The Youth Directorate: The Agents of Transfer and the Agents of Change Enikii Demeny, Institute of Europ€an Studies, Cluj Zdenka Machalkova, Institute of Ethnology, Bmo

The Council of Europe conccives of a European community based on common values, most often specified as "democracy, the l1lle o[ Iaw and hu]Dan rights". Thesc vulucs arc or should bc shared by all those who are/or who would like to be members of this community. The Council of Europe assumed an important role in the consolidation of these values in aII its member states. In its vision young people have to play an importalt role in this proccss. As Fmnco Marziallc, the ex-director of the Youth Centre Dointed out: Europe cannot be Duill without young peoplel Each construction sta-rts always from a plan, flom an idea about what has to be constructed and how. ln world history there were many inspiring ideas, plans and visions about possible worlds people could consffuct. The tmnsformations of these ideas in reality always dependcd to an important degree on peoples who were in a posilion to put these ideas into practice-There is a complex process from lhe stage ol imagining and designing ideas and prilciples concerning society to a stage when thcse ideas and principlos arc put irlto the practice and have an effect on the citizens'life. We propose to undcrstand and interpret the above-mentioned proccss in a particular section of the Council of Europe-Our aim was to prEsent and t[ralyse how the model of thc Council's youth policy is put into practice and perceived by employees of the Youth Directorate and received by tle youfi leade$ beinS educated.

Our research is based on the analysis2 of documents and on anthropological lieldwork-During thc five weeks spent in the Youth Centre we conducted semi-structued intcrviews with the employees of Youth Direotoratc and with participants in a trainilg course (TCl)3. We participated as observers in some programs ofTCl and in the informal meetings dtat iook placc du.ing tho two wccks training course. We also took part in the everyday life of the Youth Centre4 therefore we were in daily, infomal conLact with the yoong participrnts, the trainers, and all t}Ie employees being prcsent in the Centre in that period.

I. The model of Council of Europe's Youth Policy

The development ofthe Council ofEurope's youth policy is closely conDected with the social, gconomic and political translormations that took place in Europe-The first experiment for establishing ir youth centre was made at the beginning of 60s in the framework of the Council of Europe's Cultual Cooperation programme. However, there were the evelts of May 1968 that detormined thc Council to pay cven morc attention Lo lhc youth scctor. In 196g young peoplc were asking lbr morc possibilities ol parlicipation in shaping rhe policies .md decisions that afffftcd lheir livcs. Two impofiant debates took place5 in thc Council of Europe conccming the issucs raised by youlg peoplc. As a lesult of these dcbates the Council adopted a recommendation for creatilg the Eulopean youth Cen[e and the Europcan youth Foundatioi.

As Daniel Menschart pointed out in his report about the Councils youth policyf in the peliod between 1960 and 1980, non govemmcntal youth organisations werc recognisod as the prio.ity context lol lcarning about dcmocratic porticipation. Thercfbre both govemments ano membe$ of padiament agrEcd that youfi pdlcy should bc based on the p.omotion of these orgatusa[ons. The social, ccononic and political contcxt of this pe.iod ofleled a suitablc context 1br the application ot this model.

The Co-managed System. an Unique Model

The key concept of the Council of Eu.ope you*r policy, rhar is youth parricipation, found irs exprcssion ir tho co managemcnt system bascd on co-operation betwcen governments and youth organisations. This is the goveming principle of youth Directoratc,s youth policy and it is the model thc Council ol Europe is vt:ry proud of. It is viewed and praised as unir4ue, as dislinguishing the Youth Directorate fiom othcr Council of Europe DirEctorates irrld also from thc European Union. It is claimed to bc the top achicvement, thc most elaborate tbrm of paftnorshjp and thc expression of the Council's ideal of democracy. It is regajdcd as an avant_ Sarde conccpt This concept of youth participaLion is incamated in the co,managed bodies posed as a unit in Lhe sffucturc of the Youth Director,rto. The co-managed bodies are the Govemilg Board, which managcs and tal€s all the decisions on the European youth Contres and the European youth Foundation. At the time ol our researchT it comprised twelve govemmental rcpresentatives ald twelvc representativcs oI youth organisations; sjx coming from National youth Committgcss and six from Intemational Non-govc.nmenlal Youth Organisations 9 F.om a decision-making point of view thc Goveming Board is thg top of tle iceberg. On the ground are different youth organisations unitcd in the youth Council which appoint 25 representatives lor a so-called Advisory Committee: sixteen from Iltcrnational Non_ govemmcntal Youth O.ganisations, eight lrom National youth Committecs and one from a non traditional association Thc representatives appointed by the national govemments arc unitcd in the European Steering Committc'j fur Inlfrgo\ ern mcntaj Co-opcration in the youth Field (CDEJ). 10 An interesting outcome of this co-managed system is thc distribution of decision making power among thc parties involved. It was surprising for us that somc employocs of tJIe youth Dilgctorate who work rn close connection with the co-managcd stucturgs olaimed that the position of the youth organisations in the dccision making process is stronger than the position of the governments. It was said that the strenglh oI the youth organisaiions lies in thei. preparedness to achieve commoll opinion in contrast to govemmental reprcsentatives, who often face difficultics in formulatinS a common solution because everybody holds its own opinion and intsrost. The fact that youdl organisations on thc Board find a common position morc q$y was interprctcd as thcm following an utilitadstic sEategy. They lobby to sustain thoir organisation mficr than for the beneht oI young people.

The Council of Europc encourages its member state govemments to adopt |,he model of co-manaScment in theh youth policy, but lite in many other ca$es faces difficulties. First of all in order to adopt this system it is necessary to havo n well developed infrastructurc of youtl organisations and this is surely not the case in posFcommunist countdes-:Ihe problem seems to be for new member st4tes to acccpt this systcm cvcn on the Council levellr 2.2. Reahinking the target group of youth policy During our fieldwork a process of restructuration was going on in the Youth Directorat€. Not only the functioning of the co-managed bodies was reevaluatod but the target group of youth policy was subject of rethinking too. Beginning with the 1980s the ways of young people to participate in social life have chanSed. In order !o bc active arld creative in civil society, young people no longer consider it necessary to be pgrmancntly involved in organisations. Their involvement is rathgr of short-term nature, depending on their interests and needs. Organisations suffcrcd the consequences of lhis trend and they were seeking for a new legitimacy. A youth policy thal focuses exclusively on youlh orlanisatioos was questioned.12 The majority of young people does dotjoin any youth organisation atrd does not wani to live an organised life. This had been the case in westem countdes, but the enlargement gave this question a new spccihc impetus-In the new member counfties due to past expedence young people are particularly suspicious of youtl organisations, As this is so, the question adses: h it really adequate for them to adopted the Council of Europe's model of youdr policy? Does this kind of model of youth participation provide a real multiplying effect and does it help young people? How suitable could the westem youth policy be for the new member countries if it is no longer fully suitable in the West either? Thc negative tendency loward the target group can be obsewed in the opinion of one employee of the Youth Directorate, who claimed that the atlempt of the Youth Directoratc to extend the target group caus€d opposition from established organisations, because "they don't want to share the cake". "As there were still the same people who came hete, the same organisation u)ho have contributionr frcm our projects. I don't want to say that they hate bad projects but they don't waht to share with othe5. You can see the dilferchce between the p nciple$ of solidariry, aw1 all these big beautiful principLes, When you see rhe reality they are far from this principle not really applying that at all."

This statoment was followed by a suggestion to cxtcnd the larget group to organisations working on tho local lcvcl. Looking tbr now partners led our respondent to discom that if young pcople fiom new membcr countries want to join somc kind of youth organisation they lbllow difibrent interesb than those of thc traditional partners ofthe Council.

