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The European Federation for Intercultural Learning is recruiting members for the European Pool of Representatives who also need to attend an Online Advocacy training course (14 March-22 May).
This is a RE-FILLING Call to re-fill the Pool that has been nominated for the mandate 1st March 2015- 28th February 2017. The mandate is therefore 1st March 2016- 28th February 2017. At the beginning of February 2017 there will be a RENEWAL Call where candidates are nominated by the national organisations for a period of 2 years and after one year of mandate they are asked to renew their interest in being members for another year.
EFIL’s Advocacy environment: Why do we need an EPOR?
Together with the organisation of trainings (Academy), projects and programmes, and the development of new partners in Europe (Expand), one of the main fields of activities of EFIL is Advocacy, aiming to improve the environment for youth exchanges in Europe and to profile EFIL as a respected and expert actor in the area of intercultural learning, global education, youth mobility and volunteerism. In particular EFIL’s Advocacy focuses on:
Advocacy on principles
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Advocacy on conditions
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Intercultural learning & Global education
Active Citizenship & Volunteering
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Funding
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Academic recognition of study periods abroad
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Youth mobility - visas
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Recognition of non-formal learning and volunteering
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To reach these ambitious objectives, EFIL has identified several ways:
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Be member of or liaise with Platforms at European level in the relevant areas
EFIL is a member of several formal platforms at European level through which we put forward the added value of youth exchanges and the AFS volunteering reality: the European Youth Forum (YFJ) www.youthforum.org and the Lifelong Learning Platform (LLP – former EUCIS-LLL) http://www.eucis-lll.eu/.
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Follow-up work and proceedings of institutions (i.e. Council of Europe, European Union) that concern the work & operational environment of EFIL/AFS and give input to ongoing consultation processes in relevant areas
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EFIL participates in the EU structured dialogue with young people http://www.efil.afs.org/advocacy/advocacy-actions/eu-structured-dialogue-with-young-people/
and in consultations on current and future legislation and programmes to support youth and education and consultation on revision of EU legislation on various topics that can affect AFS/EFIL work (eg. visa directive 2004/114 and visa code).
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Inform decision makers at European and international level about the relevance of EFIL/AFS’ expertise by giving input to policy documents and by representing EFIL/AFS at relevant meetings, events, etc.
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Meet and network with external partners (other youth organisations, NGOs, institutions.).
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Work in contact with AFS organisations regarding European advocacy which needs an input from a national perspective. Each EFIL member nominates an EFIL’s Advocacy liaison person which receives information and calls for input from EFIL’s Advocacy Co-ordinator.
The European landscape is rich and diverse in terms of events, processes and structures to participate in. In order to be able to grasp them fully and represent the views and experience of our AFS members in the best way, and to reach out to external partners and developments, EFIL is looking for a committed group of people to get involved in advocacy work at European and international level and represent EFIL/AFS externally.
Composition of the EPOR
Through this Call for EPOR EFIL wants to RE-FILL the current EPOR and have a group of maximum 15 people.
Among the members of the EPOR, EFIL’s permanent representatives in different structures are recruited:
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EFIL’s representative towards the European Youth Forum (YFJ) – 3 years position. The current representative finishing the mandate in December 2016 is Alexandra Singpiel (AFS Germany).
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EFIL’s representative for the EU structured dialogue (SD) with young people – 1.5 years position. At the moment the position is covered by Alexandra Ruivo Cordeiro (AFS Portugal) until June 2017.
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EFIL’s representative towards the INGO Conference of the Council of Europe need to be based in Strasbourg, France. At the moment the position is covered by Viktoria Bedo (AFS Hungary/France).
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EFIL’s representative within the Advisory Council on Youth of the Council of Europe (AC) is Charlotte Klinting (AFS Denmark) for the 2 year mandate 2016-2017. This position is the result of elections within the European Youth Forum. The next elections will be in April 2017.
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Other positions might open up depending on the future developments.
The members of the EPOR that are selected for permanent positions are required to have a closer cooperation among them and with the Advocacy Co-ordinator, forming the EPOR’s core group. Any member of the EPOT who is selected for the YFJ Pool of Trainers and EU Structured dialogue Pool of trainers is asked to cooperate with the EPOR in order to ensure consistency in EFIL’s representation.
