TIGblogs - Event - World Youth Congress 2005 - Scotland

WYC 2008 in Quebec City, Canada

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 14:50:00 EDT

It's been a while since I've posted, but it's with good reason I'm writing now, as the World Youth Congress is just a few days away and this time it's in Quebec City, Canada. But you probably already new that. ;-)

Unfortunately I won't be able to go this year, but I have a lot of friends who will be there and it's a great chance to shout out about it. Last time we were in Sterling Scotland and the vibe was quite refreshing and eye opening, learning first hand from other people that were there from all over the world. I heard some chatter from other delegates with respect to issues such as actually achieving the millennium development goals (which keep getting pushed back) or actually making a difference on a grander scale with respect to the role of the congress before the United Nations and other international organizations, .. and while this is totally credible, to me the best parts of the congress take place on the person to person level. It's about who you meet, what you talk about and what you learn. And you learn a truck load in just the few days that you are all there together, mixed up, shaken up and moved around.

While I won't be there myself, I've been helping setup a new project this year called 'meditate to regenerate' that aims to introduce meditation as a way to improve effectiveness of active projects around the world. It's practically a no-cost option that can be tried by both organizers and the audience group of any project and easily provides benefits of health and well being, attention, awareness, relaxation, sustainability and also a cool head, which we can really help everyone. Projects can be tough and trying and we're learning stuff all the time in every context and environment.

Anyway you can find out more about the project at http://www.meditatetoregenerate.com which takes you to the TIG project. We're still gearing up to the congress, but be sure to check out the About page, the blog and coming soon, some proper documentation that scopes out what the project will be providing. If you want to get in touch with the project, just write to meditatetoregenerate [at] gmail.com

Take care,
Gautama

POOR BRIDGES

Tue, 27 Feb 2007 05:03:00 EST

During the rain seasons in Malawi most of the roads in the rural areas are not passerble and this resulted in many deaths especially pregnant mothers who are about to give birth. Rivers become not friendly at this time as it carries lot of waters from the up stream. Recently Malawi has just been hit by the floods especially in the southern part of the country whereby people their depend of farming and fishing. The floods has resulted in a number of water born diseases like Cholera, malaria and Typhoid fever just to mention a few. The roads are so poor that even a bridge being constructed in these roads they can not look good. The roads are of the most esential things which governments needs to look on. If we want to reduce maternal death we should also look the ways what couses the death so poor road network in Africa also contributed much greater on the maternal death. Like this small road above people used it to cross from one village to another and during the heavy rains these small sticks get soft and people can not use it, Young children can not cross to other side of the village where there is school at the end we see people suffer, lots of death and children not going to school. We need realy to mobilise ourselves to force our leaders to look onto these type of things.

Kondwani Thindwa (Malawi)

POVERTY IS STILL MORE IN MAMA AFRICA

Tue, 27 Feb 2007 03:32:00 EST

Malawi is one of the countries in Africa which has a high level of people living with HIV/AIDS. The number of people catching the deadly disease is increasing everyday though Churches, NGOs, the government are living stone unturn on sensetising its citizen on the dangers of the pandemic. The Malawi government has a number of institution which are working hand in hand with the international organasations in helping distributing the life prolonging drugs ARVS. But the questions in many mind of is that, Is this ARVs are really helping us. Through different reserch houses and radios we hear that these drugs only available in towns and to those people who can afford the first class drugs. Here it means these drugs are there but they are of different strength according to how one can afford. People in the tipical village will not be able to aford the drugs simply because they can not aford to buy it. We hear here and there that some ARVS are being distributed on free of charge but those are last grade I can that because the first grade of the drug is so expensive that most of us the Africans who living a life of less than a dollar we can not aford. Now what is the way forward for this. Should we live our government in spending money for the political gain or sourcing these life prolonging drugs to help those people in the rural areas to have the first class or grade drugs rather than these low grade drugs where at the end the live these people with lots of side effects. Now its the time to force or greedy governments in africa to help their people for better medicines, schools, food, shelter extra. We are moving towards the 2015 the end of the MDGs. The governments promised us for the better things mentioned above, But not many are yet fufiled these promises instead we have seen lots of wars, hunger, poor water sanitation, Manutritional children, poor education standard and many many more in human activities. A local Malawian child is found here playing in a tipical village where there is no school near by or hospital these people realy live by the grace of God.

Posted by Kondwani Thindwa Malawi

Small Scale grants for Youth-led Projects: Be the Change!

Thu, 14 Sep 2006 12:59:00 EDT

Be the Change! Programme
Small Scale grants for Youth-led Projects

Peace Child International has created the “Be the
Change!” Programme (BTC!) to support young people to
get involved in local community action and development
projects. Peace Child encourages young people to BE
THE CHANGE they want to see in their communities and
to make it possible we created a small scale grant
programme for youth-led projects.

If you are below 25 years old and have a project that
concentrates on the development of your community at a
local level, take a deep look in the requirements for
the grant programme and submit your proposal to Peace
Child International.

The Be the Change! desk officers will guide and advise
you to identify your own local issues, priorities and
problems and also help you to provide your own
solutions.

So, what kind of projects are we looking for?

- Projects that are genuinely youth-led: it cannot be
a bunch of adults getting some young people to front
their project so they can get money for it.
- It must benefit the community rather than an
individual need: we do not accept applications for
school fees or personal trips!
- Projects costing $500 - $1,000 with a detailed
budget.
- Have two experienced and committed adults to mentor
the project: following the principles of the
co-management.
- Have measures of achievement (indicators) by which
projects may be evaluated.
- It can be either income-generating (funds to start
up a small business and creating jobs) or it can be
non-income generating (for health, education,
environmental clean-up or community improvement)
social programmes which are of genuine and lasting
community value.

If you fulfil these requisites make sure to download
the application form on our website and send your
proposals to the appropriate desk officer at Peace
Child International before the deadline.

The deadline for applications to the Be the Change!
Grants is on Tuesday 31st October
You will receive a confirmation when your proposal has
been received.
We look forward to hearing from you!

