of its mission and the interests of its members.

These three parts are meant to be rather broad, but the following sections will in-

clude more specific aims, measures and success indicators under each part.

Parts 1 and 2 of the vision are closely related to the general strategic directions

discussed above. The first part is about widening EYP Finland’s reach and making

it a better-known actor in the Finnish NGO field in general and non-formal political

education in particular. As discussed above, we believe EYP Finland’s reach is un-

necessarily narrow and can be relatively easily expanded. We propose merging EYP

Finland’s two annual campaigns, “Your European Citizenship” and “EU – Take Part

and Learn!”, into one campaign that would retain the name of the former. The new

“Your European Citizenship” would combine the old campaigns’ best elements, the

Regional Sessions and the parliamentary simulations, and make it easier for EYP

Finland to fund and organise both. This would also enable EYP Finland to sharpen

Two campaigns become one

While both “Your European

Citizenship” and “EU – Take Part

and Learn!” have been success-

ful campaigns over the recent

years, they have partly over-

lapped and led to inefficient use

of EYP Finland’s resources. The

new “Your European Citizen-

ship” is designed to maintain

the level of activities of the two

campaigns and actually raise it

considerable but do so in a more

streamlined way.

The part inherited from the old

“EUTPAL” are the parliamentary

simulations EYP Finland will

now organise throughout the

year in upper secondary schools,

select vocational schools and

grades 7–9 of comprehensive

schools. The part inherited from

the old “YEC” are the Regional

Sessions, 4–6 of them annually

in 2015–2017.

27

its image as an educational organisation and develop as one. The benefits of a better

relationship between EYP Finland and teachers, for instance, would be considerable.

Part 2 of the vision relates to strengthening EYP Finland’s administration and organi-

sational culture. The former was already discussed above. While ensuring that EYP

Finland is run “professionally”, we should also develop our volunteer base. It has

often been the problem that promising young members of EYP Finland leave the or-

ganisation after a couple of years or take part in its activities in a way that is not par-

ticularly beneficial for the organisation. EYP Finland can’t naturally do anything about

its members moving abroad to study, and all its members don’t need to become head

organisers, but in general, we should be much better at keeping our members active

and committed to the organisation – to “manage” the talent. The international level

should also be brought closer to EYP Finland and its members.

Part 3 of the vision was not directly touched upon in the previous section. It has two

levels: the first level simply refers to the quality of EYP Finland’s events. While we are

not proposing any new significant projects for the immediate future, it is important to

set certain objectives, some of them rather ambitious, for our basic activities. There

is particular potential on the regional level: the Regional Committees could much

better use the more experienced alumni, for instance, to organise smaller training

events for their members. And again, our members should better use the numerous

opportunities abroad. The second level of part 3 sets foot on a more uncharted ter-

ritory, and it may truly come into picture only when the more urgent objectives have

been met and the EYP network as a whole has started moving forward. The EYP’s

basic “product” are currently its sessions. Our mission, however, doesn’t limit us to

organising sessions, and the process of interpreting it more broadly should also be-

gin in Finland. There are all kinds of “responsible citizens” who could greatly benefit

from taking part in EYP, but they may never find their way to us as long as the EYP

experience is solely understood and marketed as a parliamentary simulation.

A selection of quantitative ob-

jectives for 2017

• Students from 100 upper

secondary schools and 15

vocational schools take part

in the Regional Sessions.

• Students from 30 upper

secondary schools, six

vocational schools and 15

comprehensive schools

take part in parliamentary

simulations.

• EYP Finland organises six

Regional Sessions.

• EYP Finland has 2,500

members.

• The Regional Committees

organise 10 training events

and 14 other events.

• Members of EYP Finland

attend EYP events abroad

190 times.

28

Aim Measures and success indicators

EYP Finland has a clear public image.

Communications

All active members are aware of the EYP’s mission and aims. These are covered at

the Alumni Weekend, Head Organisers’ Summit and board training events.

EYP Finland maintains a uniform corporate identity in its communications. It is cov-

ered at the Head Organisers’ Summit and board training events.

