Federation of Young European Greens fyeg

Activity Plan 2014-2015 Adopted by FYEG General Assembly at its meeting in July 2014 in Strasbourg.

The previous year the Federation of Young European Greens had a strong focus on campaigning. We were able to mobilise our member organisations and elect our supported candidate Ska Keller as a leading candidate for the European Greens. We implemented five seminars within the Youth Campaign and a big Youth in Crisis conference. During the election campaign, we conducted two General Assemblies and two meetings for the Campaign Coordinators. We succeeded in supporting our Member Organisations with providing a lot of campaign material for the off-line campaign and the online campaign. Election campaign was altogether a great experience, but also a tiring one. The next year will be of a different atmosphere. Our financial capacities will be smaller, and our objectives will be different. This gives us possibilities to become more focussed on our vision and become more effective in our activities. In terms of organisational strategy and in line with the strategic priorities, three areas should be in the focus of our work. On the regional level, we want to strengthen the links between local groups with the Twinning Cities project. On the level of our Member Organisations, we want to to support them in exchanging their capacities. For our activists, we want to support the Working Groups and have a focussed campaign on The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).

LIST OF PROJECTS The following events are planned for next year • TTIP-Information Campaign • Twinning Cities Project • Working groups’ meeting • Migration Seminar • Seminar and campaig • Capacity Building Seminar and Work plan • Winter Camp • Youth in Crisis Conference • Study visit to Israel and OPT by the EC and Peace Working Group representative. An internal debate of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict

The Twinning Cities Project FYEG will put the European spirit on the local level in the next year with the Twinning Cities project. This project will connect local groups of our Member Organisations and encourage them to work together. The project will start in autumn and from September to November we will create the infrastructure for the project. From November onwards we start connecting local groups and support their cooperation. The Twinning Cities Project will • Enable learning and networking for young green activists • Enable Local Groups to understand political realities and struggles of their partners • Encourage knowledge sharing between local groups • Support the possibility of joint activities of the Member Organisations

www.fyeg.org In order to support the above mentioned activities FYEG will • Reach out to Member Organisations in order to create a database with contacts of local groups • Provide online-tools to facilitate the twinning of local groups • Provide a toolbox with lessons-learned and best practices to create a stable connection between the partners • Support the search for funding in order to support joint activities of the twinned local groups • The EC will appoint one EC member to be responsible for this project and serve as a permanent source of support and information on the project

TTIP/CETA-Information Campaign The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership Agreement (TTIP) and the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) are of a great interest to the Corporations on boths sides of the atlantic. However, in the way they are currently negotiated, it is definitely not in the interest of high environmental, social and consumer-protection standards on boths sides of the atlantic. If the negotiations go through in their current form, it would mean that we will lose influence on shaping the Europe we want. Activities • FYEG will take part in a TTIP conference organised by a partners (GGEP). This will connected to strategy meeting of MOs to work on TTIP • A group of FYEG activists should form a pool of experts on TTIP. They can be invited by MOs to conduct Seminars, they provide regular updates to the MOs on the negotiation process of TTIP and CETA, and they will be creating webinars that MOs can use to educate their activists • FYEG will take part and will motivate its MOs to take part in the European Citizens’ Initiative campaign against TTIP and CETA

Migration Seminar We have applied for conducting a seminar in Ceuta on European migration policies. It will enable our activists to understand the situation of refugees in Europe and those who try to come to Europe. It will also analyse the European Refugees border policy.

Wintercamp At our annual Wintercamp, we will focus on inclusion policies within organisations and within the society. In order to promote inclusivity, our organisations should be inclusive as well. Youth in Crisis Conference We focus the Youth in Crisis Conference this year on the emergence of the far right in Europe. We want to discuss with our activists from all over Europe on strategies to advocate for an open, diverse and united Europe and explore the causes for neo-fascist and post-fascist movements.