The EPOR’s core group meets once a year. In the years when there is an EFIL General Assembly (uneven years), the EPOR core group tries and meet there.
Relation EPOR-EFIL
EFIL’s priorities in Advocacy are defined by EFIL’s secretariat together with EFIL’s Board. The role of the EPOR is to contribute to the definition of the priorities through ongoing exchange of opinions and dialogue with the Advocacy co-ordinator at EFIL’s secretariat. The EPOR is meant to be both a tool for EFIL’s Advocacy and an environment for the personal development of volunteers and staff, however organizational priorities come first.
What’s in it for…?
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for EFIL member organisations: strengthen EFIL’s representation and advocacy work, increase visibility and recognition of the organization, nominate candidates who’ll get a good understanding & training on European/international policies and will multiply the outcomes, add a broader, external dimension to the work of your AFS organisation.
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for volunteers/staff: provide your contribution to EFIL’s advocacy, get involved in representation at a higher European level, learn about policies regarding youth, non-formal education (NFE), intercultural learning (ICL), volunteering and mobility, meet and exchange with other AFS volunteers/staff, develop your networking & communication skills, acquire contacts with interesting external organisations, institutions and individuals.
What will I be doing as a member of the EPOR?
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Attend EFIL and/or external trainings on Advocacy
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Receive from EFIL regular announcements, Calls for participation in various events and Call for input for consultations
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Receive information on EPOR activities through Dropbox and the EPOR FB Group.
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Keep updated on EFIL’s work through EFILife, the monthly newsletter
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Cooperate with the EFIL’s Advocacy Liaison for any national advocacy initiative and help to link European an national level advocacy
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Disseminate information of EFIL’s advocacy and Calls for consultations among my networks, always in co-operation with the nominated EFIL’s Advocacy Liaisons of my AFS organisation
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Inform EFIL about advocacy initiatives/events that you might find (national and European).
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Act as resource persons for EFIL’s Advocacy at EFIL events (Trainings, ECTP, VSS) and at national level (messengers on EFIL’s advocacy)
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Participate to the EU structured dialogue with young people by answering to the online survey launched every 6 months. Participation to this process is mandatory: the input that EFIL submits to each phase of the structured dialogue should reflect at least the opinion of all EPOR members. EPOR members should also send out and promote the survey to other volunteers within their AFS network.
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Represent EFIL externally, attending meetings, seminars, debates on behalf of the Federation at national, European and international level
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Submit reports after return to external events and update EFIL on the outcomes of representation efforts, through Dropbox and FB group
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Follow-up the work and processes of various institutions and structures and update EFIL on the progress
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Attend occasional Skype calls or in-person meetings to steer and develop the work of the Pool and experiences with other EPOR members
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Contribute to further develop the concept and role of the EPOR and its functions
Profile of the EPOR members
EFIL is looking for candidates who:
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Are available to attend the Online Advocacy training course from 14 March to 16 May. The course has a time commitment of 20 hours. If EPORies recruited through this Call do not complete the course, their mandate ends.
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Have a sound knowledge of AFS and preferably EFIL
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Are interested or experienced in representing youth issues and EFIL/AFS at European and international level
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Have a basic knowledge of European policy mechanisms and institutions, in particular in the field of youth and education
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Are above 18 years old. There is no age limit, although being EFIL considered a youth organization, many representation opportunities especially linked to the European Youth Forum, require the age limit 30 or 35
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Are nominated by their national AFS organisation
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Are volunteer or staff
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Have fluency in English: written and spoken
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Have good interpersonal & communication skills
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Are committed to stay involved for at least one year
Duration of the mandate
Members will be mandated to represent EFIL for a period of 1 year, starting 1st March 2016.
Financial Conditions:
Membership of the EPOR will not involve any costs for the participants attending representation meetings (for travelling, event fees etc.). There might be Calls for representatives that involve costs but these are well specified and EPORies decide to apply/attend on the basis of their interest.
Online Advocacy Training Course
Target group: EPORies and EFIL’s Advocacy Liaisons.
Representatives of like-minded organisations might join.
All EPORies are required to attend the Online Advocacy training course
MANDATORY
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ONLINE
Total of 20 hours.
You will be invited to join the online learning platform Schoology.
