Are you a young leader between 18 and 35 years old, with a proven record of making an impact on your community, country or the world at large? Then we cordially invite you to apply for the Young Bled Strategic Forum 2018 (Young BSF).
Young BSF is an annual conference bringing together young leaders to engage in lively discussions and develop out-of-the-box solutions to some of the most pressing world issues. The Young BSF model has been growing and changing, and has become a unique meeting place for a diverse array of young leaders, entrepreneurs, bloggers, thinkers and socially active individuals, offering them a platform to share their visions, exchange ideas and connect with one another. Numerous thought-provoking ideas have been suggested over the years, while the main objective remains clear: to bring together audacious and action-oriented individuals from different fields and offer them a collaborative, creative, and inspiring environment for discussions and networking.
The 2018 event will take place under the title: ‘Sustainable Security: The Role of Youth in Bridging the Divide’. A sustainable security approach proposes the resolution of the interconnected underlying drivers of insecurity and conflict, with an emphasis on preventive rather than reactive strategies. The central premise of the sustainable security approach is that we cannot control all the consequences of insecurity successfully, but have to work to deal with the root causes of instability. The Forum will place special emphasis on cross-regional cooperation. A new generation of leaders will demonstrate that such cooperation is not only necessary, but inevitable the next positive to be taken in democratization, fighting corruption, terrorism and climate change, and fostering social, economic, and cross-cultural sustainable development.
Topics to be discussed:
Intergenerational relations,
Agenda 2030,
Reconciliation,
Future of the EU,
Cyber Security and Artificial Intelligence,
Climate change,
Western Balkans,
Digitalization,
Security in the Mediterranean,
Security in the Middle East.
Young BSF is an integral part of the Bled Strategic Forum international conference. To link the two and blur the lines between different generations, three topics from the main event will be selected and discussed from the youth perspective, while three outstanding young leaders will be selected to participate as speakers at the main event. This will add value to BSF, bringing innovative solutions and shedding light on youth perspectives. Youth will have an opportunity to meet leaders from the governmental, business and non-governmental sectors, and join them in discussions addressing salient issues.
Young Bled Strategic Forum is committed to ensuring equal opportunities to attend the YBSF are available to young leaders, regardless of their ability to pay. We work closely with our partners to provide all of our participants with accommodation, while a number of travel grants for candidates of various backgrounds and nationalities will be ensured. Travel grants may be awarded to selected participants on an individual basis and only up to the amount decided by the organizers, while we will ensure regional and expertise representation.
Countries eligible for the travel grant: Albania, Austria, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Ukraine.
The selected participants are expected to join in the extensive preparations and pre-event online meetings between June and September. Please note that the official language of the event is English, and that this is a prerequisite for participation in our activities.
Apply at by 20th of May 2018 at the latest.
For any additional inquiries, do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected]
A two-day event “Back on the Agenda: EU Enlargement and the Western Balkans” organized by the Centre for European Perspective took place in Brussels, Belgium. By involving think tank representatives and youth, civil society of the Western Balkans discussed their concerns, challenges, ideas and prospects with EU representatives, policy makers and experts in four fields: democratization, participation, social affairs and reconciliation.
Public discussion at the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium concludes a two-day event Back on the Agenda: EU Enlargement and the Western Balkans, organized by the Centre for European Perspective. By involving think tank representatives and youth, civil society of the Western Balkans discussed their concerns, challenges, ideas and prospects with EU representatives, policy makers and experts.
Welcome Address was delivered by Dr Gorazd Justinek, Director of the Centre for European Perspective, who emphasized the three pillars of CEP’s work: security, democratization and youth.
Mr Maciej Popowski, Deputy Director-General for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, European Commission delivered a speech on the implementation of the Western Balkan Strategy.
Public discussion continued with a dynamic dialogue between the civil society and youth representatives and the stakeholders’ representatives. Four main topics: democratization, social affairs, participation and reconciliation were addressed and each discussion involved an overview of the topic, burning issues, examples of good practices and policy recommendations.
Mr Molnár Balázs, Deputy State Secretary, Office of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Hungary; Mr Peter Grk, National Coordinator for the Western Balkans, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia; Ms Marlène Bartes, European Commission – Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture; and Mr Albert Sesé Ballart, European Commission – Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture responded to the presentations and engaged in a very vivid and energetic dialogue with the audience.
Discussion was moderated by Mr Zoran Nechev, Institute for Democracy „Societas Civilis“. In the concluding remarks Ms Tanja Fajon, Member of European Parliament from Slovenia pointed out the importance of the voice of the youth and emphasised two main challenges being negative perception of the enlargement in the EU and the distrusts of people towards EU policies.
