REMINDER

Topic of the month

Ride for Your Rights! 2012

Ride for your Rights! 2012 successfully arrived in Brussels with 26 riders, who all attended the final conference "Which innovations for mobility programmes?" at the European Economic and Social Committee in cooperation with Campus Europae and ESU. The ride was finalised with some social activities in Brussels celebrating the project and the 25th anniversary of the Erasmus programme. Read more on rideforyourrights.org

Get involved in ESN

Section in the Spotlight: June

Have you ever been to the Estonian capital city Tallinn? There, winters are long and cold, but... girls are hot and blonde. What’s more, ESN Tallinn became the Section in the Spotlight for the month of June. Something not to miss, right?

History of ESN Tallinn dates back to 2003 when the section was established at former Tallinn Pedagogical University (now Tallinn University). Since then, more and more Erasmus students kept coming to study in Tallinn and today ESN Tallinn section co-operates very successfully with 10 Universities in Tallinn.

Read more on esn.org.

International Board Diary May

May occupies a somewhat strange place within the ESN calendar, as there is the post-AGM hangover, time for some breaks and holidays for people but at the same time it was the month of the SocialErasmus week and many other key events both inside and outside of the network. So this Board report may seem jumpy and erratic, but that reflects how this month was for all those in the ESN Office. Read more on www.esn.org.

ESNcard.org

ESNcard.org is launched! The new platform will gather thousands of local, national and international discounts linked to the ESN card. After six months of working, meeting, planning, designing, and testing, ESN is proud to invite you to visit www.esncard.org. All the sections and national boards of ESN are invited to put their discounts and partners on the website.

Tour de France Erasmus

ESN France celebrated the 25th Anniversary of Erasmus Programme by touring France in a van and visiting their sections. During the tour they covered over 6000 kilometres and visited 25 cities. Meeting students, promoting mobility programmes, and eating birthday cakes were just some of the activities of the french National Board on the road. Do you want to know more about this successful tour? Read the full article on esn.org.

Photo Contest

ESN is looking for the best photos that will be included in the design of the new ESN calendar. The theme is: "Viva Erasmus - viva ESN" and photos should show what a great time Erasmus and ESN are and what good they do for you and Europe. Submit your photos! The winning photos will be featured in our new calendar and authors of the photos will receive the new calendar and ESN sweater. Find more information about the contest on esn.org.

YOUth for You

Call for participants: Youth Assembly 2012: Youth and Democracy

The Youth Assembly will bring together 170 young people from all over Europe to reflect on youth's current challenges to democracy and to formulate common recommendations to the World Forum on democracy on how young people can better benefit and develop more democratic and inclusive societies. This activity will take place on 4-8 October 2012 at the European Youth Centre Strasbourg. Participants should be young people aged 16-25 who are actively involved in youth work, civil society movements or processes for democracy.
Deadline for application June 10, 2012. Visit Council of Europe for more information.

Opportunities: Partners, Workshops, Internships

Call for Intern: Policy Monitoring and Communication (European Youth Forum)

The European Youth Forum (YFJ) is recruiting an intern for 6 months, starting in
early July 2012, in the Communications Team within the Secretary-General’s Office
of the organisation. The internship is based at the European Youth Forum secretariat in Brussels. The successful candidate will work in close coordination with the Communications Team and the Policy Development and Advocacy Department. Visit YFJ for more information.

Call for participants: Training course on access to social rights

The Enter! project on access to social rights for all young people is promoting “innovative youth work practices and youth policy standards addressing social exclusion, discrimination and segregation of young people, and improving their access to social rights”. The seminar will be held in Strasbourg, 18 – 20 September 2012. Deadline to apply June 29, 2012. Visit the website for more information.

Your chance to win a €100 travel voucher!

With the summer semester slowly coming to an end it’s really about time to get those summer plans fixed. A holiday at the beach in Sardinia or in Sicily with all your friends? A romantic weekend for two in Budapest? City shopping and a night out clubbing in Berlin, Amsterdam, Istanbul? Or, something more exotic? Are you thinking “lovely ideas, but I don’t have the money”? 9flats and ESN will be running another competition this month, giving away €100 vouchers to help you get an even better holiday than you thought you would. We’ll be revealing all the details in the next ESN newsletter. For now, like us on facebook for great summer travel inspiration like our top 3 urban beaches.

Europe besides ESN

Europe 2020: Commission calls Member States to reform and invest in education and training

To spur job-rich recovery, improve opportunities of young people and fuel growth in a knowledge-based economy, Europe needs smart investment to equip people with the right skills.
In the European Semester 2012, the Commission proposed recommendations to Member States in the area of education and training focussing on among other follow-up on Youth opportunities and adressing problems linked to disadvataged groups.
Read more on the page of the European Commission.

ILO: Youth unemployment to remain high until 2016

According to latest figures released by the International Labour Organization (ILO), youth unemployment in the EU and other developed countries soared 26.5% from 2008 to 2011, the steepest increase from all the world regions ranked by the ILO.
One out of five young Europeans are looking for work and the unemployment figures are not likely to improve until 2016, while policymakers are not doing enough to reverse the trend, said EU youth organisations.

Read more on EurActiv.