Please submit photographs, preferably in digital
format to
Or send it by mail to: BTC COORDINATOR
AFRICA: Africa@peacechild.org
ASIA: asia@peacechild.org
EUROPE: Europe@peacechild.org
LATINOAMERICA:latina@peacechild.org

Nadia Ramos Serrano
Coordinadora del Programa de Donaciones BE THE CHANGE
*********************************************
Peace Child International
The White House, 46 High Street,
Buntingford, SG9 9AH Herts,
United Kingdom
Tel: 00 44 (0) 1763 274459
Fax:00 44 (0) 1763 274460
www.peacechild.org
www.bethechange.info
*********************************************

NADIA RAMOS SERRANO
Miembro de la
Red de Jóvenes Líderes
BIDJUVENTUD

If there are images in this attachment, they will not be displayed. Download the original attachment

PROJECT PROPOSAL

Be the Change! Programme

Small Scale grants for Youth-led Projects

Peace Child International has created the “Be the Change!” Programme (BTC!) to support young people to get involved in local community action and development projects. Peace Child encourages young people to BE THE CHANGE they want to see in their communities and to make it possible we created a small scale grant programme for youth-led projects.

If you are below 25 years old and have a project that concentrates on the development of your community at a local level, take a deep look in the requirements for the grant programme and submit your proposal to Peace Child International.

The Be the Change! desk officers will guide and advise you to identify your own local issues, priorities and problems and also help you to provide your own solutions.

So, what kind of projects are we looking for?

Projects that are genuinely youth-led: it cannot be a bunch of adults getting some young people to front their project so they can get money for it.
It must benefit the community rather than an individual need: we do not accept applications for school fees or personal trips!
Projects costing $500 - $1,000 with a detailed budget.
Have two experienced and committed adults to mentor the project: following the principles of the co-management.
Have measures of achievement (indicators) by which projects may be evaluated.
It can be either income-generating (funds to start up a small business and creating jobs) or it can be non-income generating (for health, education, environmental clean-up or community improvement) social programmes which are of genuine and lasting community value.

If you fulfil these requisites make sure to download the application form on our website and send your proposals to the appropriate desk officer at Peace Child International before the deadline.

The deadline for applications to the Be the Change! Grants is on Tuesday 31st October

You will receive a confirmation when your proposal has been received.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Please submit photographs, preferably in digital format to

Or send it by mail to: BTC COORDINATOR

AFRICA: Africa@peacechild.org

ASIA: asia@peacechild.org

EUROPE: Europe@peacechild.org

LATIN AMERICA: Latina@peacechild.org

NORTH AMERICA: n_america@peacechild.org

SMALL ISLAND STATES: sis@peacechild.org

UNITED KINGDOM: uk@peacechild.org

Or send the via - mail

Peace Child International, BTC! Programme

The White House – Buntingford, Herts.

United Kingdom, SG9 9AH

Fax: Int + (44) 176 327 4460

Tel: Int + (44) 176 327 4459

Date of proposal :

1. Name of Young proposer (your name)
Your Contact details e-mail:
Phone:
Address:

How many people will be involved in the project? Give names ages:

2 - Organisation: If you are a member of an organisation, give its name
If yes, please give us a brief history of your organisation and what it does?

3. Project Title: Find a catchy title that sums up what you want to do:

4. Background: Rural / Urban(circle one); Town: Country:
Project Context: Please give us a sense of where you live - your community, your situation:

NEED: Describe the major community need your project is addressing:

5. Project Summary - (Give us a general explanation of the activities you will undertake in this project.)

6. Action Plan - Schedule of the activities

How Long will it take? (approx.):
Activity schedule

7. Beneficiaries: - Who will benefit? How many of each age, gender, background and how were they involved in planning the project?

8. Project Mentor(s): an adult with experience in the field your project address has a very valuable role in supporting and advising projects- Please state who you will have as your mentor

Name(s):
Contact details for the lead mentor: e-mail :
Phone:
Address:
Occupation(s)/Experience:

9. Evaluator – All sponsors require an independent, objective evaluation of your project. Find some one to do this for you(not a family member! Ask a teacher, religious leader or best, a journalist.
Name:
Contact details: e-mail :
Phone:
Address:
Occupation/Experience:

10. Budget – What is your local currency? exchange rate: = £/$
Items/Expenditures required Quantity Price per Unit Total Cost in your local currency Total Cost
£ or $

TOTALS:

11. Handling Money – very important: most sponsors will not give money to individual young people. So each young project manager has to find a registered NGO, school, youth group or religious body to receive the funds into their bank account. Often, they order the materials for your project, and prepare the financial report so young people never have the risk of handling cash. Please explain your relationship with the organisation that you will be using to handle money.
Name of the Organisation:

Name of your Main Contact Person:

His/her Title or Role within the organisation:

Organisation’s address:

Organisation’s Phone: Fax No.

Organisation’s e-mail: Website

Date when the organisation was founded:

What is your relationship with the organisation?

Have they agreed to sign a letter of agreement to allow funds for it to be passed through the Organisation for your project? YES / NO

12. Sustainability: How will the project continue when you have spent the funds we send you?

Be the Change!

Notes on filling in the Project Proposal form

1) Your Name Contact Details – in particular an e-mail address. If you don’t have one, get one!

2) Your Organisation: if you have one! If not – skip this part, but note in Part 11 you will need one to handle your money for your project;

3) Project Title - The words you use in your title should paint a picture in the reader's mind. Be precise, concise and not ambiguous." Sum up the aim and focus of the proposal. "

4) Background - Project Context: We need to get a sense of your community - what goes on there, what type of place it is.

Need -
What are the pressing community problems that your project address? (When thinking about the needs it is a good idea to conduct a survey/ interview or hold a meeting first,to find out what other people think, get their ideas and prove that these needs are real and are shared by others. You should draw up a needs summary.)

5) Project Summary: Here you give us a brief descriptive story of what you plan to do.

If you have prepared a needs summary - show us how your project will address each need.

6) Action Plan: We need a simple step-by-step time-table for your action plan.

In the ‘Time-table’ Column, write “Day ONE, Day TWO…” - “Week ONE, Week TWO” or “Month ONE, Month TWO…”etc. – depending on how long your project is going to take. Time the project from start to finish so that the funder knows what will be done by when.

7) Beneficiaries: Explain exactly who this project is aimed at.

Show us how and when you have consulted the beneficiaries and if they have been involved in the planning and design of this project.
Sometimes proposers dream up ideas without consulting the people they are aiming to help. We need to know that the beneficiaries have been involved and want this project to happen.

8) Mentors: Experience proves that youth-led development works 100% better when you have a good mentors. Chose your mentor carefully and tell us briefly what experience they have in the field.

9) Evaluators: Again chose your evaluator carefully. Make sure it is someone whom we can contact. It would be useful if they spoke English, French or Spanish so that they can send their report directly to PCI Headquarters.

