15-27 August, 2011 - Representatives from six European countries participated in a European Volunteer Service “Crossing Borders” exchange event, with support by the “Youth in Action” program of the European Union.

4-14 August youth center Hirschluch (Storkow, Germany) hosted the youth exchange. This unforgettable place was again the venue for the annual week of creativity where young talented people from Ukraine, Poland and Germany took part. During 10 days all participants were immersed in the atmosphere of art and creativity.

Youth leaders from Ukraine, Poland, Belarus, Romania, Moldova and Russian Federation (border regions with Ukraine) are invited to participate in the international training course “Intercultural Facilitation for preventing Discrimination” which will take place on 09-15 October 2011 in Sumy, Ukraine. The project is realized by Center for European Initiatives NGO (Sumy, Ukraine) and Happy Childhood Foundation (Lublin, Poland) with the support of European Youth Foundation of Council of Europe.

During the week of 25 to 31 July, the International Summer School Conference was held at Sumy National Agrarian University on the topic of “European Integration: Theory and Practice.” Attending the conference sessions were 18 student representatives from Bulgaria’s University of Agriculture, Poland’s Warsaw University of Natural Sciences, and Ukraine’s Sumy National Agrarian University. One of the trainers was Project Manager, Julia Sakunova, from the NGO, Center for European Initiatives. In addition to CEI participation, guest speakers were leading academics, government officials, and...

Euroclub members from Sumy and the Sumy region participated in the project, "Peace in your Heart,” which took place in the youth center Hirshlyuh, in the German city of Shtorkov from 12 to 22 July 2011. Students from Germany, Poland, and Georgia studied the art of photography. The project was implemented by the German organization, Jugendhilfe und Sozialarbeit eV, and supported by the EU program, "Youth in Action.” The Center for European Initiatives in Sumy partnered in organizing the program.

From 27 June to 8 July, 59 young people aged 10 to 16 years participated in an international seaside summer camp in Koblevo, a Black Sea beach resort not far from Odessa. The camp was organized by the Center for European Initiatives with the theme “Leadership and Creativity”. This year's summer camp in Koblevo was held with the participation of volunteers from the United States, Germany and Poland.

Sumy celebrated “Day of Europe” for the fifth consecutive year on Saturday, May 28. Honored guests were delegates from the European Union and the embassies of EU member states, led by Ambassador Jose Manuel Pinto Teixeira. Because of the success of the celebration, Sumy again was the winner among 29 cities of Ukraine vying to be named as best organized and best attended of all the Ukrainian “Day of Europe” celebrations. “Day of Europe” was initiated in Sumy by NGO Center for European Initiatives in cooperation with the Sumy Association of European Clubs and was supported by the Network...

The problem of xenophobia, discrimination and intolerant attitude towards representatives of national minorities in Ukraine is still painful. Having become independent, Ukraine proclaimed the state protection of all citizens on the background of equality as one of its priorities that is supported by the chain of articles of the Constitution of Ukraine, law of Ukraine “About national Minorities”, and from 1 January 1998 Ukraine ratified Framework Convention on Protection of National Minorities that came into force on 1 May 1998.

During the week of 20-26 March - at the Motytsh Leschny, a youth center near Lublin, Poland - a training course was held for coordinators of international youth exchanges. About 30 participants from Poland, Germany and Ukraine attended. Organizing the program was the Happy Childhood Foundation of Poland in cooperation with the Sumy NGO Centre for European Initiatives and Germany’s Association for Youth Welfare Services and Social Work. The event was held with the financial support of the German-Polish Youth Cooperative.

On March 29, 2011, a program on volunteerism was held in the Sumy Oblast Scientific Library for the school children of Sumy. The students saw the film “Come! See! Help!” which featured young people from Ukraine, Czech Republic, Georgia and Germany engaged as volunteers in international projects