Climate Change Seminar The COP in Paris will be decisive for the global Climate. We want to be part in the movement that pushes for a far-reaching and binding treaty on global emission reduction. At our Climate Change seminar, we want to lay the ground for a big campaign in the wake of the summit in 2015. A coordination team will be nominated for this purpose.

www.fyeg.org To reach this, the following points should be established : • One of the EC member will be in charge of the follow-up of the implementation of the activities related with COP21 • FYEG needs to collaborate more with climate networks in Europe. Therefore we propose to work with organisations such as the climate Justice Network, Young Friends of the Earth Europe, the European youth Climate Movement etc. • In order to be able to follow the negotiations properly, a delegation for the SB 42, the preCOP and COP21 at least 7 persons need to be selected and ranked in January 2015 at the latest. • To organise a seminar during COP21, the EC will send a call to implement a prep team dedicated to this task. This prep team of this seminar should be selected well in advance before May 2015 (as the SB 42, the Intersessionals, will take place in June or July). • FYEG needs to work to work closely with the GYG Steering Committee in order to involve Young Greens of other Regions of the Globe. International Campaign to abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICANW) FYEG will bethink its grassroot movement and referr to its commitment to the vision of a world without weapons, armed conflict and war and its commitment to pacifism. Stressing that the development and testing of nuclear weapons must be banned globally and the process towards total nuclear disarmament must continue with increased urgency. Noting the 9th Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) 2015 at the UN, deploring the utter disregard of the NPT, to foster the process of disarmament of nuclear weapons. FYEG will take measures to raise awareness within its Member Organisations and the civil-society, to support the ICANW movement and sensitize for the topic of Nuclear disarmament, such as: FYEG will support with press releases and Social Media activities until the Review Conference in spring 2015 Will organize a Webinar about Nuclear Weapons, together with the Peace&Conflict Working Group Encourage knowledge sharing between local groups and stakeholder Support the possibility of joint activities of the Member Organisations and FYEG Working Groups

The EC will facilitate and encourage a thorough discussion between the relevant working groups of the FYEG and its Member Organizations on the current state of aff airs in Israel and the Palestinian territories.

MEMBER ORGANISATIONS AND WORKING GROUPS

Knowledge Exchange between Member Organisations FYEG will engage in supporting the organisational development of its Member Organisations by • Based on the interests of the MOs, FYEG will organise a Capacity Building seminar that focuses on the knowledge exchange between Member Organisations. The Seminar will be focused and geared towards organisational development. • The EC will promote the exchange between MOs in order to for them learn from each other. This will include featuring Good Practices of organisational development in the Newsletter Communication with Member Organisations • A member of the EC will be nominated within the EC as a communication officer to ensure that the communication with member organisations is effective. • The Newsletter should be send out on a regular basis

www.fyeg.org • Telephone conferences: FYEG will aim to have at least one skype meeting with the International Secretaries of the Member Organisations per month, in which it will address similar topics • The EC will write monthly reports about their work in the committee and these will be published via the newsletter and on the webpage

Support the Work of the Working Groups The Working Groups are an easy way to get involved in FYEG. Working Groups are a great place for our activists to meet, debate topics and develop campaigns and ideas. The main aim considering the Working Groups is to organise and support their work better. Last year we created a common email list for all WG coordinators and they also had common skype meetings. This year this work should be continued by sharing best practices in different Working Groups and making sure the links between WGs, Executive Committee and FYEG office are working. Therefore, FYEG will be more focussed on providing guidance for the activities of the Working Groups. The Working Groups will have a meeting in autumn including professional training. • EC will give special support to the Working Groups before the Working Group meeting. After the Working Group Meeting, Working Groups should have set their goals and work independently. • At the Working Group meeting, the the Working Groups will be provided with guidance on activities, like writing article series or planning a seminars or creating a webinar, by a professional trainer. • It is recommended to the Working Groups to provide bi-monthly reports on topics they are following for the website and the newsletter. • The Spokespersons will connect the Working Groups to specific MEPs and their offices, in order to invite them to their meetings. The EC will support the WG with getting in contact with partners from the Civil Society • The EC will appoint one EC member to specifically support the work of the Working Groups. Each Working Group has an individual working plan for the coming year specified in Annex I. OFFICE DEVELOPMENT In accordance with last year’s activity plan we keep enlarging our office to better support the FYEG volunteers and all our activities. Currently we have Secretary General and Project Assistant working permanently at the office. In addition, we aim for again employing an Office Assistant. • In order to show our sound financial management and get professional feedback, we aim to have an external audit. Our, aim, to to apply for EU DG (Directorates-General) grants, will be made possible through such an audit • We will engage with the new Erasmus+ program and develop a good quality projects • We also plan to join the European Voluntary Service database • We will improve the internal management of the office in terms of working time and work flows

