Report - Salto

16
Bridges for Recognition | Day-by-Day - Programme
The morning of 20th January saw the formal opening of the event and perspectives on recognition
from the European institutions. Koen Lambert of Jint - the Flemish NA (mother organisation of
SALTO Inclusion, the organiser of Bridges) gave a welcome to the city of Leuven and to Bridges
for Recognition before handing over to speakers from the European Commission (p.22), the
Council of Europe (p. 24) and the European Youth Forum (p.26). In addition, the debate
on terminology and concepts of recognition was opened up by Lynne Chisholm of Innsbruck
University (p. 38). And to ensure the whole subject was earthed in reality, Thomas Vollner of YES
Forum relayed the story of Egemen Ozyay, a young EVS participant from Stuttgart, whose life
had drastically changed – to the positive – because of his participation in youth work (p.20).
Before lunch Koen Lambert chaired a panel discussion with representatives of a range of
stakeholder groups. Panel members were: Åsa Fahlgren (Swedish National Agency), Tone
Christensen (Trondheim Municipality, Norway), Clement Dupuis (youth worker at Ici ou
Ailleurs, France), Jillian Hasset-Van Turnhout (European Economic and Social Committee) and
Anthony Azzopardi (Youth Studies, University of Malta). The discussion covered expectations
of the debate about recognition, the role of volunteers in accreditation processes and the
involvement of young people in self assessment. The discussions clearly demonstrated the
different motivations and viewpoints that the various stakeholders have. In particular the
place of young people varied considerably: some saw them as influencers and key stakeholders
of the recognition process, whereas others regarded them as the cause of social problems and
people in need of “help”.
After lunch, Hans-Joachim Schild of the Youth Unit of the DG Education and Culture of the
European Commission gave an overview of previous “milestones in the recognition process”
at the European level (p.28). This served as an introduction to a series of sixteen “Good Practice”
workshops (p.50). These workshops (four running during each of four sessions) provided a
show case for a wide range of recognition work that is already ongoing around Europe. Light
relief was provided in the evening by a city tour of Leuven… in the rain.