• Regional Youth Council Schleswig-Holstein
• Baltic Youth Office
• Baltic Times
• Norden

• Partner

• 
• Union of the Baltic Cities
• 
• Commission on Youth Issues
• 
• BSSSC
• 
• Baltic Sea Net

• Council of the
  Baltic Sea States

Meeting 7-8 July 2004 in Copenhagen

Topics of the meeting

• 1. Presentation of the evaluator


• 2. Introduction to the evaluation approach


• 3. Discussion on the evaluation


• 4. Future of the Baltic Sea Secretariat for Youth Affairs


• 5. Miscellaneous

Wednesday, 7 July 2004

1. Presentation of the evaluator Merja Kylmäkoski
- professional background
- member of the Finnish Youth Research Network

2. Introduction to the evaluation approach by Merja Kylmäkoski

Qualitative approach

Evaluation are always tailored:

• What is the evaluand?


• What evaluative information is needed?


• available resources?

Qualitative methods:

• consonant with decision-making model of evaluation research
  
• framing the decision context


• open-ended questions

An evaluation worth doing is worth doing well

First generation of evaluation: measurement

Second generation: description

Third generation: judgement

Fourth generation: construction

- the claims, concerns, and issues of stakeholders are the basis for determining what information is needed

- constructivist

- interactive

Evaluators goals for the meeting:

- specify the definition of the evaluand, thus “breaking down” the fields of cooperation, information available from different stakeholder groups

3. Discussion of the evaluation

The time table for the evaluation will be prolonged from September to October 2004. A final presentation will be given in 43/44 week at the next Working Group meeting.

Ms Kylmäkoski will start the evaluation with accessing the Plans of Actions, the annual and monthly reports of the Secretariat and the minutes of the Steering Committee and Working Group meetings.

The Working Group asked to involve a number of personal interviews in the concept of the evaluation and proposed to contact the following people:

Ulla Helsingius (Finland),

Marja Koskela (BYF)

Ina Werner, Sandra Weidemann (BSSYA),

Alwin Proost (Germany)

John Goss, Thies Grothe (Regional Youth Council)

Furthermore the WG defined together with the evaluator 5 different groups that should be contacted and questioned in the run of the evaluation. However, these interviews will mainly be conducted via telephone and/or email:
1. Working Group interview the former and current members

2. NGOs = National Youth Councils

Merja will develop together with Marja Koskela (BYF) a basis for a questionnaire for the group

3. Other structures (BSSSC, BSPC, UBC, CBSS, BYF):
Has the BSSYA influenced these structures?

4. National Agencies

How has the participation in the conferences influenced their work?

5. youth projects (from conferences)

contact with youth project/networks in the region, eParliament, Young European Federalists, Youth of European Nationalities, BIEN, etc.

Thursday, 8 July 2004

Continuation of discussion on evaluation

Further regulations:

- the evaluation will be conducted by means of open-ended questions and will not be longer than 5 pages

- Ms Kylmäkoski will develop 4 different questionnaires for the 5 target groups

Clarification on the guiding questions:

1. How has the Working Group on Youth Affairs (and the former Steering Committee) and

the Baltic Sea Secretariat on Youth Affairs contributed to the implementation of the Plans of

Actions?

2. How did they involve other actors in the focussing on youth questions in the Baltic Sea cooperation?

3. How their work on the level of national ministries and national youth councils has contributed in each country to the interest in the Baltic Sea youth cooperation as part of the international cooperation in the youth field?

4. What are the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and challenges of the Baltic Sea Cooperation in the youth field regarding the Working Group and its Secretariat?

