The e-U21Club was called in and it seemed that any increasing stage fright was suffocated when our young people went on stage. The boys presented their project confidently and with charm and were subsequently interviewed by members of the jury on their subject. The interest of the judges was great and so the scheduled presentation time exceeded. At this point  all possible uncertainties had been gone and we watched in the audience with pride as the team has all questions answered professionally and refute counterarguments.
After the lecture we went directly to the photo session where our professional team has been set in scene. Even after this experience it was clear: nobody of our team wanted to be a Top Model.

The next day the ceremony was the main item on the program. The jury did not take the decision lightly; after all, most of the finalists developed projects that also impressed us.
Although we have not made it in the end to win the Focus Competition, even though all team members can be proud of their work.

Even if we did not win with our project, we are still happy to have made ​​it this far. This experience has motivated everyone in the team greatly, strengthened the confidence and awakened the ambition to shape the future with more innovative ideas.

• E-U21CLUB
• Do IT Yourself
• Travel & Help

We are very pleased and grateful with this recognition of our work!

Facebook Spreads

That results in interesting phenomena. Who would have thought that Facebook can be used as an efficient means of communication for exchange between German and Cambodian young people? What seems to be a gimmick on the first sight makes perfect sense on closer examination. Most of the young people have a Facebook account and are used to chat and to reach people they can communicate with in real time. A positive side effect: You write in English, thus move proactively into a foreign language and by the use of a keyboard this is an intentional side effect of chatting. Also from Cambodia, but in other context, Josh Feitelson reported. Sovereign he presented his first club, which he recently founded Beebob eV. A club which has already reach a lot in a very short tim. He currently holds talks in Germany about his project, especially in schools, just to make young people aware that they can do something. His statement: "What can I do" is definitely the program, he would shake, and increases awareness that everyone has the opportunity to follow his heart. Like him, since September 2010 he lives in his adopted home of Cambodia, rather than as originally planned to pursue studies.

India is absolute in everything

Sraddhabandhu leads guests from the neighborhood of Cambodia to India. As a country that presents itself with loud and impulsive people in many places. A little film in addition to numerous photos gave inserts to feel the sense of the events there. It is a country that probably takes a lifetime to discover it. It is so large, so far and so much of everything and everyone. Monday and Friday evenings Sraddhabandhu introductions to Buddhism take place in Triratna in Dusseldorf. Interested people are invited to learn the meaning and feeling of meditation in this place of.

How do I stand?

With Caroline Alexander, owner of practicing flies, movement arouse among the guests. She pointed out what is important in presenting. Namely, first center yourself after arriving at and insert one or two breaks in your speech. This creates tension and attention. Look into the eyes, get in touch and always be you. The attendees were allowed to try for themselves; they could do this by standing up with simple exercises to create internal stability and find the star in themselves. Who wants more information: www.fliegen-ueben.de Overall, a round evening, which was followed by a more intensive exchange. We thank all the speakers and guests for their participation. The next YouCan Talk takes place on 4 May 2011. There will be Sabine Kersten of the Children's Aid Project Little Prince Kenya Association , Gisela Löhneysen (Clown and Love of Life). Our young people from the EU 21 Club present their project, with which they take part in this year's Focus competition. We look forward to seeing you all!

Do IT Yourself

About the talks: Inga Palme, CEO of YouCan Trust, presented YouCan Trust, especially the plan Do IT Yourself. Disadvantaged youth in Cambodia are given the opportunity, to use the Internet cafe for to enhance the important skills which they learn in the internet. For this purpose, they visit an Internet cafe in Siem Reap, Cambodia. The costs are paid by YouCan Trust. They convey a sense that it is possible to give young people over a distance of more than 10,000 km computer skills, especially learning by internet. In this context, Facebook plays an important role. About the chat function, young people are regularly in touch with YouCan Trust and can ask their questions. This can create small misunderstandings. For us it self-evident to click a link function, which is incomprehensible to them and they manually enter all the letters on Google Search. With this background, it has to be considered a great achievement that they manage to create a note themselves on their own website.

De-Cluttering helps our soul

Daniela Gössmann pointed out what de-cluttering is. Then she told us what it makes with us. Respectively, in return, it means that the outside reflects the inside. It was great joy to follow her presentation. And you felt immediately like starting to de-clutter in your own areas. It is not only a framework, but rubbish is the reflection of our interior. De-cluttering means to establish clarity and live in the present. As all things that surround us are objects coming from the past. And the past is something to let go to make room for new things in life. This was a fresh and lively presentation.

How do other people see me?

Susanne Hillmer was the really exciting part of this evening. Expecting to give a lecture on Xing, how to find out what words best place or what technical features are to locate the best place, that was wrong. It was more about one's own profile picture on Xing and the subject of external and self-perception. How do I want to be seen and how others see me in the picture? Interestingly, rarely voted in line with the own perception of those present. To the next appointment with the photographer from now on, we should bring our desires, how we want to be seen, so he has a chance to move us into our truly right image. We are looking forward to the results.

Following the presentations there was a lively exchange, and it raised even possible ideas for joint cooperation. Overall, we had an interesting and exciting evening for all concerned.
The next YouCan Talk meeting will be held on 30th of March. The topics will be announced. Who wants to give a talk, please do not hesitate to contact Angela Schulz-Henke.

Help for Self-Help

Inga Palme explained the aims of YouCan Trust, which are to enable young people to lead an independent and fulfilling life. This implies developing ideas and not getting stuck in deficiency thinking. With the example “the hole in the wall”, she was able to show that even the poorest children in India are capable to earn an income without anyone at any time explaining to them the use of a personal computer.

English, a very important subject in Cambodia. Why not converse in English just among themselves? It may seem strange in the beginning but one soon gets used to it. Above all: it does not cost anything and one gets practice at the language even when one does not have money to attend an extra language course. Help others in order to help yourself! Build communities and look after them! This was the key point from this talk.

Global Challenges

Wilfried Ifland showed that young people in Europe don’t necessarily have a better life despite the fact that it is much easier for them. In Europe, many young people especially cannot find work and in Spain the percentage of unemployment among youth is 30%, and continuing to increase. This was something of a surprise to the young people in the audience. The time of the classic image of the rich West is coming to an end. There is also demand for more creativity than ever before, and it has to be inter-cultural. Starting in 2011, young people from Germany will be in direct contact with each other, through the program “Travel & Help”, in order to learn from each other and to help one another.

Roger Valkenborghs dispelled the myth that he was rich. He said that he worked hard for about 45 years and that even as a young man, whenever possible, he put away some savings so that after a while he something left over and was therefore able to build up something new. He paid money to the State in taxes and now receives a pension. Everyone laughed when he said that the State was not too happy if he lived a long life.

Toward the end, we presented Siyon Yoth (24). The elder sister of Dara Yoth works as a sales manager for a hotel. To get this position she had to fight for years and had to forgo many things. But she was a shining example that assistance properly applied, i.e. help for self-help, pays off. In fluent English she explained her view on life and confirmed that it is up to everyone to take life into his or her own hand. Only by doing this is it possible to make something out of one’s life, even if one is poor. She knows what she is talking about because as a child she was also dirt poor. Siyon Yoth will be available to the young people in Cambodia as technical coordinator with advice and action.

Young people like Ly Hung, who looks at you with glowing eyes and dreams one day to be a tourist guide at Angkor Wat. We want to help such people and give them a chance in life. We will support him because, who knows, one day he may be the best tourist guide that visitors have ever encountered in Angkor Wat.

Do IT Yourself

The operation of an Internet Café in Siem Reap is comparatively favourable. For 50 US cents one can surf the Internet for an hour. We found a beautiful Internet Café and the Cambodian students that will be accepted into the program will be given a type of stamp card with which they can use the Internet Café cost free. We will start this program with 10 students, 5 from “Hun Sen Siem Reap” and 5 from “10th January 1979” Highschool.

Developing Ideas

Inga Palme, Director of YouCan Trust (UK) and now General Manager of the newly established YouCan Trust Germany, opened the evening with an introduction of the once again generation-spanning audience. Her presentation focused on the motivation and aims of YouCan Trust’s new project Travel & Help.

Everywhere we hear the cry for innovation: to develop new ideas by yourself. But in which environment is promising and successful innovation created? Sport, especially team sports, give us an impressive example. Here the needs of individuals are put aside for the sake of the common goal and allow top performance to shine. Adapting the concept to the commercial world, we can see similar examples. Contao, a CMS (Content Management System) from the Open Source movement, software in other words, which everyone can use for free, is continuously being developed by numerous programmers to ensure its ongoing competitiveness. Questions from users are discussed and answered and ideas exchanged by programmers in an online forum. It is also a kind of team that generates top performance but makes its results available completely cost-free to the user community. Many a team member will develop into a specialist in certain areas and can then generate their own business models. Everyone in the community is part of the whole and feels a sense of responsibility for each other. A kind of “volunteered obligation” that enables each participant to secure their own outcome.

Travel & Help is based on the same concept. It is about creating environments and experiences that generate new ideas. Ideas that can lead to new business models. Ideas that can secure one’s own outcome. Completely foreign environments, far away from the day-to-day routines, create the best conditions for such impulses. And YouCan Trust can also see here the relationship and connection with the application of modern technology. The new website of Travel & help is due for release in mid-November.

Japan is fantastic!

Tristan Junker, highschool graduate from Düsseldorf, convinced everyone with his fresh and spontaneous presentation of Japan. He managed to bring this far away land a great deal closer with his numerous anecdotes of people’s lifestyles.
Yet it was not only his content but also his cordial and authentic way that prompted each one to immediately go home and pack the suitcase for Japan.

Everything is well organized in Japan. And everyone also makes sure that it stays this way. People have respect for things, and for nature. Before eating, people thank the farmers for their work that made it possible to have something on the table now. Technologically far advanced, Japanese no longer use SMS and when visiting a city in Germany like Düsseldorf they see it more as an old relic from a Disney movie than a modern metropolis. You must not pull a face if the food does not taste nice. This is absolutely impolite. Tristan learnt this before his departure as part of his preparation. But he did not expect that exactly his host family presented him with a typical local dish that even those with a well developed taste for Japanese cuisine do not find too palatable. And all the family members watched carefully if he was going to pull a face. Tristan is firmly convinced that he passed the test with flying colours and that nobody noticed anything. His presentation made Japan very real to the audience and he was rewarded with much applause.

Social Media from the Human Viewpoint

Olivera Wahl, expert in social media, presented fascinating aspects of social media that give everyone possibilities to position themselves favourably on the Net. She demonstrated through numerous tips and tricks and in impressive style that social media is not just a tool but also has a human side.

For more than five years, she has been active in the social media landscape and noticed that there has been a major change in thinking and acting, and this in a positive way.  Social media creates a possibility never before available to present one’s self as well as one’s products effectively. Social media as a technology enables something that people in the non-virtual world are often unable to apply: to value and to publicly praise others results in an immediate improvement in one’s own ranking. And this totally cost-free! Although this presentation went over time, all guests stayed enthusiastic till the very end. Olivera Wahl managed to dismantle possible hurdles with social media technology in her very authentic presentation style. If you want to know more about this subject: she conducts a 3-hour seminar on this topic regularly. More details available from her >website. And if you want to publicize your enthusiasm over her presentation, you have the opportunity here at Qype.

Our Sponsor was also there!

We were especially pleased that Jonathan Moewe and Alexander Faust were able to attend the YouCan Talk event, although they traveled a good 350 km from Frauensee. The two authors of the novel “Malkuth”, the second edition of which will appear in mid-November, are donating a part of their revenue from each book sold to YouCan Trust. If you want to know more about the book or place an order, please go to www.nepa-verlag.de

In addition, the two authors announced yesterday that they want to host YouCan Talk in their city. Thank you for this wonderful initiative!

We thank all participants, speakers and guests for a wonderful evening, and also the excellent service and food at the restaurant Jaegerhof.

For those of you who plan far ahead, here are the dates for 2011:

Wednesday – 2nd February
Wednesday – 4th May
Wednesday – 7th September
Wednesday – 2nd November

The agenda for the 2nd of February is already set and will be published shortly. If you want to make a presentation, please contact us.

Mr Denninger of BISS (Buerger in sozialen Schwierigkeiten e.V. – NGO Citizens with social difficulties) was there and talked about the project BISS Hotels. The idea is for young people with few chances in the education market to be trained as skilled staff in the hospitality industry, with cooperation from 2 Five-Star Hotels. BISS is of the opinion that only a first class approach will work in order to have genuine chances of finding jobs in the market place. It is also planned to expand the Hotel BISS concept to include first class homes for old people. The idea is that older people should have all the comforts of life, yet retain their independence. > Click here for more information about the BISS Hotel project. The BISS newspaper is sold only by former homeless people over the age of 40, in other words by people who had virtually no chance of finding work in the job market.

„Success is programmable“ – a short presentation by Angela Schulz-Henke. To be successful it is necessary to learn how to use the universal laws consciously. This includes taking responsibility for thinking, feeling, and acting. Which in turn means stopping blaming others, expecting others to change, and to replace the word “but” with the word “nevertheless”. It involves uncovering hidden obstacles. Most of the time this is possible only with professional support.

„Art and Energy“ – the combination of art and energy serves as a supporting aid to harmonize body, soul and spirit. Elke Sonnenfroh did not say much but let her pictures speak for themselves. The picture “Freudewirbel” (“whirlpool of joy”) made the guests smile and the picture “gruener Wirbel” (green whirlpool”) leads the viewer to him/her self. This is energy that flows into the pictures at the time of painting. They are mood balancing and increase the joy of living as well as the quality of life. Her new video on YouTube shows some of her powerful works.

„Active Meditation“ – an active meditation is a meditation of movement in different phases. Through the movement most people are able to get to a state of tranquility more easily. Meditation prepares one to meet the ups and downs of life. It reduces tension, emotions and worries – disquiet disappears. Things start to order themselves. Life becomes smooth instead of a fight. Meditation cannot be achieved through reason. Reason is too noisy. Meditation is achieved when reason is put aside, relaxation occurs, thoughts pass by and no identification is made with thoughts. A great presentation by Julietta Haun.

In order to be consistent with the principles of YouCan Trust to start conversations with young people, it was suggested that a representative student/speaker from each of 6 schools be invited for the next YouCan Talk, which will take place on the 19th of January 2011.

For thousands of years, we humans have been looking for possibilities to improve ourselves. We believe that technological progress, new technologies or economic growth make our lives more comfortable and simpler. Just in the last 100 years, mankind has experienced therefore an ever increasing dynamic of global changes. But has this resulted in an improved quality of life? Or is it not rather that we have moved into a dead end street, which necessitates an urgent and radical rethinking of our activities? Never before have so many people lived in poverty and misery as today. The extent of the destruction of Nature and the exploitation of our own planet have undreamed of impacts and consequences.

But not only do the economic and social structures on our Earth need a new order. Also our consciousness needs to be adjusted to the changing circumstances if mankind wants to experience a golden age – and this is already happening: More and more people perceive that the biggest change is still in front of us. What was a small movement a few decades ago has become in the meantime a mass phenomenon. A collective consciousness is paving its way and is awakening more and more sleeping individuals who explore unimagined possibilities to resolve the causes of our problems. The novel Malkuth is about visionary people that want to unite mankind in a way that has never been done before in order to lead us into a golden age. More information and pre-orders at: www.nepa-verlag.de YouCan Trust is grateful to the two authors for this great support!

Formal exercises are deliberately kept to a minimum in order to leave room for the ideas to generate and develop. In this exchange, the students from Germany and Cambodia will submit their ideas on the website and with this simple activity, mutual interests will develop. Nevertheless, a project of this nature needs to be led and for this purpose there are mentors available in both Germany and Cambodia that will monitor the exchanges and intervene when necessary in individual situations.

The Cambodian young people meet in the facilities of the Guesthouse Sun Sothy. Here YouCan Trust has established a small Internet Café which is available for the students to use free of charge for the web-based activities. Link to the web-page at: www.hun-sen-siem-reap-highschool.info

We are very grateful for the wonderful support from lawyer Dirk Langner of Mayer Brown LLP. This reputable and global legal firm did the work for YouCan Trust Germany for free.

Picture, from left: Dirk Langner – lawyer from Mayer Brown LLP Dr Juergen Kallrath – notary Wilfried Ifland – director Inga Palme – director

A being that wants to reach illumination for the benefit of all beings. That is a Bodhisattva. Dhammachari Sraddhabandhu explained in his presentation the six virtues or “Paramitas” (completeness). It was a joy to follow his words. The presented virtues of generosity, ethics, patience, energy, meditation and wisdom filled the room and embraced everyone. After ten minutes talking, up to the second, Sraddhanandhu finished his presentation. At the end, everyone was enveloped by a pleasant silence. And for a moment, everything had been said, because each word spoken by Sraddhabandhu felt just right. To help from the viewpoint of Buddhism: this theme could not have been explained more clearly.