Each event and campaign has a distinct identity designed in relation to EYP Finland’s

corporate identity.

EYP Finland has promotional materials tailored for each of its target groups: po-

tential participants at upper secondary schools and vocational schools, schools and

teachers and private partners.

The board member for communications is responsible for protecting EYP Finland’s

public image.

EYP Finland reaches all upper second-

ary schools and their students each

year. Events/Internal

EYP Finland maintains a detailed database of all upper secondary schools and their

participation in its activities.

For its annual “Your European Citizenship” campaign, EYP Finland approaches all

upper secondary schools by email, phone calls and visits where possible.

Students from at least 80/90/100 upper secondary schools take part in the Regional

Sessions each year.

Students from at least one upper secondary school in the 20 largest cities in Finland

(Helsinki, Espoo, Tampere, Vantaa, Oulu, Turku, Jyväskylä, Kuopio, Lahti, Kouvola,

Pori, Joensuu, Lappeenranta, Hämeenlinna, Vaasa, Rovaniemi, Seinäjoki, Mikkeli,

Kotka and Salo) take part in the Regional Sessions each year.

Students from at least 20/25/30 upper secondary schools take part in parliamentary

simulations each year.

EYP Finland reaches select vocational

schools and their students each year.

Events/Internal

EYP Finland maintains a detailed database of select vocational schools and their

participation in its activities.

For its annual “Your European Citizenship” campaign, EYP Finland approaches

select vocational schools by email, phone calls and visits where possible.

Students from at least 5/10/15 vocational schools take part in the Regional Sessions

each year.

Students from at least 2/4/6 vocational schools take part in parliamentary simula-

tions each year.

5.3. VISION FOR 2017, PART 1

EYP FINLAND IS RECOGNISED AS THE LEADING ORGANISATION IN THE FIELD OF NON-FORMAL

POLITICAL EDUCATION IN FINLAND. IT IS WELL-KNOWN AND RESPECTED AMONG SCHOOLS, OTHER

YOUTH ORGANISATIONS AND PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC.

29

EYP Finland reaches select compre-

hensive schools (grades 7–9) and their

students each year. Events/Internal

EYP Finland maintains a detailed database of select comprehensive schools (grades

7–9) and their participation in its activities.

Students from at least 5/10/15 comprehensive schools (grades 7–9) take part in

parliamentary simulations each year.

All members of EYP Finland’s target

group have a realistic chance of at-

tending EYP Finland’s events each year.

Events/Internal

EYP Finland organises at least 4/5/6 Regional Sessions each year. The sessions are

spread in different areas.

EYP Finland keeps the participation fees of Regional Sessions at the maximum of 25

EUR and the National Session at the maximum of 40 EUR.

EYP Finland has a good working rela-

tionship with teachers. Teachers can

meaningfully contribute to EYP Fin-

land’s activities. Internal

EYP Finland contacts relevant teachers’ associations each year to promote the “Your

European Citizenship” campaign and EYP in general.

EYP Finland offers any and all teachers the chance to observe its sessions. It organ-

ises a bigger reception for teachers at the National Session.

EYP Finland has a mailing list with at least 10/20/30 teachers. The list is used every

1–3 months to share news or discuss topical issues.

EYP Finland supports teachers in organising EYP-like activities in their schools

through the “Your European Citizenship” campaign.

EYP Finland is well-known and recog-

nised among local and national politi-

cians and public institutions. Events/

Communications

Each Regional Session has a prominent local politician or civil servant as its patron.

Each National Session has a prominent national or European politican as its patron.

The resolution booklet of each National Session is sent to the Members of Finnish

Parliament with a general introduction to EYP Finland.

EYP Finland is well-known and respect-

ed among other Finnish youth organisa-

tions. President

EYP Finland sends representatives to the annual general meeting and other select

meetings and training events of Suomen Nuorisoyhteistyö – Allianssi.

EYP Finland takes part in relevant national campaigns (e.g. on youth participation in

elections) organised by other youth organisations.

