Annual Report 2021 EYP Switzerland by EYPSwitzerland

Annual Report E U R O P E A N Y O U T H PA R L I A M E N T S W I TZ E R L A N D

2021

The European Youth Parliament (EYP) is a unique educational programme which brings young people from all over Europe together to discuss current topics in a parliamentary setting. Its mission is to support the development of young people into politically aware and responsible citizens by involving them in European political thinking and promoting intercultural understanding. The EYP is a non-partisan and independent programme. Its methods are based on nonformal education and peer-to peer learning. Thereby the programme facilitates the learning of crucial social and professional skills, and encourages independent thinking and socio-political initiative. The EYP is a pan-European organisation which does not limit itself to the current political borders of the European Union. As a network of independent associations, EYP is currently present in 39 European countries, enabling contacts across borders and beyond frontiers. The EYP thus offers a platform for intercultural meetings, fosters mutual understanding and makes a vital contribution towards the uniting of Europe.

W W W . E Y P. C H 2

OVERVIEW FOREWORD

MEMBERS

EVENTS

BOARD PORTFOLIOS

Dear Members of EYP Switzerland,

I am delighted to present the Annual Report for the year 2021. The report lays out the work we have done in the organisation in the past year. It highlights our achievements and outlines the challenges we have faced in the various Board portfolios and it shines a light the events and people who have been the backbone of the organisation throughout the past year. We hope you enjoy reading it!

On behalf of the Board of EYP Switzerland, Miriam Aitken

ISSUE

MEMBERS

DEVIS SEL A

This year has been quite something, to say the least, and I can honestly say that it was a weird, yet enjoyable experience. Going into 2021, we all were filled with hopes for the events to come, whilst harbouring a certain fear of having to return to the situation of the previous year. However, what prevailed during - and definitely helped shape - this year, was a comforting sensation of unity and resilience in facing the challenges that had to be dealt with. This was very evident in many of the events that I participated in. While in the first steps of organising the RS Aarau 2021, my partner, Maximilian Behrend, and our Team worked tirelessly to come up with a physical concept for the event, so as to offer our participants a somewhat normal EYP experience. Due to some developments, we were, however, forced to go digital. And - despite that - we never were dissatisfied, saddened or demoralised. On the contrary, we became more and more united; as people made contact over the screens, I was able to bear witness to new, long-lasting friendships being developed; people exchanging opinions, views and most importantly - learning from one another.

As for myself… the organising process introduced me to so many amazingly talented young people that I not only cherish as my friends, but am happy to call a part of my extended family - building ‘friendships across borders’, as they say. We created memories that I will carry with me and cherish for the rest of my life. And for that, I must truly thank everybody. Needless to say, the whole experience went to further prove just how important the values of our Organisation are to our members, and what drove me to pursue an involvement in EYP in the first place; how young people can adapt to overcome any obstacle, if they unite; how, together, we can make a change for the better! As for the NSC Biel 2021, I was not directly involved in the organising, however, I could still participate as the Event Safesperson, which - in a way - allowed me to take a more objective stance on what unfolded during that week. I was finally able to participate in my first physical event in about two years, which was a magical experience to say the least.

The moment I arrived at the park, where Team Building took place, I was overcome with happiness and nostalgia which - at the cost of quoting myself over and over - restored all those hopes that, maybe, had lightly dwindled over that year, but never disappeared. That, and being able to finally hear someone scream “EYP, IN!” at the top of their lungs. Most importantly, however, I bore witness to the rising of a new generation of EYPers that will hopefully carry on our ideals in shaping the world of the future. Finally, it would be hypocritical of me, if I did not thank those who truly deserve to: The people who accompanied me throughout this entire journey. So, thank you Ben, Max, Anne-Marlen, Livia, Selène, Katharina, Carina, Raya, Leo, Chris, Hannah, Yolanda, Lucy, Paula, Louise, Alonso, Samuel, Amélie, Valérie, Katarina, Milica, Jana, Mia, Johannes, Xavier, Miriam, Stani, Nicolas, Nina, Kate, Gioia, William, Can, Lisa, Alex, Naomi, Michèle, Pablo, Elsa and to all other members of EYP all across Europe for contributing to making this world a nicer and more beautiful place for us all!

