The UNESCO Center for Women and Peace in the Balkan Countries, in partnership with the Y.M.C.A. Thessaloniki and the Association of Interbalkan Women’s Cooperation Societies, organizes a summer camp, for university students of both sexes, aged 18 - 25 years, preferably undertaking studies in such fields like ecology, natural sciences, history, history of art and ethnography.

The project aims at forwarding information on the policies of the United Nations and UNESCO concerning biodiversity, the protection and preservation of the natural and cultural (tangible & intangible) inheritance, at providing the basis for the future positive reaction of the participants towards environmental issues, as well as at offering the opportunity for improved communication among young people and for inter-cultural dialogue.

The camp will be hosted at the Y.M.C.A. Camp, in Nympheon, a country-side community in Northern Greece, between August 5 to 18, 2002.. All costs on the territory of Greece (including accommodation, meals and the social events on the agenda) are covered by the organizers. International travel costs are to the charge of the participants.

In order to facilitate the implementation of the proposed aims, the participants must be fluent in English, the official language of the project. Good communication abilities, previous experience in camping, professional interest in research on ecology and ethnography issues, as well as a propensity for active life and physical exercise are important assets.

Persons wishing to participate in the project must apply before March 30, by submitting the attached forms (Application Form & Medical Information) duly filled in, to the National Commission for UNESCO.

1. Name:

Address:

Telephone:

E-mail:

Date of birth: male female age:

Any comments:

Previous camp experience:

Emergency contact name and telephone number:

2. Name:

Address:

Telephone:

E-mail:

Date of birth: male female age:

Any comments:

Previous camp experience:

Emergency contact name and telephone number:

Are you aware of a medical condition the participant may have that the camp should know about (such as allergies, diabetes, epilepsy, etc.)

Are you aware of any medications or foods that the participant should not be given?

The participant has been examined by the signing physician and was found in healthy condition except for the following problems

The participant can participate in all camp activities except for

Name of Physician Telephone#

Date Physician’s signature and seal

Participant’ s signature

The camp is expected to bring together university students, aged 18-25 years, from the 30 countries of Europe, Asia and Africa, who are geographically located in the South East European and in the Mediterranean regions.

The project aims at:

( a ) forwarding information on the policies of the United Nations and UNESCO concerning biodiversity, the protection and preservation of the natural environment, aiming at providing the basis for the future positive reaction of the participants towards environmental issues;

( b ) informing the participants on the policy of UNESCO on cultural diversity, on the programs of action aiming at preserving, protecting and promoting the cultural spaces, the traditional culture and its oral forms of expression;

( c ) enabling the participants to become familiar with the local traditional arts and crafts, with the various cultural identities and with the long-date exchanges among them, in the Balkan area;

( d ) providing the opportunity for improved communication, dialogue and information-sharing among young people belonging to various cultural backgrounds, in the spirit of friendship, mutual respect and tolerance incurred by the Program of action for a culture of peace, as well as enabling them to become familiar to each other, encouraging their team work through a variety of creative educational, cultural and leisure programs, promoting an open and constructive dialogue on issues of general significance like peace, commitment in action and the measure of actual success and failure;

( e ) establishing a continuous and hopefully lasting system of exchanges among young people from various countries as a support for their future collaboration, as well as stimulating their proneness to believe in and to rely on trans-border solidarity.

The project is meant to support three fundamental commitments, namely :

( a ) to educate on environmental issues a group particularly responsive to training and susceptible to take positive action;

( b ) to promote a favorable attitude towards biological and cultural diversity,

( c) to assist the dissemination of the values of the culture of peace and the education of younger generations in the spirit of these ideals, through inter-cultural dialogue and sustained exchanges.

The camp is therefore specifically focused on opinion-building mechanisms, and it is expected to acquaint the participants with the United Nations policies on issues of paramount importance, like the environment and the diversity, as well as to create a meeting place where differences and similarities will be brought together in a stimulating dialogue.