10) Budget: We want to know what your local currency is and what the current exchange rate is;

Please state the amount in the local currency, as well as in £ sterling or US$ (Rates of exchange vary from day to day)
Please be realistic as you prepare your budget: find lowest cost for materials, see what "in kind" donations you can get (thee include donated materials, work space, donated labour donated etc.) Check all prices at 2-3 locations. Don’t just guess!

11) Handling Money: Most funding organisations do not send money to individual young people. If you need money for your project, each young project manager, must find a registered organisation to receive the money. It could be a registered NGO that you have set up yourself, or it could be a friendly neighbourhood NGO, or your school or youth club. In this box, all you need to demonstrate is that you have thought about this issue, found an organisation that is prepared to receive the money, and to give us their name and address. Before we release the money to you, you will have to sign a short Letter of Understanding with the organisation, a copy of which we shall forward to you if your project gets accepted.

12) Sustainability: The best projects generally continue after the funding is over but funders are often ready to fund one-off projects and events. Let us know what you plan to do once the funding is finished? Are you planning to collaborate with other local organisations to keep it going?

www.iadb.org/bidjuventud

8th African Students Conference, 14 October 2006, The Hague

Mon, 04 Sep 2006 11:49:00 EDT

Announcing the 8th Annual African Students Conference

The Impact of Religion
Saturday, 14th October 2006

09.30-18.00
Institute of Social Studies
Kortenaerkade 12
The Hague, the Netherlands

The ASC for African students has been organized annually since 1999 at the Institute of Social Studies (ISS) in The Hague. These conferences under the title Building Peace in Africa address critical issues of major concern in the field of advancing peace, justice and sustainable development.

The overall topic 2006 will be the Impact of Religion. The conference is primarily intended for African students studying in the Netherlands and young African Diaspora. But other students or academics with an interest in the subject, representatives of NGOs, officials, and other concerned persons/ organizations are very welcome.

Participation will be free of charge!
Date: 14.10.2006, 9.30-18.00
Where: ISS Kortenaerkade 12, The Hague
Info: unoy@unoy.org (Vera Silva)

Download the Application from www.unoy.org and send it to Vera Silva unoy@unoy.org

Keep visiting our homepage for updates and other news.

Memories

Tue, 01 Aug 2006 12:30:00 EDT

It's been nearly a year since the 3rd World Youth Congress at Stirling University in Scotland - an amazing occasion. It was also the first thing I wrote about in this blog!

During the event I did lots of media work including film, writing and photography. Here's a short video I made with a friend:

It really helps me remember all those great times!

WYC 2005

Tue, 17 Jan 2006 06:58:00 EST

This is my first post in a good while, and also about a past event.

The WYC happened in august last year, almost six months ago. It was one of the most well organized events I ever been to. Much of the credit for this is probably because of the fact that it was held in the University of Stirling, with its beautiful and welcoming campus. Scotland itself is a great place, during the congress I had to chance to visit one of the northern towns in Scotland, Durness. We spent a few days there, supposedly working with local youth. We did meet local youth, but for DJ’ing classes and tours around the small village. I’m not saying it was bad, I loved to be there and meet and chat with them, it really interesting the see things from the perspective of someone who grew in a small village, and being in the northern tip of Scotland, how they had to adapt to the weather in the highlands.

The congress in stirling was a great opportunity to meet people, specially some friends that I haven’t seen in over a year or two. But I had to confess that I didn’t participate in much of the ‘work’ proposed by the congress. All the drafting and discussions about policy just seemed a little bit uninviting to me. Talking to different people from all over the world was much more interesting to me, I tried to spent more time with the Latin American delegation, and build a stronger regional network. I met some great people from South America, hope to be able to meet them again and work together in the future. Also for the first time someone I met abroad came to Brazil, Cezar, from Mexico and spent a few good days with me in Rio, in the last week of December. Maybe some of you I met will follow his lead during this year? ;)

The congress came back to my mind last week when I received the WYC pack with the DVD and CD, seeing all the faces again and watching the videos made me feel refreshed and reenergized again...

Anyway, I also uploaded a few photos from the WYC last night, you can find them in my flickr page.

just a well deserved note, today is my sister's birthday, she's 24 today :)

WYC CD and ACTION TOOLKIT finally here!

Mon, 28 Nov 2005 12:51:00 EST

It's been soooo cold today...and then it started SNOWING(Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!) Yeah....its been wicked though and so much fun!! Anyways...was walking home from DoveHouse and got home to find that the WYC CD and Action Toolkit had arrived...cant tell you how big my smile was :D...and Ive just watched some of it...awww(THANKS to all the people who produced it!)..memories of such an INSPIRING and just AMAZING event...which has for me encouraged me to take a more active role in Youth Led Development!(Make Solihull Fairtrade Campaign!)So hehe...jus had to post a blog on it.
I met some really kewl ppl there and made so many friends!
Anyways gotta sprint....(artwork is creeping up on me!)
Over n out
Peace, hugs and smiles...
xxx

