Eurodesk 2013 Awards: Champions of European Youth Information (en)

On 17 September 2013, the winners of the 2013 edition of the Eurodesk Awards “Champions of European Youth Information” were announced at the official ceremony in Brussels with Eurodesk partners, multipliers and cooperating European organisations.

Eurodesk, an information network of national coordinators connected to over 1200 local information providers and partners in 33 European countries, provides information on European policies and opportunities for young people. Eurodesk operates as a permanent support structure for the EU's "Youth in Action" programme. In 2011, Eurodesk established the Eurodesk Awards to highlight the work of local multipliers. Chiara Gariazzo, Director for Youth and Sport in the European Commission, participated in the Award presentation 2013. The following Champions were honoured:

Information & Dissemination Champion

Network of Warmia and Mazury Youth Organizations - ATMOS in the Net by Stowarzyszenie Elblag Europa, Elblag (Poland)

This initiative reaches out to organisations that otherwise would not be involved and promotes national cooperation through a network of 32 Youth NGO’s. Together, they organised 1.600 hours of advice sessions, coaching, informational meetings and 32 training courses with around 400 participants. The award jury appreciated in particular the broad target group of the initiative and the strategy of implementing EU youth policy at regional level.

Multimedia & Online Activity Champion

QR-Code campaign: going abroad with just a scan by Eurodesk Oldenburg / Europe Direct Oldenburg / MCON, Oldenburg (Germany)

Recognized for using a technology that is still not very much used along with the traditional poster format, the jury highlighted the fact that the project is very well targeted to young people. It is an easy and attractive initiative and as a result, the Eurodesk office in Oldenburg received more visits from young people, more telephone calls and more information enquiries sent by e-mail.

Volunteer Involvement Champion

Let’s Puzzle Volunteering Out by Turkish Red Crescent Izmir Branch, Izmir (Turkey)

The jury appreciated in particular the clear information on European opportunities that is given to approximately 1.000 disadvantaged young people and the cooperation with local organisations. The jury also highlighted the training sessions for volunteers with a total of 75 participants.

Special Recognition Award

My Way - Europportunities by Asociacion Cultural Ingalicia, A Coruña (Spain)

The jury especially recognised the collaboration with other Eurodesk multipliers in other countries with the first Leonardo exchange programme inside the Eurodesk network. 16 young Spanish people had the opportunity to have a practical experience in a Eurodesk multiplier organisation abroad. The jury also underlined the project’s promotion of Eurodesk with a variety of quality information services targeted at different groups.

From left to right:

Anja Ruhland (Eurodesk Director)

Chiara Gariazzo (Director for Youth and Sport, European Commission)

Antonino Versace (Special Recognition Award - Asociacion Cultural Ingalicia, Spain)

Reinhard Schwalbach (Eurodesk President)

Gökhan Günpay (Volunteer Involvement Champion - Turkish Red Crescent Izmir Branch, Turkey)

Marianne Lüdemann (Multimedia & Online Activity Champion - Eurodesk Oldenburg / Europe Direct Oldenburg / MCON, Germany)

Pawel Kulasiewicz (Information & Dissemination Champion - Stowarzyszenie Elblag Europa, Poland)

Miroslaw Krzanik (Board Member European Youth Forum)

Cláudia Köver (Secretary General European Youth Press)