The organizers consider it very important to give youths the chance to meet with other young people with whom they share the same concerns, memories, expectations, with whom they share the responsibility for the future of our planet and of our civilization. As the project is focusing on the diversity of cultural expression in the area, it will implicitly offer substantial support to the endeavors targeted at preserving the cultural inheritance and this by educating positive attitudes among the young people, before old mentalities had influenced them and distorted their thinking and understanding.

The project includes the consecutive activities in the organization of the Youth Summer Camp between August 3 – 18, 2002, in the Y.M.C.A. Camp of Nympheon.

Nympheon is a mountain village located at an altitude of 1350 m in the Vitsi Mountain, in Northern Greece. The place became lately a common leisure area, for an ever increasing number of visitors, who are attracted by the splendor of the nature and the rich local folklore.

The camp is built on a wide plateau of 40000 square meters, in the middle of woods of Mediterranean pine, hosting the brown bears, a species protected within a thorough program benefiting wildlife in Northern Greece. The camp can accommodate, for the time being, sixty persons, hosted in five stone houses build in the traditional local style. The main building of the camp includes a dinning hall, the kitchen, an entertainment room, medical facilities and storage rooms.

(a) Prerequisites for participation

The Camp will accept university students of both sexes, aged 18 - 25 years, preferably undertaking studies in such fields like ecology, natural sciences, history, history of art, ethnography, and able to communicate easily in English. The experience of other international camps demonstrated that the communication is vital for the success of the enterprise. The good command of English is equally important for the personnel (especially for the trained animators), whose role of catalysts of the dialogue depends essentially on their good communication with the multi-national target groups.

Advanced knowledge and research experience on diversity, both biological and cultural, will be considered supplementary assets, especially if demonstrated in previous public events, like symposiums, meetings and training programs.

Physical fitness and previous sportive activities are also to be considered important assets, because the program includes a variety of sportive events, as well as a considerable number of walks and sight-seeing tours on foot, in the surrounding country-side.

Previous camp experience is seen to be of particular importance, in view of the successful integration in the project and for the deeper understanding of the aims of such a multi-national exercise.

Two representatives will be accepted from each target country, bringing the total number of participants to 60. It is expected that more persons, responsible with training and leisure programs, would join the camp, for various periods of time.

(b) The program

The agenda will include training, leisure activities, as well as various physical fitness programs, but the main focus will be placed on the promotion of the inter-cultural dialogue and on the education of response patterns based on the respect for diversity.

The daily camp program will therefore include such activities, like: sessions of environmental education in a variety of formats (workshops, information excursions and study tours to the adjoining areas, presentation of multi-media programs), outdoor activities, excursions on foot to the surrounding area, practicing various sports ( jogging, volleyball, basket, horse riding, mountain biking, archery), demonstrations of traditional crafts and household occupations, mostly the traditional preparation of the famous local foodstuffs (bread baking, jam cooking, cheese processing, etc.) and initiative games. Special attention will be given to visits, meetings and participation in events organized by the village community, in Nympheon, as a way of acquainting the participants with the tremendously rich and original traditional culture of the local population.

As each participant is the bearer of a specific cultural tradition, of group stereotypes and mentalities, the communication among them will actually become an inter-cultural dialogue. The individuals and the groups are expected to contribute towards the stimulation of the dialogue, by bringing to the fore and proposing for common reflection their personal experience, the literary productions, dances, tunes, and other forms of cultural expression in the cultural space of their origin.

The stimulation of the active response of the participants will also be a main concern of the organizers. The reason is that, in elaborating answers to various challenges, team work is requested and friendly collaborative relationships develop more easily. More than that, creating the awareness for the urgent need of active involvement in all issues important for the life of the community, is an excellent way of stimulating the sense of responsibility for the common welfare, as a basic characteristic shaping individual responses and attitudes. Thus more than one aims of the project are fulfilled.

The main outcomes of the project will be :

Þ the dissemination of the values of the culture of peace among the members of a

The following list will help you to get ready to attend the program of the camp.

All the equipment listed bellow are essential.

You should know that the weather changes easily and it can be very hot and very cold during the same day