LOUISE L ANGE

This past year has been one of the most exciting, challenging and above all impactful times of my life. In the beginning of 2021, the organising team of NSC Biel/Bienne 2021, which I had the privilege of being part of, was starting to grow and slowly, but surely put together an amazing session. At the same time, I was preparing for my final exams and trying to figure out what to do with my life come autumn. Doing all of this with the ever present uncertainty of a pandemic looming over us was not easy which I am sure everyone can somehow relate to. Despite all this precariousness, two things were certain. Firstly, the fact that I would soon be done with school (yay!) and secondly, that we would, in one way or another, be having a session in September.

Organising Biel/Bienne 2021 was honestly one of the most educational and enriching times in my life. I got to work with a rather small team consisting of some of the kindest, funniest, smartest and most capable people I know, some of which I consider my closest friends. I learnt so much during this process, not only organisational skills but also a huge amount about myself. Finally, September came around and our session actually physically took place! Not without its fair share of last minute emergencies and hiccups, but to be honest, EYP sessions wouldn’t be the same without them. After two years of cancelled sessions and lots of hard work going unnoticed, it was just an amazing feeling to see everything we had been planning for so long come to life.

Having been in this organisation for three years now, I am in awe of how much it has changed my life. Not only has it had an immense impact on my personal development, but it has also influenced major life decisions I have had to make this year, such as what I want to study or what I even want to do with my life. But, one of my favourite things has to be going through all of it with some of my favourite people and seeing them achieve spectacular things. Much love!

EVENTS 13

Maximilian Behrendt (HO RS Aarau), Raya Giger (HO RS Ticino)

REGIONAL & DIGITAL SESSIONS 2021 The Regional Cycle 2021 consisted of 4 sessions, which represented two firsts for EYP Switzerland: the first opportunity since the beginning of lockdown to experience sessions again and the introduction of digital sessions to the NC. The sessions were 4 unique and inspired projects, envisioned by the 8 head organisers, and implemented together with their 22 organisers.

1st Digital Session 2021

The 1st Digital Session of EYP Switzerland was head organised by Leonardo D’Antonio (CH) and Anna Surguladze (AZ) and led EYP Switzerland into the recently emerged world of digital sessions. With its strong focus on diversity, it managed to gather many different countries, cultures, and languages under the mantle of EYP Switzerland to debate, learn, and have fun.

Ticino 2021 2nd Digital Session 2021

Ticino 2021, the 2nd Digital Session was head organised by Raya Giger (CH) and Carina Hauri (CH), with the vision of reintroducing the Italian speaking parts of Switzerland to the network. Their team did not only succeed at laying the groundwork for future reconnection between the various parts of Switzerland, but also offered an unforgettable experience for all their participants.

Aarau 2021 & Zürich 2021

The Aarau Regional Session, head organised by Maximilian Behrendt (CH) and Devis Sela (CH), as well as the Zurich Regional Session, head organised by Selène Kohler (CH) and Livia Zimmermann (CH), went a different route by daring to attempt organising physical sessions despite the ongoing pandemic. Sadly, after many efforts, including the creation of multiple hybrid concepts, the situation forced them to conduct their sessions fully digitally. Nevertheless, due to careful and early planning the teams of both sessions managed a successful transition to the digital format. In the end they were able to present well thought-out digital sessions with strong regional influences, while preserving their visions focused around personal security and well-fare. None of these sessions could ever have been imaginable without the tireless work of the organisers, who we wish to thank here once more: Ahmet, Froso, Jùlia, Konstantina, Maria, Saifullah, Sara, Adriana, Evita, Mihnea, Yana, Amélie, Ben, Brian, Daria, Katherina, Viktor, Eva, Julia, Katarina, Melissa and Milica.

