Looking back at the international network meeting in Riga, 2023

What happened during the Annual Network Meeting of the EuroPeers?

The ‘’Annual Network Meeting’’ is an annual event held once a year in one of the Member States of the ‘’EuroPeers’’ network. Experience, memorable emotions, new knowledge – these are the words that best describe the ‘’EuroPeers Annual Network meeting 2023’’, which took place in Riga, Latvia from 21.09.2023 to 24.09.2023.

Over a four-day period, 50 young people, 4  trainers, facilitators, and representatives of 12  national agencies from the network countries Austria, Belgium, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Sweden and Spain were gathered to meet, strengthen mutual cooperation and build new plans for this network, its development and promotion.

On day 1, all participants of the event arrived  in Riga and were welcomed, a task which was taken care of by the youth of ‘’EuroPeers’’, Latvian volunteers, and their coordinator representative of the Agency of International Programs for Youth Linda Joste-Sidorova. The participants got to know each other, (some of them saw each other again), and eventually bonded. At the end of the evening, it was possible to participate in the program prepared by Latvian “EuroPeers” “Latvian Culture Evening”, which included the opportunity to learn more about Latvia, play various games, for example, “Kahoot”, learn traditional Latvian dancing, listen to Latvian youth singing and enjoy traditional food/beverages and snacks, which allowed participants to better understand local culture and traditions.

The morning of day 2 kicked off quite interesting because the large group of participants were given various team-building tasks that had to be dealt with in a very short period of time, such as calculating the average age of all participants, dream destinations, building a pyramid out of 10 people, taking some interesting photos. After the team was cohesive, participants began working in their national groups to discuss what has worked so far, what work is to be done now, and what plans might be in the future. For these talks to have some added value, the participants had to present their contributions to other groups of countries, enabling them to learn the news in other countries, to ask questions, and, of course, to take inspiration and take an idea for themselves. At the end of the day, it was already clear what each group of countries needed to do in the future to improve their work on this network. It was very valuable to hear each country’s presentation, which expanded the range of vision, allowed you to think in wider frames, and opened up a glimpse of new ideas.

Day 3 began with sessions run by the ‘’EuroPeers Advisory Group’’ (from each country, one representative who has undertaken to serve as a delegate for his or her country throughout the year), with the first featuring an opportunity to learn about sustainability and a green way of life (we learned during the lesson how to travel greener, and what to avoid to make our everyday life greener). The theme of the second lesson was inclusion, within which we did a so-called “privilidge walk”, debated and talked about issues related to an inclusive society, shared personal experiences and sought solutions that could help improve the inclusion situation in our communities. In the second half of the day, an opportunity was offered to participate in the “free microphone” activity, where all participants, especially young people, were given the opportunity to apply and demonstrate some of their skill/strength, or to run a small workshop on a topic close to them, in the same time, young people could develop their organizational, communication and management skills.

Day 4 – the closing day. In the morning, all participants gathered for an official conclusion and ending to the event, where they had the opportunity to provide their feedback, share their thoughts and emotions, and hear the thoughts and experiences of other participants. Most importantly, possible cross-border networking opportunities have been updated and the possibilities for promoting the local national network and the next information events have been planned. Of course – sharing photos, warm hugs, and good wishes for a safe travel home, too!

Overall, the ‘’EuroPeers Annual Network meeting ‘’ was a very successful event, from which everyone could take something: for some, it was new friends and contacts, for others it was the experience, and new knowledge.

Thanks to Linda Joste-Sidorova, Project Coordinator of the International Cooperation and Support Unit of the Youth Programme support Department of the Agency of International Programmes for Youth and Erasmus + and Marie Heimburg, International EuroPeers Network Coordinator of the European Solidarity Corps Agency for Education and Youth Administration, for their great contribution to the planning, organization and coordination of the event.

Also we would like to thank Latvian ‘’EuroPeers’’ – Ērika Skārda, Ingars Jēkabsons, Leandra Spriesle, and volunteer Marks Glasmanis, who provided great support.

Find the “aftermovie” here!