EYP Finland organises an annual non-EYP-related training event on an issue it has

special expertise on (e.g. training, leadership, project management, team building,

team facilitation, European affairs). Training events on such topics on the regional

level will also be opened to members of other youth organisations.

EYP Finland represents at relevant fairs.

Representatives of select youth organisations are invited to attend the Annual Ball

each year.

30

EYP Finland is visible in the media.

Communications

EYP Finland and its events are covered in at least 25/10/15 newspaper articles or

other media pieces each year.

Each Regional and National Session has a media strategy.

EYP Finland is visible in social media.

Communications

EYP Finland posts updates on its website and shares them in social media at least

once a week.

EYP Finland’s Facebook page has at least 2,300/2,900/3,500 likes, and EYP Finland

posts updates on average once a day.

EYP Finland doesn’t have separate Facebook pages for its Regional and National

Sessions but concentrates all its Facebook communications on its own page. Media

teams of both Regional and National Sessions can have their own pages, with a

single page for all Regional Session media teams each year.

EYP Finland has 1,000/1,500/2,000 Twitter followers and tweets on average twice a

day.

EYP Finland has 300/400/500 Instagram followers and posts photos on average

every three days.

31

EYP as an educational experience

The stated field of the EYP is non-formal political education.

It seeks to educate its participants in the democratic process,

European politics and international cooperation. As explained

above, we wish to sharpen EYP Finland’s image and self-un-

derstanding as an educational organisation. But what do our

participants learn, then?

Through the EYP experience, our participants are sure to gain

knowledge. As explained above, “European affairs” doesn’t

merely refer to constitutional EU affairs, for instance. Rather,

they cover a wide variety of policy areas, from health care to

immigration and from defence to environment. The partici-

pants need to learn the key facts about a specific topic, form

an opinion and argue for it. The important aspect of the EYP

experience is that the participants discuss the issues on their

own terms – the EYP participants only represent themselves,

not real-world countries or political parties. We believe this

leads to a higher degree of interest and commitment.

We should also remember that in addition to simple knowl-

edge, our participants should gain understanding. In this

respect, we consider too extensive and detailed preparation

materials likely to be of little use and even counter-productive.

Enough attention should always be paid to explaining the

issues and their importance in terms a 16-year-old with

no background in political science can understand and get

interested in. Truth to be told, detailed knowledge of the EU’s

legislative procedure is hardly necessary.

In addition to knowledge and understanding of European po-

litical affairs, active participation in the EYP – especially past

the starting level – also provides young people with important

transferable skills and knowledge (skills and knowledge that

are useful in a variety of occupations) and considerable experi-

ence in using them. For many active participants, these are

the most important benefit of the EYP experience.

First, while Finnish youth generally receive excellent language

education, actually working in a foreign language – and with

foreigners – can still be a considerable challenge for many

and something most young people won’t really experience be-

fore doing an exchange year abroad or eventually entering the

work world. Thus, gaining concrete experience using a foreign

language can be huge benefit – and this is something the EYP

experience clearly provides our participants with.

In addition to experience in communicating in a foreign

language, the EYP’s active participants learn a wide variety

of skills: team facilitation, training, project management,

fundraising, event organisation, mangement and leadership,

and so on. Some skills can be rather surprising – many learn

accounting, video-editing and graphic design, for instance.

It is naturally true that one learns useful skills by volunteer-

ing in any youth organisation. However, the European Youth

Parliament has a strong culture of personal and organisation-

al development, and special attention is paid to consciously

developing our members’ skills and the know-how on different

levels of our organisation. In a way, each new generation of

participants will have better know-how in their use, and this

know-how is consciously passed on through training and other

means. Since 2010, the EYP’s training competence has been

developed by the former EYP Academy, current Training and

Alumni Development Council. Many members of EYP Finland

have also taken part in Training for EYP Trainers, the eight-day

training course for aspiring trainers in EYP, and then used

their expertise to train at the events of EYP Finland.

In a way, the traditional “EYP route”, from Regional to National

and then International Sessions, is a competition. EYP Finland,

for instance, seeks to select the best individuals to move

“forward” from session to session and eventually represent

Finland at the International Sessions. The selection is based

on committee chairpersons evaluating their delegates at each

session according to EYP Finland’s selection criteria. However,

all participants are very welcome to continue taking part in

EYP activities in Finland and internationally.