The rcthinking of thc rarget group was not a main concem for Lhe majo.ity of our respondents and cven in the recommendadons for the restructurations in the s€ction it is only mentioncd hat there is a neod to identity new multipliers. ln spite of the qucstioning of the modcl here is no altemativo model in sight. The opinion was formulated that a.lthough the new youth Centre in Budapgst represented an important step towaid decentralisation the lcaming process within Central and Eastern Europe was somewhat hindercd because of the emphasis on the pan-European nature of youth policy of the Council: "Western or{anisation would enlaige qhd set the agendt, Western values are to be odopted, Westem workin| methods to be wed" t3 However, according to Pete. Laudlzen, the Di.ector of the Youth Centre from Budapest decentralisation and rogional cooperation would be necessary because contrary |o the proclaimed brotherhood of the socialist international there is a lack of cross-border contacls between neighbours in Central and Ea.stem Europe. However, some officia.ls of the Council are afraid drat regional cooperation would create an "Eastem ghetio",

Intercultural learning

The Council of Europe youth s€ctor proclaims to work with young people in developing a Euopean identity based on common values and to contributs thrcugh its action programme to rhe implementation of the Council of Europe's prioriries, with padicular emphasis on democratic consolidation, social cohesion and the frght against racism and xenophobia 14 One of the main tools of implementing this policy ar€ the training courses orgadsed by the Youth Centres. Int€rcultrral leaming is an imponant dimension of these tlainhg courses and it should hglp in solving the dilemmas that the integration process raised-Intercultural lgaming is connected with political socialisation. Many authors point out that thg culrent situation in Europe makes political socialisation paradoxical. Ldsdo Kdrir5 argues that rhis paradox is connected with the contradictions crcatDd by t]rc issuc of unity and diversity: "Europe shall haye to provide cuhural and. political answers to challenges affectinS its future simuhaneoultly. The answer is a paradoxical one. The political response will of necessity be dominated by the contnon universal elemenB, because the problems of power /instittLtions'do not lend themselyes to definitions based on diversity. ln this sense a contmon European answer colls for stan lardised. institutions ond mentality-The foundation of this honogeneity is more or less given. me comnon European political contents will sooner or later be incorporuted into compulsory naiional curricula. However cuburally, Europe has alwayt been, and shall remain, a world of diversity, a weaLth of diffe re nc es " t 6 What could bc the aim of political socialisation in such paradoxical times? A possible solurion could be to develop skills for tolerating ambiguity by engaging in intercultural learriDg srluahons-"lnrercuhuml learning is identiul rrith potitical socialisation under the conditions of second nodernity: it meons to understand the urotld, to develop the personal qualif.cations to become a social actor in this world and learn how to exist qnd survive in a paradoxical historical situation. Intercullurul learning cannot take pl.ace between delegates, with their flaS in rt'ont ol them ... These people behaye like atnbassadors thet elways protect themselves. What you have to do is take your flag away, put you.r d.elegation sign owa)), then you become the person who Jou are, and. then you are opening up to a process of exchange-.-Tolerance of ombiguity means that yotL accept the person hext tu you, opposite to you as just a: right os you are. Tolerance of ambiguity is 0 little bit an opposite educational aim to becoming a mi,tsionary. You ore not going out and teaching all the people $)hat thould they d.o. You are going out to leam what other people are about, you will represent yourself, but you are open to exchaige with others.tT Although these ideas were formulated by a top level €mployee of the Youth Directorate and some members of thc educational team also claimed lhat they do not want to Lrain missioofiies tJris view is not reflectod in the actual official practices of the training course. At the beginning of the training coursc we obscrved that youtl leaders were told that they are fiere in three roles: as representatives of fleir countries, as delegatcs of their own organisation and as individuals. After the course they are supposed to become multipliers or missionaries of the Council who would become "agents of chaoge" in their home envircnmert by spreading the information they acquircd in the training course 3. Putting youth Polic! into Practice: the Agents of Transler an.l the Agents of Change ln this chapter our attentiol is focus€d on the persons who put the programs and ideas of youth policy into practicethe employeos of the Youth Dtectorare, the adminisradve staff, secrerary, program coordinarors, trainors. We call these people agents of transferbecause they are working in a s€ctor which is stricdy dehned by educational aims 18. In this part of our paper we will present how these agents of transfer perceive their work, how thg principlcs of youth policy are put into practice in a training course aad how the prospcctive agents of change, the youth leaders evaluate the program offered to them.

Working in ahe Youth Centr€

As some employees told us, they were coming to work for the Council of Europe because of thoii belief in the va.lues that he Council promobs.

"The idea oJ human rights wos very importont for me already a long tinv ago and I found. ,/rords for this idea when I began to \rork with the Council...... I am here because I want to work for a better world."(trainer) Wc do not claim tlat people we interyiewed are naive dreamers nor do we want to raise the feeling that we are too optimistic about lhem, but whcn listgning to their statcmcnts we heard malry times thrt work here is impoltant tbr them, has a special significance, is hard and cnjoyablcl9. wc could observe that 1t causes also a lot of emotional strain on peoplc, specially when dealing with thc lilb stories and problcms olthe pa.ticipants.2o Wolk in the Youth Cenfre is not an eight to four o'clock business. We could watch people working until late at night. Gcncrally, the enlargomort doublcd thcir work. It brou8ht ncw tasks and dilficulties, madc them rethink their work, adapt their methods to the new demands, and to new kinds of problems2l.

In spite of the problems and dilficulties thgy encounter in theii: section as well as in the Council of Europc as such, thcy arc happy to work there. They see the CentE as a good place Ior exchanging ideas and lbr meeting difierent people. It was stdking for us that the majodty of respondents claimed that they are happy to work here and not for the European Union. They claim that the European Union does not lreat its members as equal partners, different types of exclusion take placs thoro and thsrc is a lack of social ssnsitivity.2z

The Youth Centre is a residential building with a friendly aLmosphere, which also we as researchers could feel. Meeting with young people is on the everyday schedule. Working here offcrs for employees a lot of community space. We felt at first to be in an exceptionally egalitarian institution. But soon we leamt that it had its own interior rules,23 and a strict hierarchy though gcnenlly thc atmosphcrc was vcry differcnt from the rest of ttle Council: "It seems to be different from the rest of the Council. The atmosphere is quite rclaxed. prohably because there is diiict contact. It is much nnre informaL Open doors, you can talk to DeoDle".

The Model of the Council -Whose Problem?

In the majority of our interviews with employees of the Council we find some kind of uncertainty about the model and its applicrbility to new mombels countries. We can say that it is to somc cxtcnt a genelal problem of the Council of Europc, which has a specilic significancc herein the educational sector.24 We could feel that our respondents were aware of their position as agcnt of tronsfer and in connection with ihis reflectod the model and fansfer problems often. The topic came out even without putting a direct question. A1so, could we observe some kind bf awareness and suspicion which had arisen al'tcr hearing about our topic of inierest and the iountdes we were coming from. Some people interviewed claimed that the worries aboul the trursler of a modcl wJ) a Durticulu wesrem oroblem. "There exists e x,estern comple, of fearihg to impose any model on Eq.st European Aware of this problcm thoy takc thc position of suggesting and showing how things could be. The need of dialog was olten sfessed25 and thc conviclion that thcre is no one good model and no one good solution.

"We neyer tm to go and say this is the way yott should work, this k the way you shouLd tlo lhings. It ir ore a queslion of exchdnging experiences .. It's based on co-operation. We try to encowage the co-opetution between rtu-o partners and in order to do lhqt we try to show eramples of v,hat was done in other countries. HorN to find according to ones ov)n condition the best solution. We don't hate a solution. We try to be a.r able as possible and definiteLy to avoid beconing people who hare a supervising solution."

