“Do you speak European?” It is a somewhat strange and thought-provoking title for a competition. Justyna Hejman from the AER Committee on Culture, Education & Youth explains to us the concept of the project.
By: Yannick Brusselmans
Orange: What exactly is the ‘Do you speak European?’ competition?
Hejman: ‘Do you speak European?’ is organised by the Assembly of European Regions (AER) for the second time this year. It is a public speaking and personal expression contest which gives teams of young people the opportunity to prepare and present their views on the question ‘What does Europe mean to you?’. The competition takes place at three levels: the regional, national and European level. All three stages follow the same format: each heat is a one-day event, participants have to be between 14 and 18 years old, there should be no more than five pupils in one team and the presentation should not exceed seven minutes.
AER got the idea from the West Sussex Youth Cabinet and launched the competition in 2007. The 1st edition proved successful and attracted over 1000 young people from 36 regions and 11 European countries. The Romanian region of Dolj was selected the best team during the Grand Final of the first edition in Brussels.
31 regions from 11 countries participated in this second edition of the competition. The competition has been taking place across wider Europe on three levels – regional, national and European. Each participating region organised its own regional-level competition in autumn 2009. Next each winning from a participating region went through to the next level of the competition – the national heat, where the best teams from regions made their presentation again, competing against the other regional winners. National heats were held in winter and finished in early spring 2010. Now these are the winners of each national competition that have come to Brussels to compete at the European level during the Grand Final. So, teams who are present in Brussels are not only representing their regions, but also their countries.
Orange: What is the goal of the competition? Why are you organising it?
Hejman: At AER we believe that it is immensely important to communicate about European values among all European citizens, also the youngest generation. By allowing young people to explore what does being a part of the united Europe mean to them, the AER competition fosters young people’s creativity and imagination, but also provides an incentive to focus on core European values. It is particularly significant as any communication, also about the European values, is a two-way process: by participating in AER ‘Do you speak European?’, young people are not only passive receivers of information about Europe, but they also get actively involved in communicating about the European values themselves.
Orange: The participants are quite young (14-18). Why exactly did you choose for this age group, instead of the more common group of 18-25 or 18-30?
Hejman: In wider Europe a great majority of youth initiatives targets young people aged 18-25 or 18-30. Also at AER, where we reach out to this group of young people, for example by the AER Youth Regional Network, which brings members between 18 and 30 years old together. Nonetheless, all young people, irrespective of their age, should be given the chance to get involved in communicating about European issues. The first edition proved that European teenagers are very eager to communicate about European values in their regions.
On the other hand, AER aims at giving young people an incentive to think about the united Europe at the possibly earliest educational level – these people will have a greater chance of becoming responsible European citizens.
Orange: Apart from the competition’s final, the event will also focus on European mobility. How do you, as AER, try to promote this mobility?
Hejman: The Assembly of European Regions was established in 1985 and it is the largest independent network of regions in wider Europe. Bringing together over 270 regions from 33 countries and 16 interregional organisations, AER’s objectives are to promote the principle of subsidiarity and regional democracy, as well to facilitate interregional cooperation across wider Europe and beyond. Given the rapid integration process in the contemporary Europe, mobility is becoming increasingly important for European regions. Therefore AER finds it crucial to promote and facilitate mobility in European regions:
Eurodyssée – the AER first programme, which was set up in 1985, aims at improving the chances of young Europeans to integrate into working life by offering them the opportunity of a work experience abroad. This exchange programme allows young job seekers aged between 18 and 30 to benefit from a traineeship placement abroad for a period between three to seven months. The objective is to allow young people to gain professional experience at the same time as they get an opportunity to improve their knowledge of a foreign language. The main stakeholders in this programme are therefore young people, private sector and regions themselves.
AER Summer Schools 2010 – During AER Summer School and Youth Summer School 2010 on Rural, urban and interregional mobility (22-27 August 2010, Rorschach & Arbon, Switzerland), adults and young people will have the chance to learn more about new transport concepts and to exchange best practice in the fields of urban, rural and interregional traffic but also to explore its limits and possible constraints.
AER Regional Reporters: Europe, move on! offered young people the chance of becoming one of AER‘s Regional Reporters for the second time. Young reporters will have the chance to be heard on radio stations across Europe thanks to the radio programme “Europe and you” aired on several French-speaking local radio stations. The topics covered by Regional Reporters will focus on the mobility in the contemporary Europe. The winner will be invited to take part in AER Youth Summer School on Mobility (22-27 August 2010, St.Gallen, Thurgau, Switzerland) to join the AER Press and Communication team and support their press work during this event.
Orange: This is the second edition of the competition. What struck you most at last year’s European final?
Hejman: We were very positively surprised by the number of people who participated in the competition starting from a regional level. Behind the European Final, which was attended by the best teams who went through regional and national levels, there were over 1000 young people who participated in the competition! Presentations covered wide range of topics, such as democracy, European citizenship, peace, cultural diversity, mobility, friendship, European and regional history but also employment and health in the contemporary Europe. Young people at all 3 levels proved their creativity by making use of music, drama, dance, mime and films to mention but a few. In this sense the European Final was an amazing experience, allowing to watch the best of all these brilliant presentations.
Orange: What are you expecting from this year’s final?
Hejman: On the occasion of the European Final the ‘What can Europe do for you(th)?’ event will be organised. During the event a number of European youth organisations will present their youth initiatives and programmes – we hope it will prove interesting for those who will come to watch the presentations.
We also hope that young participants, who came to Brussels to compete with other national winners, will profit from the exchange of experiences with their peers from across wider Europe and that the European Final will give them a motivation and inspiration to act as ambassadors of European values in their home regions.
