Welcome Booklet
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© M. Puida Welcome Booklet Vilnius 2018 87th International Session of European Youth Parliament © EYP Lithuania. All rights reserved email: [email protected] website: www.eyp.lt 2 Word of Welcome - Head-organisers 4 Organising Team 5 Word of Welcome - President 6 Chairs Team 7 Word of Welcome - Editors 8 Media Team 9 Session Theme 10 About Vilnius 11 Programme 12 Dress Codes 13 Session Element 14 Academic Preparation 16 Cultural Day Options 17 Venues 20 Accommodation Venues 21 Travel Information 22 Other Information 23 Packing List 24 Conduct and Legal 25 3 This is the irst of many welcomes you will hear from us until you will start the journey of the participant, in a circle of young EYP’ers, shouting out your name. For us, it is so hard to imagine that in less than a month 300 people will come to Vilnius. 300 people - full of energy, ideas, from the smallest and the biggest cities, some who can dance, some who can cook, everyone so diferent but all united by the passion for EYP and more importantly Europe. And believe us, it is easy to write these numbers and descriptive sentences in emails when we are looking for tasty dinners or comfy beds for you but it is so hard to imagine, that so many people will come to one city to test our work of the past months. Hence, this year we are hosting the irst International Session in Lithuania. We believe that one of the leading cities in Europe for start-ups is a perfect place for young people from all over the Europe to come together, discuss ideas, learn from the past and shape the future. We welcome you to explore one of the oldest Uni- versities in Northern Europe, to experience General Assembly in the Lithuanian Parliament, to test 5 diferent accommodations (the more the merrier!) and even to be marveled by one of our beautiful churches. Vilnius 2018 International Session has already challenged us. Being friends and colleagues we have come through many challenges and we will go through even more during the upcoming month. There is no chance the board and your already beloved chairs, media and orgas have had a very calm time since they joined the team. And now, it is time for #isVilnius2018 to challenge you! Firstly, by illing all the forms that we are just craving to receive, secondly by preparing for your topics, by packing everything you need and to inally meeting us in person after the long travel. And thus, even if for us handling you session bracelets in sunny Vilnius will mean that our adventure is coming to the end, for you, it is going to be just the beginning of an amazing journey. Yours, Gintare, Vilius and Emilija 4 Head-Organisers Organisers Emilija Rakštelytė (LT) Agnė Laugalytė (LT) Marta Subataitė (LT) Gintarė Valėnaitė (LT) Alexandra Batea (RO) Martynas Duknauskas (LT) Vilius Paškevičius (LT) Anna Morokhovska (DE) Neda Krenčaitė (LT) Antoni Tomkowiak (PL) Philip Kardell (DK) Asnate Neimane (LV) Rusnė Marmaitė (LT) Diana Gasparyan (AM) Shahin Pascha (AZ) Ieva Šalnaitė (LT) Tautvydas Šlapikas (LT) Illia Koshytskyi (UA) Tuukka Rytkonen (FI) Justina Januškytė (LT) 5 Dear Delegates, “May there be many a summer morning when you come into harbours seen for the irst time… May you visit many Egyptian cities to gather stores of knowledge from their scholars.” Welcome to Vilnius 2018. You are about to embark on a remarkable journey, unlike any you’ve ever been on before. At Eurovillage, you’ll taste what our continent eats – and showcase what your own country and region has to ofer. In committee work and at GA, you’ll be able to hear the diverse views of young people from across our continent, and express your own ideas and opinions. At Euroconcert, you’ll hear the music that we dance to, and be able to sing your own tunes and ballads. Throughout the session you will live the diversity of our continent in a way that is simply not possible anywhere else. Soak it all up. This session is also a unique opportunity to discover Vilnius and Lithuania. We are incredibly lucky to be hosted in the heart of the old town of this UNESCO heritage site and the organisers have secured some historic and famous venues for us to use. As well as exploring Vilnius, you’ll also be able to learn more about the culture and history of this country at Lithuanian night. Absorb everything this city has to ofer. However, as well as learning about Europe and Lithuania, you’ll also learn about yourself. You’ll make friends with people who were once strangers. You’ll play weird teambuilding games and igure out complex problem solvers. You’ll give speeches and make impassioned contributions to debates. You’ll sing, and you’ll dance. You’ll push yourself to do things you never thought you could. Take