EYP Finland's strategy 2015–2017
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Transcript of EYP Finland's strategy 2015–2017
1
Strategy 2015–2017European Youth Parliament Finland
Approved by the board of EYP Finland on 20 November 2014.
2
European Youth Parliament
Finland (EYP-Finland ry)
Uudenmaankatu 15 A 5
00120 Helsinki
http://www.eypfinland.org
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
3
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.
4
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.
5
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 %
6
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.
7
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.
8
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.
9
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/.
10
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.
11
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”.
12
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.)
(Success indicator not ap-
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.
13
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.
(Success indicator not ap-
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.
14
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”
15
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.
16
Means Success indicators EYP Finland Supporting measures
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.
(Success indicator not ap-
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.
(Success indicator not ap-
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.
(Success indicator not ap-
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.
(Success indicator not ap-
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.
(Success indicator not ap-
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.
(Success indicator not ap-
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
Means Success indicators EYP Finland Supporting measures
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.
(Success indicator not ap-
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.
(Success indicator not ap-
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.
(Success indicator not ap-
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.
Lacking: EYP Finland does
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.
(Success indicator not ap-
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.
(Success indicator not ap-
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.
(Success indicator not ap-
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.
(Success indicator not ap-
plicable.)
(Success indicator not ap-
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.
(Success indicator not ap-
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.
Lacking: EYP Finland does
not use position papers or
fact sheets at its sessions.
(Success indicator not ap-
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.
(Success indicator not ap-
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.
(Success indicator not ap-
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.
(Success indicator not ap-
plicable.)
EYP Finland takes part in
sharing best practices.
Advanced training for presi-
dents and board members.
Training events for session
presidents are organised.
Lacking: EYP Finland does
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
Aim Measures and success indicators
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.
5.4. VISION FOR 2017, PART 2
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
Aim Measures and success indicators
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.
5.5. VISION FOR 2017, PART 3
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.
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European Youth Parliament Finland – EYP-Finland ry
Uudenmaankatu 15 A 5, 00120 Helsinki
http://www.eypfinland.org