Saturday 7 August

We made it! The rally has just ended and all the participants are now on the way home. Thanks to everyone for a great week!! Your active participation made this a week we'll never forget:))

I'd like to warmly thank everyone who made this such a special week:
- our wonderful Swedish team - Tina, Anette, Ulrica, Nina, Martin, Trond, Ida, Kristina and Mika
- our cheerful and always helpful international team - Janja, Kadri, Rax, Stina and Katri

Thanks also to the old and new Board of Rural Youth Europe for their help and support throughout the week.

Hope to see you all next year in Slovenia!

Amanda Hajnal
Secretary General, Rural Youth Europe

Friday 6 August

Rise and Shine
Rise and shine was very interesting following the story of evolution via rock paper scissors. Everyone started as an amoeba, then became a chicken, then a monkey and finally a human.



World Café

Participants sat on different tables and discussed the following topics:
1. Local entrepreneurs in your area.
2. How can your organisation support entrepreneurship?
3. Your dream business/job.

When Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5” was played we moved tables and discussed a new topic with different participants. There was a very dynamic sharing of experiences and opinions during this session.

Open Space
Open Space followed with a wide mix of serious and not-so-serious workshops:
• Hair plaiting
• Traditional dancing from different countries – Armenia, Ireland and Scotland
• Mole catching
• Fire breathing,
• Letter writing
• Irish Cindrella drama
• Flower headdress making
• Enterprise model from Finland
• Young Farmers Clubs as an enterprise
• Setting up a farm shop
• Benefits of rural tourism
• Youth exchanges within Europe

Participants could choose which workshop to attend and they really enjoyed exploring new activities and learning things from many countries.

Evaluation
The first part of the afternoon was spent waiting in a tent in the pouring rain filling in evaluation questions. For the second part, we were transported to a meeting point and from here we walked through the woods, compiling feedback for the evaluation forms that were collected on route from various members of the prep team. On emerging from the foliage, we discovered we were on top of a sand dune, overlooking a stunning beach. This was only spoiled by the rabble that was the rally squad and their frolicing antics.

After the evaluation ended, games of football and frisbie were attempted and some actually braved the sea and tried to avoid the jellyfish! A quick dry off, and we set off on a mission back to the pick-up point, where we piled into the cars/mini-bus for the short trip back to Plönninge.

The day ended with the official closing ceremony, final dinner and party.

Thanks to all for a fab and unforgettable week, here in the Halland Region of Sweden!

Thursday 5 August

Host families
In the afternoon all participants returned from their host families to Rally venue. During the debriefing participants shared their experiences and emotions while visiting Swedish families. Everybody enjoyed time what they spent there.

After debriefing participants had BBQ with the members of their host families. The BBQ was delicious and it was a great opportunity to discuss events of the previous day.

Creative Market
The participants also took part in a Creative Market, where national teams could sell or hand out traditional products and handicrafts of their countries. Although not all countries participated in the Creative Market they were very well prepared and offered a wide range of goods. All the participants bought things and really enjoyed the experience of seeing products from many countries.





Workshops
During the day we had the opportunity to participate in two workshops of special interest:
• Fundraising
• Youth Employment

The Fundraising workshop was held by Johan Ekman from the European Youth Forum Board. The participants first did a financial and organisational analysis followed by looking at the competitive edge our organization can offer.

The second workshop was held by Kadri Toomingas and Michael Schwab from the Rural Youth Europe board. Participants were given an overview of the Youth Employment Action (YEA) project and then shared best practice between organisations. We heard about the Finnish 4H enterprise model and the Welsh enterprise scheme as two examples of good practice. We also heard about other activities and employment schemes from other national organisations.

We hope that participants of other countries are as excited and satisfied as we are about this day!

Wednesday 4 August

Excursions
After breakfast we split into three groups and we went on different excursions.