EXTERNAL RELATIONS FYEG promotes its agenda through advocacy and activism. In the coming year FYEG aims to improve its external communication by strengthening communication with our Member Organisations as well as the press. FYEG co-operates with various European and international youth organisations and other non-governmental organisations, and coordinates its activities with its partners and networks. Outreach to the outside and the Press: The Spokespeople will be developing a strategy to be more present in the European debates and

www.fyeg.org increase the visibility of FYEG. The Spokespersons shall receive training in press work, using the capacities of the network. It should be amongst the priorities of the spokespeople to represent FYEG to the outside and to the press. In addition, the spokespeople will engage in co-operating with the MOs to bring attention to European issues into national press. Social Media outreach: FYEG work on social media needs to be continued. And interaction should take place every day. The social media strategy, that was voted upon in the GA in Bad Hersfeld should be followed further. Ecosprinter: We will continue having topical discussions in the online magazine and encourage member organisations to spread their debates.

PARTNERS AND STAKEHOLDERS Also in the next year, we will be closely engaging with our European Partners. Within the European (EGP), we will be engaging in our Agenda setting and we will continue to work within the EPG Working Groups. The Green Group in the European Parliament (GGEP) has got a lot of new Young MEPs and we will be liaising with them in order to get closer to policy-making. The FYEG Working Groups should be in more frequent contact with them. In addition, we want to continue the successful campaign work with the GGEP. The Green European Foundation (GEF), will be of renewed importance to our organisation. We shall seek cooperation in terms of educating our activists on European matters and improving their skills. With the Global Young Greens, we shall work closely in order to conduct the Global Young Greens Congress in Europe within the next mandate. We also continue to co-operate with: Heinrich-Böll-Foundation; European Youth Forum (YFJ);CDN; MADA network; NGOs and the Party Political Youth Organisations (PPYOs).

www.fyeg.org Annex I PLANS OF WORKING GROUPS FOR MANDATE 2014-2015

Food Systems and Animal Rights The Food System and Animal Rights Working Group currently consists of only three members. For this reason, we will decide our main issues to cover at the beginning of the next working groups’ mandate. In this way, we can determine the topic in a more democratic manner. The group has also been considering launching a call for articles on 'The symbolic construction of food and farms'. This topic can cover many aspects of the food system from what we produce to how we eat, and includes issues such as vegetarianism, GMOs, alternative food networks, amongst others.

Global Justice WG There are many topics for the next year we could focus on e. g. medical injustice, trade injustice and arms trade. We want to put also a focus of our work on international trade, and particularly the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). For the General Assembly, we will organise a workshop on land grabbing. For the next year we want to get in touch with the African Young Greens and develop a common view on trade politics, international health care management, and the currently the negotiated EPAs (Economic Partnership Agreement) between Europe, Africa and some Pacific states. We would like to explore also the possibilities of a meeting with them. Besides this we intend to improve our internal work, by inviting external consultants to give us some input from time to time. As a start, we want to organise a webinar on development policies in the next months. Last but nevertheless we want to build up public conscience. A major necessity to promote global justice is to create public conscience for it. We want to achieve this by starting a blog, where we will publish and share articles on global justice topics.

Green Economy working group During the next year, we would like to give freedom to the newly coming members to define the topics they would like to work on. Still we think topics of work could be related to campaigning against the TTIP, and we would like to gather stories of local change on the youthintransition.wordpress.com

Climate change working group For the next year we want to support and contribute actively to the organization of an FYEG COP20 workshop in Brussels. We want to participate in the Reclaim Power campaign and energy action week, 10-17 October. We also plan an action or online campaign during the European parliament meeting where will be decided on the EU2030 target package and Energy Security. We explore also the possibility for participation to other events and the organization of seminars.

Peace and Conflict working group Our plan for the left term until September, will be to finish 2 topics on the reasoning and the rhetorics of 'War On Terror'. In August we will try to summarize our Informations, see what we have learned and maybe make a digression to where the EU stands in the 'War On Terror' - for the period of 14/15 Silvio already made a proposal to concentrate on the ICANW process at the UN and promote this movement.

www.fyeg.org Youth working group For next year we are planning to work on the situation of young employees, interns and volunteers in Europe. We think that should take on more the issue of working conditions for young people and fight for quality internships. Part of this is also a review of the way internships are regarded. While they used to be an opportunity for young people to get an insight on different jobs and possibilities, for us today they are almost a compulsory part of our career because work experience is an essential qualification for most positions. Our policies must take this into account when defining our regulations for internships. This includes internships that are completed in the Green Parties in Europe and Green organisations. We think that there is still room for improvements and want to make sure that Greens in Europe are a positive role model as internship providers.