Question 1 = goes to the Working Group (incl. observers), the BSSYA and

national youth councils

Question 2 = how has the lobby work of the Working Group/ BSSYA influenced

these actors, have they included youth issues because of the activities of the Working Group/ BSSYA

goes to other actors (GOs, NGOs)

Question 3 = mainly directed towards youth councils, ministries and National

Agencies

Question 4 = basis for the future planning,

directed to all target groups (other actors, Working Group, youth

council, youth projects, national ministries

Working Group & BSSYA: Q 1, Q 3, Q 4

Youth Councils (BYF): Q 1, Q 3, Q 4

Other Actors: Q 2, Q 4

Youth projects: Q 4

National agencies: Q 3, Q 4

Timetable

Accessing of documents by evaluator until end of July

Sending out questionnaires early August

Meeting for interviews mid August

Deadline for Youth councils for returning the questionnaires: 1 September 2004

Deadline for other target groups: end of August

Finances

- Polish contribution is restricted to spending in Poland

- Secretariat sends letters to the ministries, asking to transfer the contribution

- Contribution will be transferred to the account of the Regional Youth Council

- RYC will then pay 50% of the amount as soon as possible to the Finnish Youth Researchers network (evaluator is employed by the Finnish network)

- BYF is asked to send an application to the European Youth Foundation

Requests to the Secretariat:

a) send out cover letter to the target groups and inform about upcoming questionnaire

b) look up the addresses of the youth project representatives

c) contact with Roman for next meeting 43rd week (18-20 October) or 44th week (28-30 October), possibly in St. Petersburg, Plan B – meeting in Finland

d) send working paper to the group and the evaluator

e) send letter with regards to the Berlin minutes, asking to contribute the sums mentioned to the account of the Secretariat (Germany: evaluation proposal, Berlin minutes, letter)

4. Future of the Baltic Sea Secretariat for Youth Affairs

The mandate of the BSSYA will end in December 2004. Therefore the WG discussed how to continue with the cooperation and with the Secretariat.

Some countries explained that they would like to base an agreement on a new 3-year-term for the Secretariat on the results of the evaluation and integrate them in the new agreement. Due to time restrictions a discussion of the evaluation results and their potential implementation in a new mandate will not be achievable in 2004.

It has been proposed to prolong the current mandate of the Secretariat for one year (2005). This will give time to the ministries to develop a new mandate including the findings of the evaluation, to reserve the financial contribution in the national budgets and it will also give planning security to the administrative body of the Secretariat, the Regional Youth Council Schleswig-Holstein.

Before that background the Secretariat has been asked to and will:

Send letter to all 11 ministries ask for a one-year prolongation of the Secretariat’s mandate (2005)

- ministries should either at the next meeting in October or in writing decide upon the further commitment/ contribution to the Secretariat

- administrative body needs planning security

- deadline for reaction – mid-September

- inform that there should be a timetable for next year, indicating the future 3 years (revise working structures

Intention to make a long-term decision in the spring meeting

Agreement on the mandate for the cooperation (2006-2008)

- in this agreement argumentation for having a Secretariat and the work/ tasks of the Secretariat

- also agreement on the finances

- input from every country to a new paper (compilation of ideas)

5. Miscellaneous

Sweden informed about an investigation on establishing a Baltic Sea Centre in Kalmar that will focus on trade, environment, business, cooperation, networking.

From 24-26 September 2004 a follow-up of the Sigtuna meeting from 2003 will take place in Iceland. This so called “European” meeting of the Nordic Youth Committee will invite youth structures from the Barents, the Baltic Sea, the Nordics and Western Nordics in order to define common areas of interest and common approaches.

The Baltic Sea Secretariat for Youth Affairs and the BYF have received an invitation to the meeting.

The next meeting of the Working Group should take place either 18-20 October or 28-30 October, possibly in St. Petersburg

Plan B – meeting in Helsinki
Follow-up

a) each ministry should transfer its contribution to the evaluation to the account of the Secretariat

b) until mid-September every ministries should decide upon the proposal to prolong the Secretariat’s mandate for 2005 and inform the Secretariat about its decision

c) fill in and return questionnaires to the evaluator until 1st September 2004

Participants:

Kristina Cunningham (Sweden), Seija Astala (Finland), Bjorn Hansen (Norway), John Goss (Regional Youth Council SH), Alwin Proost (Germany), Lidia Kilinska (Poland), Marja Koskela (BYF), Sandra Weidemann (BSSYA)