​On October 7th, with the support of the Polish Council of Youth Organisations (PROM) and the European Youth Form, the debate under the subject of “Europe is Changing. Polish experience in building a European future” took place.

The debate was attended by representatives of EYF, PROM and Marek Prawda, Director of the European Commission Representation in Poland. During the meeting, a number of issues were discussed, such as how to engage young people in extra-curricular activities, trips abroad, intergenerational issues and the attitude of European society to refugees. There was also mention of the 30th anniversary of the Erasmus program and the European Commission plans for further development of this program, taking into account the specifics of today’s environment.


fot. Kasia Siemasz, PROM

Whereas on the 8th and 9th of October in Warsaw, I had the opportunity to participate in the General Meeting of PROM.

The meeting was strongly set to integration and mutual understanding of those who are part of PROM. They discussed the problems that organisations can see in the functioning of PROM, what can and should be improved or changed. All of the representatives unanimously concluded that the potential joint development of the Polish Council of Youth Organisations is unused, because we do not know each other. We know each other’s business profiles, but we do not know how PROM works and what the benefits of membership in PROM are.

Many recommendations came from the board concerning internal and external communications, issues which organisations notice and what their expectations of PROM are. It was noted that at future meetings, the council is made up of new members, so that each meeting looks the same.

It was proposed for member organisations to place greater emphasis on the preparation of their representatives, especially when changing authorities.The agenda of the meeting began with an introductory point for the new members, so they could quickly continue the matters which were already started.

During the meeting, we also had two visits, the outgoing Board of the European Youth Forum, as well as one of the regional councils in Norway. Both of these were an opportunity to exchange practices and to get to know each other.

 

Authors: Irena Pater, Ania Krysiuk
Translation: Anthony Lowrey