Word Youth Congress

Sat, 05 Nov 2005 07:55:00 EST

The 3rd World Youth Congress was held in the University of Stirling, Scotland from July 30th to August 8th. I was accepted to attend the Congress as a delegate and was sponsored by the British Council for the flight tickets, for which I have to express my gratitude. Had it not been for the British Council, I would never have had this chance to experience this charming country first-hand. It was an unforgettable memory, probably one of the best events and a turning point in my life.
Scotland is beautiful in its tranquillity and is considered the best small country in the world. I love Scotland for its magnificent landscapes and the warmth in its people’s souls. The University of Stirling, which for ten days we called our home, is one of the most beautiful universities in Europe coloured with the green of grass and trees, ten times as big as the Institute for International Relations where I am studying, highlighted by the wild life such as rabbits, squirrels, ducks and swans. The weather here changes so quickly that we often had four seasons a day. Summer, especially during July and August, is supposed to be the best time of the year in Scotland but sometimes it got freezing cold, which made I feel like I was in Sapa or Tam Dao in the North of Vietnam. And now in the centre of Hanoi with the heat and humidity, how I miss the Scottish weather that much.
It was not only my first flight to Scotland, to the United Kingdom or to Europe but also my first flight! I got travel sick when arriving at the campus of the university and the worst of it, my luggage was lost, which attracted lots of attention from the staff. They were very, very kind, helpful and caring. Because of that I now have two good friends who were the members of staff: Justina and Monjer (Thank you so much for helping me and being so considerate!)
We, 600 delegates from more than 140 countries all over the world, irrespective of nationality, gender, colour, and religion, gathered here in hope of being the change, of making something new for a sustainable development, for the better future. We tried our best to make ten days staying here as long as one month. We made new friends. We discussed our local, national and international issues. We gained skills and knowledge through workshops and meeting sessions. We created two important documents, the Policy Document and the Youth Action Toolkit, one for the governments, the UN and NGOs, the other for us.
But the most amazing experience was the Action Projects, which made this Congress truly the opportunity for youths to “talk the talk and walk the walk”. Delegates had the chance to put theories into practice and dive "into the trenches" of sustainable and human development through a variety of action projects, which took place around Scotland in partnership with local organisations and youth groups, to leave a footprint of long lasting community benefit. Projects included renewing local community facilities, forestry regeneration, shoreline conservation, working in drug rehabilitation projects, etc. 600 of us were divided into 40 groups called clans participating in 40 different projects. (“Clan” is a Scottish word for “family”). My clan has an impressive name – IMPACT and consists of 13 impressive members from Vietnam, UK, India, Mexico, Japan, Hong Kong, Peru, Colombia, Brazil, Pakistan and Bosnia. We had great time together with the local people, both adults and youths, doing traditional Scottish crafts such as stone carving and mosaic, enjoying Scottish folk songs and the Ceilidh, building friendship and solidarity with people in Kinloch Rannoch and Perth. Dzenita from Bosnia told me that she was really herself when she was here. Three days of the project passed so quickly that we wished it could last for three weeks or even a month! The farewell meeting was deeply moving. Surprisingly, the happiest and funniest guy, Ivor, was the first to start crying. (Anyway, he looked so cute when crying!)
Although nothing is perfect, there were ups and downs in this Congress and sometimes I felt disappointed, I will always remember my first global event with a warm feeling in my heart. I have made many new friends from different cultures and background who teach me to respect and love others unconditionally. I have learned that everyone is special and unique in their own way, that we should be the change before we can change anything else. I have been inspired by people, both famous and quieter ones, for their wills, hearts, passions, hopes, faiths and bravery to make this world a better place to live. Thank you, Tawia, Jatin, Megumi, Praveen, Yousaf, Prudence, Laura, Leo, Dzenita, Lejla, David, Heidi, Elena and Kelly for being me my second family, my dear brothers and sisters. Thank you Stirling, thank you Scotland for giving me this opportunity to write these lines. See you in Quebec 2008!

Review of World Youth Congress 2005

Mon, 03 Oct 2005 16:49:00 EDT

I was able to make an intervention about the Global Youth Coalition on AIDS (GYCA) after a video screening at the World Youth Congress (WYC), which was held this August in Scotland. I stood up after a video was shown and made an announcement, I asked who in the room was a member of GYCA-- two people raised their hands.

The WYC was hosted by the Scottish Executive Government and the NGO Peace Child International. The Scottish Executive went all out - there were huge video screens, nightly entertainment, two free t-shirts and one free sweatshirt for every participant. There were about 600 participants, about 100 from the United Kingdom, as well as many local staff facilitators from the UK. The event focused on the “action projects,” where young people were sent out into Scotland to do a variety of community service projects, ranging from painting murals to exchange with youth NGOs in India, to packaging computers for schools in Africa, to local environmental clean up.

Besides the "youth action" projects in the community, the WYC had two outcomes, a team creating a "Tool kit" for youth action, and a drafting team struggling over language to put in an outcome document. Because the "outcome document" of the last World Youth Congress in Morocco became so politicized when each country was allowed one vote, this time there was no selection process for the drafting of the document, and nor real process to ratify the document on the final day. While voting can be divisive and counter-productive, ensuring that the drafting process is representative is very important, and should be planned and facilitated with care. Because there was never any direction to the youth delegates about how the drafting would be done, the most of the youth initially involved in drafting were from European and developed country perspectives. If the WYC is not an opportunity for the youth of the world to work together, at least in one small group, then what is it for?

In regards to the third outcome, the Tool Kit, it honestly seemed strange that Peace Child was creating a new tool kit while a hot of the presses tool kit on youth and the Millennium Development Goals had been expressly shipped to the Scottish campus from Global Youth Action Network, Taking IT Global and the Millennium Campaign. The Congress would have been a great time to have small groups of youth plan how they would use the Tool Kit they were already able to hold in their hands.

It would have been great to have a meeting on just the Global Youth Coalition on AIDS at the World Youth Congress – there were a lot of excellent young people in attendance, but it seemed the focus of the conference was to keep us entertained, not get us to work together. I don’t like to be negative – I made some friends, got some new contacts, saw the Scottish country side and officially aged out when I turned 25 on the closing day. But I can’t help but think about the resources that were put into that conference ($4 million USD!), while I know so many young people that struggle for the tiniest amount of funding and recognition.

See my article about WYC 2003
http://www.alternet.org/wiretap/16937/

Great message, great mess - Impressions from the 3rd World Youth Congress 2005 in Scotland

Sun, 02 Oct 2005 06:52:00 EDT

Great people, great message, great fun, great mess – probably the best four words to describe what happened these ten days at the University of Stirling, Scotland, UK. The 3rd World Youth Congress held there gathered 600 of the world’s most dynamic young activists in the field of sustainable development and poverty eradication from more than 120 different countries.
The congress wanted to offer a unique opportunity to meet and work alongside young people who are really doing things and going places. This event wanted also to set a new standard for international youth events, and was indeed the largest and most inspirational gathering of its kind for young people taking place anywhere in the world in 2005.
After the “'Millennium Young People’s Congress” 1999 in Hawaii and another Congress 2003 in Morocco was the World Youth Congress in Scotland the third Conference of this series. Its focused aim was to draw the attention of peoples and governments to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of the United Nations – which strive to reduce by half the proportion of people living on less than a dollar a day and to eradicate other forms of poverty until 2015 – and to encourage the skills and motivation of the delegates to realize further action projects in the fields of MDGs and Sustainable Development (two issues which are connected in many fields, as you can also see in the Agenda 21).