Milica Marković (HO 4th Digital Session 2022)

REGIONAL & DIGITAL SESSIONS 202 2 The Regional Cycle 2022 will consist of 3 sessions, two of them being digital (3rd and 4th Digital Sessions) and one of them happening physically in Bern. The sessions were envisioned by 5 Head Organisers, with the help of their organisers.

3rd Digital Session 2022

Head organised by Sara Pavlović (RS) represents the continuous work on this newly introduced format of the digital session. Not only that this type of session supports personal development but it gives the opportunity to put inclusivity in the spotlight. With the theme sic itur ad astra and vision of the Head Organiser, this session will be focusing on the learning and growth of it every participant.

4th Digital Session 2022

With the Head Organisers Milica Marković and Katarina Stamenković (RS) this session is conceived to represent Switzerland’s tradition in a different format, in this case, digitally. The vision is focused on well-being in the time of the pandemic and mental health, but it also emphasizes the importance of sustainability in all aspects of our lives.

Regional Session in Bern 2022

This session is placed in the city of Bern and head organised by Lucy Hoffman and Elsa Nautsch, highlighting the Swiss culture and visually representing its symbols on the logo. The session is focused on an unique approach to participants and their personal goals during the session. Even if the session takes place in the time of the pandemic, it will represent a safe return of physical events to EYP Switzerland.

Can Keskinaslan (HO NSC Biel/Bienne 2021)

BIEL/BIENNE 2021 NATIONAL SELECTION CONFERENCE After close to 2 years, Biel/ Bienne 2021 finally brought back the physical session format to EYP Switzerland. Around 150 participants from 15 countries travelled to the bilingual city of Biel/Bienne to debate topics centered around the theme “Shaping tomorrow through today’s initiatives”. For many delegates this was their first time experiencing an EYP session. Thus, they had to work twice as hard to come to terms with this unfamiliar and challenging environment and work together to solve questions requiring innovative and creative approaches, to produce resolutions that can tackle the most pressing issues of our future. The results exceeded all expectations, with the inventive resolutions leading to lively debates during General Assembly, showing the delegates’ interest, passion, and commitment to not only their ideas but also the issues dealt with by all the other committees. The amount of effort that was put into a session like this becomes evident by how effortless the five days went by. A team of 50 officials worked tirelessly to create a wonderfully put-together experience for the participants, their attention to detail visible during all aspects of the session.

The academic team played a crucial role in guiding the delegates through their thoughts and managed to lead their committees to resolve the complex issues they were presented with. Through their creative projects and pictures, the media team captured all the memorable moments of the session and gave us a way to remember all the wonderful experiences we had. The jury team not only paved the future journey of the delegates in EYP but offered them feedback and guidance to help them make the most of their experience at the session. For contributing to this experience and helping create such wonderful memories, a heartfelt thank you goes out to the officials team of Biel/Bienne 2021. EYP sessions can be perceived in many ways, us more experienced members of the organization can sometimes forget what a strange and novel environment the delegates can find themselves in, sometimes impatient for them to discover the opportunities for friendship, self-discovery, and growth EYP sessions offer. The quirky games and informal learning methods we use help explore and contribute to the world of politics, seemingly so serious and intangible, and show us how we can shape our individual voice and ideas into real solutions that everyone can get behind. 18

This session has once again shown the important role EYP can play in the lives of young Europeans. Lisa and I are truly grateful to all delegates of Biel/Bienne 2021, for reminding us of the great parts of this organization, and for being the key ingredient in the success of this session. Never to be taken for granted, the organizing team of Biel/Bienne 2021 has created something truly inspiring, during times that couldn’t have been more demanding. Many of them in their final years of High school, have put in countless hours of work to make this a memorable experience for all of us. Be it the ever-changing COVID regulations, venues being sold a day before the session or running out of printer ink on a Sunday preceding 4000 pages to be printed overnight, this amazing team took on every challenge with a cheerful attitude and effortlessly handled everything Biel/Bienne had to offer. Let this session be a reminder to what of you can achieve, thank you Alex, Elsa, Katarina M., Katarina S., Louise, Lucy, Max, Michèle, Milica, Naomi, Pablo, Paula, Thomas, William, and Yolanda for creating a wonderful experience for everyone.

