The European Youth Parliament (EYP) is an international youth organisation working to increase the awareness and knowledge about European politics and cooperation for students at High School level (Videregående skole). We consider ourselves to be an “alternative educational programme” wishing to make room for debates, engagement and empowerment for the young generations of today, through informal education.
Not only is EYP a great way to take part in group work and hold presentations for a larger audience, it is also possible to take part in different of our events all across Europe, where all of our sessions follow the same structure.
Program of EYP
Teambuilding
Every session starts with teambuilding; at a Norwegian national session, this is conducted during the first day, whilst three days are set for these activities at an international session. It is an informal activity, happening both indoors and outdoors. The delegates are divided into committees; at our national sessions, the committees consist of two delegates from seven different schools, whilst internationally each participant is the only person from his or her country. Two experienced chairperson (meaning a young person involved in the organisation) guides the committee through various exercises in order to turn a group of individuals into a team. Though it might seem like random and unnecessary games, there is an important plan behind it as the group moves from ice-breaking to complicated problem-solving. We have a variety of games, developed by professionals, and through 23 years of experience, in order to get the group ready for the further challenges of the session. And it is a lot of fun! If you are a teacher, do not worry; you will play-a-long as well.
Committee Work
Throughout Committee Work, the delegates analyse the topic of their committee, identify the problems surrounding it and discuss solutions to these issues. The output of Committee Work is a written resolution.
General Assembly
The last part of every session is a General Assembly (GA). In GA, the committees come together to present and debate the resolutions they wrote. In the end, the resolutions are put to a vote.
Cultural Program
Most bigger Sessions are accompanied by an extensive cultural programme, celebrating the cultural and culinary diversity of Europe. The Norwegian National Session always include an evening of Norwegian Village, where participants get to present some of their local tradition, food and drink in an informal setting. Here, participants are encouraged to approach others they would not otherwise interact with because of the otherwise committee-separated programme. Through informal exchange and interaction, we believe we can create a better social environment at our sessions and in EYP Norway in general.
