Glowing Europeans develop new perspectives in Upper Styria
As part of the “EYFON” (European Youth Forum Neumarkt) project, young Europeans will once again be visiting Burg Forchtenstein in Neumarkt this year to discuss perspectives and European ideas together. The initiative was launched by the long-standing WKÖ president Christoph Leitl, who is himself a committed European and president of Eurochambres. As EYFON Managing Director, Christian Buchmann leads the implementation of the goals and activities. The guild of professional photographers also supports the European project: the photographer Nina Wallner skilfully placed the participants of the project.
For the second time this year, 30 young people from nine nations shared their visions and thoughts for peace in Europe for a week from 2 to 7 October at the Europaburg Neumarkt and celebrated together with storm and chestnuts.
The European Youth Forum Neumarkt wants to contribute to the development of the European Union and its peace policy. The EYFON team and external speakers worked out solutions and developed messages with the seminar participants. Daniel Kennedy, M.Sc, M.A., founder of “Future Class” and expert on international development, discussed a new European future culture with the young Europeans. In a workshop on “Building bridges for peace”, ideas and concepts for youth organizations were developed and the role and participation of young people in peacekeeping and conflict resolution were discussed in general. Intercultural training and an intercultural evening with the EYFON team, a workshop on Erasmus+ mobility and solidarity programmes with Prof. Dr Dr Thomas Bauer from the Pedagogical University of Vienna and a lecture on war, propaganda and information in times of war with Mag. Dieter Bacher from the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for War Research was also on the agenda.
The diverse leisure activities with “teamgeist” and the EYFON team provided variety and entertainment, which delighted the participants with introductory games, archery and a TabTour through Neumarkt.
The seminar week concluded with the annual chestnut festival in the Burghof, where Special Guest EU Commissioner Dr. Johannes Hahn was able to convince of the team spirit and the community of the young people. He thanked them for the engaged discussion for peace and the future of Europe. Hahn stressed several times: “Democracy is the basis for peace.” His message to the youth of Europe: “Get involved, help, it is your life and your future! – Europe needs you!”
On the initiative of EYFON President Dr. Christoph Leitl and Economic and European Regional Council KR Markus Achleitner launched EYFON this year a new series of events in cooperation with the State of Upper Austria, the Regional Management Upper Austria and the EUREGIO Bavarian Forest – Bohemian Forest, a cross-border association in the border area of Bavaria, Bohemia and Upper Austria. 35 students from the Sports Secondary School Pilsen, the HVAC Freistadt and the Gymnasium Untergriesbach accepted the invitation and spent 25. September 29 an exciting, varied week at the Europaburg in Neumarkt.
In addition to sustainable education, personal strengths and European mobility and solidarity programmes, the role and future of the regions in the European context as well as the opportunities for young people were discussed. Christoph Artner-Sulzer from the Upper Austrian Regional Management and his Czech colleague Jana Dirriglová from the Šumava Euroregion talked about the opportunities and challenges of cross-border cooperation as well as the success story of Euregio 3 and invited the young people to develop and present own project ideas for the region as part of a workshop. The specialist programme was rounded off with a fireside talk, during which the two project initiators discussed the role and responsibility of young people for the future of Europe and asked questions from the audience.
With the varied leisure program – including introductory activities, medieval games, a TabTour across Neumarkt and a hike through the Graggerschlucht – the young people could prove team spirit, creativity and endurance, got to know each other even better and made plans for further joint cross-border activities in the future.
In cooperation with the Styrian Chamber of Commerce and the VAMED Vitality World, the European Youth Forum Neumarkt recently welcomed 16 young Europeans from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia and Austria on the occasion of the European Year of “Skills”. During their time together at the Europaburg, the participants expected a series of activities that not only expanded their skills, but also deepened their understanding among themselves. In addition to workshops and lectures on “Future Skills”, “Public Speaking” and Erasmus+ mobility and solidarity programmes, the programme again included outdoor adventures and guided tours in the Zirbitzkogel-Grebenzen region: The highlights of the leisure activities included introductory games with the EYFON volunteers Karina and Natali, tree surfing in Oberwölz, an energy tour with the Murau ambassadors and an escape game with team spirit. Karl Hartleb, the new managing director of the Internationalization Center Styria, welcomed the young people at a fireside chat with insights into his professional career on different continents and spanned a range of soft skills, which will be in demand in the future labour market, through intercultural understanding and good education. Harald del Negro, Managing Director of EuroSkills 2021, and his colleague Angelika Ledineg rounded off the diverse specialist programme with a lecture on Austria’s success at EuroSkills and invited the participants to share their thoughts on future skills, to share their deepening and implemetation in training or in everyday life.
EYFON thanks the Styrian Chamber of Commerce and the VAMED Vitality World for making this format possible.
The sixth edition of the EYFON | MAGNA LehrlingsTage offered many highlights again this year: 21 apprentices of MAGNA Steyr Fahrzeugtechnik Graz, MAGNA Presstec and MAGNA Powertrain were able to participate from 18. -21 September to demonstrate their “skills”, worked out topics such as solidarity, mobility, democracy and peace in Europe in workshops and group work and showed full commitment in the diverse leisure activities. A special experience were the Highlander games with tree trunk throwing and rope pulling, which were organized by “teamgeist” and in which the young people showed a lot of skill, endurance and above all team spirit. With Konrad Fellerer from Panthersie for Europe, they went on a journey through the Europaburg, where the apprentices designed an interactive Europe quiz for the seminar participants of the coming years. The specialist programme was also not neglected: At a workshop of the EYFON team on “My skills – my future”, the young people discussed skills that will be in demand in the labour market in the future, the role of artificial intelligence and good training opportunities. Anna Winkelbauer-Pammer, HR Project Specialist at MAGNA International, took over the MAGNA company presentation this time.
