Das GM an der EYP National Session in Graz (19.-25.4.2023)
The Trip
The trip started at 18:45 in Basel, when 5 delegates and one teacher made their way to Zürich HB. Upon arrival and after having stocked up on snacks, we headed to the night train that would take us to Graz. We boarded the train that would leave at 20:45 and settled into the cramped, albeit somewhat cosy, small compartment. Once everything had been put away, we had dinner and talked about our expectations and hopes for Graz.
Sightseeing in Graz
We were woken up at 5:30am for breakfast and shortly after arrived in Graz. Upon arrival in the hostel, and waiting a small eternity for breakfast, we got to sightseeing. After exploring the inner city for an hour, we set off to go see the Schlossberg. There we faced our first challenge of the trip: scaling the mountain in order to reach the top. The ‘Museum for Geschichte’ was the next cultural stop and we saw an exhibition on National Socialism in the Steiermark. Hungry from all the walking, and tired from the train, we took a break to have lunch and then got on the tram to Schloss Eggenberg, where a riveting guided tour of the UNESCO World Heritage site, awaited us. The Kunstmuseum Graz was the last cultural site we visited before we returned to the hostel to freshen up before dinner.
The next morning, we waited an unspecified amount of time for breakfast again (it was not exactly short...), before heading to the final hostel of the trip, where we checked in, received our badges, and immediately made our way to the venue where general team / committee building, committee work and General Assembly would happen over the next 4 days.
Committee Work
Committee work was the time each committee got to talk about their topic in depth, first finding reasons for why the topic they had chosen was such an issue. This activity is called finding ‘because clauses’. In typical EYP style, these ‘because clauses’ where written down on postcards, and after much debating, condensed into 5-6 clauses.
The second day of committee work consisted of finding solutions, known as OCs (Operative Clauses) by discussing possible solutions within the committee, writing these down on post cards, discussing some more and re-writing and condensing the OCs further, until each problem had at least one solution.
The problem many committees faced throughout the process was finding ‘Actors’ and acceptable sources. Actors are the decision-making institutions that the EYP is able to call upon. Finding specific Actors for each individual problem proved to be challenging but, after a helpful ‘crashcourse’ from the experienced chairpersons (the ones leading the committee), we managed.
General Assembly
The last day held the main event: General Assembly. General Assembly is the day where each committee must present their resolution to all committees and in a specific EYP structure each individual resolution is criticized by all committees before being subjected to a voting system where each resolution either passed or didn’t.
Personal Thoughts
As a delegate, l found the EYP experience extremely fun. It was my first time abroad as an ‘international delegate’ and l found meeting people from different cultures, religions, and political beliefs extremely interesting. EYP has a very supportive atmosphere, where no one is made fun of, and everybody is encouraging. Personally, l had the pleasure of meeting people from all over the world and learned more about how the EU functions in general. l really enjoyed the atmosphere of the General Assembly, where everybody had the opportunity to criticize resolutions in a way that felt constructive, not offensive.
Overall, l had a wonderful time in Graz and would highly recommend EYP to others.
Alba Thomä, 3A