Feedback has traditionally also been used in the EYP to sup-

port our participants’ development. Originated at International

Sessions, feedback is now also used at the national level, and

training in both getting and giving feedback – another very

useful skill – is given to our alumni.

32


The board of EYP Finland functions effi-

ciently and in good cooperation with the

Regional Committee boards. President

A board training weekend is organised for each new board.

The board has 4–5 two-day meetings each year.

Each Regional Committee president attends at least 75% of the board meetings.

The president visits each Regional Committee at least once each year.

EYP Finland has a central office respon-

sible for the day-to-day administration

of the organisation. President

EYP Finland employs a full-time secterary general responsible for the day-to-day

administration of the organisation and supporting its board and organising teams of

its events.

EYP Finland employs part-time project employees or interns when necessary and

possible.

Decision-making in EYP Finland is

democratic and visible. President, Com-

munications

Materials for each spring and autumn meeting are published at least 14 days in ad-

vance. Minutes of each spring and autumn meeting are published within two weeks

of the meetings.

The minutes of each board meeting are published within one week of the meeting.

The board regularly shares updates of its work through the Facebook page.

EYP Finland has a culture of strategic

thinking and acting on all levels of the

organisation. President, Internal

The long-term strategy is implemented as instructed in chapter 6 of this document.

Annual work plans are prepared jointly by the board and the Regional Committees

and used throughout the work year.

Annual work plans of the Regional Committees are prepared in relation to the work

plan of EYP Finland.

Know-how is stored and passed on

on the different levels of EYP Finland.

President, Internal

EYP Finland’s archives are stored and kept up to date in the cloud and shared with

the board and, where appropriate, the Regional Committee boards and head organ-

isers.

A weekend-long training event is organised for each new board.

Regional Committee boards organise shorter training events, supported by the

board of EYP Finland.

The history and long-term strategy of EYP Finland are presented at the Alumni

Weekend.

Relevant documents (e.g. annual work plans and work reports, the long-term strat-

egy, the history and various guides) are readily available to all members.

The history of EYP Finland is updated for its 15th anniversary in 2016.


EYP FINLAND IS A PROFESSIONALLY RUN ORGANISATION. IT HAS A STRONG CULTURE OF PARTICIPA-

TION AND LONG-TERM COMMITMENT.

33

EYP Finland steadily expands its mem-

bership pool. Internal

EYP Finland gains at least 300/350/400 new members each year.

At least 150/200/250 members pay their membership fees each year.

The alumni Facebook group has 400/500/600 members.

The members are interested in running

EYP Finland and organising its events.

President, Internal

At least 25/30/35 members attend the Spring General Meeting each year. At least

40/50/60 members attend the Autumn General Meeting each year.

At least 10 members run for the board of EYP Finland each year.

There are competitive elections for the Regional Committee boards each year.

Opportunities in the organisation are promoted for new members at Regional and

National Sessions, the Alumni Weekend and regional events. Information on these

opportunities is readily available.

The members of EYP Finland remain

committed to the organisation for a

longer time. Volunteering for EYP Fin-

land is considered rewarding. Internal

All candidates for the board of EYP Finland have at least three years of experience in

the organisation prior to running for the board.

The board and Regional Committees actively manage talent by pushing members

with potential to take responsibility and offering them interesting opportunities.

Special attention is paid to members already studying at university and offering

them with interesting opportunities.

The costs of volunteering are kept to a minimum.

There is a strong sense of community

among the members of EYP Finland.

Internal

At least 50 members attend the Annual Ball each year.

At least 30 members attend the Alumni Weekend each year.

Membership hoodies are produced and offered for all members and delegations

attending events abroad.

For EYP Finland’s 15th anniversary in 2016, EYP Finland will organise a special An-

nual Ball with more guests, especially older alumni. Each Regional Committee will

hold a smaller event on EYP Finland’s “birthday”, 15 June.

EYP Finland keeps its older alumni in-

formed of its news and offers them the

chance to offer input and feel connected

to EYP Finland. Internal

EYP Finland has a mailing list with at least 15/25/35 older alumni. The list is used

every 4–5 months to share news or discuss topical issues.

A dinner is organised for older alumni each spring.

34

EYP Finland receives project-related

and long-term funding from varied

sources. Fundraising/Treasurer/Presi-

dent

EYP Finland seeks to at least double its annual support from the Ministry on Educa-

tion and Culture and guarantee an annual grant for its “Your European Citizenship”

campaign from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

Private funding?

In addition to the board member for fundraising, the treasurer’s role will mostly

focus on fundraising after a secretary general is hired.

Fundraising for the coming work year is always started in autumn the previous year.

The board member for fundraising ensures that all partnerships are managed as

professionally as possible.

EYP Finland seeks to “sell” its activities to potential partners in a unified manner.

EYP Finland sends a representative to each Fundraising Summit of the EYP. Input

from the summit is actively used to develop EYP Finland’s fundraising and train its

members on fundraising.

EYP Finland is a visible actor in the

international governance of the EYP.

International/President

The board of EYP Finland follows international developments and discussions ac-

tively.

The board of EYP Finland expresses its stand on each significant issue discussed on

the BNC mailing list and its meetings.

EYP Finland sends a representative to each significant BNC Working Group.

The members of EYP Finland are inter-

ested in the wider EYP network and its

governance. International

At least 40/50/60 members of EYP Finland vote in the Governing Body elections each

year.

Each Alumni Council has a Finnish member.

EYP Finland actively promotes updates from the Governing Body and the Board of

National Committees, calls for Alumni Council members and other international

news through its communication channels.

35

Organising EYP Finland’s work year

The normal work year of EYP Finland is already rather full.

2015 will look more or less like this (key international events

are written in cursive):

January: National Session, Board Meeting

February: Head Organisers’ Summit, “Your European Citizen-

ship” Training Course

March: Alumni Weekend, Organisational Training Course,

Board Meeting

April: Spring General Meeting, Alumni Dinner, Spring Interna-

tional Session, Spring BNC Meeting

May: Journalists’ Training Course, Chairs’ Academic Training

for Tampere 2015

June: Summer Alumni Gathering, Board Meeting

July: Tampere 2015

August: Chairs’ Training Course, Board Meeting, EYP Summer

Academy

September: School visits

October: Regional Sessions, Board Meeting, Autumn Interna-

tional Session, Autumn BNC Meeting

November: Regional Sessions, Autumn General Meeting, An-

nual Ball

December: Annual General Meetings of the Regional Commit-

tees, Board Training Weekend

Excluding the National Session that normally takes place in

January, most of EYP Finland’s activities taking place within

one calendar year are organised entirely during that calendar

year – for instance, the head organisers of the 2015 Regional

Sessions are selected in January 2015. This has generally

worked rather well in recent years, but it does pose certain

challenges. We would benefit from generally starting to

prepare for the coming work year earlier, at least be launch-

ing the call for head organisers early enough and starting the

fundraising well before January.

The activities of the new “Your European Citizenship” cam-

paign are meant to be spread out more evenly throughout

the year. In past years, a problem has been that parliament

simulations have only been organised in autumn, while there

is demand for them throughout the year. A training event for

the facilitators of the parliament simulations will be held in

February (ideally together with the Head Organisers’ Summit),

but parliament simulations can basically be scheduled for the

whole year.

When it comes to the Regional Sessions, most key details (es-

pecially the most important venues) should have been decided

and confirmed by March–April. EYP Finland can then start

signing up participants for these events from early on, rather

than doing it all under stress in September. Hopefully, there

would generally be more time between the delegations’ regis-

tration and their participation in a session, and no delegation

would register less than three weeks prior to the event.

With 5–6 Regional Sessions, some of them will have take place

simultaneously. This should actually be possible, especially be

with a secretary general. While the Regional Sessions are run-

ning in October–November, the board should already largely

focus on planning the coming year and preparing grant appli-

cations, for instance. The Regional Sessions naturally require

some attendance by board members, but ideally, they should

have been planned so well in advance that in October–Novem-

ber, the board would merely monitor the implementation of

the plans. The secretary general will have an important role in

supporting the sessions from the administrative side.

In November–December, the incumbent board and the board-

elect must work together to ensure a smooth transition over

the holiday period. The Autumn General Meeting should

ideally be organised closer to the beginning of November so

that this can be ensured. The Board Training Weekend is an

extremely important event.

As has already been said many times, managing activities

of this scope professionally is very difficult, and often many

events have been pulled off only barely. The secretary general

will take most of this responsibility, which will enable the

board to take a more strategic role and simply oversee most

of the activities, rather than work on them for long hours

throughout the year.

36


The sessions of EYP Finland are in-

ternationally recognised and popular.

International

Each National Session is presided by a former International Session vice president.

Each Regional Session is presided by a former International Session chair. EYP

Finland reimburses the presidents’ travel costs.

EYP Finland receives chair/journalist applications from at least 75 individuals for the

National Session. EYP Finland receives chair/journalist applications from at least

150/180/210 individuals for the Regional Sessions.

Each National Session has 2–3 foreign delegates per committee. Each Regional

Session has 1–2 foreign delegates per committee.

Officials for all sessions are selected in

an open and transparent manner, with

emphasis on the quality of applications.

International

After each selection, the selection panel publishes a selection report. The report is

emailed to all applicants.

Unsuccessful applicants are given the chance to receive written feedback on their

applications.

Delegates from Regional to National

and again to International Sessions are

selected in an open and transparent

manner. Events/Internal

EYP Finland’s delegate selection criteria correspond to the EYP Competence Frame-

work.

EYP Finland’s delegate selection process is explained in the opening speech by the

board representative at each session.

The chairs at all sessions are familiar with EYP Finland’s delegate selection proce-

dure and criteria. A board representative covers the criteria in pre-session training.

Chairs at all sessions are encouraged to provide their delegates with written feed-

back on their performance. Giving feedback is covered in pre-session training.

The sessions of EYP Finland are of high

academic quality. Communications

The committee topics at all sessions are understandable and interesting. Explana-

tory paragraphs are used for explaining the topics and their relevance to both

delegates and officials.

Preparation kits are used at all sessions.

EYP Finland creates and maintains a section for preparation on its website.

Delegates and officials at all sessions are provided with EYP Finland’s “Introduction

to the European Union and European affairs”.

Each National Session has expert hearings if competent experts can be guaranteed.


EYP FINLAND ORGANISES VARIED ACTIVITIES THAT CORRESPOND WITH A BROAD INTERPRETATION OF

ITS MISSION AND THE INTERESTS OF ITS MEMBERS.

37

EYP Finland organises high-quality

international training events and other

training events for its members. Events

EYP Finland organises an international Chairs’ Training Course and Journalists’

Training Course each year.

Each international training event has 2–3 trainers, at least one of whom is a mem-

ber of the Pool of Trainers. EYP Finland reimburses the trainers’ travel costs.

Each international training event has 20–30 participants, 5–10 of whom foreign.

The Regional Committees organise at least 10 smaller training events on a variety of

topics each year.

Members of EYP Finland attend EYP

events abroad actively. International

At least 70% of the Finnish delegates at the National Session are given the opportu-

nity to attend events abroad in the coming year.

Members of EYP Finland attend EYP events abroad at least 150/170/190 times each

year.

At least one member of EYP Finland is selected to all International Session chairs’

and media teams.

EYP Finland receives applications from at least 10/14/18 individuals for the wild card

positions at summer International Sessions.

The board ensures that presidents at Regional and National Sessions provide their

officials with feedback and international recommendations when appropriate.

Each Regional and National Session has a Finnish board member.

Delegates at Regional and National Sessions are provided with a brochure on at-

tending events abroad.

Tutorials on attending events abroad and writing applications are organised by all

Regional Committees each year.

At least two members of EYP Finland attend a Training for EYP Trainers each year.