See you somewhere in Europe, Can & Lisa

Nicolas Zazzali (Board Member)

MEMBERS’ EVENTS 2021 25th Anniversary

This year EYP Switzerland has celebrated its 25th anniversary, a quarter of a century of existence and this it’s thanks to all the members participating in the different events, taking up official positions at our sessions but also representing EYP CH abroad, and also by joining the Board to guide the organisation. We are also very grateful for all the teachers sending delegates to our different events, our sponsors without whom the EYP would not be running, and also our patrons. The last two years have been very tough for our members and looking back at 25 years of challenges that the past generations have faced we are sure that it will come around and that EYP will continue to exist for many years to come. We count on you to share around the experience that you had in EYP so that others can discover it as well!

Sadly, due to the sanitary measure, we didn’t have the chance to celebrate this jubilee altogether. We were only able to celebrate it during our flagship event in Biel during a gala dinner with great food and different entertainment such as a Photo Booth, the band NoSpace performing all through the evening, different acts by the participants of the event and to close the night some Karaoke was perform by the different members. We hope to be able to organise events this year for all our members to attend.

Christmas Dinner

To close out this year we organized one last event in our capital Bern. It was just a casual event but something much needed after the hard year that we had to go through. After a nice dinner at the Altestramdepot we went on a stroll through Bern to reach the Christmas garden and finish the evening with some tea and some glühwein. This event gathered members from 8 different generations showing us that people are still motivated to take on roles and to pursue the EYP adventure.

BOARD PORTFOLIOS 2021

Miriam Aitken

PRESIDENT

,2021 marks a quarter century of our organisation’s existence. In its 25 years, the EYP Switzerland has never faced bigger challenges, nor proven its strength and resilience more than in the past two years. As the second year of the pandemic is drawing to a close, we have faced personal and organisation challenges. In addition to the strain of the pandemic on our personal lives, our members, project managers and Board Members have dealt with distance, disruption and uncertainty while continuing to work on a voluntary basis. With the evolving public health situation and changing regulations, we have found ourselves having to - once again - make tough decisions concerning our events. Furthermore, in EYP Switzerland and the EYP network at large, we are starting to see the long-term damage that the pandemic has done to our members’ mental health and welfare, our member retention and human resources. These are not easy challenges and their legacy will likely require perseverance, innovation and resilience in the years to come.

Despite these challenges, however, we can - and should - celebrate the significant successes of the organisation in 2021. With our Regional Sessions in spring, EYP Switzerland organised its first online sessions, thanks to the courage, knowledge and dedication of a new generation of EYPers who embody the resilience and capacity for innovation of the organisation and the people who carry it. In September, EYP Switzerland was one of the first National Committees across the network to organise an in-person National Selection Conference. To make this possible and guarantee the health and safety of the participants who are in our care, the Organisers and Head Organisers of Biel/Bienne 2021 moved mountains. The success of the event is testimony to the hard work, perseverance and spirit of everyone involved. The constant throughout all of the organisation’s achievements are the members, volunteers and participants who poured their time, energy and passion into EYP.

As a volunteer-based organisation, EYP Switzerland relies on individuals stepping up to carry the organisation forward. Beyond the individual, however, it only functions if we come together and work towards our common goals as a team. For EYP Switzerland to continue in the future, we rely on new members to take up positions of responsibility in our events and on the Board, in order to shape the course of the organisation in the years to come. After three years on the Board and almost eight years in the organisation, I am leaving my role of President, knowing that change brings the opportunity to re-imagine and excited to see where the new generation of EYPers will lead EYP Switzerland. My last words go to Xavier, Stanislaw, Nicolas, Mia, Johannes, Valérie and Selène. I am humbled by their strength, dedication and perseverance that have kept EYP Switzerland afloat. I owe you my thanks and my utmost respect.

