Youth Call for Entries- the 2nd Children's environmental health project competition

Dear Friends,

Five years after the launch of the “Children Environmental and Health Action Plan for Europe” (CEHAPE) at the Budapest Ministerial Conference, we are now seeking entries to the second CEHAPE Good Practice Awards.

As the health and environment youth coordinator, I am practically interested in hearing from youth related projects or projects in schools or being led by youth, as these are two of the competition categories. The entry form is only two pages, and will enable your project to feature on our CEHAPE website.

In March 2010, the Fifth Conference of Ministers on Environment and Health - "Protecting Children’s Health in a Changing Environment" - will take place in Parma, Italy. The Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health is the next milestone in the European environment and health process. Focused on protecting children’s health in a changing environment, the Conference will drive Europe’s agenda on emerging environmental health challenges for the years to come.

Keeping children’s health in the spotlight: Awarding good practice
Children’s health continues to be a leading concern; their health is at risk from a changing environment. The second CEHAPE Awards aim to uncover and highlight inspiring and innovative projects that promote children’s environment and health. Entrants must be based in one or more countries of the 53 in the WHO Europe region (map with full list of countries)
The winners of each category will be award 1,000 Euros towards their project, and will be invited to present their project at the Parma Ministerial.

How to enter: Tell us your story
To enter the CEHAPE Good Practice Awards, we want to hear about your projects and campaigns in children’s environment and health.

There are eight individual categories for entry:

• Water and/or Sanitation,
• Accidents and/or Physical Activity,
• Indoor air and/or Outdoor air,
• Chemicals and or Radiation,
• Youth participation,
• Mobility,
• Climate protection,
• Schools

If you are involved in a project to protect children’s environmental health, please send us a completed entry form to Olivia Radu (olivia.radu@wecf.eu).
Information about the call is available in English, Romanian, Russian, Kirghiz, Bulgarian, Serbian, Macedonian, Armenian and Georgian. However, the entry form can only be filled out in English and Russian.
You can find out more about the competition and the entries from the 1st Children’s Environmental health project competition on the website.

KEY DATES:
• The deadline for submission of entries is 7 December 2009.
• The winners across the eight categories will be announced on 22nd January, 2010.

The 2nd CEHAPE Awards have be developed jointly by Women in Europe for a Common Future (WECF), Health & Environmental Alliance (HEAL), ISDE Austria and European Eco Forum, and are sponsored by the governments of Austria, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, Norway and Sweden, and supported by the European Commission.

(On the photo: Sascha Gabizon WECF, Genon Jensen HEAL at the IMR, Vienna, June 2007)

Please help us by disseminating this announcement through your own networks.


Good luck, we look forward to receiving your entries!


Alina Bezhenar

Choosing our Future

The “Choosing our Future” comic strip highlights – in a humorous and simple way – the recent evidence of harm to health from certain widely used chemicals.

Produced jointly by HEAL’s Chemicals Health Monitor project and Mouvement pour les Droits et le Respect des Générations Futures (MDRGF) in English and French, the publication and associated website aim to provide readers with what is currently known about the links between health and man-made chemicals and examples of individual action and EU policy opportunities that can help produce changes for the better.




French comic strip designer, David Ratte has created the stories that bring to life contemporary concerns about the man-made chemicals found in our bodies that are implicated in certain cancers, brain development disorders, asthma, allergies, immune deficiences and falling male fertility. The facts behind the dialogue are explained and supported by scientific and governmental references.

Our aim is provide advocates and the wider public with examples of individual action and European Union policy opportunities that can help change our future for the better.

to know more information and download book in English and French click here

Part 7 of the History of Youth participation in the process of environment and health policymaking

Since the fist Declaration Drafting group meeting [Brussels, June 2008] youth delegates started to participate in preparation the Declaration for the Fifth Ministerial Conference.

In Luxembourg in January 2009 the Thematic meeting on healthy environments was held. It was a part of the preparatory process towards to the Fifth Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health to be held in Parma, Italy, in 2010. It addressed respiratory diseases, obesity and injuries through spatial planning of health promoting environments. The participants discussed technical issues and advanced the drafting of the Declaration of the forthcoming Conference.