Myself, I had the chance to attend WYC as representative of the international, in Germany based youth network YOIS (Youth for Intergenerational Justice and Sustainability), and, in particular, in my role as MDG Western Europe Regional Youth Editor for the global youth network TakingITGlobal, the world’s largest online community of young activists from every corner of this planet. As a Regional Youth Editor, I have the task to solicit, promote, advice and initiate young people’s projects for rasing awareness and to do their little part for the implementation of the MDGs.
The Congress was structured in three parts: (1) a skills part with workshops and discussion sessions, (1) an Action Project part sending the delegates out to Scotland to realize local projects, and (3) a reflection and future planing part to think about how the own activities for MDGs will go on after the Congress eventually finished; indeed the follow-up-phase is actually the widely most important result of the Congress which itself was obviously not designed for the helding debates about controversial political issues but to force up the delegates’ motivation to implement future projects and to create networks. Beside the actual programme, a special drafting committee being open for all delegates worked on a political declaration as outcome of the contents of the Congress.
The Congress opened with several motivating, but unfortunately rather contentless speeches held by younger and older activists. It was followed by a “Warm Scottish Welcome” in form of a Formal Dinner, being the first possibility for the delegates to meet each other in a really relaxed atmosphere – particularily after quaffing some glasses of wine and celebrating Scottish Ceilidh, practising Scottish dances and experiencing the first time the sound of bagpipes. Beforehand the delegates were moetly mixed together in groups called Clans being their “family” for the next days (and the Clans grew together indeed!).
The first official day of the Congress was also the best opportunity for TakingITGlobal to present its recently relaunched homepage to the many interested delegates. The features and tools of the TIG homepage were explained, with much positive feedback from the participants who stated that these online tools could be pretty useful for them and that they plan to use them in the future. Some delegates including myself as well as my colleagues Fabrizio (MDG Latin America Regional Youth Editor) and Franziska (MDG Youth Editor coordinating the work of the Regional Youth Editors) explained in the forum why and how they are engaged with TIG. Myself, I told that TIG gives me motivation to continue my work – because I know, that also other people around the world are working for a better world, with the same or often worse experiences and feelings of not to be heared and not to be able to changing something. “The delegates here want to be the change, and we can make a difference! Who, if not us, and when, if not right now?” Even I told this in my usual bad English, the audience was so nice to give me some applaus while I was hoping that the video of this session will never be uploaded online.
Two following days were filled up with workshops and discussion groups. Delegates could sign up for sessions with VIP Guests (renowed activists as well as e.g. representatives from UN), Sustainable Lifestyles Demonstrations or workshops held by delegates themselves. I attended the Session held by other German Delegates (being also both TIG and YOIS members) presenting the network “World Youth Citizens” arised from the 2nd World Youth Congress in Morocco; these activists involved in several projects promoting MDGs and international understanding produced some pretty good contacts, and moreover the Session was quite useful for me to present there the work I do for TakingITGlobal.

Another workshop I attended dealed with the “Ecological Footprint” – so the impact on environment we leave by all our activities. With help of a short questionnaire the couple of participants could calculate a rough estimate of their individual footprint. Even although I am from the resources-wasting Europe I could show a quite small footprint, apparently because I don’t travel as much as the others did. Advice for being the change by changing the own lifestyle to a more sustainable one: less meat, less travelling (particularly less by car and plane), switch to renewable electricity, less children, recycling water, saving food.
I also attended some two more workshops dealing with the chance of the European Union and with discussion skills, but both brought me no further findings at all; the one about Europe was in fact completely beside the actual issue.
The following three days were assigned to the Action Projects. The Clans established at the first day of the Congress went out to different places of Scotland to realize concrete projects including renewing local community facilities, forestry regeneration, conservation and working in drug rehabilitation projects.
The Project of Clan no. 22, the Ferguson Clan and the best of all (needless to say, this was my Clan), gathering amazing youngsters from Africa, Australia, Asia and Europe, had daily trips to a town close to the Highlands where our job was to to help the Local Community Trust shaping its Community Centre. We streamed rampant grass and cut trees (= we destroyed the environment; myself, I even destroyed the streamer), moved a bench and then – our great work – built an awesome shed. During the days we not only enjoyed the beautiful Scottish weather (Shean from Scotland: “This is rain? You haven’t experienced real Highland Rain yet!”) but also the amazing scenery of the Highlands and had a small hiking tour to an old gold mine where we were allowed to gold-hunting (and even found some, so we are all now well off men).
The third part of the Congress reflected the work that has been done so far and addressed the future work upcoming after the Congress. The delegates were supposed to draft individual Plans of Action to create 600 projects on MDGs around the world. These plans were collected, some were presented in the plenary, and the Congress organizers will keep an eye on the implementation of these projects. This time was also the time for national and regional meetings to connect amongst each other, and the time of drafting the latest version of the Policy Document.
The regional meeting of Europe was attended by about 50 delegates (for UK delegates, an extra meeting took place; nevertheless some British delegates attended the European meeting: “Yes we actually are still a part of Europe!”). I had the chance to present TakingITGlobal again and to ask the delegates to get involved in the TakingITGlobal’s MDG Western Europe Campaign. Furthermore I could give some advice what action projects could (and must!) be done on the 2nd White Band Day on 10 September 2005, when the Millennium +5 Summit takes place. Many delegates noted the date and agreed that they want to do something. We also discussed some more possibilities to take action, e.g. writing to MPs or even to become MP self (the youngest German MP is 20 years old).