The outcomes of the two-day event, supported by the International Visegrad Fund, will be published and distributed as policy recommendations.
As announced, the Centre for European Perspective is organising a public debate in Brussels on April 11, 2018 titled Back on the Agenda: EU Enlargement and Western Balkans. As a preparation for the event and a pre-event workshop, young people from the Western Balkan countries will be invited to Brussels on April 10, 2018. World cafe discussion, youth policy boot-camp and civil society networking will take place on the evening before the public debate on the EU enlargement. The topic of democratization (corruption, democratic reforms, rule of law), social affairs (unemployment, education, brain drain), participation (youth representation, activism, giving the youth a voice) and reconciliation (peacebuilding, intercultural dialogue, interstate relations) will be discussed as a result of the application essays, written by our young participants.
The Western Balkan has returned to the agenda of the European Union. However, getting closer to the EU also brings greater responsibility. The European Commission’s motto ‘exporting stability, rather than importing instability’ must remain a strong pull factor, since it carries the idea of strengthening WB democracies and finally implementing economic and social reforms, which would have tangible results for citizens. The EU-WB enlargement strategy, numerous top-level visits by EU representatives, including a wide range of different regional initiatives, are charting the EU’s path ahead. Nevertheless, it is the empowered civil society of the Western Balkans that are best at voicing their ideas and perspectives.
One question inevitably arises: What do the youth of the Western Balkans have to say? An education system that is incompatible with the labour market, high youth unemployment, a massive brain-drain, distrust in public institutions, deep-rooted corruption and the slow post-conflict reconciliation process are only some of the everyday concerns plaguing young people in the region. Comprehensive structural reforms, the openness and inclusiveness of public institutions, more scholarships, better education and job opportunities, visa-free regime for the entire region and a chance not only to speak but also to be heard seem to be positive solutions to these challenges. The youngsters of the Western Balkans might see EU membership as the light at the end of the tunnel, but they are also fully aware that their respective governments need to do their part of the job first.
You can read the stories of the youth of the Western Balkans below.
Event is done in cooperation with Institute for Foreign Affairs and Trade (IFAT) (Hungary), EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy (Czech Republic), Slovak Foreign Affairs Association (SFPA) and Polish Institute of International Affairs (PISM) and supported by International Visegrad Fund.
The project is co-financed by the Governments of Czechia, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia through Visegrad Grants from International Visegrad Fund. The mission of the fund is to advance ideas for sustainable regional cooperation in Central Europe.
Centre for European Perspective is organising a public debate in Brussels on April 10-11, 2018 titled Back on the Agenda: EU Enlargement and Western Balkans. Save the Date and join us!
The Western Balkan has returned to the agenda of the European Union. However, getting closer to the EU also brings greater responsibility. The European Commission’s motto ‘exporting stability, rather than importing instability’ must remain a strong pull factor, since it carries the idea of strengthening WB democracies and finally implementing economic and social reforms, which would have tangible results for citizens. The EU-WB enlargement strategy, numerous top-level visits by EU representatives, including a wide range of different regional initiatives, are charting the EU’s path ahead. Nevertheless, it is the empowered civil society of the Western Balkans that are best at voicing their ideas and perspectives.
And which part of society is more relevant for outlining the prospects for an (EU) future than the young generation?
Event is done in cooperation with Institute for Foreign Affairs and Trade (IFAT) (Hungary), EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy (Czech Republic), Slovak Foreign Affairs Association (SFPA) and Polish Institute of International Affairs (PISM) and supported by International Visegrad Fund.
The project is co-financed by the Governments of Czechia, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia through Visegrad Grants from International Visegrad Fund. The mission of the fund is to advance ideas for sustainable regional cooperation in Central Europe.
Young are indispensable and very resourceful part of each society. Active and creative minds are important for economic development, prosperity as well as for positive outlook. We have therefore identified start-ups as one of the most active among young and decided to bring them together to discuss their views and experiences. We are most interested in their participation in policy processes and ideas how to make their lives better and meaningful in the region they share – Danube region.
As Slovenia is hosting an important regional conference related to start-up world, Podim conference, our discussion will be organized at the same time – to offer young twofold experience: sharing experiences and knowing peers from the region and listening to excellent entrepreneurs, startups as well as investors. So save the date on 15 and 16 May!
We invite two startups from each country to join us! Tickets and accommodation will be provided for best two ideas from each country*, so apply fast – only until Friday, 23.3.2018! You should apply through the link for your country below.