every opportunity. Finally, believe in yourself. You’ve done extraordinarily well to be selected to attend this session. We believe in your abilities – so challenge yourself to do the things you’re afraid of; to push yourself to new limits. You have important things to say and this is the place to say it. Be heard. See you in Vilnius, Niall Murphy 6 Board Chairpersons Niall Murphy (IE) Sabrina Mellerowic (DE) Aleksander Masternak (PL) Dorothea Weber (DE) Adriaan van Streun (NL) Manon Schurch (CH) Daniels Grinevics (LV) Elina Makela (FI) Mariann Juriorg (EE) Charlotta Lahnalahti (FI) Rebeca Leal (PT) Laura Teixera (PT) Tim Keegstra (NL) Razvan Lacatusu (RO) Kevin Boland (IE) Nikola Vranes (RS) Peter McManus (UK) Christos Zois (GR) 7 Dearest participants of Vilnius 2018, Coming from countries that are also celebrating their centennial anniversaries, it is a great honour for us to be a part of this project in such important year for Lithuania and several other countries of Europe. As a generation we are facing a whole new variety of challenges and experiencing the vast amount of change that is going on around us. Therefore we think that the challenge that is ahead of us at “our” International Session is crucial to look back out our past, learn our lessons but not to dwell on it and look into how to make the future brighter for whole Europe and the world, and we believe that the International Session with participants coming from all corners of Europe is an ideal environment to take on this challenge Together with our team of talented individuals, we hope to document this event and ignite additional sparkles in your minds through our projects. We wish you that the International Session in Vilnius will mark not only a changing point in your hopefully long EYP paths, but also in the way you see our society and yourselves. Yours, Klaras (Klara Birchley and Klára Scholleová, Editors of Vilnius 2018) 8 Editors Journalists Klara Scholleova (CZ) Yannika Ronnqvist (FI) Jan Adamski (PL) Klara Birchley (PL) Lars Kieni (CH) Kilian Tranchant (FR) Nadia D’Amico (IT) Nora Schmiedbauer (AT) Editorial Assistants Alexandru Raicu (RO) Jure Susnik (SI) Kaja Silva Aulik (EE) Toms Kristians Ozolins (LV) 9 “Learning from the Past, Shaping the Future.” In 2018 three Baltic nations – Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia – are celebrating anniversary of 100 years of their independence. Combination of both joyful and sorrowful events took place during these years, making Baltic people learn from the past. Actions of the most important political igures, examples of diplomatic failures and victories of the past are still being investigated and taken into consideration at Baltic and European level. Without these recollections the connection with our ancestors would be lost and thus the past could vanish. Present political, economic and social decisions should be analysed likewise, because they will directly afect our future. Examination of current afairs can give proper understanding of who we are and who we are be- coming. EYP Lithuania believes that contemplation of past occurrences and present matters can help people under- stand what is going to happen. Forecast of upcoming events may help to prepare for either positive or negative consequences. Active youth is included in shaping the future of Europe, as they have the most innovative ideas, greatest de - sire for change and enormous willingness to cooperate and communicate. For this we welcome you to Vilnius, a city where old meets modern. © M. Puida 10 “Grand Duke, Gediminas, was on a hunting trip but when night fell, he decided to set up a camp and spend the night on the hill near Vilnia river. Gediminas had an unusual dream in which he saw an iron wolf at the top of the mountain, howling as loud as a hundred wolves. Next morning the Duke consulted the pagan priest Lizdeika about it. He told that the dream was a direction to found a city and that city will be the capital of Lithuanian lands, and its reputation would spread far and wide, as far as the howling of the mysterious wolf… So the Grand Duke of Lithuania immediately started to build the future capital and took it the name – Vilnius – from the stream of the rapid Vilnia.” Today Vilnius is home for over 540 thousand residents. Having the largest medieval old town in Central and Eastern Europe and an architectural heritage that blends the elements of baroque, gothic and renaissance, Vilnius is said to be a textbook of architectural history. In 1994 Vilnius’ Old Town was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Alongside its historical heritage, Vilnius is known as a modern and vibrant European capital city, full of con- temporary facilities - libraries, museums and shopping malls.