The World Youth Congress was officially closed by a Closing Ceremony with some more motivation speeches, eventually leading to a Formal Dinner and a “Salsa Celtica” Night (a mixture of Latin American Salsa and traditional Scottish music) and furthermore, on the next day, a Closing Session in the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh.
At the Session in the Parliament, only one representative per country was allowed to take part, due to the limited space in the Parliament. It was a honour for me to be able to represent my country there. One delegate of each continent had been selected to speak some words about the claims for youth involvement. After a video about the Congress was launched, the final Policy Document and reports about the Action Projects were overhanded to the Socttish prime minister who also said some words congratulating us for this event and our willness to be the change.
The World Youth Congress was a really great experience for all participants and so for me. I met great people, we sent out a great message, we had much fun together (even without good Bavarian beer that I missed very much). I could collect new experiences in international youth work, could establish new networks, met new friends from all over the world, had the chance to talk face-to-face to activists I already knew before to improve our common work, learned more about other countries and cultures, and discovered Scotland. The staff did a really great job to organize this mega-event so frictionless.
But there were also some points to critizise: For instance, when some clan members asked our clan coordinator what our projects has actually to do with the MDGs, he couldn’t give an answer. The next day he said: actually nothing. And he was right: Cutting grass and building a shed does neither contribute to poverty eradication nor to sustainable development. The project targeted only to create a team spirit and maybe to collect some experiences on how community development could go. I would have prefered a clear link of all the action projects to the MDGs.
Also the list of workshops was not the best. There was no single one workshop on how to lobby governments, no workshop telling in general about MDGs etc. Moreover the workshops were too short, only one hour per workshop is not enough.
The speeches at the plenary sessions were meaningless, exchangeable: “We are the change, we can make a difference, bla bla.” Always the same. One motivation speech – okay. Ten motivation speeches – no. More content, more concrete political speeches would have been better. This means both the speeches of activists and NGO/UN/government representatives at the WYC plenary and the speeches of delegates at Scottish parliament. There was no single one claim for concrete political action. And the prime minister also didn’t say: Yes, thank you, now we act! He just said: You’re great people, thanks to coming to Scotland.
A group of delegates including myself moreover critized by a declaration that the Congress was not shaped environmentally sustainable at all: Wasting of plastic cups, BP as a sponsor, long bus tours with double-deckers only 15 people sitting in, no CO2-compensation projects, the WYC t-shirts not fair-traded etc. We asked the staff to improve this situation significantly at next WYC in Quebec.
Beside these points of constructive critic which is unavoidable for every event, the World Youth Congress was a real chance to create motivation, skills and networks amongst young activists from all over the world. For many, it was even an experience changing their life. I hope for a long list of successful action projects. Then, the Congress would have fulfilled its aims, indeed. The there would be the difference the Congress wanted to make. Then we would have the right to say at next WYC in Quebec: We WERE the Change!

Zephyr: At the World Youth Congress, August 2005

Sat, 17 Sep 2005 10:00:00 EDT

from left to right: Rylan (Hong Kong/UK), Gautama (Canada), Liam (UK), Liane (Hong Kong/UK), Jai (India/Italy), Amy (Scotland), Devadat (Italy), Gita (UK), Bhakti (Lithuania), Emma (Scotland), Elena (Italy), Mirjam (Austria), Shailaja (Italy), Celeste (Australia).

1 month later, and still the experience is so fresh!

Sat, 17 Sep 2005 09:51:00 EDT

Hi, its been a little while and I just wanted to post some photos from of our group from the World Youth Congress and say thanks to Sohail for taking it and to all the other friends we met there who were so vibrant and inspiring.

After the Congress, we travelled up to Edinburgh and Glasgow to see the cities and then further up in Scotland to see the landscape, coming back down to a small village called Meagle, near Perth and joining up with a national seminar for Sahaja Yoga meditation. This was really wonderful as always and with the real feeling of coming back home, we were able to share about WYC and again perform some of the music as well as a much wider range.

In the last month we have been sharing our experience with friends around the world and keeping in touch with new friends that we made there. I'll see what I can do, whether I am able to summarize an excerpt of the whole experience and share it with you here, and if I can get the momentum up, I'll try to post more regularly to share some more about whats going on with us, what we like to do, and what we are all interested in. If I do a good job, we'll be able to connect better and I hope help to make a difference in the things we believe in around the world.

Since the World Youth Congress, I am also keeping very much in touch with my clan (number 38!) on a Yahoo! Group, and then by email.

Keep in touch,
Gautama

MONDE SANS FRONTIERE

Mon, 12 Sep 2005 16:47:00 EDT

Salut à tous , je serai long par la prochaine occasion, d'ores et déjà j'invite tous les amis du TIG à débattre d'un sujet bien important sur le monde sans frontière en milieu jeune ....

A Few Memories of the World Youth Congress III - Unos de los recuerdos del III Congreso Mundial de Jóven

Sun, 28 Aug 2005 15:03:00 EDT

(Spanish Below)

What you see is my hand during the time the Youth Congress was taking place. Looking at this photo brings to my mind words and messages of different people who were at the podium, expressing their thoughts and opinions regarding the Millinium Development Goals and the importante of young people to achieve these goals. A clear example of this is the words and tone of voice that María
used in referecte to the struggle to eliminate poverty in the world: “WE DON’T HAVE AN EXCUSE”. One of the speeches that I found most inspiring and powerful was that of Rick Little
for his life’s store and perserverance to achieve those dream in which he believes. I am glad to have found an example that can be followed.

Note: The colored wristbands seen in the photo signify the following:

White: MAKE POVERTY HISTORY
Yellow: BE THE CHANGE – www.scotland2005.org

Photo by: Gaby

En español

Lo que se ve es mi mano, durante los días que duró el Congreso. Mirando esta fotografía, me vienen a la mente las palabras y los mensajes de varias personas que estuvieron sobre el escenario, comentando sus opiniones respecto a los Objetivos de Desarrollo del Milenio, y la importancia del trabajo de los jóvenes para alcanzar estos Objetivos. Un claro ejemplo de esto son las palabras y el tono de voz que utilizó, María : “WE DONT HAVE EXCUSE” al hacer referencia a la lucha para erradicar la pobreza en el mundo. Uno de los discursos que encontré mas inspirador y lleno de energía fue el de Rick Little, (por su historia de vida y su perseverancia en alcanzar aquellos sueños en los que cree), me alegra haber encontrar un ejemplo de lo que hay que imitar.

Aclaración: Las pulseras tienen las siguientes leyendas:

- Color Blanco: MAKE POVERTY HISTORY.
- Color Amarillo: BE THE CHANGE - www.scotland2005.org

