Official Magazine of the International Forum on Integration in Wiesbaden, 2011.

Welcome Issue

In this Issue:Integration

Tourist Information

NGOs

Language Lessons

Official Insights

2.

Dear participants ofthe International Forum on Integration

in Wiesbaden,

Welcome. Welcome to a truly unique and exciting

experience. Welcome to Wiesbaden; welcome to new

people, new experiences, new challenges; welcome to a

Forum with a twist; welcome to the chance to make a

difference.

There really is a lot to look forward to at this point, and I

hope the articles of this Issue will have you most excited to

begin. However, first, I would like to thank each and every

one of you for being here – for coming from all over Europe,

giving up your week just to participate in this Forum.

Without that willingness, that risk taken on your parts, this

event would have no meaning. So, I thank you.

If I could hope for anything for you at this point, I would

hope that you truly open yourselves to what is possible here.

That you open yourselves to the strange Teambuilding

games, to the new people, to the debates, the problem-

solving, the fun, the difficulties and the rewards. Here, at the

outset, I challenge you to leave here next week without

regrets for tries you never made, for not standing to speak in

GA, for not experiencing all that is here laid out for you to

experience. This one's for you, guys.

Your Editor,

Eoin O'Leary.

Editorial

ContentPage 2,

Zeynep Ekinci says Welcome

Page 4,Leo Kaindl guides you

Beyond Topic Discussion

Page 5,Weronika Myck tours you through

the Wonders ofWiesbaden

Page 6,Gwen Pare has some Insider

Information on the Officials

Page 7,Philipp Magin outlines the Integral

Challenge at the heart of this Forum

3.

Irish uses ‘Tá fáilte romhat/

romhaibh' which is literally, in

modern Irish, 'There is (a)

welcome before you' but could

mean originally something like

'There is delight before you' or

'There is delight coming with you’.

Say WelcomeZeynep Ekinci delves into the origin ofthe term for'welcome' in each ofour native languages.

People come, people go. We all greet people with our warm smiles and

nice gestures as the first big step of our amazing hospitality and say

The word ‘welcome’ in English comes from

‘wilcuma’ in earlier Old English. Wilcuma

used to mean ‘welcome guest’ or ‘one whose

coming is in accord with another’s will.’ The

origin of the first part, ‘wil’ comes from ‘willa’

which used to mean ‘pleasure, desire’ and

‘cuma’ was related to ‘cuman’ which meant

‘guest’, having the same origin as the word

‘come’.

‘welcome’ in our own languages.

In German , which is probably the real root of many

different languages, it is said ‘Willkommen’. We can

find a bunch of other languages influenced by

German in which saying ‘Welcome’

is very close to ‘Willkommen.’ It is ‘Velkommen’ in

Danish, it is ‘Waikommen’ in Swedish while in

Luxembourgish it is ‘Wellkomm’.

As well as those above, many

other languages use the same basic

form with two words emphasising

‘well’ + ‘come’. In Serbian it

is ‘dobrodošli’ with ‘dobro’ meaning

‘well’ and ‘došli’ meaning ‘come’.

The same thing is also

right for Spanish ‘Bine

Venidos’ and Catalan ‘Ben

vinguts’French is one of the languages

which makes its ‘bienvenu’ special.

Bienvenu is also an

omen name given to a much wanted

child.

In Italian, the word ‘welcome’ is translated as

‘benvenuto’ or ‘ben venuto’. The etymology is

Latin, from ‘bene’, which means ‘well’ and

‘venuto’, which means ‘come’ or ‘arrived’.

‘Benvenuto’ is also a male's

name, which was used very

much during medieval times

but which is not very

commonly used today. It's

clearly a good luck wish for

the new born baby, as it

means ‘happily born’ and ‘been awaited for a

long time’. It comes from Israel, from a

name which meant ‘Bless who comes’.

As with Irish, the Turkish expression changes depending on

whether you welcome a singular or plural ‘you’; ‘Hoş geldin/ Hoşgeldiniz’, since it acts as a short sentence.

In Albanian, it is ‘mirëseerdhët’, in Finnish it

is ‘Tervetuloa’ , in Estonian it is ‘Tere tule-

mast’ and in Ukranian ‘ласкаво просимо’

(pronounced like laskavo prosymo).

Wherever you come from, I’m saying to all

of you a warm ‘welcome’, hopefully one un-

derstood by all of us.

In Polish, ‘witać’ is the word

for saying ‘welcome’. In Old

Polish, ‘witati’ meant ‘to live’

and ‘wit’ usedto mean ‘to

be’.

4.

Leo Kaindl tells us a littleabout what will make theWiesbaden Forum so special.

Here you are. Once again back at an

EYP session, probably neither your

first nor your last one. When you

signed up for the International

Forum in Wiesbaden, there were

perhaps many things just strolling

through your mind. You might

perhaps have asked yourself, would

Wiesbaden become a Summer

Session? You could have looked up

whether the date fits to your school

terms or university semesters,

perhaps looked into how you would

get here. You tried to find out which

friends would also come here, didn't

you? In short, you would have

thought about what makes this

Forum worth attending and if there

was anything about Wiesbaden that

would rightfully make you prefer it

to any other Session. And, by way

of even shorter answer, indeed there

is.

