From May 27 to 29, around 25 delegates from most of ECYC’s member organisations attended ECYC’s General Assembly in Brussels, Belgium.

On the first day of the G.A., some of the representatives worked on the Structured Dialogue on Youth. Indeed, ECYC is one of the 10 INGYOs (International Non-Governmental Youth Organisations) that were selected to participate in the 5th cycle of the SD, which focuses on ‘enabling all young people to engage in a diverse, inclusive and connected Europe; Ready for life, ready for society!”. After showing two videos on the SD (you can find them here and here) and quickly presenting the results of the previous EU Youth Conference, the Secretariat of ECYC let Jan Wilker, who is the Institutional Coordinator of the European Youth Forum (YFJ), explain how ECYC was chosen among the several organisations that applied for the SD and how the YFJ is involved in the process. Then, the group answered the 6 questions that form the guiding framework of this SD cycle. They are as follows:

 1) What changes in society are you concerned about and what do you need to be able to adapt to such changes? What would make you feel more secure?

2) What would help you connect more and build trust with people from a different cultural, social, economic, religious background than yours?

3) What can be done to avoid the stigmatization of vulnerable young people and provide them with equal opportunities in society?

4) What do you think makes you feel that you belong to a local community, to society, to Europe?

5) What competences would help you when you are facing difficult situations?

6) What would you need to fully realize your potential and help others to realize theirs?

In the afternoon, the dutch-speaking organization ‘Jeugdhuizen Ondersteuning Brussel’ gave a presentation on how they support Flemish youth clubs in the Brussels area (for more on them, here http://brusselsejeugdhuizen.jhob.be/#footer). Afterwards, the group visited Cirqu’Conflex, a French-speaking youth club in Brussels that teaches young people circus skills.

Another group of delegates, composed mainly of Presidents and Chief Executives of member organisations, enjoyed a peer-to-peer session and met with Allan Pall and Alfonso Aliberti, respectively the Secretary General and the Policy and Advocacy Coordinator for youth work of the European Youth Forum, who presented the YFJ’s new ‘We Are Youth Work’ campaign (). Then, the group spoke with Mr. Harald Hartung, Head of Unit from the Directorate of Youth and Sport of the European Commission, on the research and tools that the Commission is developing in support of youth work as well as the needs of MO's regarding yourh work recognition. Later, Wout Van Caimere, Coordinator of the European Parliament Youth Intergroup, discussed with the group the role of the Intergroup and prioritizing youth and youth work in the activities and discussions of the European Parliament.

On the second day, participants were involved in a scenario-building activity on the future of youth work. We asked ourselves: what will ECYC and international youth work look like in 40 years? Participants were split into different groups and were asked to imagine different scenarios, from the most likely situation to the least ‘real’. This exercise is part of a year-long ECYC project that aims to plan better ECYC’s work and increase the role of the organisation in the workplan of the MOs.

On Sunday, two important votes were cast: DVLJ, the Luxembourgish youth clubs organization, became a full member of ECYC, and a new Bureau was elected. This includes Tor Haave as President, Paraskevi Christou as Treasurer, as well as Pierre Evrard, Elena Lotrean and Oli Orn Atlason as Vice-Presidents.