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EUNET conference and General Assembly 2007
Salzburg/Wals 5.-7. October 2007
Organisers:
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European Network for Education and Training e.V. - EUNET
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Salzburger Bildungswerk - Institut für Europa
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Landes-Europabüro Salzburg
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Financially supported by:
- European Union
- Landes-Europabüro Salzburg
- Österreichische Gesellschaft für Politische Bildung
- community of Wals-Siezenheim
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From October 5th-7th 2007, the members of the European Network for Education and Training - EUNET e.V. met in Wals-Siezenheim near Salzburg, Austria.
Conferenve venu was the very nice hotel Königgut (www.koeniggut-salzburg.at).
For three days, 54 participants were dealing with the challenges of European education in the context of the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome. Alongside the talks given by guest speakers, the main focus of the meeting was the election of the board.
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After the official opening of the conference with the focus on "Salzburg in Europe" by the president of the Salzburg parliament Johann Holztrattner, and the welcome address by the president of EUNET Richard Stock Doraja Eberle, member of the provincial government talked about the topic of „50 years of Europe - 50 years of peace....but not everywhere in Europe".
Ms Eberle described her experiences with projects in Bosnia and Herzegovina in a very illustrative and emotional way pointing out the fact that simple ideas are often most effective but she also stressed the fact that working in the Balkans can sometimes be very difficult and nerve-racking. Her explanations met great response among the participants and a region in Europe that is often forgotten became the focus of interest.
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Saturday morning started with the welcome address by the mayor of Wals-Siezenheim.
Wals-Siezenheim generously supported the EUNET conference and the presence of the mayor was a great opportunity to express our heartfelt thanks to the community of Wals-Siezenheim for their support. In his speech, Mr Bundesrat Ludwig Bieringer emphasized the experiences of his community in an European boarder region. In his long years as mayor he recognized that interregional cooperation is Europe´s future.
He thanked the members of EUNET for their unresting effort to spread the European idea among the citizens and wished the conference to be successful.
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Chosen members of our network volunteered to participate in a panel discussion on „50 years treaty of Rome - Challenges for political education".
After some short introductory notes, the participants discussed possible reactions to the changes of political education. Challenges had been named and ideas suggested, but they all agreed on the fact that there is no general solution for the future, or at least it is not apparent, yet.
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The podium discussion was followed by the presentation of the year´s two major projects: Waves of Democracy und EUNET Integration Network .
Then, Richard Stock opened the General Assembly of EUNET and he reported for the last time as EUNET-president on the activities of our network during the previous year. He put special emphasize on the fact that we have been receiving an operation grant by the European Union since 2007 which is a great success.
He again expressed his heartfelt thanks to all those who had helped to realize it. However, this success is just an intermediate goal. The board has to and will keep on making an effort on receiving additional funds for EUNET members by other general-directorates of the European Commission.
In his eyes, EUENT is on the right way and he shortly explains why he won't be available for re-election as president of EUNET.
He could also present the new and highly-innovative two-pillar contribution system.
 The next part of the General Assembly was all about new board elections. Due to EUNET´s ballot regulations the three highest positions within EUNET had to be elected by list election. Thomas Heckeberg was in charge of the election leading through the following ballots. At the end, EUNET´s new board consisted of new and familiar faces as well as Nina Nørgaard as EUNET´s new president (see board ).
On behalf of all members Thomas Heckeberg thanked the outgoing president for his efforts during the past three years and handed the lead of the meeting over to Nina Nørgaard.
Afterwards, Barbara Lucius introduced the youth initiative „Youth moving Europe" which was established through the Waves of Democracy project.
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As conclusion of the conference the speech of Ambassador Dr. Rudolf Lennkh, Head of the Department for European Affairs at the Austrian Foreign Ministry, was the bridging of past and future. His explanations that were based on the treaty of Rome had their main focus on the treaty of Lisbon which at his point was still being developed. The EUNET members used the opportunity for a detailed discussion. The crucial question was whether this was a good treaty or simply the result of a failed constitution.
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After an intensive exchange of experiences on Saturday evening, the members were given the opportunity to go on a sight-seeing tour to the beautiful city of Salzburg on Sunday morning before their return home.
EUNET would like to express heartfelt thanks to the Salzburger Bildungswerk , especially Dr. Wolfgang Forthofer, for their excellent organisation on-site. EUNET would also like to thank the Landes-Europabüro Salzburg, the community of Wals-Siezenheim and the Österreichischen Gesellschaft für Politische Bildung for their financial support. We would not have been able to realise this conference without their support.
 Here (135.96 KB)you can download the conference programme.
(Nina Nørgaard, Wolfgang Forthofer and Thomas Heckeberg after the conference was over)
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