Xavier Gonzales

VICE-PRESIDENT, INTERNATIONAL COORDINATOR

The International Coordination portfolio is in charge of EYP Switzerland’s relations with the international governance structures of the EYP and the wider network. This entails the representation of EYP Switzerland at the Board of National Committee (BNC) Meetings, the management of delegate exchange and the coordination of academic processes as well as the selection of Officials at Swiss sessions,

A new members platform was launched following the Autumn BNC, with many much-needed security measures and improvements made to the third iteration of the member’s platform. With the platform being open-sourced, this makes it truly community based and allows anyone from the network to report an issue and collaborate to fix any issue.

International Governance

Officials

EYP Switzerland was represented at both Spring and Autumn BNC meetings of 2021, where topics such as the future of digital events, human resources and how to maintain participation amidst challenging times. National Committees mostly discussed the current state of the network, what can be done to boost participation and longevity within the network and how to move forward as an organisation.

The academic team of the NSC Biel/Bienne was led by Jonas Weider. With his Vice-Presidents Ciara O’Flaherty and Sude Kinik, they led a team of chairs who not only chaired EYP Switzerland first physical session in nearly two years but also managed to create academically challenging, relevant topics for delegates to discuss.

Delegate Exchange 2021 was a peculiar year for the European Youth Parliament, as the show must go on, albeit in a very different context than what we are used to. Particularly for International Coordination, delegate exchange and participation at sessions were two concepts that needed to be reevaluated within the context of an ongoing pandemic. NSC Biel/ Bienne however, was able to bring some semblance of normalcy and a return to physical sessions, which was approached by both international officials travelling to Switzerland and swiss delegates, who got to experience a physical session after quite some time. We hope that with the following years, more and more Swiss participants will be able to experience a session abroad, to allow them to continue their eyp experience but also broaden their horizons within the EYP space.

Valérie Cafaro

NATIONAL COORDINATOR

This year has (yet again) been a very turbulent year for EYP Switzerland and the department of National Coordination. However, it is always in situations like these where you can learn the most! Like this, I gathered many inputs and learnings for the future of National Coordination. After a long period of not being able to meet up with each other for sessions, the worry grew that people would not be coming back once physical events were possible again. However, the National Selection Conference of Biel 2021 proved all concerns wrong! In 2021, we received a significant surplus of applications for delegates from schools all over Switzerland. It was genuinely great to see that was still such immense support for our events, especially considering the forced cancellation of our NSC a year prior.

Unfortunately, the pandemic did not spare this process either. As Board of EYP Switzerland, we had to make painful decisions regarding participation in the session to guarantee the safety of everyone attending the event. I do not think that assigning blame to anyone is the right thing to do in this case - We are all experiencing our first pandemic after all. To learn the most out of this experience, I focused on the feedback gathered with the help of my fellow board members to reflect on the conduction of this call for future delegate calls. A lot of this feedback was already implemented and is likely to find its way into a new structure for delegate calls!

In terms of in-school sessions, 20212022 has been a period of new beginnings! Whilst the tradition of the Kirchenfeld In-School Session has seen another successful run with many beginnings for students and our members, a second in-school session at a new location is taking place this year! I want to thank the initiative of Naomi Schwarz and Lily Watanabe to come forth with this idea and organising an event at their former High School the Hohe Promenade Gymnasium. Hopefully, there are going to be many more of these initiatives in the future of EYP Switzerland.

Selène Kohler

REGIONAL COORDINATOR

I have the great honour to be the Regional Coordinator of the EYPCH’s 2022 Regional Cycle. For the first half of my term I devoted all my efforts towards helping other portfolios and assisting the organisation of the 25th anniversary of EYPCH. I also hosted last year’s Pride Pizza Party which assembled a small number of individuals to celebrate pride. After the NSC had ended my portfolio truly begun and i was pleased to be joined by: Lucy Hoffmann (CH), Elsa Nautsch (CH), Katarina Stamenković (RS), Milica Marković (RS) and Sara Pavlović (RS) as head-organisers of the Regional Session of Bern 2022, 4th Digital Session of EYPCH and 3rd Digital Session of EYPCH.