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14 May – 24 April
5 weeks- 3 tasks. 4 hours per task, 12 hours in total.
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There will be one task every 2 week with a deadline always on a Sunday.
MODULES every two weeks:
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Introduction to advocacy in EFIL. How to learn online, Get to know each other, EFIL‘s Advocacy and representation, How we work together. DEADLINE 29 March
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Exploring advocacy topics. DEADLINE 10 April
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Advocacy environment: structures, partners, Platforms. Links between national and European advocacy. DEADLINE 24 April.
All tasks will be posted from the beginning of the course so if participants have other commitments can do them at their own pace, before the official deadlines.
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25 April – 22 May
(4 weeks), 8 hours in total: 1 task to be completed within the month.
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MODULE: Mapping the national advocacy environment.
After a presentation on how to map the advocacy environment, EPORies and Advocacy Liaisons from the same country will do this exercise together. In case there are no EPORies and Advocacy Liaisons coming from the same country, then participants are paired up together on the basis of the advocacy topic they are interested in. The task needs to be completed within the month, there are not weekly tasks. Online support from the EFIL office will be available.
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All participants will receive feedback after each task and upon completion the Online Advocacy training course they will receive a certificate. The online training course has been developed jointly by EEE-YFU and EFIL with funding from the Council of Europe. The online course will be facilitated by EFIL’s Advocacy Co-ordinator Elisa Briga and EFIL’s intern and Structured dialogue representative Alexandra Ruivo Cordeiro.
Application process and recruitment
If you are interested to become an EPOR member , please fill in the application form below, send it to both your national office (for nomination) and to EFIL at: elisa.briga@afs.org .
Each EFIL Member Organisation is kindly invited to nominate maximum 2 candidates for the EPOR based on the desired profile above. EFIL will closely examine the candidates’ profiles and will select them in order to guarantee a balanced representation of EFIL’s members, gender, age and interests.
Deadline for application: 29thFebruary 2016
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European Pool of Representatives
Call for nominations
Deadline: 29th February 2016
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Please type:
First Name:
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Last Name:
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Organisation:
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Nationality:
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Full home address (please include both legal and actual residence, if these are different):
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Telephone:
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Date of birth:
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Languages spoken:
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❑ Male
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❑ Female
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E-Mail:
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Skype
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Special dietary or other needs:
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Please reply briefly:
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What is your experience and current role in your AFS organisation? (if your experience includes external representation at national level, please describe it)
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Have you had any experience of representing EFIL/AFS at European/international level? Please explain the context and the areas.
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Why do you want to be a part of the EPOR and what are your expectations (also from EFIL)? Please have a look at the role of the EPOR listed above and describe how you connect there and where you see your most important contributions.
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Please use this space to add any additional information you hold relevant for your candidature (work, study, personal interests)
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Please mark fields/topics in which you are interested to represent EFIL?
Institutions/Platforms
❑ European Youth Forum (YFJ)
❑ EU Structured dialogue with young people
❑ Council of Europe youth sector
❑ Lifelong Learning Platform (LLP/ former EUCIS-LLL)
❑ Council of Europe INGO conference (someone based near Strasbourg since travel costs to meetings are not covered)
❑ United Nations, including Alliance of Civilisations and UNESCO (AFS Intercultural Programs in NYC have the mandate to represent the AFS network at UN events. AFS IP and EFIL coordinate for representation at UN events, especially if they take place in Europe)
Topics
❑Intercultural Learning (ICL), Intercultural Dialogue (ID)
❑ Interreligious dialogue
❑ Volunteering
❑ Active citizenship & Youth participation
❑ Global education
❑Recognition/validation of competences gained in Non-formal education (NFE) and informal learning
❑ Formal education / School issues / Teacher training
❑ Visa and residence permits policy
❑Funding programmes for Education, Youth and Sport
❑ Social Inclusion
❑Human rights
❑ Gender equality
❑ Multilingualism
❑ Employment, Social policy
❑ Media and information technology
Regional co-operations
❑ Europe-Africa co-operation
❑ Europe-Asia co-operation
❑ Europe-Latin America co-operation
❑ Mediterranean/Euro-Arab co-operation
❑Other:
Signature: ________________________ Date: ________________
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Pleasereturn the form to elisa.briga@afs.org before the 29th February 2016!
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