Please Respond- Request from Communications and Publications subcommittee!!!

Greetings, Friends!
The process of seeking input for CYM’s Communications Plan –which does include an expanded website– continues.
The following queries were given to Representative Meeting and are being considered in meetings. Would you please circulate them also among YF’s and YAF’s, and we trust that some will send responses. If the group as a whole would respond, we would particularly be happy.
In addition, I wonder:

  • How DO YF’s actually communicate when they need to get in touch with the group as a whole?
  • How would you use a Facebook presence and a Twitter presence on CYM’s website?
  • Etc????

 

QUERIES FROM PUBLICATIONS AND COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE

1.        How can we use electronic communications technologies to build new kinds of connections between Friends and Meetings across the country? How can we create communities of interest as well as geographic communities?  How can we reach out to isolated Friends using these tools?

2.        How do our concerns about environmental sustainability and cost containment inform our decisions around virtual communication and committee work?

How do we separate concerns about avoiding possible negative outcomes, from the exploration of new positive actions that only can happen if these new technologies are implemented?
3.        How do we help to build readiness amongst Friends in CYM to embrace emerging technologies that can support and sustain our communication, our sense of community, our outreach to the world and our education of youth and adults?

 
4.        How do we effectively engage in spiritual discernment using virtual technologies?
What hesitation might Friends have about the implications of using such discernment?  What training do we need to give committee members and Friends to participate in and to facilitate virtual decision-making processes? What parameters do we need for software to accomplish these goals?
5.        How do we engage, serve and draw upon the resources of Quaker youth as we build new capacities?  How can we let them know that we are ready to help them set up a sufficient organizational structure to develop the Quaker future?

6.        How do we meld together sufficient infrastructure (hardware, software, distribution,  publication) ? How do we provide training that is effective, reliable, secure, sustainable, affordable? How do we protect ourselves from intrusive unFriendly surveillance at the same time as being open to enquirers? Do we want to give CYM an effective, recognizable logo and have a consistent naming and archival system for emails, web sites, stationary, etc.? 

And your own query would be? Please answer it as much as you can.

RESPONSES TO THE COMMITTEE AND TO CHRIS BARFITT

Road to Rio… UN conference on Sustainable Development…

http://www.roadtorioplus20.org/about

(pulled from website)

Rio+20 is where our future is discussed.

Road to Rio+20 aims to motivate, inspire, engage and support young people to take action on issues of sustainable development and influence the outcomes of Rio+20, the UN Conference on Sustainable Development.

These global meetings started in the 1970’s, focusing on endangered species protection and environmental policy; really putting the environment on the international agenda.
In the 1980’s it was the ozone layer and thanks to the Brundtland Report, Our Common Future; a clear definition was created for sustainable development.
“Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.

The 1990’s and 2000’s saw climate change, biodiversity, forests and sustainable development being discussed
Now– climate change, green economy, water scarcity, food security, population, institutional frameworks and other issues need to be talked about and solved on an international level before it is to late. After all,

These meetings have been going on longer then 3 billion youth have lived for!

Us youth are loud, creative, full of energy and stubborn.

Countering the Militarization of Youth Conference 2012

http://wri-irg.org/militarisationofyouth

International Conference Germany 2012 (pulled from the website)

Darmstadt, 8-10 June 2012

In Europe, and to some degree on a global level, there are presently two trends which both contribute to an increased militarisation of youth. The first is the end (or, more exactly, the suspension) of conscription in most European countries. The second is an increasing “normalisation of war” stemming from the ‘war on terror and the use of military force as a means of politics. Both trends reinforce each other in strengthening the militarisation of youth from an early age- something we are committed to working against.

The project, which includes an international meeting in Germany, and a post-conference publication, hopes to bringing together activists from all over the world.

The aim is to foster an ongoing regional and multi-regional network of cooperating anti-militarist organisations. The overarching objective of the conference is strengthening the work against the militarisation of youth in Europe (and beyond) by providing opportunities for people to exchange skills and experience of working in this field and to create/strengthen networks and relationships across the region.

Themes

The militarisation of youth takes many forms. The project aims to analyse the different ways youth are militarised, and will also look at strategies to resist the militarisation of youth.

Although we have separated out several different issues and types of resistance we aim to bring core themes of analysis to each topic including but not limited to;

  • Class,
  • Race,
  • Ethnicity.

• Nationalism and patriotism:

Looking at the privileging of the military as a normal and essential part of maintaining and sustaining the nation state. How can the legitimacy of challenging violence be maintained when it is de-legitimised as a threat to security and presented as destructive to society as a whole?

• Culture of militarism:

Attendees will be encouraged to participate in ‘mapping’ the global militarist culture whilst sharing strategies for challenging the cultural prevalence of militarism and discussing the provision of peaceful or non-violent alternatives.

• Military recruitment strategies:

Discussion on current military recruitment strategies will occur throughout the conference, however contemporary and emerging trends in recruitment will feature heavily.

• Military in public spaces:

Looking at both long-standing and emerging ways in which the military encroach on public spaces, developing an analysis of the situation as it currently stands and sharing resistance strategies.

• Military masculinities:

Time will be set aside to look at the ways in which militarism undermines diversity with gender binarism and the increased recruitment of women and LGBTIQ people

• Military in education:

The ways that the military access school age children for example with cadet/youth programmes or collaboratively with curricular and extra curricular activities and recent (under) funding of Universities exploited by the military with ‘tied scholarships’.

Resistance

Within the peace and anti-war movements, there are many different approaches to challenging and resisting the presence and recruitment tactics of the Armed Forces.

During the conference sharing and exploring strategies for increased resistance of the militarisation of youth- both in Europe and beyond- will take prominence.

Attention will be given to;

  • Military Out of Schools
  • Conscientious objection
  • Countering military recruitment
  • Veterans For Peace
  • Resistance by women and Queer people
  • Working with disadvantaged youth to prevent recruitment of vulnerable groups

Application Process

Filling out and returning the attached Registration of Interest from will not automatically guarantee you a place at the ‘Countering the Militarisation of Youth Conference’ it will however mean that we have your contact details so that we can communicate with you about the development of the project and offer you a place when they become available.

More information: http://wri-irg.org/militarisationofyouth