Having dealt with the pandemic for almost two years I decided to implement a mix of digital and physical Sessions for this year’s cycle. This allows for a safety net so no matter what the EYPCH would have at least a few regional sessions this year. Therefore, we can not only ensure the continuous flow of swiss delegates to the NSC but also via the digital sessions allow international delegates to experience for the first time ever swiss regionals. Furthermore, I created a discord to facilitate communication between the board members and the head-organisers. I believe this has severely helped the discussions between the two. Moreover, I established a great relationship between myself and the head-organisers and trained them to be the competent, independent and fabulous individuals they are today. I could not have asked for a better team.

Additionally, I managed with the help of the head-organisers to invite Melinda Fechner (CH), Devis Sela (CH) and Anna Surguladze (AZ) as safe persons. This is a thrilling addition to the regional cycle because for the first time ever our regionals have independent individuals as safe persons. I would like to thank the head-organisers and their teams for shaping this year’s regional cycle. I am so proud of you. It has been a delight to work alongside motivated young people especially during these hard times. The EYPCH would not exist without its active members organising events.

Johannes Hahn

E X TERNAL AFFAIRS

The portfolio External Affairs is mainly aimed at administering the relations with external partners, namely contacts with long term sponsors. The past year has been a challenging one from the perspective of the External Affairs department. The first part of the term was dominated by the NSC Biel organizing process and ensuring compliance with the requirements of our major foundation partners, namely Movetia and the Bundesamt für Sozialversicherungen. This was particularly difficult in the past year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Last minute cancellations of international delegates and officials were only a few of the challenges on the horizon in the past twelve months. Fortunately, the year ended on a bright note with the final reports for both foundations being successfully completed in close collaboration with the NSC Biel Organizing Team.

As a result of the challenging human resources situation that EYP Switzerland currently faces, the second half of the term was largely devoted to starting the organizing process for the NSC 2022. While these tasks did not at first glance fall within the scope of the External Affairs department, they nonetheless constituted an important task for the future of EYP Switzerland. With the amazing support of my co-board member Mia van der Merwe as well as Devis Sela, it was possible to confirm or bring close to confirmation most venues for the upcoming NSC, create the session brochure, finalize the session logo and start preparing the major foundation applications for upcoming NSC. For their support in this endeavor under the current difficult and sometimes demotivating circumstances, I would like to express my utmost gratitude.

All in all, EYP Switzerland finds itself in a very challenging situation after more than two years of a global pandemic. With the work done during this term, the department hopes to have delivered its contribution to support EYP Switzerland during this period.

Stanislaw Zytynski

FINANCES In Short Another difficult year has passed in this crisis and still, I am happy to report that financially we are strong. We have created a new fund for participants from lower socio-economic backgrounds, continued to offer our existing travel and members funds, and still generated a profit. But with great (financial) power comes great responsibility. And so in this term, we have focused, although less than initially thought, on rethinking our finances, starting with an overall financial analysis of EYP Switzerland od the past 10 years. This showed us the weakness of our organization with a lot of potential for improvement, especially in our long-term partners. We need to find a sustainable way of financing our work and still use our funds with the greatest return for our members. EYP Switzerland is in a unique position to come out of this pandemic financially strong and it now lies in the hands of our members whether this potential will be used fully.

Further Context We started with reducing the membership fee from 30 CHF to 10 CHF which was a consequence of our ever-growing reserves.

We continued with a financially strong year where we introduced our new fund for participants from lower socio-economic backgrounds to sponsor the participation fees and travel costs. With the rising case numbers, we had to refocus on protecting our members. This led us to the decision of only allowing participants that would fulfill the 2G at the NSC Biel 2021. Therefore, and to make the session possible we chose to cover the testing costs for officials from countries where vaccine availability wasn’t as good as in Switzerland. In addition to our testing policy, we also funded FFP2 masks for anyone who needed them during the session. All these precautions allowed us to have a covid free session and add new members to our organization. Internally a lot of organizational procedures were introduced and adapted to the critiques of past Auditors. Mainly focusing on the treasurer portfolio, we introduced a new reimbursement form, standardized the liquidity loan process, enabled TWINT, cleaned up the past accounts,

and adjusted the accounting to our current organizational standards. Finally, as mentioned above in the first part of the term an analysis of our past 10 years of finances was done.