On thc other side a dialogue with tho Eastcm side is quite hard to esLablish and a dreary picture is drawn oI those who have "too big expectations", who "feel like in Garden Eden" and who have a "certain kind of American dream" and are like "poor cousins at a rich cousins wedding". Thcy aro said not tg make proposals or qucstion the existing model, becausc they are not able "to share thc doubts" or at least thoy are too polite to do so. Even iftherc is openness to dialogue, the other side does not respond26 or respondsjust widr curiosity. Or it htus on attitude which hardly leads to dialogue27. As a consequence it is the Westem side that takes responsibility and evaluates and dccidss it the model is good.28 What we heard sounded somehow likc a westem monologue about imposing something on the East, "There is a general feeling among m4nJ people from the Westem part of Europe thqt we should not impose any model, we should not have some kind oJ colonialist approach. It's the rery Ji6t Jeeling, but ..tt the same time \re reolise thot they dre intere$ted. yery much ih the Amefican dream, in westem pattem so they are realLy pushing us to pick up on all fuis, on li'ring standards and cultural mad.el" Analysing the inteftiews wc got the sbong feeling the eastern_side was not heard becausc their statements did not suit the picture that was expected. The Eastern side was supposed to complain more and to state difliculties as the Westem sidc was penitently doing. Instead the Eastem member states asked for the creation of new programs. There was a demand for developping youth policy and youth activities-The number of participanrs seeking for a place in thc t aining courses was increasing. They obviously wanted to leam morc in this field-

Truining coursesthe Main Educutia sl Tool of the Youth Centre

The idea of the training courses is rooted in the conviction thaL to creq.te new dpmocr.Ltic pluraList structure you need to trcin the persons i this system-The courses are run in cooperation with the European Youth Forum, and theif aim is to enable young people actively involved in Europcan youth questions to play an efficient and informed role in European and international youth work and to improve the quality of youth acLivitigs with an intercultural dimension.29 Thc main aim of this courso.ra.s to give an introduction to thc basi0 concepts of organising youlh rctivities and to encouragc the relleclion on intercultural leaming. Tho educational team of thc course was fomed by two trainers from fte European Youth Cenre, two traine$ appoinled by thc European Youth Forum3l a,s well a-s an external consultant.

The participants were betwcen 18 and 30 years old, and according to the selection criteria they had to bc actively involved in a youth organisations, preferably in tho field of intemational coopcration or activitics. There were 36 partioipants from 26 countries 32, 18 girls and 18 boys, 27 of thcm betwcen I8-25 ycars old, nine between 25-2833. The selected participants were working in rhcir youth organisation from half a year to 14 years. The average time lor working in a youth organisation was around 4 to 5 years-Thc participalts were selccted from organisations with the tbllowing profilcs: minority youth association, religious youth association, international student exchange organisations, organisations that prornote intercultural learning, organisal.ions with an ecological profil9, one rade union, onc handicraft organisation. During tic selcction process orgalisators try to ensurc a balarcc belween gender, culnrral background, regions, different typcs of expericnce and organisations.

The main paft of the course covered theoretical and practical aspects of organising intemational yourh acd;itics, as well as practical leaming ofdifforent skills: setting objcctivcs, working in a toam, cornmunication, p.eparing a program, settilg and managing budgets. One other part of the faining cor.rrse focusgd on thg intercultural education. The informal momenhfree-time and leisure acdvitieswere seen as indispeNable parts of working and leaming in all intercultural group context-The third pait was political education, participants were informcd about the Council of Europe iud European Union structures and policies.

The course comprised lectures34, workshops3s, simulation 8ames36, team work37, presentaiions3s and discussions39 and leisure time activitiesao and it was intended to be a mutual lsarning siiuation based on the expcrience of $e participants in youft work. Active panicipation, grou!-and tcamwork, and leaming by doing formed the basis of th€ cours€ The officia] larguage ot' tle course was annourccd to be EnSlish and French. Theretbre the majority of thc participants spokc En8lish, but a few of them spoke only Russian and no English or Fronch. Bccause of this fact at thc bcginning oI the course the educational team changcd thc second official larguagc from Frcnch to Russian.

A general evaluation of the training course from the participants point of view

On the basis of the inteFiews and Lie discussions with the participanls we can conclude that lbr the majority of the participants the training couise was a positivc expcricncc.4l They apprcciated the possibility to k]kc pa11 in the course, to meet people liom dillerent countries arld to make new friends. Some of the participants emphasised the importance of these personal rclatbnships for their funher carccr: "... it wat important to get in touch with youth leaders from different countries, to tuke rrew contacts. Maybe some of them will become presidehts, tolne oJ us something else aru1 when you have, I mean the roots, I mean the base, and friendship will inJluence and promote o bettet understanding beween each country. I vtill be acthely in co-operating A)ith these people".

All ol thc pafticipants interviewed regarded the workshops connected with lhe projoct work (programming, lobbing, and budgoting) and the elaboration of the team-projects as the most useful part of the course. Some participants pointed out that besides the pafiicular content of the cousc it was a benefic expedence for thcm to obserue how the educational team of the training course was working. We can affim that a certail category of the participants werc not simple consumcrs of the programme offered for them bul they tried to understand at an upper level the educational process that was going one during the course.42 "it was very intercsting for me not to leaflr the etact coitenr of that siluation , but to observe the situation, a\d to see ho-w the group reacts and the team acts, and to try just to do something at a superiot level and to understand what is goih| oh.

They (the team) arc doing a good political job ih such an environment, I an really impressed" they are incredibly skilled .. but I find it very-t ery ideological".

During our discussions with the mombers of the leam they emphasised that in the non-formal education parts of lhe course they did not want to offer ths right answers or the best solutions to the discussed problems. Thcir aim was to raise some questions connected with intercultural leaming situations and to make the pMicipants think about them. Our inte iews showed that at lcast in some cases they achieved this aim.

"work here it make you to think, the games were 'rery interestin| for me, I leam a lot from them. The! mttde me to think about some problems I just ignored before, -For instance I found that I am more nationalist than I thought I was. It's wry good to realise it in order to chakge it. Because through those Bames I did notice I mean I found some areas which I should reconsider-" However there werc participants who fell the lack of a kind of summarising thc meaning of the simulation gamcs. Some puticipants claimed that thcsc gamcs crcato anificial silualions and their connection with real lif'e is slight. Therefore they questioned the educational power of drgsg games.

"l tlidn't like the Eome, because it didnl depentl on nry intellect I doesn't see analogy beh|eeh the gomp and reality" (porticipunts froh South Eastem Europe in the plenary) Some piuticipants who, although sharing ths view that the training oolrlse was very good and useful for them, fonnulatcd criticisrDs or proposals for improvement. Some of the panicipanrs claimcd that there were too much information or that some information were prescnted too late thcrelorc they could not use it in their projects. It was also mentioned that too much work that had to be done, the too strict program, the lack of time for discussions or fb. asking questions.43 Thg schedule ofthe course was also criticised by somc participorm.aa Illteresting about theso cdticisms is that in our interviews all of them were formulatcd by parLicipanls coming from Western Europe. Although pafiicipants from Eastern count ie$ fomlrluted critical rcmarks during thc'course, in the intervicw they were not mentioning anything. A possible explanation of this fact could be that participants from the Eastern countries, because of their very limited possibilities to travel abroad, were thankful for the opportunity to participate in the training course in Strasbourg and they did not feel in rhe position to criticise a.nyfling.

Close encounter of the third kinL -Meeting with East Europeans

5.1.The employees view on differences

We wanted to find out how those employees who pafticipatcd in mary traiJring courses se€ the diffcrences in thc attitudes of Eastern and Westcm participants. For many of the interviewed employees the most imponant-challcnge of the enlargement was the encounter \{ith East Europeans in diffcrent activities: in classical faining courses, study sessions or in the new type of courses45 organized by the Youth Dire{torate. This last type of raining course place "the agent of transfer" not on the ngutral ground oI thc Youth Center but in a place where they "do not have rcal larowledge about the specific context." Looking for differences and sp€.ificity of East participants we genarally get answers such as that " Eastem Euopeans ar€ not the other kind", that they are hdividuals and everybody has its own personality and it is rol possible to generalise according to the region participants are coming from. Quitc olten we were told that the€ arc bigger differences between the South and the North then betwcen the East and the West. However, in relation to the differences between East and West it was stated that l}lese differences increase as much as we are shifling to the East. while the c;unfiss of Central Europe did not prescnt significant differences in comparision io thc Western Europeal countries, in thc countries of rhe forrner Soviet Union differcnces appear. Tho more to the East a country is situated the bigger are the differenccs.

As a particular problem of the East Europgans thc big expectations toward the Council were mentioned, their expectation to find expens tierc, their problem with discussing things and feelings all thc timc, with evaluating and reflecting. Also the problcm with using and understanding some terns and conccps was mentioned. On the other side it was claimed that Eastem Europeans arg morc cager to spairk about tho country thcy are rcprcsentirg.

The biggest dithculties for thc people cngaged in the training prograh was l.o allow for intgrcultural leaming taking the fom of non-formal education. This caused lot of discussions and inlomal criticism in thc Youth Dircctorate-One of our rcspondent even claimed that CenEal and Eastern Europeans have different needs for education. They prefer lecrures, debates and cognitive leamin8. This prefcrence was cxplained and belittlcd by idcnrifing such needs with their inclinadon to lis[ening to autho.ity and characterised as a t€acher student relationship: "Young people are more used to have trqining v)ith mote formal structure: teacherstudent rclationships. And these actirities which you know are exercises and Little groups and games-Sometittes they say that it is not se ous business for them-We are here m do some serious work. ForSet about these silly children games, let's do some serious business. It takes some Iime beforc they realise that, ,,t)ell it's a gatne, but h is still a serious business. lt comes out from it. It's not something lou can obtain from a teacher m student relatiowhip. It comes from personal inyolvement-"

We met many antagonistic statemeffs and it is had to generalise. The real source of differenc€s is seen in the past regime, which caused different position and perception of individual in society, a tendcncy to passivity and !o waiting for something what will be brought by authodty, We could identify two opposite tendencies: a tendency to overestimate the differences and a tendency to suppress the differences. In both cases it was stressed that it is a pmblematic view and it could have unpleasant consequences.

s.2.Young participants attitude toward differences

We wcre curious to find out how the panicipants in the training course we observed think about diffcrences (cultural, personal) and how they evaluat€ the intercultural meeting that took place dudng thc two weoks. The majority of thg participants claimed that there were no differences betwecn them because of their culture or because of the region they were coming from. They empfu$ised that the similarities between them are much more impofiant then the differences46 and attributed the differences mosdy to the personal ones.4? Only a few pe6ons from those interviewed thou8ht that it is just normal that they are different from each other because they werc bom and grew up in diffcrent culturcs "Of course they are different and of course they liove different values. Because every people has his own world yision, values, cultwe. So when the people cotu herc they get informttion about dffirent cultures and valaes-When they rr&king a srybiosis theJ are mnking something. They are adding Bood stufr and theJ leaming somethihg ahd this of course promotes untlerstanding. European people have different values," From thc interviews it seems that the participanh tricd to avoid to take lhe sxistence ofcultural dlfferences for granled. Instead, they preferred to thint about other participants as individual pcrsonalitics not as rcpresentatives of a certain culture. However if we examine all the differences mentioned in thesc interviews we can find botJr personal (language skill, age, cducation, organisational skills) and social or cultural ones (gender48, regions-economic sjtu.rtio0. ethnicity and rcligiona9.) WhNt was jn€rcsting fbr us was not that these differcnces camc out duaing lhe coursc but to obseFc how thcse youth lcaders tdcrdted thesc ditfcrences.

What we could see did not makc us vcry optimistic abeul tho futurc of a multicultural Europe. Even thcse young peoplo who considered $emselvcs more open then the avcrage citizen from their countries5o havc a vcry low degrce ol tolerating dillbrcnces. Even if the maiority of the participaits hrd a good timc in thc coursc it was sad to sce thar those who werc in some uspect dilfcrent fclt excludcd (who didn't speak English-was scqn as a problemsl, who does not accept the authoritalian leadership stylc lglt frustrxted52, who was nol enough European folt stupid5:l) or sven werc stigmatiscd. (who was too edlrcated was stigmatised as a strangc person, who speaks too much, who refused to work in the rh''thm imposcd by the course was seen as |azy and it was questioned what is he wa^s doing herc54) One of the main principles of tho Council is democracy, and democradc panicipation. If the tEining cou6o is scen as an cducational tool thg principlc oI democracy was for sure among thc values that it wanted to promotc. If we |akc tlle delinition that the levcl of dcvelopment of a democracy can bejudgcd by the trcatrncnt of its minorities wc can have some doubls about how the democritic vdues werc put into the practice by thg young participants in TCl. While the majority of the panicipants had a good time, there werc some participants who tblt excluded.

The rest of the participanls did not obscFr'e this exclusion55 or did not want to deal with it. Not one of thesc problems was discussed in plenary scssions eithcr.

Eurc c e ntris m-eur op is m

Only orc of the participants claimed that the wostem values werc prevai.ling in the coursc, In his opinion thc course was about competition and hc thought that nobody ',ves really tating care of thc othcr-The relationships that were cstablished were seen as superlicial by hirn and mostly serving the achievemgot of some organisal.ional or career goal. The fact that thcir occommodation was provided in separatc rooms was seen by him as an obstacle to creating morc close fricndships. While he was speaking about thc idea of separate rooms he mcntioncd their (wcstem European) hang up on privacy, that for him was not an imponant issuc at all-There was 0n other participant who also perceivcd thc cou$e as being eurocentric: "I cane here not to learn about intercuhurul leomihe, but to learn about how peopLe think, how people react t(, such a thitlg. However, when I come here and I heu people talking about intercultut al learnin| I reulised that they are speaking about inter-Europeqn leanling..Sonehodt asked vthatever the Youth for ELnope is fot the suppott of Eroopean itlentity. h was said thot no, it is not for thut, But rre, or at leasl me we are not naive. I hod b pla! theatrc." (Turkrsh grrl living in Germany, graduate student) Shc claimgd that basic conccpts of thc course, such as the conccpt of "prcjecf itself for exarnple, wcre takeo for grmted without anyone taking into accounl that this concept could have a differenr meaning fbr a pcrson who did not grow up in a westem countrJ.

What has to made us to think seriously about tlis issug is that in this case nol. coloniscd people from outside ofEurope aje claiming the euroccntdc a[itude. Both ofthe panicipans are young people who are living in Europe, but who fccl somehow excluded iiom it or at least diffcrent from its norms. What is fien Europc, whose Europe it is or who a.e the Europeans? And who wiu be those people living in Europe who will b€ the othors. Thos€ who will €si$ ro assimilate the shared valucs? The litemture on nationalism uses alrcady the concept of Europ$m as a new form of natiorulism. What has to be addresscd is the question how the grcwing awareness ahout European uniry not to lcad to europism-6.l.Intercultural learning: a possible solution?

In the Council of Europe's conception intercultural Igarning should be thg solulion to encounte.ing differences. We walted to hnd out how the intercultural leaming is going on in practice. ln the first day of the training cours€ tbe participalts were told that they are here in three roles, as reprcsentatives of fieir countries, as delegates of their organisations alld as individuals.

In the intercultural ard inlerculinar evenings pa-rticipants had to represent their countries. Each participant had to put on the table something specific for hivher country. Many of these specific things were bought frcm the supcrmarket and it the appearance of a traditionally dressed girl from Georgia with some cakes made by hor mother especia-ny for this occasion was like a curiosity-The high point of this evening was to be the consummation of these foods. However, ir se€med thar for rhe majoriry of the participarrs the prcsent€d food had not a special symbolic meaning or signficance.

When the participants had to present something from the spiritual culture oftheircountry, some stereotypical representations came out-Folk-dances or folk songs were performed mostly by participants from Eastem European countries where t}le official representation of tndition is still closely connected with the folk-cultue that is usua.lly seen as the expression of "The t ue national identity"-It was to be se€n that what 6e participants felt obliged to present was not something very close to their everyday life experience, Some felt clearly embarassed by Fesenting them-Some participanti from Westem or Central European countries plesented little games they used to play or pieces of music they liked. [t was only one participant who was speaking about her personal expe.ience of what it means fo. her being a minority women in Germany, but nobody paid atlention to her and thc majority of dre participants was bored by her discourse. There were panicipalts who did not want to present an)rtiing, however they were compelled to do it by the resr of rhe group. All panicipants had to play here the role of the representatives of their countries and as we could observe some of them did not feel comfortable at all in this role. It was interesting to see, however, tiat the atmosphere has changed when the olficial part of the intercultural evening was hnished and the nonnal pa.ty bcgan. The participants, released from thc burden of representing something were dancing happily to Macarena and othcr music what they felt se€mingly more close to then wnar was prescnted by thcm a fcw minutes befbrL.

We can alllrm that in this llrst put oI the mtercultural cvening maybe ah intercultural mecting took place but not en intercultural lcaming or dialog. We are not suggesting that intercultunl learning did not take place durjng the training course. It cenainly took place, but not in thc tormal pars ol thc abovc mentioned events. In thc personal or small group discussions, in the tcam-work, during lunch or dinner, jn pow-how groups or at the parties, when participanls could bejust liemselves, ord not represcntativcs or delcgates, they had the oppo(unity to scc how thcy differ and in what thcy werc similar with each othcr.

6-2. Euiopean Unity Mission Impossible?s6

Yowry paticipants ahout lhe Council of Europe, European InteSration Md Europe If wc examine the motivations of the participants for taking paJt in the training course TCI we can see that thcy are gcnerally focuscd around the next items: to leam organisational skills, to exchange ideas wilh other pcople, to establish new contacts.5? None of them mentioned that he or shc would like to become the missionary of the Council. The questiol that arises then is whethcr the young participants are seen by the Council of Europe as some tool fot implementing a certain policy or for advertising the Council or whctler they ta-ke pan in rhe courses to satisfy their own naeds and intercsts.

We tried to find out what they knew about the Council of Europe beforc the course and what they loamed about it in thc trainin&coursg. While discussing about this topic some participants were addressing the issue of European integration too. All of the panicipanLs hea.d about the Council of Europe before dley came to lhe training course. Some of them leamcd about it in the school or university, others hcard or read about it in the media or during elections, Some participants mentioned that h€/she knew only that the Courcil cxisted and rothing more, that is was one of thc many Euro institutions. Others had a more clear image, for example thcy knew that it is different from EU but they didnt know exacdy how it differed. However, all of the participants mentioned that their previous lorowlcdge about the Council was an impcrsonal onc.

"I knew what we learned in school for nr then it vras just a stuff to men ise, I knev, for example that the Council of Europe is difrerent from the European Union, but the difference wos not clear to ne at all, I hai a slight idea about it, but nothinq concrete, jltst that it .,tists, it is one of the ot ganisaions amonq man)t others, that works for peace, [Jntil norr nJ knowledge about the Council was impersonal,, my colleagues used to talk about it (the Council of Europe) but then it was in a jarqon for me, I didn.'t understand too much.,l knee that therc were all those Europe thihgs, Ettro-buildings Euro-I don't know how they call it. But I know, that I did not know h'hat are they rloing, I tl.id.n't know the difJerence between differeht kinds of Euro-orqanisotions. I had a big mess ia my nind about the Council of Europe."

All ol th()m emphasised that here they get a personal knowledge about fie Council and due io this they t'eel it morc close to them now. What was important for the participants was the dircct contact with the Council: thcy visited the building, saw its cmploycos, and lived in onc of its rssroenuat areas:

"now I learned a lot about it, this is a completely di;ffetent knowlelge, Iets sat morc lively, or more meaningful information. That's because the contett in which I get this in|btmatiok., What is dilferefi that now I have a personal contact with it, now ir means marc for ne., Now I don't mia the Eurupean Parlioment and the Council of Europe, and Europeah Unioh. You leam herc how to approach the sJstem, now I feel it more close to me, nou', it's like a pructical eiercise to see the Council of Europe. Nov') I have somethlng perconal , I mean norc pe6onal infomwrion about it."

Taking into account the impoflance the parricipants gave to thc personal contact with the Council it is predictalile ttlat it will r€main for the majority of young people a distant institution, one of the many Euro institutions where only some privileged people, like tho leaders get access.

A survey carried out four years ago among European adolescentsss shows that youth from Eastcrn countrics are more enthusiastic about EU thcn those fmm west.59 Although not all of tle interviewed participants felt fiat they would have sometling special to say about the issue of Eulopean integration those who formulatcd an opinion confumcd the above mentioned attitr:de.

One participants from Iceland for examplc was quito sccptical about the issue of iniegration6o and she observed that participantJ from poorer countries arc more eager to do something to charge their situation and arE morg passionate about the issue of European integration-" I feel that countries thot are not so wealthy arc nore omious to have some work done. And they want their inprovements to be done first, because their conditions are really bad And I can really tmderstahd that the| hove a great motivation for integration I mean I am not doinS ,ny organisation work because I think everything is terrible-I do my work because I think it could be bener. I can feel it that they Bet tuore intense ofien during the discussions, they are more patient about their work ih lot of ways-" ( patncipant from Iceland)

The participants from Georgia or Ukraine conlirmed her opinion. They wore very enthusiastic about European integration and seemed to be open l.o assimilate the westem tradihon. "l v)ant to help. I want to be more close to European trad.ition .. ..1 really want to be part of Europe, not to go ih the direction of the Eost .. to be like Turkey, or Albania. I \)ant to help, to solve the problems, to bing a little peace, to help to bring my people to Europe". (Ukainc) "and one thihg we tvaht is integration in the intemational lifu. Because v'e vtant to be integruted in Europe, hle try to intolve Georgian Youth so they can participate also on intenational level activities and in inte ationol life" (Geotgi^) Thc Ceorgian panicipants however consider thems€lves di-lTercnt from the Euro;reans: "This is my first timr in Europe. For me it is a great opportuhity to come here because I didn't understand European people. How th6e European people think, how they think about something, I didn't l ov) before how they look like, what problems theJ hate, what problems they haw not. I understantl them very little -because I did not meet European people beJbrc-" (pafiicipant I tiom Georgia) "l've never worked with people from different countries-I mean at all. Here you con anqlyse how the people in Europe are thinking. I mean $,hat are their problens. First thitrS is that thq) are lery nice people. But European people are different. It Looks that Palestine, Macedonian and Georgia seem to be closer to each otheL I mean we hore somethin| in conmon I mean the East-South is differcnt ftotn the North, and I meah Europe---The Eastern and the Southern people are more undeveloped, they are poore4 the traditional woy and culttie is very difJerent from Europe. Europe is a classic todition rrhich alreadl got the biggest economy and biggest influence in this territory, its simple. In Georgia the undefitanding and mentality is difrerent, it's not depending everJthing on moner. So, I meah people have dwrent values, becaue they already when they are born they live in these conditions.. And the mentality is very different, you can talk to everybody in your country and when you tolk v,ith European.. The intercultural meetings could be a place werc the negotiation of values could take place. What could be those valuss that should stay at the base of our Europear identity and tiat should be shared by all Europeals? We were cudous to find out what answers giv those people who are involved in the Faining of the next generation of Europeans.

