THE DEADLINE IS:
6TH OCTOBER 2014 - MIDNIGHT (CET)
Call for preparatory team members for
“Right to Representation”
Vilnius, Lithuania | 6th – 12th December 2014
What is “Right to Representation” about?
Right to Representation will deal with the topic of representation and student voice. What does representation
mean? Who do school student organisations represent and how? Is there a “right” to representation? Do
individual have to choose or organisations have a duty to represent everyone? How to ensure that organisations
truly reflect the voice of its members/school students?
Representative democracy is the means through which people participate and take an active part in society. It is
therefore fundamental to look at the core of the right to representation, on order to understand that this is a right,
but also a responsibility. School student unions, representing the voice of school students, must fully understand
this responsibility but also foster awareness among school students about their rights and how they can
participate.
The topic of the events touches on very important issues for school student unions, as well as for any organisation
claiming to represent a particular group. Very often the real meaning and the various forms for representation are
forgotten. This event is the ideal place to (re)discover what the meaning is of representation, of being the voice of
millions of young people.
The event will explore the various types of representation possible, analysing their strengths and weaknesses. It
will explore the theme of right to representation through the lens of participation and democracy looking at how
school students’ participation in all discussions and all decision-making affecting school life must be
guaranteed. Through the exchange of experience and mutual learning between school student unions, we aim at
triggering reflection on the issue in order to improve its role as representative body at European level of school
students.
This event will mainly be based on peer-to-peer learning, where school student representatives learn from one
another and work together to find common solutions. Learning from and with one’s peers can be an incredibly
empowering and motivating experience and can yield great results.
OBESSU, defending school student rights since 1975
The conference will be based on the interaction among school students from all over Europe coming from a
variety of social and cultural backgrounds: they will be encouraged to bring their personal and national
perspectives and experiences to enrich the discussions. The shared aim of learning from one another and
developing common strategies will serve to promote dialogue and mutual understanding in order to achieve
common objectives.
On one hand there will be a self-reflection of each single organisation, since OBESSU is the European platform
representing school students. On the other hand it will be an intercultural learning of how representation and
democratic structures work in different countries in Europe.
This event will bring the everyday work of school student unions to a more abstract discussion, yet reflecting the
very concrete nature of their existence.
The prep-team members must be available to attend:

A preparation meeting in Vilnius during 7th-10th November 2014 (including travel days).

Right to Representation as well as a prep-team meeting 1 day before the beginning of the event. Prepteam members must be available 5-12th December 2014 (including travel days).
What is the ROLE of a prep-team member?
The role of the prep-team lies mostly in making an agenda running and organising sessions during the event. The
Prep-team will be expected to:

Be in charge of shaping the content of the event making it as dynamic, interesting and fun event as well
and most importantly, useful to OBESSU’s Member and Candidate Organisations;

Prepare and facilitate sessions;

Be ready to read several background documents;

Identify and contact guest speakers and trainers to invite;

Be generally available between the prep-team meeting and the event to communicate with the team and
work independently on the content of the event.
The prep-team will consist of members selected among OBESSU Member and Candidate Organisations, OBESSU
Board member Brendan Power (brendan@obessu.org) and it will be coordinated as well as supported by the
OBESSU secretariat.
How to apply?
In order to apply, you have to provide us with:

A nomination letter from your home organisation;
OBESSU, defending school student rights since 1975

A completed application form.
Deadline: 6th October 2014
If you have any questions, queries or would like some more information, please contact Board Member Brendan
Power at brendan@obessu.org or the Project Officer Estel Buch at estel@obessu.org.
Please find the Application Form below.
This event will be in cooperation with:
The deadline is 6th October – Midnight (CET)
APPLICATION FORM
OBESSU, defending school student rights since 1975
When you submit your Application Form, please ensure to also send a Nomination Letter from your home
organisation, nominating you as a prep-team member. This letter needs to be signed and stamped.
Please return to the OBESSU secretariat at estel@obessu.org.
Nominating organisation
Position in the organisation
Last Name
Gender:
Female ☐
Male ☐
First name
Personal Address
Postal code
City
Country
I understand and speak English
fluently:
Yes ☐
Date of birth
Phone number
Email
Language Knowledge
No ☐
Please answer the below questions:
(Use as much space as you need)
1. What motivates you to apply to Right to Representation and what excites you about the topic?
2. In your opinion what can OBESSU do for the event Right to Representation?
3. Which experience and what skills do you bring/can you bring to the preparatory team?
4. What experience do you have at running/facilitating workshops for school students or young people?
5. Do you have any concrete ideas that could be used for the sessions?
6. What are your commitments around the time of the event like? (School, work, your own organisation’s
work etc.)
7. Are you available for the prep-team meeting?
8. Any other relevant information?
OBESSU, defending school student rights since 1975