Main Take-Aways: EYP Switzerland had huge growth between 2014 and 2019. Our main income sources are participation fees and surpluses from RS and NSC’s. Our main expenses are related to RS and administrative tasks. We are in an incredibly strong financial position and now need to decide as an organization what we want to do with this. Some possibilities would be hiring someone to support us and allow us to be more stable or sponsor other NC that aren’t this fortunate. Whatever it is the focus will always be on furthering EYP’s mission of bringing people closer.

Nicolas Zazzali

NATIONAL EVENTS & MEMBERS’ COORDINATION National Events This year we manage to organise 4 different events. In the beginning, it was not looking good for the possibility to do the event as we had to hold our AGM online due to the restrictions This was a first for us but it was a great opportunity for more members to take part in the event. At this AGM the board was joined by 3 new members: Valérie Cafaro, Johannes Hahn, and Selène Kohler. During the summer we had the first physical event which was a pride pizza party to commemorate pride month. The event took place in Bern, but the end but with very few participants showed up.

Our second event of the year was the celebration of the 25th anniversary of EYP. It was held during the farewell party of our NSC in Biel. For this event, we decided to do a Gala dinner to cope with the restrictions in place. During the event, we had the band NoSpace that came from Basel to perform for us. After this, the participant performed during the euroconcert and sang through the night at the karaoke. The third event which to place in the countryside of canton Freiburg was the members weekend which was animated with different training on how to continue your EYP journey, the different official roles, and some reflections about our connection with the EU. Finally, the last event of the year was the Christmas dinner which was held in Bern where we had the opportunity to see our members one last time in 2021!

Member Coordination This portfolio also handles any new request to become a member of EYP Switzerland, and we had a few requests this year that did not come from participants of our Regional Sessions. They are all advised on how to join EYP CH and get the most from the network, be it by attending the upcoming events or directly sign up for our regional sessions. This year, we create a discord server for EYP members to be able to host online events and have a centralised place to contact our members. We hope that this can be continued by the future board.

Mia van der Merwe

COMMUNICATION

The Communication portfolio is multifaceted, with many fun and exciting ways to express oneself and EYP as an organisation. The portfolio has to adapt and change with new technologies, media outputs and forms of communication. The department of Communication is also the connection of members to the organisation The department of Communication fulfilled its set tasks throughout the year with many announcements and calls being documented on the various social media platforms. Furthermore, I was able to help Lucy Hoffmann in the pr and communications department of the Biel National Selection Conference 2021, who delivered sleek and vibrant content. In the second half of the term all EYP email accounts were transferred to a new platform. The drive of the Board as well as private drives are to be transferred in the near future allowing members to have more possibilities within the digital side of EYP.

The year started off quite unassuming, or in other words “board work as usual”. However, after the National Selection Conference was completed the strain the past years have put on our organisation became more and more apparent. With the member count depleting and members feeling mentally and physically drained, something had to be done. Together with Johannes Hahn and Devis Sela, we have started to organise the next National Selection Conference of EYP Switzerland 2022 which will take place in Basel. As this became an increasingly pressing issue, the department of communications has not been able to be more innovative. Thankfully Basel now has a fully functioning team, thanks to the efforts of Selène Kohler and I wish them all the best in further shaping this exciting session.

On a personal note, I would like to thank my fellow board members for enduring yet another tough year together. I realise that from an outsider’s perspective the board may seem daunting and sometimes unapproachable, but this could not be further from the truth. This year included many tough decisions that couldn’t be taken lightly and along the way I realise some feelings have been hurt. I hope that retrospectively we will be able to talk about where things went wrong but more importantly where they went right. Negative moments tend to outweigh the positive, but we have had so many enriching and positive experiences together and as an organisation, that we all can be proud of.

Annual Report 2021 EYP Switzerland

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