;.

The enployces auitud? rcward the tomnon values of Europeans

We asked them what is the key word for European identity in their opinion. Ir was said rhar this question is still discr.lssed very much and it is hard to defined it. As core elements of this identity were mgntioned the common geographical space6l, the power which made the Council of Europe exist62, cultural heritage63, common history, diversity, humanist kind of approach-Human rights was also mentioned. several times as an unifying aspect and acommon value: "We have certain number of values which ate cohmoh to all of us, they are actaallJ European values bat ihey are universal as well-" "Personally I believe or at least think thqt there are a number of common values, y'/hich we have or I would like all people share. They arc not necessarily the same values as on the other continen." "I mean all those values are thinqs h)hich mnke us s[milar tD each other. Me coming from Turkey, Iceland, Romania So, we hove these things and we arc trying to go in this direcion to imprcye .tll fuose. This nakes us work together and be same at the certain point. It's \|hy the Council of Europe is here and why we work for it." "There are universal. values, these values wrif)) the people from all over Europe As srich valucs were claimcd human rights6a, democracy, rcspect, tolerancc, respect for differcnces, social work ficld, co-operation, gender equality, respect to humiul dignity.

"mere arc certain inuwtterial values first of all r e of [aw-You d.on't recoqnise them as such but if1,ou loose thern ,\ou recognise that \ou are in o Guldg."

The employees personally engaged in training tbuDd it harder lo formulate ths basis of a lEumpeaD identity-"The hasic question oJ hw4on rights. Yes, it's institutiowrryy said. but personally I Jound thut there are certain rights which people need to have in etery country. Things like tolerance, rcspect, rcspect and equal value for every person in society, respect of gend.eL I think things like this are basic values-I om hesitant to 80 arly further, -There ore a Lot of problems and you have to be very careful with these things-.And thon what we will make of it I tr)onder sometim$, mere is as much difference as there is in common.

Conclusion

In this paper we focused oul attention on the activity of the Youth Centre and we proposed to achieve a better understanding of the work that is done there by analysing one of its main activities: a training course. Our aim was to hnd out how the youth policy of the Council of Europg and its basic principles (democracy, human rights, the rule of law, participation, the raising of European consciousness) a1e put into practice in this pafliculal environment, how this policy is undeGtood by those who have to pilt iI into practice a-od finally how it is rcceived by those for whom it is designed: the youth leaders.

The picture we got after the five weeks of heldwork is an interesting one. The very coherenl and well defined aims of the Council conceming its basic principles show a more blurred picturo at the level of rhose employees of tlre Council's Youth Directorate who have !o put tiese values or basic principles into practice. We could observe the difhculties these employees face while trying to find proper Eodalities through which these values and principles can be tra.nsferred to young people during the different activities organised for them. This process of tmnsfcr became even more difficult after the enlargemgnt of the Coulcil with countries from Central, Eastern and South-Eastem Europe. Thc employees aje conftonted with the fear of becoming some kind of colonialists or people who brainwash young people's minds. For this reason they reflect intensely and evaluate critically their work all the time. The solution fiat it is preferred by them in this proc'ess of value tnnsfer is to raise questions connected wilh the basic values of the Council, to make the participants think about thesc issues and to apply these principles during tlreir activities rather then to "offer" this values for the participants as "Tho Values" they should follow. Thc most difficult issue seems to be the task of raising the Europcan consciousness of these young people. When i}le " agents of hansfer" themselves face difficulties in formulating what "European'means for them, tren tlle difficulties they face while tansfering this hardly definable "europeanness " to the young peoplc are easy [o imagine.

We also presentod in this paper the attitude of young participants toward Europe arld its hstitutioN, especially toward the Council of Europe, iLs progrums and toward the question of European integration. Although the majorily of young participants had a more or less clear picture about the Council of Europe before the Lraining course, this was perceived rather as a distant instituticin, one of thc many "Eufo-institutions". What they appreciated in thc training course was that it made it possiblc for them [o "gct in a porsonal contact with the Council" ard through this to leel that it is an institution that exists for them too. Tho problem of European intcgration was pcrceivcd differcntly by thc Westem then the East€rn European participants. While the first group was less enthusiastic or even skeptical regarding thg p.ocess of integration the East Europcan participants werc speaking more enthusiastically about iL However, some participants from Eastcm Europo perceived themselves as diff€rent from "the Europeans" and their countries different from the "European traditions". They emphasised that the balancing of these differcnt traditions is a neccssa-ry step for a successful integration. Whilc fiey claimed tlat they are rcady and eager to get integraled in thc "European tadilion", somc panicipants from already integrated countries, but who feel somehow excludcd ftom these, posed a certain resistance toward the "iniegration" in European radition. In their view this integration is more an assimilation and is a rcsult of an eurocentric attitude that defines the norms of Europenness and excludes those who do not coffespond to these noms. This attitude is defined in the scientihc litorature as "curopism" and it is perceived as a new folm of nationalism. The attitude of tiese young Europeans should be a signal for those who have a word to say on the policies of integration of young people.

When one goes down ftom the declarative lovel ofthe very coherent and well defined prilciples of the Council and from the good intentions and efforts met at fte level of employees to the moment whcn these principles have to be effectively put into practice the picture one got is less satisfying. The actual philosophy on which tle selcction of the participants for the training courses is done favorizes a aery limited number of young people. How much the majority of young people will bercfit from the activity of these mullipliers and at whar degree these training course will serve tlle intereG of tiis small elite group of selected youth leaders is a quostion that has to be addressed. Going further we could sge that the principlg of democracy is not always functioning even inside these sclected group of youth leaders. Those panicipanfs who were somehow diffcrent from the "norm" of a European youth leader felt themselves excluded from the group. These inadequacigs can be partially the fault of the organisers but can also be the manifestation of some European youth leader's low level of toleranca toward differences. Because the youth policy is based to an important degre€ on these young European leaders it is important to sge what kind of leaders ar'g traincd. when they are insensitive toward people who are different from them also the future of a Europe of di.fferences is endangered. 10 How the name of the unit implies its aim is to provide iDtergovenmental co-operation-Its tools are regular mectings and conferences ofEuropean ministe$ responsible for youth. CDEI also manages a system of national reviews of youth policy.

11 As an exarnple for clashes between govemmelts and Goveiiing board decision was uscd |lle situatiol when shocked govemments had to acacpt dre decision of the Coveming board to support a prog|am of Youth Homos€xual Organisation" involved in AIDS prevention. l8 What js important to know, rs that work is canicd out lrcm an cducrtional angle. Ofcoursc we xre tacklirg social problems. we are tackling drugs problems. we arc tackiing uncmploymgnt problems but lrom an educational point oI view. Thls centrc is lrot ir social wclfare institution, 1t is not the fole of thc youth sector to solve all thc problems ol the young pcoplo. What we can do is for cxample to train youog peoplo, to inform so that when they ate back homc they can do somelhing in their town. in lheir villagc to hclp with $cse problcms. There is no space for discussing or for negoriation. Just do or don't. And I think it's really a diflerent approach..And we are usjd to say that we are sometimes a laboratory of idcirs for European Union. Which can take thcm up, because lhey havc thc money. WE luve the ideas and they have thc money. There is little bit rivalry between us. Wc a.rcjealous of thcir money ard they arejealous of our ideas. Thcre is a lots of problems, but I still believe in this institution. I am happy to be herc not European un10n. Europcan Union is-just for rich peoplc-It puts such presslrrc on counlries, which I don'l like.

