Summer Academy
The EYP Summer Academy is an international training event gathering representatives from all 40 EYP member countries to support their work in their National Committees by providing training modules for their board members. The training course focuses on four areas: National Committee Management and Development, Fundraising, Outreach & Inclusion and PR & Communications. The event is supported by the Stiftung Mercator.
In 2019, the EYP Summer Academy will take place in Echternach, Luxemburg from 30 August – 2 September, hosted by EYP Luxembourg. The training will last for four days and will include parallel training modules. The Summer Academy aims to enable trainees from all over Europe to develop their skills as well as better run and further the work of their EYP National Committee.
Aim and objectives
Each Summer Academy aims to support National Committee board members in running their country organisations. This is done with the help of:
Training courses run by experienced EYP’ers, EYP alumni and external trainers to allow for fruitful knowledge and best practices to be exchanged
Focusing on National Committee Management and Development, Fundraising, PR & Communication and Outreach & Inclusion as major tracks, plus modular programmes allowing for participants to follow or switch between the tracks
Actively enabling knowledge sharing by providing appropriate spaces and inviting experienced board members to share their insights throughout the training schedule
Materials and guides that can be used for national training events and board meetings of every National Committee
The Training Event Concept
The Summer Academy aims to bring together 80 trainees from 40 National Committees, supported by a team of 12 trainers and 6 organisers as well as representatives of the International Office/Governing Body. Next to the two Meetings of the Board of National Committees, the Summer Academy is an excellent opportunity to share knowledge and get further inputs on how to improve the work of NCs.
The core of the EYP Summer Academy is a modular programme following different “tracks”. These tracks are Fundraising, Outreach & Inclusion, National Committee Management & Development and PR & Communications. Each track includes different modules, and participants will be able to follow a track through the whole training event or switch between the training modules of different tracks. The four major tracks will be accompanied by a fifth track, giving room for basic and advanced modules of the same training module, for training content that does not fit under the five major tracks as well as for topic-related and regional knowledge sharing spaces for National Committees.
The content of the different tracks is based on the needs analysis conducted with the National Committees before the Summer Academy in order to reflect their needs, as well as on the inputs received from the participants. Both basic and more advanced training modules are offered in the different tracks. Every training course includes a maximum number of 16 trainees. The trainees registered by the National Committees select their individual schedule beforehand in order to have the chance to prepare for the training.
Here is for example a draft schedule for one day:
Target Groups
The target group of an EYP Summer Academy are board members from our 40 National Committees, including both new and experienced board members. New board members can profit from the experiences of their fellow EYPers and get new insights on different fields that the training covers. Experienced board members get the chance to profit personally from advanced training courses and the input of external trainers, as well as gain additional training experience by running knowledge sharing groups. Participants, then, are able to join not just as trainees, but also as trainers.
If a National Committee is not able to send any board members, it is possible to register coordinators or other active members who are closely working with the board and will be involved in the NC for the upcoming year after the Summer Academy. If a National Committee is not able to nominate either board members or other active members, their spots will be reallocated to the pool and given to National Committees where additional board members are interested in joining the training.
Trainers Team
The EYP Summer Academy trainers team consists of:
- one coordinating lead trainer supervising the training schedule and coordinating with the lead trainers of the five different tracks. The main focus of this person is to supervise and coordinate the trainers and the training materials. This person might also facilitate some training modules
- a team of four lead trainers for each of the four tracks, responsible for developing and supervising the training schedule for their respective areas and for facilitating them, together with the additional trainers
- an additional team of seven trainers, including 2-3 external trainers who are responsible for facilitating the different training modules for all five tracks
The trainers team will be supported by a Head Organiser for the practical arrangements and International Office representatives helping with the organisation of the event.