EUNET Newsletter | EuNetNews Nr. 2 - November 2006 |
EuNetNews Nr. 2 - November 2006 |
Editors: Roger Kercher (cfe@lineone.net) / Richard Wassell (rcw@netcomuk.co.uk) - Centre for Europe (GB) In this issue:
1. Editorial This second newsletter should arrive just in time as you prepare for the EuNet annual conference, starting next Friday. We hope it will help you to start thinking (if you are not already) about our network and how we should like to see it develop. Since our network is still in build-up mode, much of this year has - let's face it - been rather quiet. There do however seem to be very positive signs that this could soon change, with resources perhaps available to support the network for next year... We shall all (including your editors) learn more at Soesterberg next weekend of what could be the beginnings of the breakthrough EuNet has needed to achieve. Since a newsletter is incomplete without news! there has been insufficient material to produce further editions since the first, last May. With more happening around the network however, this should change over the coming months and newsletters should become regular. But only if board and member institutions alike remember to send in their news, features and comments - as a matter of course. The network is too wide and diverse for us to keep in constant touch with everyone - so please remember this is your network and your newsletter. That means please send in copy - don't just wait to be asked. We should aim to produce a third newsletter, reporting on Soesterberg, by January - by which time we should be more confident that our information is complete and up-to-date! Our first newsletter seemed to go down well - at least there have been no adverse comments! We notice that the newsletter appeared on the EuNet website - with one or two changes to pictorial... (Make sure we have the photo you prefer and this need not happen again.) As there have been no indications that the Word versions were useful, we have simplified the newsletter by not including these this time. So - from now the newsletter will be in html only. But let us know if this creates any difficulty. We appreciate there are not summaries in German this time, where the original material was submitted in English. for all sections of this edition. Your editorial team can translate into German - but it just takes us too long! At Soesterberg we shall suggest this can be overcome if a deutschsprachiger Redakteur is appointed to work with us for the future - and his/her first task might be to produce a supplement to this edition with summaries in German... Please remember and use our e-addresses:
Roger Kercher (cfe@lineone.net)
2. Support for our network... An operations grant means that the money must be used for the annual work programme of the network and not for individual member institutions. Nonetheless this does offer an opportunity to work our way back into the EU budget, where the project money is located. That's our task for the next three years. Having accepted by the Commission as a working partner, through the operation grant, we should have a chance to get more funding for members and their projects. That's why the EuNet board has decided that I should work full-time for EuNet from 1st January next. There are only two obstacles that could destroy this idea:
I really want to undertake this because it was the original plan to settle down at Bonn - and I, as well as the board, realised it is impossible to set up a powerful and working network as a part-timer doing seminars all the time. That was the case in 2006 and EuNet suffered from the lack of time and money. This will hopefully change in 2007! Thomas Heckeberg (heckeberg@european-net.org)
3. EuNet Integration Network Conference - NL-Soesterberg (24th-26th November 2006) General assembly We meet again! This year's general assembly on the evening of Friday 24th November will focus on strategy in the light of significant progress which has recently become apparent (as Thomas Heckeberg reports above). With our integration network project (see below) also in place, there should be a more confident feel about the conference this year. EuNet perhaps has finally arrived as a network of substance. We certainly approve of our chairman's intention, as set out in his recent circular (in translation):
We note also there are meetings of our two standing committees:
and feel it is important for these organs to develop a higher profile and a life of their own throughout the year.
European Integration Network (INTI) Our general assembly will form part of the first conference of the EuNet Integration Network - concentrating on integration of third country nationals within the EU. INTI is an ambitiousproject proposed by EuNet and which -with EU approval of course - finallybegan work in September. The project's success is, of course, extremely important for the credibility,momentum andsense of purpose of our network. Credibility especially vis-à-visthe EU - as a reliable partner. A professional project website will be amongst the benefits. The eighteen-month project is coordinated by Kontakt der Kontinenten (see profile below) - with partners IUC Europe (DK), Sonnenberg Kreis (D), IPUEL (PT) and EuNet itself. A further partner, from outside EuNet, is SOS Malta. INTI is a capacity-building project - which will seek to develop the skills and know-how of one hundred selected migrant leaders:
The EC grant is € 239 825 - virtually 80% of planned project costs. The project will be managed by Marian Rameyer for KdK - supported by Thomas Heckeberg (EuNet).
Incidentally...
4. Waves of Democracy
Four committees (see below) each developed specific resolutions for the Waves of Democracy Parliament. The detailed results are too long to quote here but can be found at http://www.iuc-europe.dk/docs/Resolutions_BrandbjergWavesofDemocracy2006.doc. But we thought the preamble would be of interest:
CITIZENS' AGENDA Preamble We, as participants of Waves of Democracy 2006, are the cultural entrepreneurs of the future. Having embarked on a discussion on the future of Europe, we have tried to identify the underlying nature of our common grounds. In addition to the geographical dimension, what are our cultural landmarks, common values and shared beliefs? How flexible do we want the borders of the European Union to be in the future, and how can we insure that further expansion will not dilute these principles? We firmly believe that the European Union, which succeeded in creating stable peace among its member states from the very beginning, should always be seeking peace and prosperity as a cornerstone of our political ideals. In the present state of reflection within the EU, seminars like Waves of Democracy are important to increase participatory democracy. We are calling upon the European Union to consider the resolutions that we have agreed on in our seminar. While working in four committees we dealt with the following topics:
During our discussions in the committees, we were all affected by current problems. For instance the educational systems, which need constant renewal in order to keep up with the rapidly developing information society, now and in the future. Efforts have to be made to implement the concept of life-long learning and to create coherence between the different educational systems across the EU. Living in a time where environmental issues are of great importance, we should for example focus on renewable energy resources and their implementation, in order to establish and maintain a firm base for our future. However, we are also living in a time where norms and values are discussed. In these discussions Human Rights have to be taken in consideration, because the implementation of Human Rights can't be taken for granted in our society; unfortunately they are still violated by some of the member states. We therefore urge the European member states to put the human rights into practice. Although the United States and the European Union both strive to achieve protection of Human Rights, we call upon the EU to distinguish itself from the measures undertaken by the US government. This can only be achieved through creating a common approach in European foreign policy matters. Acknowledging that economic inequalities cause conflicts, we insist on the implementation of all measures necessary to tackle the roots of poverty in developing countries. This includes refraining from economic protectionism, within the more developed countries of the European Union, in particular the agrarian sector. Moreover the European Union should aim at increasing sustainability for all regions. Within the EU each nation has many different cultures living up to their own norms and values. By intercultural cooperation, mutual understanding amongst cultures will be encouraged. Familiarizing with other cultures will not only result in integrated minorities, but will ultimately lead to unity through diversity. By this principle one united Europe will emerge.
5. In memoriam Fritz Eitel (1933-2006)
Fritz Eitel, who died (aged 73) on 9th July 2006 after a long illness, had for nine years (since his formal retirement) been general secretary of the International Sonnenberg Association (ISA) - which provides Sonnenberg with a network throughout Europe of supporters who share its ideals. Prior to that, he had served for eight years general secretary of Sonnenberg as a whole. His special gift for intercultural communication (he was fluent in both French and English), his charm and humour and his loyalty through difficult times were much appreciated and valued by colleagues, participants, members and partners alike. For many he personified Sonnenberg. 1st May 2006 marked the fortieth anniversary of Fritz having joined the staff at Sonnenberg. Reflecting the immense respect and affection in which he was held, he was later that month as elected an honorary member of Sonnenberg-Kreis. Fritz was recuperating from his second heart operation when Gerd Meister paid tribute in the following terms:
A book of condolence is available at www.sonnenberg-international.de. --- Fritz Eitel, der am 9. Juli 2006 im Alter von 73 Jahren nach einer schweren Herzoperation gestorben ist, hat seit neun Jahren (seit seinem offiziellen Wechsel in den Ruhestand) als Generalsekretär der ISA (International Sonnenberg Association) gedient - und damit das europaweit ausgedehnte Netz der an die Sonnenberg-Idealen verbundenen Anhöriger koordiniert. Zuvor war er während acht Jahre Generalsekretär des Internationalen Arbeitskreises Sonnenberg und damit auch für das Internationale Haus Sonnenberg verantwortlich. Seine besondere Fähigkeit zur interkulturellen Kommunikation, sein Charme und Humor und seine Zuverläßigkeit auch in schweren Zeiten wurden von den Mitarbeiter/innen, Tagungsgästen, Mitgliedern und Partnern gleichermaßen hoch geschätzt. Für viele war er der "Sonnenberg" in Person. Anbei deswegen nur die kurze Laudatio von Gerd Meister anläßlich der Ernennung von Fritz zum Ehrenmitglied Ende Mai 2006 (da lag Fritz schon nach der zweiten Herzoperation die vierte Woche auf der Intensivstation des Herz-Zentrums in Braunschweig).
Ein Kondolenzbuch für Fritz ist an www.sonnenberg-international.de zugänglich.
Basile Petropoulos (1937-2006)
By the time FIME ceased operations in 2005, the tally of its Greek member institutions and their affiliates had reached double figures. It is not too much to claim that this would never have happened but for the presence, the knowledge, and the wisdom of Basil Petropoulos, who died in September at the age of 68. Petropoulos was one of the second generation of principal figures in FIME. He was recruited to the organization as a result of a visit to Douai in the late 1960s. The person who recruited him was the President of what was one of the first local Houses of Europe: Mme Hélène Dubois, a remarkable, charming and persuasive lady who can properly be called FIME?s "founding mother". If Petropoulos had needed encouragement and inspiration, it was surely here that he found it. Dubois quickly had him appointed to the Executive Committee, this at a time when French influence in FIME was still strong. The Federation?s leadership, though as a rule regarding Greece with suspicion, had the sense to recognise that Petropoulos? presence was a guarantee of seriousness and respectability, and it was thus that he remained a member of the Executive Committee for the next twenty years, alongside figures such as Luciano Bolis and Richard Stock. When FIME restructured itself, Petropoulos became one of its four Vice-Presidents. He was perhaps not ideally constructed for the cut and thrust of FIME micropolitics. An astronomer by profession, he was a theorist in the finest and largest sense of the term, a creative European dreamer. In his homeland, having founded the Athens House of Europe in 1975, he stood godfather to one House of Europe after another, explaining, training, and encouraging. He was President of the Athens House during its years of success, from 1975 to the early 1990s, after which he became its Honorary President. He was an unashamed full federalist: for him a Europe of half-measures, reservations and confederalism was a betrayal. In support of this idea, he was fond of harking back to Classical Greece (of which he had an encyclopædic knowledge) and to the originality of the Amphictyonic League at Delphi, which he claimed as the first European federalist institution. Petropoulos maintained contacts and relations of encouragement with not only the core European countries but with the candidate member states, particularly with Cyprus and Bulgaria (through his connections with their respective Astronautical Societies) - and Malta, where he had friends in high places. Part of the duty that he felt as a European citizen was to respond to a current of mounting anxiety among European scientists about the degradation of the planet's physical environment, which he could not dissociate from an accompanying crisis in human, which meant to him European, values. A word or two about his professional life may serve to set his always passionate championing of Europe in context. He left Greece initially to study physics at the University of Bordeaux. His abilities and originality won him his Diplôme des Etudes Supérieures in the momentous year 1968, and his Ph.D. at the Sorbonne in 1974. He retained throughout his life a deep affection for France, and it is pleasant to record that one of his two daughters began her career as a university lecturer there. Returning to Greece at the change of regime in 1974, he joined Patras University as its expert on plasma physics. He then joined ? for the rest of his working life, as it was to turn out - the Department of Astronomy at the Academy of Athens, from within which he built up a worldwide network of professional contacts, and of which he was in due course to become, in 1992, Director. An offshoot of his scientific activity, and an example of his desire to inform and interest the lay public, was his long presidency of the Greek Astronautical Society. Basil (he endearingly preferred the form Basile) was the proverbial person "incapable of hurting a fly": a man whose innocent gaze, broad smile, shock of curly hair, and half-buttoned woollen waistcoat immediately invited friendship. He could talk the hind leg off a donkey and his supply of funny stories, hilariously told, was reputed to run to two and a half thousand. Though not an easy person to pin down by conventional means, he gave his help unstintingly, especially to his colleagues and juniors. But his humanism went, of course, much deeper than all this: he maintained an unshakeable and Socratic belief in the goodness of people, and in their ability to rescue themselves from even their most dreadful errors. This was what a united Europe meant to him, and it is why he will be so much missed. He was a European of the very first quality. Richard Witt
6. Membership and finance The network needs to be kept up-to-date - on who is and who is not a member. Therefore, it's important for clarity (and for budgeting) that members settle their affiliation fee of €500 early in the year. Also, as an encouragement, the treasurer will be charging an extra €50 for each quarter beyond the year in question where affiliation fees remain unpaid. Thus your 2006 fee, if not paid by 1st April 2007, will cost you €550. If you delay until 1st January 2008, the cost will be €700. We are sorry to draw attention to these practical issues! Hopefully members who are concerned at a high level of subscription in relation to activity will be happier after the Soesterberg meeting. In the light of the network support now available to us from the EU, the affiliation fee for 2008 could not be reduced - that would send out the wrong signals to the authorities. But perhaps the position could be reconsidered for 2008.
7. Member institution profiles IBZ Schloß Gimborn
A real highlight in 2006 has been the seminar on Fraud and Corruption that took place in three languages in the first half of the year, in cooperation with the international IPA board. For the first time ever IBZ had the chance to run a seminar with the financial support of the European office to combat corruption (OLAF). As a seminar report a cd-rom has been produced. Owing to the short notice and the restricted target group, there were fewer participants than we might have wished. However, it was a first successful step towards demonstrating to the EU institutions the professionalism of IBZ. Together with our Turkish partners, we are organising a seminar in English February 2007: Terror and Islam? The major threat to Western societies today? How to keep the balance between effective counter-terrorism and protection of civil rights?. --- Das Informations- und Bildungszentrum Schloss Gimborn (IBZ Schloss Gimborn) ist ein sehr bekannter Ort mitten in Deutschland gelegen, wo sich vor allem Polizeibedienstete treffen, um ihre Erfahrungen auszutauschen und sich weiterzubilden. Das IBZ, eine Gründung der International Police Association (IPA), ist weltweit einzigartig in seiner Eigenschaft als privatrechtlich getragene internationale Bildungsstätte insbesondere - jedoch nicht ausschließlich - für Polizeibedienstete aller Dienstgrade und Funktionsbereiche aus Europa und sogar Übersee. Die angebotene Bildungsarbeit in der Tradition der nordischen Erwachsenenbildungstradition unterscheidet sich von herkömmlicher dienstlicher Fortbildung. In unseren Seminaren, die zumeist fünf Tage dauern - bemühen wir uns, eine freie, offene Atmosphäre zu schaffen, um den Austausch von persönlichen und beruflichen Erfahrungen unserer Teilnehmer, zumeist Erwachsene, zu erleichtern mit ihrem jeweils unterschiedlichen beruflichen Hintergrund. Die große thematische Bandbreite deckt Themen zu aktuellen sozialen Entwicklungen in unseren Gesellschaften ab und die grenzüberschreitende Zusammenarbeit vor allem im Rahmen der Europäichen Union. Ein besonderes Highlight in dem ersten Halbjahr war das in Zusammenarbeit mit dem internationalen Vorstand der IPA durchgeführte dreisprachige Seminar zum Thema "Betrug und Korruption". Ein Seminarbericht liegt in Form einer CD-R vor. Damit gelang zum ersten Mal überhaupt für eine Veranstaltung des IBZ, finanzielle Unterstützung durch das Europäische Amt für Korruptionsbekämpfung (OLAF) zu erhalten. Offenbar aufgrund des geringen zeitlichen Vorlaufs und der Beschränkung der Zielgruppe ließ die Beteiligung zu wünschen übrig. Gleichwohl war es ein erster erfolgreicher Schritt, das professionelle Profil des IBZ gegenüber Organen der Europäischen Union deutlich zu machen. Zusammen mit unseren türkischhen Partner werden wir im Februar 2007 ein Seminar in englischer Sprache durchführen zu dem Thema "Terror und Islam - die Bedrohung westlicher Gesellschaften heute - wie kann das delikate Gleichgewicht zwischen effektiver Terrorismusabwehr und Schutz persönlicher Freiheitsrechte gewahrt bleiben?".
Klaus-Ulrich Nieder - Director
IBZ Schloß Gimborn, Schloßstraße 10, D-51709 Marienheide
Kontakt der Kontinenten
KdK Soesterberg NL has its own conference facilities - the three-star Kontakt der Kontinenten and Cenakel centres, set amidst wooded grounds of 22 Ha. Conference rooms are available catering for from twenty up to 180 people - and 140 rooms equipped with telephone and en suite facilities. The cuisine is international and caters for up to 250. Many of he meetings and conferences held at KdK reflect our own thematic priorities. KdK Foundation's objective is to provide education programmes accessible to both adults and youth from all social strata. We aim to develop the whole person with due reference to their current life circumstances - an important feature being to empower them to play a full part in Dutch society. To that end we try to ensure that participants are conscious of the oneness of the world community - so as to identify more deeply with the spiritual, social and cultural values around them and to develop a global perspective with a view to strengthening the solidarity amongst peoples.