23 And in conncction with this is much less flexible thar Youth Contre in Budapcst.

24 In interview there emerged reflection thal CE is complctely westcm organisation or organisation with western dominance. Thc problem of organisation is that it did not recognisgd that aftcr enlargoment iE eastcm boardor is Japar-. From one respondents answer we got following illustration: The train was running ald they just put new carriage and nobody asked which dirLction-Most common wero statemenls stressing that the Council of Europe is poor organisution in $ensc of money and power. h was mentioned many times thal thc Council of Europe does not have any or at lcast much power, it is a week organisation with nonc impact. It sets standards but is not able to push countries to keep them. And al$o vic versa, as it doesn't hdve powcr, it is not able to respond to expectations ol new members coontries. 42 I am older thgn the team-For me it was a question to observe them because I think that I get more expgrienc€ then some of the members of this group and I am also eager to learn these things to lead a gfoup, to work with a tsam, Ilot only to be a participalt. Thereforc it was very interesting to s€e the different workilg styles, also what is important for of}ler panicipants who are they, how they thing about some things. I rried to observe the way these trainers wofked with ttle group, with people coming from differcnt countries, differeDt culhrres I am looking for the way lhc team leaders work with us, how they do the games, what is t}le outcome, what arc the questions raised by the games-The games, you lnow made us think more decply about some problems I was watching the team during their work and it was a great expgrience. I am imprgssed-I liked almost cvery excrcise whirt they made us to do. I am going to have an htcmational course ir August and I am going to usc some moterial trom here.

43 somctimes we.didn't havo enough time, thxl we had to work during lunch, for example or during dinner. I don't think rhat dlis is a good method., I would try io bc very strict on the timetablc, I mean thc coflec bretk to be coffcc hreak nor work-brcak, for example I would put less hard information on such a short timc. We get a lot oI hand out so I think who is interes'ted in somothing can rcad about it , I wantcd to make a comment, because I am quite skeptical, Ive got a lot ofquestion to ask. And I didnt gct time to ask. So I felt frustrated.

44 in thc first couplc of days we didn't lcarn anything, we did the games and it was really nice, we getting to know cach orhcr, and that is very important too, but all of us come here to leam somcthing, como here with 0 lot of cxpectations and if afler 2 days you leel that you didrl't leamed anything new your enthusiasms will probably fall down. This was bad.

  Ar prescnt the Cenfes lun four types of training courses30. AI of these courses are designed for youth leaders, rcpresentatives, and delegates working in an inremational context. The philosophy bchind this t)?e of selection is that flcsc youth leaders are perccived as multipliers, who should pass on what they have leamed, spreading the values of thc Council of Europc and thus contdbuting to the emetgence of a European cultural ldentity. After the training they are sunposed to bccome agents of change and missionaries of the Councils youth policy and values. 4.1. The presentation of a training course we paJticipated in thg training course ton to OrBahise Intemational Youth Actirities (TC1), organised it the Youth Cenre in Strasbourg bctw€en the 2lst ofJunc and the 4th of July 1998.

  .... of course I am not saying that they are..... no, they are very, tery snart people-Thel h6,e open minl" open brain...... They are smart." (participant 2 from Geofgia) and they are aware that in onder to become intcgrated in the European stuctures the different values have to be ba-lanced: "The vaLues are different and you have to balahce them and. that is the problem to ihteBrate inta European structures." Garticipant 2 Georgia)

Notes1

  Franco Marzialle. A glimpse of utopia. ln Year Book (t Youth Directorate, 1996/1997, Strirsbourg 2 we studied thc ofhcial publications of the Youth Directorate and the different rappons about the youth secto( listed in ihe bibliography. 3 In Trai ng Course l: How to Organise Intemational Youth Activities 4 we werE eating there, spending there dre siest4 playing billiard in our frcc time 5 24 September 1968 an report by Marcel Hicter Un monde malade de sa jeunesse, and a second report in 1969 that was concemed rnoro dirertly with devising a youdr policy 6 Daniel Menscharl Study on the Policies and Activities il the Youth Sector of the Council oI Europe, Council of Europe publication, strasbourg Au8ust 1997 7 In the time we were conducting our €seajch a process of cvaluation and transformation took place tackling also changes in tho co-managed structuE. 8 Network of National Youth Councils. 9 Network of youlh organisatior working on Europ€an level.

  12 thg prcsontation of above mentioned chalges was made on the base of tlre Daniel Menschart rappon: Smdy on the Policies and Activilics in the Youft Sector of lhe Council of Elrope, Council of Europe publication, Strasbourg August 1997 13 see more about this issue ill Pet€r Laurilzcn, Description of an experiment in lJaming about the Crater Europe in Yearbook of tlp Youth Directorate 1996-1997 14 see a more detailed description of the main objeciwes of 60 Councils youlh s€ctor at Priority tasks 15 Kdri, L6szl6. Europe is a Geogmphical ExpressioD, Nothing More. Perspectives of Sociology and Political Science. In Magne Angvik and Bodo von Borries (eds.) Youth and History-A Comparative European Survey on tlistorical Consciousness and Political Attitudes among Adolescents. Vol l. Hamburg: Ktirber-Stiftung, 1997, p8. A 428 16 of the Youth Direrctorat€ in Menschaert, Daniel. Shrdy on the Policies and Activities in the Youth Sector of the Council of Europe , Council of Europe, MEP(97) 19 Stasbourg, 1997 m pp. 28 l7 The quotations from lecture given by Mr, Lauritzen in a training course for minority youth leaders in Slovakia, in 1995 and published in the report about this course written by Vanyi, Balint : The Beauty of the World. situation and perspectivss of minority young people in EuroDc edited by tho Youth DirEctorate.

  19 wo*ing in Youth Centre in Budapcst is my lifc. She is very happy to work with thc Council of Europc becuusq in the youth organisatiurs from Romaoia she would not succccd to gct a position because of comption in thc Romania Youth Ministry. 20 special task of Roma study session, or training cou$es in Bosnia. 2l The work is makc harder by some special East European multiplicls f sitying and multiplying visa provided by thc Council of Europc for their East Eure[rean collcagucs. 22 It is ambivalgnt, but it scems Lhat weakness and strength of thc Council ofEuropc lies in its function as transiiion and preparation station lor EU. Thc Council of Elrrope was always praised and highly appreciated irl comp0Jison with Europcan Union. And I do think that the Councrl of Europo is more than other European institutions open to what happens actually in tle countries. I think il gives morc space. Not only to tell people what to do. It's small thing but it does help. European Union gives the standards.

  25 We have to bo equal partncrs and find what we wart to build together--26 I cilme to Budapest to lcanl something, but they do not want to teach me anythin8. 27 In some country somc people will react saying we do net have anything to learn from you what you pretend teaching us we know how to work with organisation. 28 To dcal with this problem Youlh Directolatc developed a new sector a research sector to dcvelop more scicnufic approach to the queslions to understand better the situation. 29 Council of Europe, Youfi Dircctoratc. Tftrinjng Coursc I. How to Organise Intemational Youth Acuvitics. Srasbourg, November 1997 30 How to Organise Intemational Youlh Activities (TCl), Working in Intcmational Youth Structurcs (TC2). Training fof Trainers (TC3), and Long Tcrm Training Course on Intcmational Youth WorU n, 3l Europoan Youth Forum: set up in 1996 by national youth councils and intcrnational nongovemmonlal youfi organisations ftom Europe. EYF acts ns I political representative fbr young pcople in discussions with the instiiutions of European Union, tho Council of Europe, the United Nations and similar bodiqs. It was an Introduction course, and the tairfng cours€ was exacdy what its tide suggestcd: an introduction. And for this purpose I rhil|k it was perfect-Everything is very organised and describe to the details. Its knowledge, skills and confidence and l3low how things works. Now I feel like ever,'thing is possiblo, I feel more confident and I feel more opumrsuc.