The EYFON team is looking forward to a successful continuation of the cooperation in the coming years.
Wiener Städtische Versicherungsverein invited 30 young people from 12 countries to the Europaburg Neumarkt.
Vienna/Graz (OTS) – In the second week of August at the Europaburg in Neumarkt in Styria, everything revolved for the fourth time about the future of Europe: 30 young people between 14 and 17 years – from Albania, Bosnia, and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Estonia, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Serbia and Hungary – together painted a picture of the future Europe. This week of dialogue, called EYFON VIG YouthDays, will be made possible by the Wiener Städtische Versicherungsverein, the main shareholder of Austria’s largest international insurance group Vienna Insurance Group (VIG). We specifically support projects that promote international bridge building and transnational encounters, especially among children and young people. They should not only know values such as diversity, intercultural understanding and solidarity, but also learn to live them. “We rely on cooperation when it comes to our – and Europe’s – future,” Mag. Robert Lasshofer, CEO of the Wiener Städtische Versicherungsverein.
„How my ideas will change the world“
In order to get one of the highly sought-after places at the EYFON VIG YouthDays at the Europaburg, originality of the potential participants was already in demand in advance: Interested young people convinced with elaborately designed videos, Collages, poems and essays on “How my ideas will change the world”. From more than 230 entries, the creators of the best and most creative contributions were invited to the intensive program of workshops, lectures, discussions and leisure activities.
Diverse programme
In workshops and group work, the young people discussed and presented their ideas with which they want to change the world. The focus was on topics such as solidarity, environmental protection, innovation, education and health. In addition to introductory and group activities such as an escape game, a tab tour or archery, the young people also got to know Austria: Among other things, a day trip to the Pyramidenkogel in Carinthia, Hikes and other sporting challenges in the Zirbitzkogel-Grebenzen region in the program.
For the first time, the European Peace Medal of EYFON was awarded to Alt Diözesanbischof Aichern and the former Governor Schützenhöfer.
The European Youth FOrum Neumarkt, or EYFON for short, hosted a festive ceremony at the Europaburg Neumarkt for the first time to receive the Peace Medal. “The Europe Peace Medal is a symbol of the peace that is to work from here into the world,” said Dr Christoph Leitl, President of EYFON.
LH a.D. Hermann Schützenhöfer was awarded the Peace Medal for his outstanding achievements as a supporter and supporter of the Europaburg in Neumarkt. In his acceptance speech, Schützenhöfer particularly emphasized dialogue as a prerequisite for peace.
Former Bishop Emeritus Dr. H. C. Maximilian Aichern was abbot of the St. Lambrecht and later as a diocesan bishop in Linz as a bridge builder significantly contributed to the importance of living together across all social strata and religions. For this, Dr Christoph Leitl thanked his longtime friend of life and values. Bishop Aichern praised the Europaburg Neumarkt as a successful educational and event center for the European idea.
The initiators of EYFON Dr. Christoph Leitl (President of the Economic Chamber in general) and Bundesrat Mag.Christian Buchmann. In addition to the two new recipients of the Peace Medal, Christian Buchmann welcomed numerous guests of honour from the church, politics and business. These included State Councillor Werner Amon, the governor of the Austrian National Bank Univ. Robert Holzmann, President of the Landtag Manuela Khom, Abbot Father Benedikt Plank, Bgm. Josef Maier with the vice-mayors Kurt Kreinbucher and Gerhard Hörmann.
The ceremony was accompanied by Roman Krainz (violin) and Cornelia Perwein (cello).
30 young people from 8 nations carried a message of peace in their hearts and appeal to the basic principles of a peaceful, free Europe.
The European Youth Forum Neumarkt wants to contribute to the development of the European Union and its peace policy. The EYFON team and external speakers worked with the seminar participants from Albania, Armenia, Georgia, Austria, Serbia, Turkey, Ukraine and Hungary to develop solutions and messages.
On the EYFON PeaceDays, various approaches were chosen to investigate the question of European identity, the causes of armed conflicts and their avoidance.
Speakers from the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for War Research, universities from Graz, Istanbul and Budapest and representatives of the Future Class”discussed in part very emotionally with the young Europeans, who had already experienced the effects of a war at first hand in their lives. The message found was clear: Europe, with its ideals, tolerance, peace, freedom and prosperity, must be emotionally supported for all, felt in the heart and lived, only in this way can Europe free itself from the phenomenon of war.
The cooperation of the young people was impressive, their commitment to actively contribute to the future of Europe and their unbroken joy of life despite difficult fates.
The PeaceDays are an integral part of the EYFON annual programme and take place at least twice a year. The next date is early October 2023.
This project was funded by Das Land Steiermark.
We would like to thank Dr. Harald Lang and Mr. Hannes Fürntratt as well as the following partners and sponsors for accepting scholarships for this event:
