Scoala Tinerilor Lideri Politici din Romania si Serbia
Program funded by America's
Development Foundation
Overview
The School for Young Serb and Romanian Political Leaders
is an seven-month training and exchange program for Serb and Romanian
members of national party leadership or leaders of youth party branches, aged
18-35. The program will be organized by the Foundation for Pluralism in
partnership with Civic Initiatives (CI), a Belgrade based
non-governmental organization, in Timisoara between February and August 2001.
Building on the Foundation for Pluralism experience of cross border
programs this is the first training program for a mixed Serb and Romanian group
of young political activists exposing the participants to a non partisan
regional interactive learning experience.
The School for Young Serb and Romanian Political Leaders
is a pilot project in the region. Its success could be replicated in the
Balkans leading to the set up of a regional network of young political leaders.
The participants will acquire communication skills, will
learn to negotiate, set up coalitions and do strategic planning. They will share
real political life stories and will analyze how the knowledge acquired during
seminars influenced their performance. They will have the opportunity to set up
common standards for effective political activity and develop interpersonal
relationship. Eventually they will set up a network to exchange information,
opinions and prospect opportunities for future cross border projects.
Lectures on common interest topics such as: political
stability in the region, pitfalls of the economic reform during the transition
period, the fight against corruption, and the set up of common standards in
public policy will represent unique learning experiences presented by guest
speakers from Romania.
A study visit of participants to offices of local MPs and
representatives of local public officials will expose the participants to a
hands-on experience on how public elected officials work in both countries.
After the completion of the program the participants will
acquire the skills necessary for effective political activity and to get access
to higher decision levels in the party hierarchy in both countries. The
School for Serb and Romanian Political Leaders will provide an opportunity
for the young leaders to exercise political dialogue, negotiation and
compromise, the hallmarks of democratic societies. Serbs and Romanians will
identify common challenges during the seminars and will look for possible common
solutions. They will learn how to set up basic common standards for their
political activity, how to communicate inside their organization, but also with
the media and the citizens. And last, but not least, they will learn that
besides lots of things that divide them, there are more things they have in
common. Serbs and Romanians will learn how to communicate effectively, how to
share information and build common trust. They will be able to establish long
lasting interpersonal relations that will be valuable assets for co-operation in
the region when they will become political decision-makers. Institutional
relationships are first of all people relationships.