One group went on a Moose Safari. First we went on a tourist train and drove through the moose park. The driver gave us tree branches so we could feed the animals with it. As we drove around the park the animals came to us and we could touch and feed them. We saw buffalos and bisons were also there at the farm.

Another group went to Varberg and visited the castle. The castle has an interesting museum which tells about life in a castle and the history of the region. There was also a stable museum where we could see cows and people working on a traditional farm. We had a tour guide who took us around the castle and explained the history from the 12th to 20th century. We also visited an old prison which is in the castle. At the end of the tour we watched some movies and saw furniture from the Titanic. After visiting the castle we went for a walk down the coast for about half an hour.

The third group went to the dairy farm in Wapnö with 1100 Holstein cows. Three calves are born every day during summer. We could see how the cows are milked and how they package their milk. At the farm they produce ice cream, cream, yogurt, and cheese. As a visitor you can also use different services including accommodation, restaurant and café. Their facilities for milking cows are 60 cows at one time, so they are milking 2,5 hours and 3 times per day. They have 50 employees. They feed 80 000 kg of silage per day. At the end of the tour we tasted all their products

One group also visited the horse-farm at Plönninge college. We had the possibility to improve our horse-riding skills or were driving around with a trotting carriage.

Host families
After the excursions we went to our host families. We went in groups of 2-4 people and enjoyed a fantastic stay with our families. Each family did very different things, giving participants a chance to enjoy activities they had never tried before.

Here’s a selection of experiences from participants:

• My host family was cute couple who lived in Varberg. We had a little tour around the city and some shopping. In the evening we had great bbq with other people who were at different hosts. We grilled, played games, and talked about our cultures. We went to the bed quite early because everybody were tired. We had really great time in the host families.

• After being picked up by our host family we spent a great time with the family and some of the family friends and made a BBQ. Later that night we had some relaxing time with other host family and rally participants. It was a good day.

• We stayed with Jimmy who runs a pig farm. We got there, ate some tacos and went to bed. The morning started off at around 10. We had a look around the farm, which was pretty impressive. The host had a big farm where he grew crops for the pigs, grew the pigs and sent them to the slaughter house. Later we had a drivie around his lands, saw some sights and then we got back to the Rally. We had a good time and really liked the stay.

• We visided a village called Ysby and had the chance to visit the church tower and enjoyed an breathtaking panoramic view. After that we went to an lake for an refreshing swim. In a city called Laholm we visited some sculptures and got them explained and bought some exiting souvenirs. In the evening we enyojed a bbq.

• My host family picked us up and drove with us to their farm and showed us around. It was very interesting to see how their farm is working. They have an milking robot and also an automatic feeding system for their 150 cows. Our host family is living very close to the coast so we went also to the beach for a swim in the 20 degrees warm water of the sea. For dinner we had a bbq as well and had an very interesting discussion and cultural exchange between our countries.

Tuesday 3 August

Rise and Shine
The morning started with a game called “Changing places”. We all stood in a circle and had to change places with other people. The game involved a person shouting out a word, for example ‘everyone wearing green t-shirts’ and everyone in a green t-shirt had to change places. The one without a space at the end of the change had to stand in the middle and start the game again. This was a lot of fun, and everyone enjoyed it.

Project 24
Following the morning announcements, we started ‘Project 24: challenges in entrepreneurship’. This was good team bonding exercise and made us think about the 5 businesses that we visited yesterday. There were 20 groups in total which had to find a solution to develop and improve the business. We all got involved and discussed the way forward for the business. They ranged from sheep farm, bed and breakfast and adventure challenge. There was plenty of time allocated for this task which helped to give people the freedom to do what they wanted. There was plenty of time to do detailed research and adequate resources to fulfil the task.

We carried on with our projects throughout the afternoon and before giving a presentation we had the opportunity to visit the biogas farm and dairy unit situated at the college. We were given a tour round by the farm manager and learnt about how biogas is produced. We then had a look around the dairy unit and saw a newborn calf.