Around fifty people work at KdK - of whom approx twenty are immigrants. Wico Bunskoek, director of KdK since 1986, was born at Enschede in 1946 and studied socio-pedagogical vocational education. He began his career at KdK whilst still studying, focusing at first on youth education. Later, following a further period of study (business administration 1979-82), he became deputy director of KdK whilst concentrating on vocational sectors (notably local government staff), Aside from management of the centre he focuses on European projects and on integration course for imams and other clerics - as well as being a board member of various local, national and European associations such as the NGO-EU Network, EuNet, War Trauma Foundation etc. He is chairman of SMS Vluchtelingen (Stichting Mondiale Samenleving), which works with the Albanian, Afghan, Ethiopian and other refugee communities within the Netherlands.Wico Bunskoek is married, has two daughters, and lives at Soesterberg - five minutes by bicycle from the office. ---
Die Stiftung "Kontakt der Kontinenten (KdK)" in Soesterberg, Niederlande, wurde 1961 gegründet und beschäftigt sich seitdem mit folgenden Aktivitäten:
KdK Soesterberg NL verfügt über eigene Tagungsmöglichkeiten: inmitten eines 22 Ha. großen eigenen Waldgebietes befinden sich zwei 3 Sterne Tagungszentren internationalen Formats: Kontakt der Kontinenten und Cenakel. Diese Tagungszentren bieten Tagungsräume für 20-180 Personen; 140 Zimmern mit Dusche, Toilette und Telefon; Restaurants für insgesamt 250 Personen, und eine vorzügliche internationale Küche. Viele der Konferenzen in KdK/Cenakel haben Bezug auf den eigenen thematischen Schwerpunkten. Zielsetzung. Die Stichting Kontakt der Kontinenten hat den Zweck Bildungsarbeit zu organisieren, die Erwachsenen und Jugendlichen aus allen Gesellschaftsschichten zugänglich ist. Die Bildungsarbeit hat sich auf die Allgemeinbildung des Menschen und auf die Entfaltung der Person in der jeweiligen eigenen Lebenslage zu richten, wozu das spielen einer aktiven Rolle in der niederländischen Gesellschaft zählt. Darüber hinaus wird angestrebt, dass die Kursteilnehmer bewusster an der Gesamtheit der Weltgemeinschaft teilnehmen, sich mehr in die Geistes-, Gesellschafts- und Kulturwerte, die in der gesamten Völkergemeinschaft vorhanden sind, vertiefen, und ein globaleres Denken entwickeln, um somit die Solidarität zwischen den Völkern zu stärken. In Kontakt der Kontinenten arbeiten ca. 50 Personen; ca. 20 davon sind Migranten. Wico Bunskoek wurde 1946 in Enschede geboren und hat in 1972 eine Sozial-pädagogische Berufsausbildung vollendet. Während des letzten Jahres seines Studiums hat er als pädagogischer Mitarbeiter angefangen in Kontakt der Kontinenten, und hat im Anfang viele tagungen mit Jugendlichen gemacht. Später, nachdem er ein zweites Studium aufgefasst hatte (Business administration, 1979-1982) hat er seine pädagogische Arbeit verlegt nach Berufsgruppen (hauptsächllich Kommunebeamten) und wurde mittlerweile zweiter Direktor der Organisation KdK. Seit 1986 ist er Direktor. Nebst dem Management des Hauses beschäftigt er sich mit europäischen Projekten, Eingliederungskursen für Imame und andere geistlichen Bediener, und ist Vorstandsmitglied von verschiedenen lokalen, nationalen und Europäischen Verbänden wie das NGO-EU Netzwerk, EUNET, War Trauma Foundation, usw. Er ist Vorsiztender der Stiftung SMS Vluchtelingen (Stichting Mondiale Samenleving), die mit den in den Niederlanden wohnenden albanischen, afghanischen, äthiopischen und anderen Flüchtlingsgemeinschaften arbeitet. Wico Bunskoek ist verheiratet, hat zwei Töchter, und wohnt in Soesterberg: 5 Fahrradminuten von seiner Arbeit.
Disclaimer Opinions expressed in this newsletter do not necessarily reflect official EuNet policy |
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The Informations- und Bildungszentrum Schloß Gimborn (IBZ Gimborn Castle) is a well-known place - right in the centre of Germany, thirty miles east of Cologne - where police officers meet, exchange experiences and learn together. The IBZ, a foundation of the 
