Southeast Europe and the EU – Leadership Development Programme – the seventh edition of the programme starts

The seventh edition of the LDP programme will start with the Summer Academy, to be held in Bratislava, Vienna and Mauerbach, 1 - 15 September 2012. Thirty participants from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia and Turkey have been selected for the seventh generation of the Southeast Europe and EU – Leadership Development Programme. The Southeast Europe and EU – Leadership Development Programme is structured around three complementary activities which aim to provide participants with a comprehensive understanding of the European Union and its relations with Southeast Europe. Training sessions on negotiations, presentation, and project management skills, as well as the development and implementation of group projects in the region, are designed to enhance the leadership abilities of participants. The programme starts with a two-week Summer Academy in Austria and Slovakia, which will offer participants a unique opportunity to combine a study of the EU and Southeast Europe with a broader discussion of international and economic relations, all the while developing their personal professional skills. The first week is reserved for European Union issues as well as introductory sessions on Group Projects. The Institutional Framework and Decision Making Process in the European Union, The Legal Framework of the European Union, EU Foreign and Security Policy, Euroscepticism in the EU, The Economic Crisis in the EU—these are some of the topics that will be discussed. Issues on Reconciliation in the Western Balkans are planned to be discussed at the end of the first week of the seminar. There will also be introductory sessions on Group Projects and Training on Leadership Skills. Visits are planned to both Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic (Bratislava) and the Austrian Foreign Ministry (Vienna), as well as the ERSTE Foundation. In the second week, participants will develop Group Projects and undergo training in Project Management and Communication. More focused topics will be discussed in Energy Strategies and Climate Change in Europe, Diversity in Europe, and Identity, Nation‐States & State Building. Western Balkan topics for the second week are reserved for an expert's view on the WB from outside /inside. Participants are expected to take active part in an evening discussion on the topic, ‘The Power of Civic Activism’. At the end of the seminar the participants will present Group Projects and prepare themselves for the joint activities planned to be implemented in the following period throughout the region. More on Southeast Europe and the EU – Leadership Development Programme More on www.seeyoungleaders.org Here is the list of the participants