After a coffee break we met up with the company owners who we visited yesterday and presented them with our proposed projects. Each group had the opportunity to outline their project and the company owners listened and took notes. There were 4 groups for each company competing to give the best presentation and win the competition.


The business owners were really impressed with the ideas that each group came up with and chose winners for each group. The winning teams were announced in the gym in front of all participants. Each team received a prize from their company representative.

Quiz evening
After reflection groups and the team leaders meeting we took part in an entrepreneur quiz. The quiz consisted of questions about the workshops of the previous days and the posters from each organisation and country. Prizes were awarded to the teams with the highest scores and the fastest teams.

Monday 2 August

Rise & Shine

The morning started with some energiser games – they gave us another opportunity to interact with other participants from across Europe and get to know each other better. First game was ”Stand in line” with participants standing in line according to different categories (first letter of your name, first letter of your country, height, hours of sleep last night, etc.). The second game was the Pony game with a song and dance about riding a pony near a lake!

Dragons Den
To start with, teams were asked to determine the correct order of starting up a business given a list of possible steps such as writing a business plan, creating ideas, preparing annual reports and market research. Theoutcome of this was to show that there is no one right approach in starting up a new business but a certain format would help to build a successful company.

Groups were then asked to present a business concept given only a theme and a template. Groups chose from the following industries: website, fashion, gardening, animals, recycling, environment, arts &craft, tourism, furniture-making, building & construction, children’s activities and food. Over the course of an hour and a half, each group had to prepare a presentation and a business plan in order to pitch a new product/service to a ‘Dragon’. The most successful team from each sub-group went forward to the final in front of all the European Rally participants.

Four companies made it to the final round:
 Petnet.com – a website for pet-loving people
 Foodinternational.com – an online delivery company who supply favourite foods from around the world
 Chop Chop Chop – a vegetable cutter for children
 Fluffy Enterprises – a dog carrier handbag

The companies had to impress the Dragons and at the same time entertain the large audience in the Gym. There was even a special appearance by Fred the Snake, aptly trained by James Taylor (YFCU), who could catch a Frisbee!

After a long negotiation, Rural Youth Europe Chairman Robin Swann announced the winners: Fluffy Enterprises to the applause of the whole audience. This innovative company was chosen for their unique approach identifying a gap in the market for luxury handbags for celebrities who like to transport their beloved pets with them on their shopping trips.

This exercise was a useful experience to gain an insight into the importance of presentation skills and thinking through the whole business plan from start to finish.

Study visit
In the afternoon, we went to visit rural enterprises in the Halmstad region. Participants were divided into 5 groups and visited one of the following companies:
- Ästad Manor
- Tallhöjden Hotel
- Öströö Sheep Farm
- Bingsgärde Gärd B&B
- Vildamark adventure company

At Ästad, the participants visited a farm with adventure activities, a spa and different saunas. The most interesting thing was a sauna under the water. We also had a possibility to try some of the activities such as a big swing, cube labyrinth and wheelbarrow ride.

Vildamark offers survival activities like: climbing a tree which is 16 metres high, sleeping in a shelter, paintball and many other teambuilding activities in forest, for example, a “ladder to heaven”. All of the stations were built by the owner. The company provides entertainment for all kinds of group including business groups and families.

At Bingsgärde, the owners have built a small agro tourist hotel. In this place people who want to spend their time in the country nature can rent a cosy room. Attractions of this venue include sleeping on the hay, eating traditional food, seeing traditional farm animals like cows, pony, horse, hens and chickens. The venue has a nice family atmosphere.

Öströö Sheep Farm is a modern farm with the whole chain from sheep breeding and slaughter, meat processing and shop with sheep meat, handicrafts, sheep skins and café with sheep products. The farm has 550 Gotland ewes and 12 Highland cattle. They produce lamb, sausages, pates and pies as well as home-made marinades, sauces, rusks and marmalades.