Foto: de Gaby

Back Home after WYC

Sat, 13 Aug 2005 12:09:00 EDT

During the long journey I had bak home, i was evaluating everything i experienced during the congress. What was the most important part of the conference? The greatest experince I had there? Definitly the Action Project!
I was thinking about it from the day I left Tunisia: Being with other young persons joining our efforts to fulfill a goal. I was a real joy for me to be involved in the preservation of Edinbrgh’s WildLife since it was the first time I’ve done such work. I’ve learned to look differenty to the nature and to the natural reserves, to go further in my relationship with the environment for sustainability.
For sure, people i’ve known during the congress contributed to making this congress a great and exciting experience. My first thought goes to my Clan (Number 33: Ramsay). - Picture attached was during the closing Ceremony on Saturday 6th August- They are all amasing: so kind so intersting! Thank you guys for making it a real joy! It was a pleasure meeting you all: Fiona, Gos, Hanna, Hortencia, Joe, Jon, Liang, Lilit, Mark, Nethen, Vicky.
I won’t forget about other amasing people I’ve met and admire fondly: Mark from Hawaii (who wished for young people to never stop questionning and never become cynical like precedent generations), Stephane from France (who is conviced that EU’s upper visions to Africa’s problems have to change to overcome them together), Muratha from Kenya
(who said: “If I get myself right, I’ll get Africa right”)
In which moment have i felt empowered? During Two Workshops I’ve attended on Monday 1st August: One was about MDG’s local campaigns, the second about “Using large group process to involve young people” was great: we discussed and learned so much by ourselves on how to have an appreciative dialogue. These two workshops filled me with ideas on how to make things happen when I’ll be back home, people I’ve met there and stories I’ve heard inspired me so much: The girl from zambia who want to grow (people involvement, media telling,local actions,etc…)so that she will encourage government to run to her instead of runnig arund them. The girl that had never stopped writing to her governement for 7 years till she got the aknowlegement she wanted. And other stories of youth around the world working hard to achieve the MDGs.
In which moment have I felt proud of being in such event? During the TIG Meeting where many of the TIG members recognised me and where TIG stuff talked about members involvement in the community evolution (Multilingual program suggestion, etc..) which reminded me of the great experience I’ve got translating some parts of the website in French.
Sure that everyone of us went back home woth such thoughts and indeniable experiences and lessons on how to go far and fulfill our Projects. I’m sure we all have great creativity and ambition to make It happen. Wishing the best to all!

An Awesome Experience

Wed, 10 Aug 2005 13:28:00 EDT

What did I expect when leaving London to embark on this two-week event, taking place in the picturesque highland town of Stirling, Scotland? Well, since I was to be working as a young journalist, the short answer is: stress!

And it must be said there was a fair bit of this during the Congress, especially with deadlines for the WYC newspaper 'Positive News' looming every day. But as much as journalists in general like to complain about these things, I have to say that when it comes to the Congress overall the positives far outweighed the negatives.

Nearly 600 of the world's most talented young people, from 126 countries, all in the same place at the same time. Just think about it for a second. The atmosphere of intensity was unbelievable: there was a feeling that everyone on the university campus could sense something special was happening.

For me one of the highlights was being able to discuss prevalent global issues with those they most affect. Poverty is a hugely important matter at the moment and to hear the views of those directly implicated by the problem was absolutely fascinating. So often in developed countries it is politicians, decision-makers and 'celebrities' who speak about the plights of the world, without having ever experienced it themselves. The World Youth Congress was a perfect chance to look beyond this, to delve deeper, to discover what it's really like.

Aside from all the serious work going on at the WYC, quality entertainment was provided for its attendees. The Global Village evening gave people the chance to learn about many different cultures - the huge tennis centre was filled with delegates' displays on their homelands. The Scottish 'Ceilidh' night was somewhat less exotic, but an equally valuable cultural experience. My personal highlight was the Cultural Fusion performance, which featured an array of acts from across the globe. From the outstandingly disciplined Burundian drummers to the hypnotic, mesmerising Indian dance, this was truly an evening of education as well as entertainment.

So, on the whole, how can I sum up the Congress? How can such a diverse event be effectively summarised? I think the closest I can get is by making reference to the WYC motto - 'Be the Change'. These three words portray the spirit of the Congress and convey its core message: young people, wherever we are, have the potential to achieve great things. We can change the world. We can do it now.

What's wrong with haggis?

Sat, 06 Aug 2005 18:27:00 EDT

Well it's been awhile hasn't it? 5 months is really not very 'with' the whole spirit/idea of blogging. Let's move on, I'll try harder.

So the latest in a flurry of events (I'll try to back-blog about the others soon) was the World Youth Congress last week in Stirling, Scotland. Actually it still is a conference - it doesn't finish until tommorow, but that's besides the point.

We launched V5 of the TakingITGlobal site on Saturday with Jenn keynoting the plenary session of the conference, and then held a TIG members meeting, 2 discussion sessions, and then three workshops on TIG in the computer lab on Monday! What a flurry of events... and pretty tiring too. In the end though we managed to distribute thousands of promotional materials, including over 600 MDG Youth Toolkits, and get over 100 new TIG members signed up during the workshops.

So due to a flight mixup, we had some extra time in Scotland, and visited Edinburgh with Ben Quinto from GYAN... and I had some lovely Haggis with dinner. Seriously, I would have sworn that knowing what it was I would never try it -- in fact I watched friends that didn't know devour it at breakfast a year ago... but I tried it and it was actually quite delicious. So there. Next time you're at a restaurant and they have Haggis, I say go for it!

Now: In Costa Rica for EDC's Power Users of Technology summit, I'll try to be a better blogger this week/month.

Scottish re-connections

Wed, 03 Aug 2005 16:39:00 EDT

Had a great weekend at the World Youth Congress in Scotland, catching up with many friends (including those in the pic) that the Scottish Government had very kindly invited to act as facilitators at the event!

From left to right: Franziska, David, me, Jen, Mike, and Ben. Pic: Brem

Some Highlights from WYC2005

Wed, 03 Aug 2005 15:55:00 EDT

Day ONE: 30/07/2005
The part of the day was meeting with TakingItGlobal another time after we first met in Geneva in December2005. At the meeting i`ve spoken to the audiance about my experience with TIG : how i became a member, what i enjoy in this amazing community, how i helped (with other volunteers) translating the site to french. I was proud noticing that quiet number of TIg`s Member i`ve met there already know me (virtually of course)
It was also great and so inspiring here all these great speakers in the 1st Planery session on the morning.

Day TWO: 31/07/2005
2nd Planery: We got a debriefing about the Outcomes documents: A toolkit for Youth-Led Devolepment. All the facilitators for the discussion on theses documents were introduced to us.
Then, in the evening we got our 1st Discussion groups on the Youth-Led Projetcs. I met in mine some amazing people from Peace child international who have greate experience from the first WYC up to this one.
After what we gathered in a lecture Theatre to have the sumary of other`s discussions and discuss it: It went from fundraising YLD to Projects Planning , getting the best of our selves, Obstacles managing , and such international event`s fellow-up.
We got some delegates stories and some VIP`s best practices .

Day THREE 01/08/2005:
The highlighting Event for this Day was the Three workshops i`ve attended: one more empowering then the other.
The first was run by TIGGYAN`s MDG Campaign coordinators. They helped us view clearer in what we can do when coming back to home. Just find out more here The Youth and MDG Paper

Second Workshop was about Making the Change Happen! The Lady who run it gave us ideas and best practices to have a successfull project.