For those of you who want to know more about the work of Dhammachari Sraddhabandhu: he invites everyone every Monday and Friday, from 1900 hours onwards, for a public meditation and Buddhism evening at the in Düsseldorf. "Buddhistische Gemeinschaft Triratna" in Düsseldorf. And here the presentation in PDF format for Download.

The purpose of a Social Business is primarily the solution of a social problem – not the maximization of profits. Even so, Social Enterprises follow economic principles. This key aspect was explained by Christian Vitocco together with the motivation for a Social Business. With the help of examples he was able to show impressive business models. Such as Glovico, the Fairtrade Language School. Here the students can use Skype to improve their language skills at low cost. The teachers are people that support their livelihoods with the income thus generated, which otherwise would be very difficult if not impossible for them to do.

SSocial Business necessitates different thought and action paradigms. If you want to learn more, you can register at Christian Vitocco’s Social Business Academy.  Social Business Academy. He too has made his presentation available in PDF format for Download

Till late into the night the conversation continued among the guests. Among them were the students Gleb Karbachinski and Christoph Raabe. Gleb Karachinski will be the Team Leader at this year’s Focus Wettbewerb for students: Out of the Classroom and into the Practice! He is currently preparing a presentation together with Wilfried Ifland for the students in the last year of the three Benrather Gymnasiums. We are excited about the new team. This time we want to make it to the finals in Berlin! Christoph Raabe just returned a few days ago from Cambodia where he was guest at our partner organization KidsCare Cambodia. Among other things there, he contributed to the construction of the toilet facilities for the elementary school. Thanks to his financial support, this project was able to get off the ground. In his hand, he is holding the Cambodian construction contract.

It was really a generation- and world-spanning YouCan Talk evening. We thank all guests, speakers, and also the friendly service staff from Restaurant Jaegerhof and look forward to the next YouCan Talk Düsseldorf on 3rd November. All information to the themes are available >here

How does India taste?

Jonas Zimmermann (Final Year Highschool Student) presented his project „Indian Curry“. The idea is to develop a travel diary in the form of a blog with much documentation and short films. This is not the first project that he and his partner Patrick Wallochny have realized. In 2009 already both went to the Delphi Games and documented their impressions in an online Travel Diary. The documentary will be exciting: India to taste and grip. > here

So far away is Cambodia now also not

Inga Palme (Director, YouCan Trust) presented the new cooperation with Roger Valkenborghs, the founder of NGO KidsCare Cambodia (KidsCare Kambodscha e.V.). The main purpose of this organization is to reduce child poverty. Roger Valkenborghs, the organization’s initiator, was immediately impressed by the philosophy of YouCan Trust to support young people and promptly converted a room in his guest house into a small Internet Café. Together with the young participants of Entrepreneur@School, YouCan Trust made funds available for access to a wireless LAN. To transfer the funds from A to B, however, turned out to be a challenge. To simply transfer funds online was not possible. Besides hefty fees, one also has to appear personally at the bank. Paypal works only partially – in Cambodia it is not possible to collect funds from a Paypal account. That’s what it says in the Internet, so what to do? Finally, the choice had to be Western Union. Visit the office, pay the money and negligible fees, send the funds on their way, transmit the security code via SMS and within minutes the funds can be collected on the other side of the planet. If only everything in life were as simple as this! To check on the recent activities of KidsCare Cambodia, go to Facebook.

