26.08.2016

Solidarity Academy Baltic Sea Youth Dialogue 2016


Dialogue is the bread and butter of journalism – with sources, with audiences, with editors and with other peers. The Solidarity Academy – Baltic Sea Youth Dialogue offers young journalists (through age 30) from countries in and around the Baltic Sea a unique opportunity for structured dialogue that will sharpen their skills, broaden their networks, and offer new perspectives on a range of crucial issues. The discussions will take place in Gdansk, a site of historic importance for democratic Europe, and in Kaliningrad, a location where many of Europe’s recent and current challenges can be seen first-hand.

The Solidarity Academy–Baltic Sea Youth Dialogue is a joint project between the European Solidarity Center, Gdansk, and the Council of the Baltic Sea States, Stockholm. These organizers and partners are pleased to invite young journalists from the Baltic Sea states to the thirteenth edition of the Solidarity Academy which will be held in Gdansk and Kaliningrad 13-20 November 2016.

The week-long seminar is an international project aimed at inspiring and supporting the development of the young intellectual elites in the Baltic Sea region.
At the workshops and lectures held during the Solidarity Academy-Baltic Sea Youth Dialogue, 16 young journalists will have the opportunity to expand their knowledge and improve their skills in such issues as geopolitics or liberation movements on both a local and global/ European scale and the Baltic Sea region in particular. Dialogue of this sort, and the results of the projects as well as the participants’ future work, can play a key role in the early recognition and prevention of regional crises.

Eligibility
The Solidarity Academy team is looking for 16 active, aspiring and young (20-30 years old) journalists from the member and observer states of CBSS who are willing to improve their editorial and journalism-related skills and engage themselves into the international networking process.

List of eligible countries: CBSS member states: Denmark, Finland, Germany, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Russian Federation, Sweden. Observer countries: Belarus, France, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States of America.

Costs
Organizers cover the costs of travel (up to €300) and the participants’ stay in Gdansk, trip to and from Kaliningrad and stay in Kaliningrad.

Agenda of the project and program of the Academy
The agenda of the project:
23 September: deadline of the call for applications
30 September: deadline of the recruitment results
13 - 20 November: Solidarity Academy in Gdańsk (6 days) and in Kaliningrad (2 days)
30 November – 31 December: implementation of the final project
The program of this year’s Solidarity Academy is attached to the call for applications.

Application form
The application form is available here.
Please note that all applications must be received by 23rd September 2016.

Language
The working language of the project is English.

Trip to Kaliningrad
Part of the program of the Solidarity Academy – Baltic Sea Youth Dialogue will be held in Gdansk (6 days) and part (2 days) in Kaliningrad. The event will offer particular experiences of cross-border cooperation and broadening the focus on Baltic Sea regional cooperation.

Final projects
One of the tasks that participants will be obliged to complete as part of the program is the creation and implementation of a final project. Firstly, participants will be able to decide on their preferred sphere of interest (society/politics/history/culture and the particular impact of gender issues) and mark their choice on the application form. Secondly, participants will have a special workshop dedicated to the process of creating and implementing the final project. They will work on four ideas in four working groups (according to their interests, resources, needs and ideas). Thirdly, participants will present their ideas during the final day of the event. Finally, participants, together with organizers and partners, will decide on the best final project and implement it by 31st December 2016. The cost of the final project implementation is covered by the project budget supported by the partners and organizers of the project.

Participants’ commitments
Applying to the Solidarity Academy – Baltic Sea Youth Dialogue applicants are expected to be aware of:
• The project’s aim, main values and rules;
• The project’s agenda (especially the fixed dates);
• The costs of travel that participants will have to cover on their own (up to € 300);
• The full commitment and engagement into the implementation of the final project and other project tasks according to the agenda.

Previous editions

We also invite you to watch the films about Solidarity Academy 2013, Solidarity Academy 2014, Solidarity Academy 2015 and Solidarity Academy 2016 (Visegrad edition)
and Baltic Eye, the results of the Baltic Sea Youth Dialogue 2014 in Narva and Ivangorod http://balticeye.net/ and Regional Eye, the second Baltic Sea Youth Dialogue which took place in Olsztyn in 2015.

More information and contact to the organizers
Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the organizational team: academy@solidarity.org.pl.
More information about the project → ecs.gda.pl, solidarityacademy.eu
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Contact to the CBSS team
Martins.Legzdins@cbss.org , Iris.Kempe@cbss.org

We are looking forward to meeting you in Gdansk!

Supporters of the project:
• The Common Europe Foundation - editorial office of Eastbook.eu (Poland)
• The Jan Nowak-Jeziorański College of Eastern Europe in Wroclaw – editorial office
of New Eastern Europe (Poland)
• Friedrich Ebert Foundation (Germany)
• Hamburg Chamber of Commerce, office in Kaliningrad (Germany)

The project is part of an initiative of German Foreign Office, using youth cooperation as an instrument for conflict resolution.