At least five members of EYP Finland attend other training events abroad each year.

EYP Finland’s delegations to Interna-

tional Sessions and other sessions

abroad are well-prepared and feel like a

delegation. International

A teambuilding and preparation day is organised for each International Session

delegation and other delegations if possible.

EYP Finland sends a chaperone to each spring and autumn International Session.

A separate Facebook group (“EYP Finland at Session 2015”) is created for Finnish

delegates, chaperones and officials attending each event abroad and used for pre-

and post-event communication.

38

The Regional Committees organise

varied activities throughout the year.

Internal

The Regional Committees organise at least smaller 8/10/12 training events each

year.

The Regional Committees organise at least 10/12/14 other events each year.

The 20th anniversary of Finland’s EU

membership is visible in EYP Finland’s

activities in 2015.

The theme of the 2015 “Your European Citizenship” campaign will relate to the 20th

anniversary of Finland’s EU membership.

Finland’s 100th anniversary is vis-

ible in EYP Finland’s activities in 2017.

President

The theme of the 2017 National Session will relate to Finland’s 100th anniversary.

The theme of the 2017 “Your European Citizenship” campaign will relate to Finland’s

100th anniversary.

39

Regional Committees and “varied activities”

EYP Finland currently has five Regional Committees, and they

cover the entire country. The Regional Committees are fairly

well established, and many of them have organised significant

local activities for their members. At the same time, the local

level is not yet entirely developed in EYP Finland, and more

should be done to ensure that the Regional Committees func-

tion in an active, sustainable way.

The Regional Committee boards are generally rather young

– their members are usually between 16 and 19 years of age.

This is both a challenge and an opportunity. As this is very

much a learning experience for the young board members,

the Regional Committees’ administration is often challeng-

ing, and the board of EYP Finland has not always succeeded in

providing the regional boards with the necessary support and

oversight. At the same time, we believe it is fairly unsual in

Finland for people of this age to get significant board experi-

ence, and EYP Finland should highlight this fact in its internal

communications. Ideally, our active members would first gain

some crucial experience as members of the regional boards

before running for the national board. Being a member of the

board of EYP Finland, a large national organisation, is usually

too big a challenge for first-timers.

The Regional Committees should be both supported and

given enough freedom. The national board should support the

regional boards in all administrative affairs, for instance, and

ensure that the whole of EYP Finland works toward the same

goals annually. At the same time, the Regional Committees

should have enough freedom to organise activities their mem-

bers are interested in.

It is also on the regional level where we believe it is possible

for the “varied activities” to be organised. In this respect, we

think it is time to retire the curious concept of “EYP Cafés”.

When the Regional Committees were first established, this

concept, taken from the old International Sessions, came to

mean the social activities organised by Regional Committees.

Since then, the concept has curiously seemed to limit the

Regional Committees’ understanding of what kind of acitiv-

ites they can and should organise. Though exceptions are

also numerous, most local activites have seemed to be social

gatherings – often in a coffee shop! – without much further

content. While such social gatherings certainly serve a vital

purpose and should remain a key part of EYP Finland’s local

activities, we believe the Regional Committees would greatly

benefit from organising more varied acitivies.

First, it is generally very easy and cheap for the Regional

Committees to organise smaller training events tailored to the

interests of their members. These training events can cover

such topics as public speaking, European affairs, training,

leadership, application writing, debate, editing at EYP ses-

sions, graphic design and presiding and vice presiding at EYP

sessions – some of these topics naturally require 1–2 days,

but some can be organised in 2–6 hours. At least in Helsinki,

Tampere and Turku, there should be many older alumni

capable and interested in using their expertise to train others.

The board of EYP Finland and former participants of Train-

ings for EYP Trainers should support these training initiatives.

Materials, for instance, can easily be disseminated to all the

Regional Committees and used and developed all over again.

Second, the Regional Committees should explore other

activities. Some Regional Committees have already organised

panel debates during elections in cooperation with other youth

organisations, and another good idea are public discussions

as already organised by the Regional Committee in Turku. Ex-

cursions and talks by EYP alumni already in working life (e.g.

in Brussels or Finnish politics) are also possible. These are

all just examples. The regional boards can really think outside

the box and organise activities that interest their members the

most.