Dementia is not a disease

All participants were completely impressed by the touching presentation of Sybille Kastner and Friederike Winkler-Rufenach. Both of them museum pedagogues at the Wilhelm Lehmbruck Museum, they responded to an invitation by YouCan Talk host Claudia Seidensticker. They have created a concept that is unique in Germany. Under the motto of “Art is for everyone”, they offer guided tours that are specifically targeted for people who suffer from dementia. The guided tour emphasizes a meaningful experience. First, the visitors are served coffee and have thus the opportunity to take in the facilities quietly and to get to know the museum pedagogues personally. Then they will view together a few art pieces that are related to a common theme. Themes may include “Mother and Child”, but also landscapes or animals. Due to the reduced selection of great emotions, such as in the works of Lehmbruck, participants can thus awaken their own feelings and develop them. At the end of the guided tour, participants have the opportunity for a bit of practice and each one can create their own piece of art. Depending on the theme and preferences, several types of materials can be used, such as clay, wire or even aquarelle paintings. The visitors are entitled to take their art work home with them. In this manner, the participants often discover own or new capabilities and learn to appreciate them. Not only those affected with dementia, but also their attending nurses or guardians can benefit from these visits. Their daily routines also require the encouragement and excitement of a few beautiful hours spent together. They experience art from the same perspective and can view themselves in a different way while at the museum.

The aim of the guided tour is for people to leave the museum with a good feeling. As a public institution, it is important that a museum sets a meaningful example with such offerings and thus contributes to the discourse on the subject of dementia.

Thanks to all!

A great presentation of a sensitive subject! All present were visibly touched by the simplicity of the possibilities of how to handle people with dementia and soon thought about their own situations. A lively discourse followed till late. We thank all guests and speakers for a very intense evening. And we already look forward to the next exciting YouCan Talk at the “Unperfekthaus”. The date will be 7th of September. If you would like to make a presentation, please contact us via the Contact Form .

Wilfried Ifland, Chairman of YouCan Trust, was beaming on his birthday!! The YouCan Talk on 5th of May was really an evening spanning generations. With the focus of the evening on social change, this “age-independent” aspect can surely be seen as progress. Tim Bruysten (wavetank – everything collaboration) explained clearly that, for instance, the iPhone itself does not represent progress but the changed behaviour of its users does. Here we have to think how the spread of the Internet has indirectly heightened expectations in living and can thus bring real progress to a society. Of interest was also his thoughtful estimate of ever increasing acceleration: given the ever shorter development periods in science and technology, could it be dangerous to continue to have a 4-year legislature?

What should and can schools teach today? All present quickly concluded: education, which does not mean merely disseminating facts and knowledge. Classes today? Some guests were amazed at the changes taking place in the classroom. Tristan Junker, Felix Kaysers and Malte Moeser presented their results of their participation in this year’s Focus Competition and surprised most of the older guests with their “matter-of-fact” knowledge and maturity, showing that they will not belong to those who will dedicate their whole life to a job. The awareness to take responsibility themselves to do and make something of their lives was their key message.

The really interesting thing was reflected in what was not said. All present discussed among themselves and asked questions, such as: what is actually a “Wiki”?, which the 3 young men could easily answer. In many ways they are way ahead of the older generation but they can still benefit from the experience of the latter. The mood was: finally a different picture of young people. It is a pity that one does not hear much about this from the mass media, an almost frightening state. Learning from and with one another, discussing and listening, and this between generations. This is how we envisage one form of progress. A connection that bridges generations!

Toward the end, Patrick Wallochny briefly presented the film project “IndianCurry”. If you want to find out more about this project, he and Jonas Zimmermann will talk about this in more detail at the YouCan Talk event on 8th June in Essen. Should be exciting!!

We thank all participants, speakers and guests for making this a great YouCan Talk evening! Many thanks also from the young people that so many completed the feedback forms. The comments will surely be useful. Please note: the next YouCan Talk in Düsseldorf will take place on the 1st of September. Among the guests will be Sraddhabandhu with a presentation on: Helping from a Buddhist point of view.

How modern technologies will change the education system and create the Entrepreneurial Society of the 21st Century

We are grateful to School Headmaster Brigitte Vinke for allowing all the senior classes to attend this event. First Lord Mayor of Düsseldorf Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann warmed up the public to encourage the students of the E-U21 Club to make it to the Finals in Berlin. Jonas Zimmermann, also in his final year at the Annette Gymnasium, recorded everything and will surely prepare a terrific documentary.

We remember: YouCan was able to successfully support him by getting numerous sponsors to buy “shares” in his film project “Das Lebel ist kein Ponyhof”. An investment that paid off: his film won the First Prize at the Student Film Festival NRW. Congratulations! Now we have to make sure that we can convince the jury that the students of the Annette Gymnasium from Düsseldorf deserve to go to Berlin for the Finals. The countdown has started. We should know the result by the end of May.

