As the whole world has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, we all had to learn new ways how to adapt to the new situation. As a consequence, on 17th October 2020 Kolping Youth Europe held its annual Membership Meeting online for the first time in the history of the organization. 22 Kolping Youth members from 13 different countries joined.
The Membership Meeting started with an introductory game using photos that were sent by Kolping members from different countries about their activities during this year. This game allowed the delegates to get to know more about each other. Afterwards, the board of Kolping Youth Europe presented the achievements of the previous year. To improve public relations, a new website and an Instagram channel were created and the layout of the Facebook page was refreshed. Furthermore, two newsletter were published and a digital archive of Kolping Youth Europe was set up. An important change was also the opening of a new office in Serbia. Additionally, the board presented the results of a survey among the national Kolping Youth groups which is going to be an important basis for the work in the upcoming year.
After presenting the financial report, an interactive discussion about the future of Kolping Youth Europe was started. It turned out that the delegates were interested in having some online activities in addition to personal events. A voting via an online tool was used to prioritize which type of online meeting the delegates would be most interested in and to collect potential topics for such meetings. Furthermore, a first discussion about the Kolping Youth logo and its potential renewal took place.
It is also very important for Kolping Youth members from different countries during these kinds of events to associate with one another and to exchange their experiences. As the COVID-19 pandemic affected the activities of Kolping Youth not only at European level but also in each country, a workshop about „Youth work in times of Corona“ was organized. This was a great opportunity for Kolping members to share how they felt during the lock down, what they have experienced and how that situation affected their education and/or work and the activities of their youth groups.
In the evening, a fireside chat took place with alumni who were active in Kolping Youth Europe during the past 25 years. This discussion gave all delegates a small insight into the history of our organization.
The activities of Kolping Youth Europe are co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union