40

6. Implementation and renewal

The board of EYP Finland is responsible for the implementation and renewal of this

long-term strategy. It is up to the board to take EYP Finland forward with meaningful

but realistic steps and ensure that the strategy is fully implemented. Most quantita-

tive success indicators include year-by-year steps, but in general, all aims are meant

to be achieved as soon as possible.

The board is obliged to take the strategy into consideration while preparing its an-

nual work plans (toimintasuunnitelma) and annual work reports (toimintakertomus).

A specific chapter on the strategy must be included in both the work plans and work

reports. While presenting the work plans and reports to the general meetings of the

organisation (the autumn meeting in the case of the plans and the spring meeting

in the case of the reports), special emphasis must be put on explaining the plan or

report in relation to the long-term strategy. The members of EYP Finland can also

suggest new directions or emphasis areas to the board at these meetings.

We strongly recommend that the long-term strategy is presented to and exten-

sively discussed by each new board of EYP Finland; here, the president’s role is very

important. In addition to the developments in Finland, the board must closely follow

international developments and the strategy process of the international network –

and actively contribute to it.

The board of EYP Finland is to establish a working group to prepare the next long-

term strategy in spring 2017. The group is to study the implementation of this strate-

gy and the developments with EYP Finland and internationally and prepare a strategy

for 2018–2021 (or other reasonable timeframe). The new strategy is to be presented

to the autumn general meeting and put into force from January 2018 onwards.

Who is responsible for what?

Each aim in the above tables

includes a suggestion as to who

should be the board mem-

ber “owning” that aim, i.e. be

responsible for it in any given

year. We have used the standard

allocation of board portfolios:

• President

• Treasurer

• Fundraising

• Events

• Communications (including

Educational)

• Internal Affairs (including

Teachers and Alumni)

• International Affairs

Ownership of each aim is crucial

for the implementation of the

strategy. In the beginning of

each year, the board should go

through all the aims, measures

and success indicators and

determine which actors will

responsible for their implemen-

tation..

41

7. Conclusion

The European Youth Parliament is growing and changing rapidly. It is well possible

that over the next three years, the EYP and EYP Finland will experience changes or

circumstances we have been unable to envision while writing this strategy. Thus,

EYP Finland naturally needs to be ready to improvise and adapt to changing circum-

stances. Hopefully, the board can soon fully take the strategic role it should have. All

members of EYP Finland should remember that strategy isn’t about sticking to an

existing plan with religious fervor. Rather, it is about constantly thinking about the

future and revising your plans. As the old maxim goes: plans are irrelevant, but plan-

ning is essential.

On the other hand, some things are clear. We believe it is all-important for EYP

Finland to ensure its further development by first consolidating its resources and

expanding its reach. This document includes dozens of objectives, measures and

success indicators, but the organisation’s, and especially its board’s, focus should

never wander away from these key aims – until they are met, of course. EYP Finland

has excellent volunteers, but so that we could fully use these volunteers’ potential in

a meaningful way, we will also need some hired help. At the same time, EYP Finland

should break away from its shell and seek to truly make itself known among the

Finnish youth, schools, decision-makers, media and other youth organisations.

Looking beyond 2017 is still difficult. If EYP Finland largely succeeds in following this

strategy, in three years’ time it will be a different organisation in many ways. Even

with better recources, running the level of activities envisioned in this document will

be rather difficult. Funding, for instance, cannot be guaranteed in uncertain economic

times. If EYP Finland wishes to organise an International Session or International Fo-

rum after 2017, planning them can and should naturally start earlier. Another idea for

the future might be organising two National Sessions each year (one in April–May and

one in November–December, each followed by three Regional Sessions), but whether

this would be manageable or reasonable is a question for another day.

42

European Youth Parliament Finland – EYP-Finland ry

Uudenmaankatu 15 A 5, 00120 Helsinki

http://www.eypfinland.org

[email protected]

Documents

EYP Finland's strategy 2015–2017