If you want to know more about this project, you can attend the next YouCan Talk in Düsseldorf on 5th of May. That evening, the students participating in the competition will present more of their work in the framework of the “Action Days for Political Education”. As an additional incentive we will offer a glass of champagne for each guest. After the presentation, all guests are invited to complete the feedback forms and help the students to improve. This is also a YouCan project. The “seniors” can evaluate the “juniors” and the “juniors” the “seniors”. Because one thing we know: one can learn a lot from young people!

For the site of the “Bundeszentrale for Political Education” and the Action Days program, click here

said YouCan Talk host Gabi Mohr. Such constructive discussions are very rare. This happened at the first YouCan Talk in Berlin. Some 25 guests turned up for the first YouCan Talk in Berlin. Frank Freiherr von Coburg gave a presentation and comprehensive overview of voluntary work and its significance, backed up by the numbers of citizens taking part. Each year, some 4.6 billion hours of voluntary services are spent. This amounts to 7.5% of all paid working hours in Germany. At an average of 7.50 Euros per hour, these voluntary services amount to a value of nearly 35 billion Euros. A fundamental point is: the more projects that are able to maintain their character and independence from third parties, the more attractive they are for voluntary engagement.

Max Seedorf, just 14 years of age, presented his own view on the subject of voluntary work. “If one has stood in front of 150 people and one knows it is the result of one’s own efforts, that is already very exciting. And one knows then also to what one is committed. That feeling stays and motivates to keep going.” Max is, apart from his involvement with the Association against Child Poverty (Verein Gegen Kinderarmut), also engaged with the “Drinking Water Project” (Trinkwasserprojekt) in a voluntary capacity. In his just 8 minutes of presenting, he cam straight to the point on his chosen topic, a fact that was rewarded with lots of applause.

Looking at humanity with different eyes

This was the plea of Herbert Haberl in his presentation on having a “condition-less basic income”. His appeal says: don’t always consider the worst of all possibilities with regards to other people! Only a small percentage of people are abusing the social system and most of the time, all attention is given to this fact. He admits that in the beginning he too thought that having a “condition-less basic income” cannot work – the mere thought of it is nonsense. But by examining the issue closer, he changed his mind fundamentally, taking into account actual studies made by Prof. Dr. Thomas Strabhaar (“A basic income for all – holistic solution instead of partial mishmash”) and Prof. Theo Wehner (“Rehumanizing Society”). A very informative presentation!

More links and information on this theme, put together by Herbert Haberl:
Innovative Middle Blog
Innovative Middle Facebook
Innovative Middle Twitter

The subsequent two hours of discussion proved how current this topic is. One of the guests (who traveled all the way from Switzerland to attend YouCan Talk) heard about this topic for the first time and therefore contributed to an interesting discussion, which lasted until late into the night. And besides, Herbert Haberl was surprised by the written feedback he received on his presentation from Max. Luckily, Max Seedorf praised him throughout. A really exciting first event for YouCan Talk in Berlin. We thank all speakers and guests for a successful evening!

The next YouCan Talk in Berlin is scheduled for 15th of May 2010. This event is in conjunction with the “Action Days for Political Education” from 5th to 23rd May. Information on individual topics will be published shortly but one we can already disclose today: there will be a presentation on Nobel Peace Prize Muhammad Yunus.

For evaluation purposes, the following questions will be asked:

• Which points made the highest impression on me? (max. 3)
• What did I particularly like?
• What do I recommend for the next presentation?

The members of our project group “entrepreneur@school” will start this at the next YouCan Talk event in Düsseldorf. They are participating in this year’s Focus competition “Out of the Classroom, into the Practice”. For the final selection, 20 schools will be invited to present in Berlin. A request to all YouCan Talkers: participate and help these young people to grow a bit by giving them your written feedback on their presentation for them to take back. On behalf of the students, we thank you for your support.

Entrepreneur@School is aimed at preparing students for the workplace of the future, a future that in some organizations has already arrived. With traditional jobs becoming scarce, this program encourages young people to learn entrepreneurial skills (finding business opportunities, analysis, decision making, communicating, marketing, product design, and creating competent teams of collaborators) combined with the latest technologies on the market now, such as search engines, social networking, wikis, blogs (text and video), collaborative software, and Web 2.0 to 4.0 technologies.