The Third High Level Preparatory Meeting in Bonn [27-29 April 2009] was the last high level meeting in the series of EEHC events for Member States in preparation for the Fifth Ministerial [Conference on Environment and Health, to be held in Parma, Italy, on 10-12 March 2010.
Participants were informed on the proceedings that are expected to take place during the Conference as well as on the activities and products to be delivered at the Conference. They commented on drafts conference papers - notably the Conference Declaration - and on events. Precedence was given to discussion on the main topics on the Conference agenda: CEHAPE priorities, climate change and socioeconomic and gender inequities.

to download the Report of the Third high-level preparatory meeting in English click here

With the kind support of the Ministries of Health and Environment in Serbia our plan was to hold a youth preparatory meeting in June 2009. This meeting would have as its agenda some worksessions on skill building, such as proposal preparation, working with ministers and high level officers in ministries of Environment and Health, making presentations as well as technical workshops on CEHAPE and preparations for our participation at the Ministerial Conference in Parma 2010. Unfortunately the funding we hoped would be in place for the June meeting failed to materialise, although our Serbian hosts had worked hard on our behalf to prepare the ground. In support of this, we co-opted Jovana Dodos from Serbia to be our international Youth Delegate link in the country. Although our efforts for our meeting in Serbia did not work out, we can announce that now our preparatory meeting will be held 8-10 January 2010 in Brussels with funding from DG SANCO and and support from HEAL.

Part 6 of the History of Youth participation in the process of environment and health policymaking

During the Second High Level Preparatory Meeting in Madrid [October 2008] youth met their new WHO coordinator of the youth network David Rivett.
This preparatory meeting was dedicated to preparing for the 2010 Ministerial Conference in Italy. It addressed Regional Priority Goals III and IV of the Children's Environment and Health Action Plan for Europe (CEHAPE) which concern ensuring clean air and protection from chemicals, noise and other harmful exposures.

A coordination meeting for the youth involvement process was held during the lunch breaks of 23 and 24 October to plan activities towards the 2010 Conference.

Young delegates made a successful presentation to the representatives from ministeries about "Current Madrid Participation in the CEHAPE process".

to download the presentation click here

The meeting in Madrid was also part of an Environment and Health Week and took place back-to-back with the International Public Health Symposium on "Science for policy, policy for science: bridging the gap".

Part 5 of the History of Youth participation in the process of environment and health policymaking

New CEHAPE Youth Delegates [Alina Bezhenar, Ildiko Almasi, Rena Javaid, Kyle Worgan] started to participate in the high-level preparatory meetings and Declaration drafting group meetings for the 5th Ministerial Conference since IMR elections in Vienna.

They took part in the 24th EEHC meeting in Bonn in October 2007 where they presented a successful presentation about "Current participation of youth".

To download this presentation click here

Also in Bonn the priorities of the CEHAPE process were endorsed. And they include:

- inequity in environment and health;
- gender issues;
- specific needs of the Newly Independent States and countries of south-eastern Europe;
- working with new stakeholders including local authorities, the private sector and young people;
- synergies and new opportunities in working across boundaries, with a particular focus on climate change (established political processes will also be addressed under this priority);
- understanding the influence of the economy on environment and health policy making.

In Milan [March 2008] during the First High Level Preparatory Meeting was held. This meeting focused on safe water and sanitation and on injury prevention and promotion of physical activity, two of the four priorities of the Children's Environment and Health Action Plan for Europe (CEHAPE). It also helped set the theme and agenda of the Ministerial Conference of 2010.

Part 4 of the History of Youth participation in the process of environment and health policymaking

Youth Event in Vienna, June 2007

Youth Conference held in Vienna, June 2007, in parallel with the Intergovernmental Midterm Review (IMR) of progress made since the Budapest Conference. The Conference gathered 51 young people from 28 countries. Youth had discussions and elaboration about future steps up to the 5th Ministerial Conference in Parma, Italy, March 2010.

