UNITING FORCES ON A EUROPEAN LEVEL

By Vidmante Dubickaite

“It’s a pleasant adventure to work with new themes and people who are not shy in stating and arguing their opinions; it’s an intellectual challenge – you have to listen to different opinions and lead groups to constructive solutions: it’s a source of youth,” says Marius Ulozas. He and Nerijus Miginis, both of them from the Lithuanian Youth Council (LiJOT), acted as facilitators during European Youth Week (EYW) in Brussels.

Nerijus never planned to work in international events – and he says it was only thanks to a friend’s suggestion that he got involved.

But seven years later, Nerijus is still enjoying his work and he doesn’t look like stopping anytime soon: after taking a part in EYW, he plans to embark on several training projects back in Lithuania before making a return to Brussels.

Marius and Nerijus at European Youth Week in Brussels

Although – or perhaps because – EYW is a pan-European event, it’s hard to count the people who made it such a success.

Marius and Nerijus both agree that the work of specific groups (facilitators, participants and journalists) was done very well, without any pretensions.

“I value the work of journalists really highly,” says Marius.

“The more people who are informed about European events, the faster and more effective the Structured Dialogue will be. A majority of people often appear to be skeptical about solutions, but that is due to the lack of information.

“It’s really pleasing that these journalists are young and able to put a youthful outlook on events when bringing this news to their countries.”

RECIPE FOR SUCCESS

One reason why EYW is so useful and successful, says Marius, is because it helps people and countries to learn from each other.

“When there’s a strong will and motivation to make this event as good as possible, results satisfy and inspire more optimistic ideas,” he adds.

Everybody would agree that EYW’s success would not have been possible without every person involved, no matter whether s/he worked as a facilitator, a participant or a journalist. All of those people gathered here in Brussels to unite their forces and move toward a brighter future for young people and wider opportunities.

“This type of event will certainly be needed for Lithuania, who will be taking up the EU Presidency 2013,” concludes Nerijus.

“This union of young people and politicians is very effective.”

Like Nerijus and Marius, we look forward to building upon the work of previous presidencies.