The third one is the one which i felt so empowered and inspired. the discussion gone easily between the four of us telling each one what we`ve done so far what our expectation what we think our the role of youth how we can get the most of a discussion with other and how we can get them involved in what is touching them.
This workshop really sticks to what i need to do Back in Tunis.

Day Four 02/08/2005:
First day of Action Project. Really enjoyed being to Edinburgh, Helping preserve it`s wildlife. Learning how to deal with such issues: How to be listening to the inner relationship between Envirenment and paople living aroud how to make it sustainable and suitable for all.

Day Five: Another Day in Edinburgh, another site to work on. the clan is getting closer to each other. We had fun during our lunch break learning different word from different languages. I was so happy to notice the interest they hqve for arabic language. I decided during this Congress to study Spanish before the WSIS come to Tunis.

Continues on Tomorrow...

When things are changing...

Tue, 02 Aug 2005 14:48:00 EDT

I'm already in Stirling since six days now, attending the World Youth Congress 2005. It has been some crazy six days for me, full of amazing speeches, joyful parties, but also very emotional moments. I've seen so many friends again over the last days that I hadn't seen in years. But time went by extremely fast and many of them have already left again.

I had a lot of expectations about the conference before coming here and I have to admit that many of them have been disappointed. The congress is also a much different experience for me since I have the feeling that I can’t simply be a delegate anymore, I have too much experience, even though that might sound a little arrogant.
I still remember my very first international youth conference, the UN World Youth Forum in Dakar, Senegal 2001. I was very much like many of the participants that are here in Stirling now: Young, without any international experience and very excited about meeting so many other young people from all parts of the world. In Dakar, I barely knew anything about international youth policy and so my learning curve was extreme.
Over the last couple of years I then grew more and more experienced. I attended quite a few conferences and became much more confident in myself and the knowledge I have about international youth policy and how conferences like this fit into the bigger picture of promoting youth participation in decision-making processes.
At my last big conference in Vietnam last summer (the ASEM Youth Forum on Sustainable Development), I had finally all the confidence I needed to make a good contribution to the conference by joining the drafting committee and presenting the outcome of my working group in the plenary session. I had this confidence because I realized that many people who attended the conference were maybe more experienced in working on sustainable development issues (which was never really my field of competence), but they had
never attended a youth conference like this before and weren't aware of how to write a good policy document.

Attending the WYC, things have changed completely. Through my work at TIG and all the knowledge I gained about the MDGs over the last months, I have the feeling that I can't be a simple participant anymore. It's a strange feeling though. I was really looking forward to this conference, as I always enjoyed youth conferences like this one, but it's simply not the same to be a facilitator or a delegate. As a delegate you come and enjoy. As a facilitator you rather see what is going wrong and you are trying to get things right instead of just enjoying the daily conversations and letting things go. It’s like crossing some invisible border and I’m not sure yet if being on the other side of the border makes me all too happy. It’s like growing up and suddenly seeing the world with the eyes of an adult.

WYC : Village International

Mon, 01 Aug 2005 16:27:00 EDT

Coucou tout le monde,

Puisque Amel ecrit en Anglais, je me suis dit que j allais ecrire en Francais, surtout que n ai vu aucun blog en Francais. C est peut etre a cause de ce clavier qwerty.

C etait vraiment tres enrichissant de voir toutes ces expositions hier et de decouvrir toutes ces cultures. J ai de plus eu l occasion et le plaisr de rencontrer des membres de Taking et pas des moindres : Jennifer, Mike, Francheska...

Mais je pense que ce qui m a le plus marque c etait lorsque Jennifer a convaincu Amel de donner le CD de Hedi Donia et Amina Fakhet (des chanteurs tunisiens) pour qu ils le passent dans la salle. Et puis, nous sommes toutes les deux montees sur scene pour dancer :0)

Demain, on demarre les Action Projects. Moi je vais aller sur une ile appelee BENBECULA. Je vous en dirai plus demain.

Youth Gathering in Global village at WYC2005

Mon, 01 Aug 2005 15:50:00 EDT

It was the best part of yesterday`s program: At 8pm all delegates were walking thru the campus to get to the Tennis Centre where they reached to their country table made their best in presnting the materials they`ve bought to showcase their country, their culture.
We (the two tunisian delegates) were sharing the same table with the swiss delegates which reminded me of my first International conference outside Tunisia in Geneva in december 2003.
It was great seing so many countries representated in such a venue. So different cultures, so similar expectation from delegates about this meeting...

Syochicken in scotland!!!!

Mon, 01 Aug 2005 14:45:00 EDT

Hello everyone!
The chicken has finally flown to scotland!! Am at the wyc now, have meet very many lovely people and i am having the time of my life.
I would like to invite you all guys to take a look at the work my organisation is doing and see how you can contribute to ''being the change''.
Just check out www.cosmoseducation.org and check out the Kenya pages( where i am from ) as well as other a country near you!1
Cheers all and take care

My Toolbox

Mon, 01 Aug 2005 12:56:00 EDT

If you were thinking of places to kickstart global change, then the Scottish city (I must say its city status surprised me!) of Stirling probably isn't one of the first names you'd think of. But here I am, four days into the 3rd World Youth Congress, feeling a real motivation from Peace Child and the Scottish Executive to execute some change.

The hi-tech professionalism of the plenaries make me feel like I'm at the Oscars (well, I can dream) and I have been impressed by the overwhelming friendliness of the delegates. Walking across a Scottish loch against a backdrop of beautiful greenery (a welcome temporary antithesis to London's concrete jungle) to the greetings of individuals from all over the globe is a humbling experience.

That's not to say this WYC's not been without its problems. Originally assigned to "Clan" 36 (who will be renovating a flat in a deprived area of Glasgow), I met the clan leader of 35 last night at the Global Village. It so happened she was leading the project I had chosen to do - Falkirk on Film - and that two people who were registered for it hadn't turned up to her clan meetings. Why? Because I was one of them and had been sent to the wrong project! There are also - and this is something another delegate commented on - a huge number of stewards around, which doesn't lend well to decreasing bureaucracy.

Well, a packed lunch awaits, as do hundreds more delegates to be met. So I'll sign off. Let's see how far I get with the aim that I spoke of in a discussion group yesterday: "To expand my toolbox of networks, skills and social capital so the portfolio of projects that I can build will be greater." x