The E-U21 Club has announced that it will take part in the Focus Magazine Competition called “WE 2010 – Think Future, Take Responsibility!”, using the Entrepreneur@School program as its entry. The competition is aimed at discovering ideas and programs that will have a profound effect on our society in the near future.

The E-U21 Club believes that its entry will revolutionize the field of education, shifting the focus from teaching to learning, turning teachers from disseminators of information to mentors, facilitators, and managers of learning environments. Students will both collaborate and compete, honing their communication and presentation skills, and focus on projects in traditional and social entrepreneurship to make a living while simultaneously addressing social, technical, environmental, and economic issues that affect societies now and in the future.

Of major importance in both the program and the Focus Competition is the emphasis on taking responsibility, the idea that young people have a stake in creating their own as well as their society’s future, and should not rely on parents or governments to formulate the future for them, but become actively involved.

To select the winners of the Competition, the Focus jury will evaluate the content and ideas of the entry, its practical relevance, how well the live presentation was made, and how effective the website of the participating team is to convey the message of the project in clear and easily understandable terms.

Teams selected for the live presentation in Berlin will be announced in early April 2010. The winner will be chosen from the 20 teams that will present.

The E-U21 Club is inviting parents, teachers, companies, and anyone interested in supporting the Club, financially or in kind, to contact! Corporations are invited to adopt the Entrepreneur@School program and the E-U21 Club as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. Please contact ….. for further information!

Düsseldorf, February 2010

Let’s Move Something

With impressively simple words did Michael Jastram make his point. Tribe (a movement) functions along the following principles: You have a story Tell it and link with other people Take the leadership Achieve thus a transformation Not really new and therefore the more surprising. It seems that all movements (tribes) can be reduced to this simple formula. Let’s start a new movement – there are people out there waiting! Seth Godin, marketing pioneer, did not develop this formula in his bestseller “Tribes”. For more information on Seth Godin >here. A polarizing presentation that prompted a lot of thinking and food for discussion.

How does Africa Work?

14 students from the Max Planck Gymnasium of Düsseldorf made a trip to Marianhill, South Africa, toward the end of 2009 to help in a project of “Aktion Lichtblicke” of Düsseldorf. The aim was to build a house for the poorest of the poor. Working in high temperatures and with blisters on hands and feet, they did manage to achieve a respectable result. Still, the concept of house cannot be compared with Western standards. A simple brick hut was built, without any beautifications as we would be used to. No, bare and simple, but still much more comfortable when compared to the neighbours’ houses. It was also necessary to prevent any neighbourly jealousy from arising as, in a worst case, the “neighbours” will simply tear down the new house. One cannot really speak of “neighbours” as these single huts are spread across the countryside.

The desperate poverty of the people becomes obvious when one is told that a simple cable has to be buried deep into the earth so that it is not stolen. Huts where nobody resides for more than 14 days are taken over by other dwellers in the village.

Here possession is key: he who lives in a hut is also the owner of the hut. An excellent presentation giving an insight into an enterprise that hopefully will have many other imitators among our youth and that will give food for thought. The overall Africa Project is available online at >here (german), if you want to know more. A reflective presentation, giving much insight into an Africa that is hard for us to imagine. And therefore, the guests did not get tired even though the presentation by students Oliver Muller-Lorey and Max Paumen went over time.

Of Successful Sisters

Brigitte Klose Grigull and her partner from Cologne demonstrated the theme „Sisters“ from a totally different and unusual viewpoint. Since 1999, the association “BigSister e.V.” links “big” girls and “little” girls and successfully turns them into “sisters”. The result: girls of up to 16 years of age get a big sister. Although not a biological one in the normal sense, nevertheless like a sister with whom one can discuss everything as if she were a real sister. The big sister (one looks for a mature woman) is there for the little sister, answering everyday questions and supporting her.

The secret of the success: as a rule, the minimum age difference between big and little sister must be 6 years. Only in this way can the older sister support the younger one with the big questions of life. A moving presentation, complete with a TV report, made the engagement even more real for the excited public. And who knows, perhaps BigSister e.V. will soon be able to talk about successful brotherhoods as well. The first contacts were already made at this YouCan Talk event!

Overall, we felt that the event achieved its objectives: we tank all our guests and presenters for their participation and already look forward to the next YouCan Talk event in Düsseldorf on May 5th 2010.