EVS News
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EVS Student Symposium – BRICS: Changing the rules of the game?
On the 21st of April the Evert Vermeer Foundation organises the fifth edition of the Student Symposium. A group of students works hand-in-hand with experts from businesses, NGOs, scientists and politicians. Among others, Judith Sargentini (Member of European Parliament for the Greens), André Gerrits (Leiden University), Maartje van Putten (European Investment Bank) and Bram van Ojik (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) take part in the symposium.
This year the symposium addresses the BRICS countries and their influence on international cooperation and developing countries. These emerging economies are changing the global playing field which brings both chances and challenges for Europe and developing countries. European norms and practices are not self-evident anymore. BRICS countries apply their own terms and conditions when it comes to international treaties and practices. Specifically their involvement in Africa has become an area of growing attention and interest. New forms of international cooperation are emerging in which the roles of the Netherlands and Europe are up for debate!
Take part in one of the masterclasses and deepen your knowledge on a subtheme, for example Democracy and Human Rights, Raw Materials or Millennium Development Goals. Engage in the discussion, expand your network, join the battle and formulate the best policy recommendations!
Are you part of the winning team? Then you’ll win a visit to the Hague or Brussels where you learn to talk ‘politics’ during a lobby training and convince politicians of the recommendations of the symposium!
Date: Saturday 21st of April
Time: 10.00 - 18.00
Venue: University College Utrecht
Price: € 10, - (Incl. lunch and drinks)
Register via www.studentsymposium.evertvermeer.nl
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Monday the 28th of February was the day of truth for the group who wrote the winning policy recommendation during the ‘EVS Students Symposium’ last November. Together with a group of seven very motivated students the EVS went to the European Parliament to present the winning idea to two Members of the European Parliament.
Immediately after their arrival the students got a lobby training, to prepare them for the real thing! Thijs Berman (S&D) and Bas Eickhout (Greens) both reserved 1 hour in their busy schedule to receive the students and provide feedback on their idea.
The first lesson learned from the training was the importance of a good idea. This caused no trouble for the students as they had been the once winning the award for the best proposal of the EVS Student Symposium. The group had developed the idea of setting up an organization that builds small scale solar energy projects in rural Africa. This can be done by means of a microfinance system. Local entrepreneurs will be appointed to be responsible for the maintenance of the installations and students would be involved to transfer technical expertise. This renewing and solid idea did win with reason the first prize of the EVS Student Symposium!
But only a good idea is not enough to succeed in a lobby campaign. The training went over all the do’s and don’ts of lobbying and explained in which way you can best present a proposal. It is for example very important as a lobbyist to be short and concise, as politicians often have very little time. The students where strongly advised to defend their idea and to tell why theirs is far better than all the other comparable, already existing initiatives. After the training the students had a moment to come up with a strategic plan on how they were going to present their idea. However, time flies when you are having fun and it was soon time to go off to the parliament.
As soon as we entered the impressive building of the European Parliament, the students seemed to be a little nervous. Most of them had never been in the European Parliament before and like the real deal, the students had to wait for a bit until the MEP, with their busy agendas arrived. Once they had joined the group one of the students took off with a short presentation of the proposal followed by a few sharp questions of both Thijs Berman and Bas Eickhout. As soon as the plan become more and more apparent to the MEPS’s they became very enthusiastic about the idea.
The students received solid feedback and advice on how they could further investigate the feasibility of their plan. The parliamentarians invited them to get in touch again once they had finished a more thorough investigation of their plans. The students could not have wished for greater compliments and better advice. During the drinks afterwards in a true Belgium bar the students directly started to make plans on how they could proceed and make their ideas reality. So, to be continued…
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Collier: ‘Brussels was build on the plunders of Congo, and should not make the same mistakes again!’
On the 6th and 7th of December the 5th edition of the European Development Days were organised in Brussels by the European Commission and the Belgian presidency. Fair Politics contributed to the EDD by the organisation of a side event on raw materials. Paul Collier (University of Oxford) stated that the good management of natural resources is key to the development of resource rich developing countries. African countries should be able to transform their natural resources into prosperity. 'Brussels was built on the plunders of Congo', said Collier,'the biggest challenge for Europe will be, to not make the same mistakes of the 19th century.' Read more
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EVS Student Symposium
Last November the Evert Vermeer Foundation organised for the 4th time the Student Symposium. This year with the title 'World of plenty?' How to deal with scarcity in developing countries?
Interested in the reports and different recommendations? Go to the Student Symposium website. For pictures of the event check our Flickr!
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