As you may already have read on

Facebook, in the Call for Delegates

or the info-sheet provided by the

organising team quite a long time

ago, you will experience more than

merely Teambuilding, Committee

Work and General Assembly here.

Apart from – of course – several

evenings reserved to party, you will

get the chance to really make a

difference. EYP in Wiesbaden offers

more than mere talks and endless

discussions of your common ideas

removed from reality. Here in

Wiesbaden, EYP will try to break

open its borders as a parliament.

When GA is done, your work will

be far from finished. You will get

the special opportunity to develop

your own projects with

representatives from several NGOs,

based on the analysis in your

resolutions and your understandings

of the core issues.

For example, having successfully

dealt in their resolution with

admittance processes in the

European Union and the resulting

violations of asylum seekers' and

immigrants' human rights, the

members of the Committee on

Human Rights will collaborate with

an employee of the city of

Wiesbaden's Department for

Immigration and Integration. As

experts in their field, endowed with

a sound understanding and well-

grounded concepts, DROI and their

collaborator will come up with a

project to improve integration in

Wiesbaden, the very same city in

which we are staying.

The Committee on Employment and

Social Affairs will work hard on the

problem of unemployment amongst

young immigrants and could hardly

be allocated a more fitting partner.

Their partner NGO is an

intercultural educational centre

called IKUBIZ, an organisation

offering young migrants assistance

in finding an apprenticeship training

position or a job, fighting for equal

educational opportunities of both

youngsters with and without a

migration background.

One last example for a unique

opportunity: The organizers

managed to create a partnership

with 'Balu und du e. V.', an NGO

that work for children of primary

school age. Every child gets a

student as godfather or godmother,

who takes them for excursions,

offering new and never seen

experience to children who would

otherwise have faced great difficulty

to properly grow into society to

learn outside of school and gain new

vitality. 'Balu und du' is an

exemplary sample for successful

mentoring, and how could the EYP

better cooperate with such an

organisation than with a committee

dealing with integration of youth

through education and, more

precisely, non-formal learning?

CULT II, I am sure you know that it

is you that I am addressing.

Seriously, I am convinced you are

already excited how this new feature

of an EYP session will turn out. Our

project partners will introduce you

to the circumstances and

requirements of their work, and I

am more than a bit curious how you

will tailor a perfectly fitting project

proposal. We are excited to watch

how you push the borders of EYP

Destination: Wiesbaden

BeyondMere Talking

5.

Weronika Myck introducesour host city.

Welcome to the lovely city of

Wiesbaden!

 

You may well be wondering what is

actually so special and lovely about

it. Allow me to explain it all to you.

To begin with, Wiesbaden is located

in  south-west Germany – but you

have   probably noticed that already

while planning your travels to here!

I can also tell you that it has about

275,400 inhabitants and,   together

with the cities of  Frankfurt am

Main  and  Mainz, is part of

the  Frankfurt Rhine Main Region,

a  metropolitan area  with a combined

population of about 5.8  million

people. But enough of statistics,

Wiesbaden has far more interesting

qualities.

Like a typical old city,   The Hessian

State Capital presents a variety of

monuments. Some were built to

commemorate historic events, for

example the Oranien Monument at

the Square Luisenplatz. Famous

people have left such traces on the

city as the Goethe Monument

or  The Kaiser Friedrich Monument

located on the Kaiser Friedrich

Square. It is also full of picturesque

buildings that give the city an

imperial flair. Probably most worth

mentioning is the Neo-Gothic City

Palace where our  Parliamentary

Assembly will be held. It is  located

in the city centre and has  served as

Landtag (parliamentary building)

for the federal state of Hesse since

1945. Other buildings of exceptional

worth to see are most definitely the

Kurhaus, or ‘spa house’ – famous for

its casino – and the Town Hall.

There are obviously many, many

other places to see in town, each

adding to Wiesbaden’s worth as the

chosen venue for this Forum, which

you will probably get a chance to

see during the cultural programme

of the Session.

However not many of you would

know  Wiesbaden is one of the

oldest  spa towns  in Europe. Its name

may be literally translated as

‘meadow baths’. Why is this

information interesting? Obviously,

a few hot springs do not really have

any special relevance to EYP.

However, what really caught my

attention was that, at one time,

Wiesbaden boasted 27 of these  hot

springs. 27 – Do you recognise the

number? Was that some kind of a

sign forecasting the situating of an

EU relevant event here? Who

knows? 

Good luck to all of you! I wish you

all a pleasant stay in Wiesbaden and

fruitful debates during the Forum.

Destination: Wiesbaden

6.

The Problem is the 'We'The Chairs Team

Presented by Gwen Pare.

The Chairs Team comprises the

Chair of each Committee and the

President. The Chairs act as facilit-

ators and leaders of each Commit-

tee.

The President of a Session makes

him- or herself responsible for the

academic quality of the Session and

is therefore always a very experi-

enced or the most experienced of

the Chairs.