At Tallhöjden, participants were given information about the number and type of guests and the background to the hotel and conference centre. We looked at the guest cottages and the main chalet with it’s fantastic wine cellar and souvenirs from around the world. Other activities at the hotel include a paintball area, spa, sauna and wilderness challenges. We also had a nice walk through the forest and enjoyed the beautiful scenery with lakes and a waterfall.





Dancing

In the evening we had an exciting dance lesson which was ran by Halmstad dancing team. It was great experience, everybody enjoyed themselves and learnt many new steps

Hello everybody!

If you want to see picture that has been done turing the week, then visited this link and you can find picture there.

www.ragnarkekkonen.eu


Thank you!!

Sunday 1 August

Rise and Shine
In morning everybody was very sleepy because of the long journey to get to Plönninge. We started the morning with Rise and Shine. It helped us to wake up and beside this we could get to know some more new persons. Each person in the group gave their name and did a stretch. Everybody repeated the name and stretch, then the next person gave their own name and stretch. In the end everybody got to know each other.

Opening Ceremony
After Rise and Shine, we went to the Aula auditorium in our traditional dresses for the Opening Ceremony. All the traditional costumes gave a good impression about everyone’s countries and cultures.

The opening ceremony started with speeches from Ulrica Berglöf from Swedish 4H and Robin Swann from Rural Youth Europe. Then we had the award for the Best Practice Competition. In 2009 it was won by Austria with a project called “Legends of Wölzertal”. They gave a nice presentation about their project with photos and music from their village in Styria, Austria.

Then we went to the gym where local Swedish musicians from Harplinge took care of everybody’s good moods. Every team had their photos taken with their national flags and traditional clothes. It was the other good opportunity to get to know each other and everybody’s own country and culture. In the end we took an outdoors’ group photo. The morning was a good start and gave a great atmosphere for everybody.




Introduction to entrepreneurship
Sunday afternoon started with a workshop called “Introduction to entrepreneurship” where we learnt what makes you a good entrepreneur. We were not lectured like in school but we had to work it out by ourselves. The first task was to complete a mind map on our own and discuss it later on in groups. The mind maps questions included:
 What is a good entrepreneur?
 What makes you a good entrepreneur?
 In what areas do you need to develop?
 How does entrepreneurship differ from typical employment?
 Why is entrepreneurship interesting to you?
 Questions?

In the second exercise, we were divided into groups and drew a body on a poster and filled it with the most important characteristics of an entrepreneur. These included: good leader, strong, organised, innovator, creative, forward-thinking, brave, charismatic, problem-solver, initiative, know-how, focussed, not afraid of trying, not afraid of failing, persistent, flexible, active, risk-taker, good with people, ambitious, hard-working, goal-setter, confidence.

At the end, we also gave the person a name – Victoria Varna , Carlos, Ivan Idea, Alistair and Amanda McProfit were some of the names. After having illustrated and completed the posters, groups joined each other to compare their results

.

Team building
After a short break for coffee, tea and sandwiches, we had a team building exercise with the motto “youth entrepreneurship”. Participants were divided into groups and had to fulfil the following tasks: outside, there were two games namely to make a fire to burn a rope and to build a tower out of papers and a stone which had to be stable enough to carry an egg. Inside, were various exercises like a quiz and a labyrinth where a person had to be rescued without seeing anything. This was not the only part to be done blindly as we also formed a capital letter out of a rope. Finally, the groups were asked to climb over a “river” with the help of stones and boards. But only one team managed to reach the goal in time.

Reflection group and team leaders' meeting
After the great teambuilding games and activities all the groups did a reflection of the day, figuring out the pros and cons. In the team leaders’ meeting the feedback of the day was passed on to prep-team and the best things that participants had pointed out were opening ceremony, teambuilding and workshop about entrepreneurship. At the same time participants prepared for international evening – served the tables with national food, drinks and information about their organisations.

