May 15, 2012 • Master's Degrees • Social Sustainability •  •

Civil Trust Building – A Two-Week Internship Programme in the EU

EU citizens should be familiar and properly informed about the actual situation in the candidate and potential candidate countries of the Western Balkans region, about the perspective of future EU enlargement. Civil society organisations on both sides of the fence can play an important role in this process by promoting public debates, carrying out information and awareness-raising campaigns, etc. We are convinced that the countries of the Western Balkans have a potential to join mainstream European processes and contribute on a partnership basis to the shaping of Europeof the future. Therefore European House (Hungary), together with CSO partners from the region from five other EU member states, has decided to run a project entitled “Civil Trust Building – Find your way through the Enlargement Labyrinth”.

PROJECT OBJECTIVES

  • Provide factual up-to-date information to the wider public of the six project participating countries about the enlargement process and candidate and potential candidate countries in the Western Balkans, showing their contemporary reality;
  • “Bridge building” between the citizens of EU member states and the candidate and potential candidate countries in the Western Balkans, with the aim to promote tolerance, mutual understanding and trust;
  • Raise public awareness and understanding about the importance of the European venture in general and the significance and impact of the enlargement process in particular through stimulating informal public debates and activities;
  • Foster European identity in the region of participating countries through cross-border action.

INTERNSHIP PROGRAMME

Seven interns from the Western Balkans region will be placed for a two-week internship with six civil society organizations in EU member states.

This internship will include meetings, distribution of the Enlargement questionnaire, preparation of the National Citizens’ Consultations, and participation at theViennaevaluation meeting.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

  • Internship is open only to citizens of the 7 Western Balkans countries;
  • Interest in and knowledge of EU policies, particularly enlargement;
  • Good organisational and communication skills;
  • Readiness to work in a team;
  • A CSO background;
  • 18-35 years old;
  • Good knowledge of English.

TIME COMMITMENT

Interns will spend two weeks in Austria, Hungary, Italy, Romania, Slovakia or Slovenia from 11-25 June 2012. The last commitment will be the participation at the evaluation meeting in Vienna on 25 June 2012.

Interns will be places in one of these organisations:

WORK COMITMENT

Selected interns will:

  • work on the implementation of the Civil Trust Building project;
  • through meetings, visits and other forms of contacts:
    a. disseminate information about the daily realities of their country from a human perspective and
    b. learn how public opinion of the host country views the perspectives of EU enlargement;
  • as part of preparations for the internship they will familiarise themselves with the political, social, cultural and civil realities of the host country;
  • participate in preparations and the holding of a national citizens’ consultation on EU enlargement organised by the host organisation;
  • distribute the enlargement questionnaire;
  • provide news items for the project website, share experience and report on their experience as an intern;
  • after the internship participate at the evaluation meeting in Vienna;
  • contact the NGO project partner in their country.

INTERNSHIP COVERS:

  • Accommodation, meals, local travel, insurance and other incidental costs during the internship and the evaluating meeting in Vienna;
  • lost-cost trip to the host country;
  • trip to Vienna for the evaluation meeting and return home

HOW TO APPLY

You can apply by sending your Europass format CV and written contribution (up to 500 words) on your motivation. Send your application to info@civiltrustbuilding.eu with the subject line “Civil Trust Building – 2012 Internship”. Only applications received by 18 May 2012 will be accepted. Selected interns will be informed by 23 May 2012. For more information on the project please visit www.civiltrustbuilding.eu

Further information: Civil Trust Building – A Two-Week Internship Programme in the EU