EYCE ExCo meets in Brussels, Belgium

The Executive Committee (ExCo) of the Ecumenical Youth Council in Europe (EYCE) met for their first meeting after election at EYCE’s 38th general Meeting October 2011. The ExCo meeting was held from 23rd – 26th of February 2012 in EYCE’s Office in Brussels, Belgium. In order to establish mutual understanding and develop a common working style, in its first meeting EYCE’s ExCo undertook a team building training. The first meeting of the new ExCo also provided the space to set up working priorities, to develop the future split of responsibilities within the ExCo and to carefully steer EYCE into the next year.

Chairperson Ms. Catharina Covolo (Lutheran, Germany) will take the responsibility of the overall programme of EYCE, youth politics and external relations with the Conference of European Churches. Vice-Chairperson Ms. Adriana Florea (Lutheran, Romania) will be responsible in the fields of interreligious dialogue, Ecumenical leadership training, as well as future development of EYCE. Treasurer Ms. Sini Tyvi (Lutheran, Finland) will take over the responsibility for Finances, Relations to Church donors and External relations with the World Council of Churches (WCC). Ms. Zofia Kozlowska-Socha (Baptist, Poland) will be responsible for EYCE communication and Public Relations, as well as parts of the interreligious dialogue.

Mr. Andrea Aprile (Baptist, Italy) will work mainly in the field of relations to Member Organisations and National Correspondents, as well as with volunteers and office supervision. Mr. Benjamin Mlýnek (Hussite, Czech Republic) will mainly take over the responsibility of coordinating EYCE’s Campaign to Promote Ecological Justice. Mr. Slavi Spasov (Orthodox, Bulgaria) will work in the field of spirituality within EYCE, as well as support Zofia in Public Relations. All the ExCo members will share the responsibility of additional fundraising for EYCE and strongly support each other in their tasks, as well as share responsibilities.

The ExCo dedicated much time of its meeting to follow-up the decisions and recommendations of the 38th General Meeting. The first steps have been taken in order to pursue the mandate of the GM and to establish the Financial Advisory Committee. The active involvement of EYCE’s Member Organisations in the work of the Council and the improvement of the communication between actors within the Council was discussed, as well as the external relations with EYCE’s partners in various fields of work.

EYCE ExCo also took time to further plan EYCE’s work for the year 2012, including setting the dates for Meeting of National Correspondents. The meeting is foreseen to take place from 12th – 15th of October 2012.

The agenda of the meeting also included further planning of the Council’s work for 2013, especially the first two events and setting the dates for the overall agenda of EYCE.

The foreseen events for the year 2013 are:

  •  10th – 17th March 2013, “Shape democracy! Youth leaders promoting participation and equality”, Romania.
  • 2nd – 9th June 2013, “Learn.Engage.Lead. Ecumenical training to foster the participation of young people in international settings”, The Netherlands.
  • 18th – 25th August 2013, an event on peace building and conflict resolution, Serbia.
  • 24th November – 1st December 2013, the closing event of EYCE’s Campaign to Promote Ecological Justice.

Alongside other activities in 2013, EYCE’s 39th General Meeting will take place from 7th – 13th of October.

The meeting also provided time for meetings held alongside the working sessions. The ExCo met with representatives of EYCE’s long standing inter-religious partner Forum of Muslim Youth and Student Organisations (FEMYSO), Ola Himmat and Najatte Kaaoiss, with whom a Memorandum of Understanding was signed, as well as plans to mark and celebrate the anniversary of 10 years of cooperation were discussed. A very fruitful meeting was held with the representative of Church and Society Commission (CSC) of CEC Rev. Frank-Dieter Fischbach, which resulted in concrete ideas and proposals for cooperation of EYCE and CSC in 2013.

More information about EYCE’s activities and work can be found on our website.

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