International buffet
The evening started with a Swedish sandwich cake which was awesome. Afterwards, all participants had a chance to taste and get acquainted with other organisations, countries and cultures. 101 type of cheese, 87 types of chocolate, and many, many more sweet and salty things to taste and explore were available. This was the evening that united all the participants and prep-team. Afterwards singing and dancing continued at the tent outside.

Saturday 31 July

Registration
After we arrived in Plönninge, we went to registration and got our keys and name badges. Everybody filled in their travel reimbursement forms and gave their travel tickets. After a few copies everything was correct and we could start with the official programme. First we had to make a poster of our organisations and a second one of a rural business in our countries.





Guided tour
Michael Schwab from the Rural Youth Europe board gave us a guided tour around the location and provided important information about the rules in Sweden and especially Plönningegymnasiet.

Icebreaking Games
We played outdoor games to get to know each other. After introducing ourselves we got somebody’s name badge and had to find out what colour that persons toothbrush is. Then we got some candies and answered questions about ourselves according to the colours of candies we had. In the end we had yes-and-no-competition. We had to answer simple questions, yes meaning no and no meaning yes. The team that got more right (wrong) answers won the game.
Welcome Party
When the games were over, we went to the gym to dance and enjoy the evening.

Rally preparation II

Rally preparations

Rain, rain, rain

Hello from Rally site!!

The prep team have all arrived in beautiful Halmstad and we're now preparing the last details for the Rally.

One word of warning - it's absolutely freezing here! The weather is not very friendly with lots of rain and wind. Please bring clothes and shoes for wet & cool weather! The forecast is not so good, unfortunately, with more rain and some days with a maximum of 15 degrees....

Amanda

Update on travel plans

The Rally starts in less than 1 week! In this letter we would like to give you some last minute details on the travel arrangements and what to bring to Sweden.

Transport plan

Participants are arriving in several different cities and coming by plane, train, bus, ferry and car to the Rally so it’s quite a complex situation! This is what we have planned:

Arrivals at Copenhagen Airport:

Participants arriving before 12:30 at Copenhagen Airport station will be met by the Danish rally team.

Meeting point: Next to the main entrance to the train station on the Terminal 3 Arrivals floor (next to the train ticket office). Look for the European Rally sign!

Emergency number: Tobias Madsen +45 60641091

Train number/type	Departure time	Arrival time	Teams
Öresundstågen, Öresundståg, 1038	10:36	12:56	England Switzerland Poland Armenia (Gayane) Austria (Youth project winners)
Öresundstågen, Öresundståg, 1050	12:36	14:56	Austria Estonia Germany (NLJ) Germany (BBL) Ireland Wales Denmark
Öresundstågen, Öresundståg, 1074	16:36	18:56	Slovenia
Öresundstågen, Öresundståg, 1086	18:36	20:56	Northern Ireland
Öresundstågen, Öresundståg, 1098	20:36	22:56	Bulgaria

Arrivals at Halmstad Central:

All participants arriving at Halmstad train station will be met and taken to the Rally venue by bus or car.

Meeting point: If you do not find you on the train platform, go to the train ticket office. Look for the European Rally sign!

Emergency numbers: Tina Fritzson +46 70 656 690, Amanda Hajnal + 358 45 234 5629

BUS/CAR	Departure	Arrival at venue	Teams
Bus 1	14:45	15:30	Scotland England Switzerland Poland Armenia (whole team) Austria (Youth project winners)
Bus 2	17:00	17:30	Finland Latvia (YFC) Serbia Austria Estonia Germany (NLJ) Germany (BBL) Ireland Wales Denmark
Mini-bus	19:00	19:45	Slovenia
Mini-bus	21:00	21:45	Northern Ireland
Car	23:00	23:45	Bulgaria

Arrivals at Plönninge:

Teams arriving directly at the venue in Plönninge:

Latvian 4H – arriving around 16:00

AGRYA Hungary – arriving around 12:00.