Democracy working group For the next year we have a couple of ideas we could work on. On one side we want to talk about "free-trade" agreements such as CETA, TTIP or TRIPS, and the “transparency” around them. We could help the organization of actions on the topic. On the other side we want to continue exploring European citizens’ initiatives, or help mobilizing for a certain ECI. Additionally we want to put focus on the rising right-wing populism and how we can encounter it. We will organize some skype conferences on the topic, and could invite external speakers as well. Besides this we think that important step for improving the European democracy is striving for a New Convention on the Future of Europe. We will develop this idea a bit more, and work with external partners on the topic.

Migration, Culture and Identity working group We would like to give more topical freedom of the members, who will join the next mandate our working group. Currently we think that the topics could be in two direction. On one side we can talk about Racism, antisemitism, and nationalism - current state of affairs and resistance in Europe. On the other sides the working groups’ activities can be related to the topic of borders within and around Europe - Schengen, FRONTEX, and Freedom of move.

Gender Working Group For the next year we ave many creative ideas that we could work on depending on the new members interests. We would like to create a poster or booklet which will illustrate how the major political parties in each country reflect to LGBTQ policies. We want to develop also Trans Policy within the FYEG MOs. Another idea would be to work on a sexual education seminar and eventual publication as a follow up. We could organize also an action against limiting accessibility of medical services. Last we want to draw attention to Gender in media, and create a poster with pictures and statistical data. We will make an action day and will spread the poster within our NGOs and share on social networks.

Strategic Planning Process working group FYEG started a strategic planning process (SPP) in 2013 that aims to develop a long-term goal- oriented plan for its future development. This process should also determine our visions for political work, the ways of reinforcing the office capacities, the objectives for our educational work, the questions of knowledge transfer, and the relationship towards our Member organisations, Working groups and stakeholders. The SPP working group aims to work towards improving the structural work of FYEG.

www.fyeg.org Annex II FYEG’s Support Towards Realizing the 4th Global Young Greens Congress

As a movement that strives for a holistic, global view on politics, the Global Young Greens (GYG) is an indispensable network for young greens in general. However, we must take cognizance of the fact that it is challenging and frustrating to work virtually with others in different time-zones and in the absence of facilitated or possible physical meetings. It is also difficult to predict the inspiration of the selected individuals to keep serving in a voluntary-network oriented organisation that calls for the continuous engagement with its members on various diverse platforms.

After the constitution of the 3rd cohort of the Global Young Green Members of the Steering Committee, a significant number of those elected during the 3rd Congress resigned and/or lost interest in the position of Steering Committee Member. As a result, the current composition of the Steering Committee is not only understaffed but also low on the capacity needed to organise and realise a global congress.

Based on the Organisational Principles of the GYG, a Congress is due in the year 2015. In the circumstances and on the strength of the GYG-FYEG Co-operation Agreement adopted during the 3rd GYG Congress in , FYEG should help in organising the next congress and re-animate the organisation.

The next congress should take place as soon as is practically possible. FYEG should specifically support with office capacity and contacts concerning fundraising and other tasks that requires professional knowledge and output. The realization of a GYG congress should be a priority for FYEG should be implemented during the year of 2015. If this resolution is adopted, the relevant steps towards this goal shall then be steered both by FYEG and the active GYG-SC members. FYEG should: • support the general fundraising efforts for the GYG congress that will be necessary for holding the congress • support the realisation of a GYG congress by taking over the application writing and reporting needed for the realisation of the congress • support the GYG with financial and administrative processes • in all these regards fully cooperate and communicate with the active GYG-SC members, taking into consideration that this will be a GYG event. • as the will be organizing their congress in 2016, FYEG should aim to cooperate with Global Greens, and look upon the possibilities of a joint event, as done in the past The GYG-SC will be the main responsible for the event including planning the program, doing practical arrangements, informing participants and making political decisions.

In case, it is not possible to realise the GYG Congress in 2015, an option would be to co-organise it together with the congress of the Global Greens that will be conducted in 2016 in Europe.

www.fyeg.org