Skopje

Call for European Training: Macedonia

Do you want to know how our members experienced the Training for Trainers? Read it HERE! (Dutch) Skopje
Learning how to spark the debate on all things Europe while surrounded by the inspiring environment of Macedonia? Sounds better than a dream come true, doesn’t it. If you just yelled “Where do I sign up!?”, don’t worry, we’ll tell you everything in a moment.
It is in the capital of Macedonia, in Skopje, where JEF is organizing a Youth in Action project “Training for trainers for political youth work” in mid-September.
This training is meant to fortify of a sense of ownership of the European Union among young people like you. It will provide you with a space for sharing and developing new concepts for political participation and European citizenship.
You will develop a capacity to work on the dimension of Europe with young people and encourage debate and confrontation on the topics of Europe, citizenship, mobility, participation and enlargement. Get ready to become the link between theory and practice!

The training is for JEF participants coming from multiple European countries. Participation fee (includes 7 nights in hotel with meals from September 16 to September 23) is €50 for JEF members and €70 for non-members.

Keep in mind that you can only apply by July 24, 2013!
How to go about getting there, you say? Contact us for applications and for more information.
Summary:
Deadline: 24 July 2013
Place: Skopje, Macedonia
Time: September 16-23,2013
Fees: €50 (7 nights in hotel and 3 meals per day), travel costs reimbursement 70% (up to a pre-determined maximum).
Contact: Email us.
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Number 28: Welcome, Croatia!

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Vibrant cities, rugged coastlines, impressive national parks, islands, mountains… Croatia has it all.

And from the first of July onward, it’s more accessible than ever. On that day, Croatia becomes the 28th member state of the European Union. Croatia has been a candidate member state since June 2004.

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In 2011, the European Commission, the member states and the European Parliament agreed on its membership and last year, the people voted in a referendum on membership. The official celebration of this historical moment will take place on the 30th June on Ban Jela?i? Square, the central square of the capital Zagreb. A good reason to focus our eyes on Croatia.

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Croatia or as its post stamp says “Hrvatska” is a country at the crossroads of central Europe, the Balkan and the Mediterranean, creating a unique mixture of culture. This unique mixture has not always been as peaceful as it is nowadays. In 1991, the Croats declared independence from the Republic of Yugoslavia, but the Serbs – who sought to create a Serb state with boundaries in present day Croatia – did not agree and war was declared only to be stopped 4 years later.

Croatia reached its goals, however much of the country was devastated. Now, almost 20 years later, Croatia is a fast developing country with a high HDI index and growing income economy.

Factoid

  1. Country : Croatia
  2. Capital : Zagreb
  3. Language : Croatian (Slavic language family)
  4. Currency: Kuna, the change (the cents) are called Lipa
  5. President/Prime Minister: Ivo Josipovi? / Zoran Milanovi?
  6. Population: 4.4 million

Did you know that:

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  • Without the Croats, men would not wear ties. In the 17th century, Croatian soldiers wore a sort of necktie, which they called ‘kravat’. This transformed into the current tie.
  • Together with Spain, Croatia is Europe’s number one in holding UNESCO world intangible cultural masterpieces.
  • Croatia also has a lot of UNESCO world heritage sites, one of the most famous being the Plitvi?ka jezera (Plitvica Lakes), beautiful crystal clear lakes with waterfalls and caves, surrounded by woods home to bears, wolves and rare bird species.
  • Zagreb has the most museums per capita in the world. The most notorious one is the Museum of Broken Relationships.
  • The coastline between Split and Dubrovnik is called the Dalmatian coast – no, it’s not named after the dog breed, the dog is named after Dalmatia.
  • Zagreb has a cemetery where one would want to be buried because it’s so beautiful: Mirogoj Cemetery is ranked right after Père Lachaise in Paris to be one of the ‘nicest’ cemeteries in Europe.
  • PLIT-1Between Zagreb and Split the train track is quite special because it is made for a tilting train, which allows trains to go faster while rounding a curve. Something that shortens the travel time by a lot.
  • Marco Polo – although ethnically Italian – was born on the island of Kor?ula, in Croatia.
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