Beyond this, he or she makes sure

that the team of Chairs as well as

the other teams of Officials are

comfortable and function well with

each other.

In the case of the International

Forum on Integration we have the

honour to be presided by Jari Marje-

lund.

The Press Team is made up of the

Journalists and the Editor. Each

Committee is assigned a journalist

who will focus particularly on them.

Aside from this, the Journalists do

their best to witness as much of the

Session as they can and to inform all

of the participants on the happen-

ings of the Session. Most import-

antly, by their work, they want to

make your experience of the Session

an unforgettable and unique one.

The Editor is generally responsible

for the content of the pa-

pers/magazines. This experienced

member of EYP sets the standards

for the articles produced by the

Journos, and also motivates them

and develops their skills extensively.

He is in charge of the creative and

professional laying-out of the Ses-

sion's publications. This session has

the amazing [Editors note: I do not

vouch for the validity of that de-

scription.] Editor: Eoin O'Leary.

The Organisers plan the session for

a lot longer than many of us witness

at the Session. Their work begins

many months before the Session

and includes the organisation and

coordination of, among other things,

all the venues, sponsors, schedules

and accommodation.

For the International Forum on In-

tegration the Organisers have also

organised the cooperation with the

Project-Partners – those representat-

ives of Non-Governmental Organ-

isations with whom we will work on

our Committee resolutions. For the

Wiesbaden Forum, the Organisers

are led by the most capable Pia

Spiesmacher.

The Organisers are always willing

and able to help if we have prob-

lems, need advice or seek informa-

tion.

Do turn to them for help!

Some Hands-on facts on some of our Officials:

The Press Team The Organising Team

According to himself, his self-irony

is Jari’s best attribute.

Richard dreams of dragons.

Whereas Kati dreams of empower-

ing youth.

Eoin dreams of photographing the

Northern Lights.

Weronicka is caring and loves cook-

ing.

Leo's calmness impresses us.

Pia likes reading.

Jonna dreams of world peace.

Lyn likes dancing.

Wiebke dreams of the noble prize.

Officially Introduced

7.

see during the cultural programme

of the Session.

However not many of you would

know  Wiesbaden is one of the

oldest  spa towns  in Europe. Its name

may be literally translated as

‘meadow baths’. Why is this

information interesting? Obviously,

a few hot springs do not really have

any special relevance to EYP.

However, what really caught my

attention was that, at one time,

Wiesbaden boasted 27 of these  hot

springs. 27 – Do you recognise the

number? Was that some kind of a

sign forecasting the situating of an

EU relevant event here? Who

knows? 

Good luck to all of you! I wish you

all a pleasant stay in Wiesbaden and

fruitful debates during the Forum.

Philipp Magin discusses thechallenges of integration.

London, August 16th: British Prime

Minister Cameron gave a speech

summing up the past riots. He

admitted that failures in the social

and educational policy of the UK

contributed to the uprisings and

promised to make these issues top

priority, but also made a clear

distinction between the rioters and

the ordinary Britons and declared

that “those thugs we saw last week

do not represent us, nor do they

represent our young people”.

Madrid, August 21st: The pope’s

journey to the World Youth Day is

accompanied by demonstrations

expressing their opposition to the

spending connected with the visit,

but also with the point of view of

the catholic church on same sex

marriage, contraception and gender

equality.

Amsterdam, August 30th: Five

asylum-seekers in the age of 15-24

who are due to be expelled from the

Netherlands will compete in a Dutch

television quiz show this week for

their knowledge of all things Dutch.

The immigration regulations have

been made stricter recently

following an increase of Muslim

immigrants to the Netherlands.

Wiesbaden, August 31st: Last

preparations are made for the arrival

of the delegates of the International

Forum on Integration in Wiesbaden.

Integration

How does it affect us? That is, me,

you, the people next to you? Does it

work, and if yes, how? My best

example would be EYP

Teambuilding. You come to the

Session from all over Europe,

probably from very different cultural

backgrounds, knowing very little

about your fellow Committee

members; you do some fancy games

and then – zoom – somehow get

along surprisingly well. So well,

indeed, that in the end you should

ideally think in terms of “We, the

Committee” and together possibly

surprise everybody with your fresh

answers to these questions on

integration with which you are

faced.

So what can we, as EYPers, or

perhaps rather we, as Europeans, or

even we, as humans, do about the

pressing problems concerning

integration, acceptance and

openness? More specifically, what

can we contribute so that people

such as many of those who rioted in

the UK can find a place and a

perspective in a society with which

they can identify? What can we do

to achieve true gender equality while

keeping in mind different ethical,

cultural and religious backgrounds?

Can we improve the job situation of

immigrant youth, and how will

everybody accept this? How are we

going to welcome people willing or

forced to become a part of our

society? And what are we going to

do to integrate people opposing the

idea of integration?

The first step to solve these

problems would be to to make them

our problems. And having come to

the International Forum on

Integration in Wiesbaden, we may

thus congratulate ourselves on

having successfully begun our

journey towards Project Open

Society.

The Problem is the 'We'