If you have any problems during your journey (for example, your plane or train is delayed), please contact:

Tina Fritzson +46 70 656 6903

Amanda Hajnal + 358 45 234 5629

WHAT TO BRING

Each person:

- National or traditional costume

- A small gift for your host family

- A backpack for your clothes and belongings when visiting your host family

- Warm and waterproof clothing

- Comfortable clothes and shoes suitable for sports and outdoor activities

- Swimming suit and towel for swimming

- Mosquito repellent

- Sun screen

- Camera

- Medicine and other personal items

Each person must bring their own travel reimbursement form which has been filled in, printed and signed. We also need a photocopy of ALL travel tickets, including boarding passes.

Each team:

- National flag (between 1-2 metres/ 3 and 7 feet)

- Information and materials for your posters – one poster to show your organisation and country, one poster to show a successful rural business in your country

- Local products from your local area to sell at the Marketplace of Creative Ideas

- Food and drinks for the International Buffet

Please do not bring alcoholic drinks which over 17% alcohol (beer, wine and cider are ok)!!

If you have any questions what you should bring as a participant or a team, please contact Ulrica Berglöf or Amanda Hajnal. (see contact details below).

FURTHER INFO

News and updates on the Rally are regularly uploaded to the Rally Blog:

http://europeanrally.blogspot.com/

For more fun join the Facebook group:

Search for “European Rally 2010” or click on the following link:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/group.php?gid=138318343369&ref=ts

If have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask one of the prep team members:

Swedish Rally Prep Team:

Ulrica Berglöf +46 70 744 0124 ulricaberglof@hotmail.com

Martin Oskarsson +46 70 233 5104 martin.oskarsson@telia.com

Tina Fritzson +46 70 656 6903 tina.fritzson@gmail.com

Anette Pantzar + 46 70 589 7716 anettepantzar@yahoo.se

International Prep Team:

Kadri Toomingas +372 5234451 kadri@eesti4h.ee

Ragnar Kekkonen +372 580 27279 ragnarkekkonen@gmail.com

Janja Karner +386 314 580 06 januska12@yahoo.com

Stina Lindedam +45 60 274368 lindedam@yahoo.dk

Amanda Hajnal + 358 45 234 5629 office@ruralyoutheurope.com

Rally HOTLINE +46-767-800032 rally@4h.se

Welcome!

Summer is here for real!

In less than a month you will all be here with us in Sweden! When we first started to think about hosting a European Rally, it was me and Martin sitting at a GA in Switzerland 2008, far far away on of them mountain hills... Two years later we're here and the European Rally in Sweden is just around the corner! Time sure flies :)

The sun have decided to make us company when doing all the last planning for giving you the best stay in Sweden and the best European Rally. Let us just hope that the sun will make us company also when you are here! I mean... Imagine playing games in the sun on fresh green grass, or just after an interesting day relax in the summer warmth with your new friends... Summer in Sweden is wonderful but also a bit tricky so bring both sun protection and a rain jacket, then you're ready for all kinds of things we've planned for you!

See you soon and don't hesitate to contact us if there's any question marks!

Lots of Summery lover
//Ulrica aka Rica

Meeting, planning, laughing and some more planning...

It's not only to run an European Rally, you have to do some planning too and here are some photos of us planning, laughing, meeting and planning some more with the aim of giving you a memory to keep for a long time!

We can promise you, there won't be no snow when you're here...


You have to eat too and Ethiopian was delicious!

Working with some dust included

Martin and his girls

What would you do without computers?

"Ah, is this how you do!?..." Kadri shows Stina

how to do and learning by doing is examplified

More work to do!

The whole group planning

Thinking...

Rax, our energy!

More food

"This is where we're gonna be...." Anette shows Amanda

Two crazy ones!

Guided tour at the Venue

The whole International Prep Team

Some more meetings being done

Some views

A potential neighbour

Another view