	32 Ukrainc 2, Russia 1, Latvia l, Lithuania 2,lcelard 2, Finland 2, Estonia 1, Albania I, Bclorus 1, Georgia 2, Norway I, Malta l, DehEark 2, Luxembourg 1, Spain 2 one Catalan, Portugal l, Netherlands 1, Romada l-Hungarian, Palestine I, Germany l-Turkish, Moldova
	1, Greece 1, Slovenian 2, Hungary 2, Macedonia 2, Poland I
	33 thc distribution qf the participants according to their ages: 18 5, L9 2,20-3,21-8,22-2,23-2.24-| . 25-5, 26.5. 27 .0. 28-4
	34 European Structures: Courcil ofEurope, Youth Directorate, Europcan Union What is a projclt?
	What is culture? Thoughts, modcls and dehnitions Founds and Programmes: European Youth Centres, European Youth Foundation, European
	Union: Youth for Europe
	35 Project managemert workshop, Lcadership and Motivation, Conflict management,
	Visions: personal md organisational, Visions and Changg, workshops orl: Programming,
	Lobbying, Methodology, Budgeting
	36 Albatross ( irtercultural leaming); Whorn would you take with you , and Card garne (stcreotypes and prcjudices ), Make a little change on you ( change, identity ), Sheat of paper on the back ( evaluation)
	37 Themes and teams, Projocl wo.k, Creative pr€s€ntation of the projects
	38 European Youth Center-briefly, Aims and Objectives of the Course, Training code of
	conduct, Youth structures, Tnes of Projcct,
	39 Resources and needs, Each other realities, work, background; Motivations-the timeline
	40 intercultural evening, interculinary evening, baftecue, diner in Strasbou(g
	41 I am very pleased with all the training course I don't sse any problems, I think it was very
	well preparcd.

  45 It is new type of course spccially designed for ncw members 0ountries -Iormer Demosthenes program now In-ternqtignal training courses in central ard eastcrn Europeal countdes or Assistance program for the Developmcnl and Consolidation o[ democratic stalii]ity was creatcd. Its specifioity is to ons countly, where lhe program takes placc. The managing team is compoed from Council of Europc secretariai siG, one of tlic tulors. It has;ls; intcmational dimension ol'l'erirg cxchanging expcrience.Thc program is founded and managcd by Europcan Youth Foundation. One of the main aims is-to bring togetherleople from_ govornmental and non-govemmcntal s€ctor, encouraging ro adopt new youth policies and reforcement non-govemmcntal secror. There is stable core olthe program similar_to program of taining course and then so called ala cana pal1 of the progrum where they decide according thc needs.. 46 thore are some diflbrcnces but wo are young pcople aod it's quiet easy to communicate, \4e do not rcprcsent the normal citizens from our countries, we all are coming from youth organisations. we arc more open for changes. wc are all hard working. we are iacing a iot of nroDlcms m our countncs, we navc lne same ldcas and lnteresls, we have ceflain aim to get know each othcr, we are more cosmopolitart., with more connoction with Europc, Of couise th€re are some diflercnces but wc arc young people and it's quiet easy to comriunicaE. Of course we ale hgre with certain aim and we have the samc interest because we are youth organisation. That point in cha.acter \ihich we have everybody in common. Even you sec some differences but when you sit do\r,n and talk I don\ think it matlers. Because you can commuucate, 47 for example I come from B. but it doesn't necsssary mean that all people from Bare like me, I would rather stress the personally differenccs then the differences do to the region or county we arc coming from, you have to judge person not region 48 I was really worried before I come herc, that I am a girl, I am so young, nobody will spgak to me 49 for instance we have two Muslims. Muslims are diffcrent ofcourse. 50 Sec quotadon from footnote no-30 51 In our pow how group it was J. and he speaks only Russian, and ir was a little bir difficult because we always had to translatc for him.. and somelimc it was just more casy for us to iBnorc himf pardcipanr) 52 I. fc'lt very frustrated. _lf you don\ agree you arc seen as stupid, who did not fight is seen wcck. But onr: more weck and I will go home and I will havc not to deal with thes; people it does not depend on the country it depends on the persons attitudes I don't like that it s@ms that thcrc are two possibilitics Or you are wcck or you are authoritative, and hated 53 I folt as a strirnger herc. Lct mc give you an examplc. [,€t us take thc notion of project, for cxample. In my country this conccpt has a lotally difl-erent meaning thcn it has i[ Europc-Our world pf(iect mcdns life project tbr cxample, in dny case it is something not very clcarly set up, ambiguous. In opposition with it in Europe thc project has an aim, it has a budget, a timetable, a sLut and a deadline, and things like thal We didn't have this conccpt ofpmject, and I havc no skills ro make a this kind ofproject while those from Europc, even if I am much more educated then them have this skill of w ting projecti .ard I fclt so stupid. If you have this skill of writing projcct is OK, if you have not nobody is interested in whal you know. This can you give a litde clue how I felt here, Neither my team, nor thes€ young people would understand me because they are already in the process of intEgralion (assimiladon?) in Europe.54 Some of the pople were not chosen well but this is Lhc fault of the organisation that sent thom herc. But this is my very subjectivc opinion. People were coming here to work. And if $oy are not motivated to work on a project, or to come even to lhe prcjeci hecause they a.re tired and they don't want to spcnd Oreir whole life with work, ok, but this is a training coursc, not a holiday. Maybe rhis was not clear for them but for me it was vcry clear from the evcry beginning that I will came hcr to work not to resl I have problems with x. Hc is this kind of tako-it-easy person, and he ta.kes everything easy and I don't think that it is always good. Hc is funny and nice but he could get sometimes on my newes. I was very nervous and argy wi6 him, it was really difficult to work with him 55 Participant werc very open , everybody spcaks with evcrybody, I didnt felt excluded., and I thi.nk lobody felt excluded 56 the tide of one exoups project from TC I 57 Participants motivation as stated in the application forms: to develop ability to organise intemalional youth activilies,to incrcase the quality of thc activities in youth organisa[ion, to establish new contacts, exchange ideas ard methods, to know morE about youth organisations, improve the possibilities of cooperation, working witl yoEth people in context of cultural diversity, leam hnancial managing, to leam skills, compeEncc in iniemational youth work, to leam organisational skills 58 15 years in 1994 when the survey was carried out, so 19 yea$ in 1998 when the training course TCl took place. Therefore the participants ftom the training course belong to the generation on which the suwey it was effecled. 59 AndrDas Kitrber. Knowledge, Associations and Concepts in In Magne Angvik and Bodo von Bo.ries (eds.) Youfi and History. A Comparative European Survey on Historical Consciousness and Political Aditudes artrong Adolescents. vol l. Hamburg: Kiirber-Stiftung, 1997, pg. A 143 60 I am quite skeptical, I am not against E.U. not at all. But I am skeptical aod before I start praising the E,U. Ive got a lot of question to ask. And I didnt get time to ask. So I felt f'rust.atcd. Join and no mattcr whal But I have a lot of question to a-sk. 6l What it means to be European is somehow relaEd to the reality I Lhat the Europe cxists, if we beliove in it or not--62 lt is very difficult, but I will answer very easily. I think this identity is what made a institr.rtion like Council oI Europe come out and be created. .Now ligr€ are institutions 'r,rorking lor it to p.omote Eumpean identity or Eumpe:u consEuction it's also that part of it. It's here 63 As Europeans wc have in commcn our cultural he.itage, I would say a cultural heritago which makes us diftbrent from dle States for cxample.

64 All men descrve equal trgatme . Unfortunately you can't brainwashed people to understand tllat evorybody has unique equal value