Young people had a presentation of youth views and a youth-friendly version of the CEHAPE (YFC) during the review meeting to the European Environment and Health network.


The videos were also shown to the youth delegates and government officials gathered at the IMR to spark discussions and give an audio-visual testimony of what young Europeans have to say regarding health and environment issues.The videos were produced in a five-day workshop organized in Belgrade by WHO/Europe, UNICEF and the One Minutes Foundation, with the support of the WHO Country Office in Belgrade and the Department of Health and Children in Ireland.

New youth delegates were elected for the period of 2007-2009 for participation in High-level meetings, decision and policy-making processes, for developing youth network, having the youth preparatory meetings for the 5th Ministerial Conference in Parma, 2010.


The purpose of youth participation:

1. Bring in the youth point of view
2. Participate actively in decision-making processes and in their preparation
3. National youth network to maximize participation through local projects
4. Raise awareness of the CEHAPE and the European Environment and Health process among youth




To download YFC click here

To know more about ideas for implementation of YFC click here

To read Official WHO Meeting report about Youth conference during IMR click here

Part 2 of the History of Youth participation in the process of environment and health policymaking

Youth Workshop in Luxembourg, March 2007

Youth workshop brought together near 40 young people from 25 WHO Member States in Luxembourg, in March 2007.

Young people started the process of creating the Youth Friendly CEHAPE (YFC). This document reflects the youth view about CEHAPE document. Young people worked in a small groups and then presented their ideas to others. They agreed that for better work after such productive meeting in Luxembourg they need to launch their own youth health and environment network.

The European Youth Health and Environment Network (EYHEN) is experienced in children and young people's environment and health issues. It consists of young people between the ages of 16 and 23 from all over Europe. The EYHEN is able to inform the local network of how young people participate in relevant decision making processes in their own countries. The members of EYHEN are willing to participate, if necessary, in the further development of national plans and the European Plan.

The working languages are English and Russian

You can join the network writing to cehapeyouth@gmail.com

Part 1 of the History of Youth participation in the process of environment and health policymaking

"Our health cannot be negotiated. It is a precondition of our personal development and happiness. Nobody should make money on the back of other people's ill health. We need and deserve a fundamental human right to a clean and healthy environment. We also need access to information and education to most effectively take care of our health."

Budapest Youth Declaration, 24 June 2004

Youth Declaration was presented by young people to the ministers from 53 Member States, calling for youth representation on the European Environment and Health Committee (EEHC) and on the Task Force for the Children's Environment and Health Action Plan for Europe (CEHAPE) during the Fourth Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health in Budapest in 2004. Youth Parliament and 30 official youth representatives from Member States were participated at this huge event.

You can download the Youth Declaration in English, in French, in German, in Russian.



I was personally involved as youth participant at the 4th Ministerial Conferene in Budapest. I was participated in the video project It’s our world, our future too. This seven-minute video produced in 2004 contains the voices of young people from Russia, UK and Belgium - and explains why listening to them is important. The children and students describe how the environment is affecting their health, and what they think can be done for a better future. Three themes are highlighted: urban environment and mental health; water, chemicals and air quality; and, other issues, such as racism, drugs and violence.

To watch the video "It's our world, our future too" click here

Welcome post!

Dear Friend, Partner and Guest,





I would like to welcome you to my official blog which is supported by HEAL (Health and Environment Alliance). My name is Alina Bezhenar. I am 21 years old. I am originally from Moscow (Russia). I grew up there and got my Bachelor Degree in Economics at Moscow State University (June).


Since October 2009 I have been moving to Brussels for 6 months where I am doing my internship programme at HEAL. I work as health and environment youth coordinator.


My main role here is to mobilize European youth and get information support for them about health and environment issues in Europe. My blog will be the first of its kind to show youth activities, youth voice and youth opinion to everybody in health and environment process.



Several times a week I would write new posts with information, photos and videos, interesting stories and news about health and environment in Europe.

Welcome!

p.s. you could always reach me by email: alina@env-health.org