YPEF 2013/2014 

International Contest ”Young People in European Forests” 

Rules of the Contest 

Participants 

1. The Contest is open to young people from European countries in the age group determined by the National Commissions, but not less than 13 and not more than 20 years at the beginning of the school year 2013/2014. 

2. Participants take part in teams of three. All participants are expected to speak English. 

Contest Commissions 

3. Each organization participating in the YPEF contest 2013/2014 may be represented in the YPEF International Commission. 

4. The YPEF International Commission and YPEF National Commissions will supervise the course of the contest directly. 

5. The YPEF International Commission may, if necessary, make changes in its composition. 

6. YPEF National Commissions may, if necessary, make changes in their compositions. 

7. Participants of the YPEF 2012/2013 European (Final) stage may support the work of the YPEF International Commission in the field of promotional and organizational activities concerning the YPEF contest. 

8. Participants of the YPEF 2012/2013 national stages may support the work of the YPEF National Commission of their own country in the field of promotional and organizational activities concerning the YPEF contest’s national stages. 

Goals 

9. Important basic goals of the YPEF Contest are: 

• Development of youth activity and integration by education; 
• Promotion of knowledge about forests and forestry in Europe of young people; 
• Familiarizing young people with the concepts of forest and the various relationships between biotic and abiotic components; 
• Promotion of understanding of the value of forest ecosystems in different European countries; 
• Raising awareness among young people for the sustainable management of ecosystems. 

10. The teams get the necessary knowledge by themselves (non-formal education), share this knowledge and present results to their colleagues participating in the contest during preparations for national stages and during the European Final. The course and organization of the workshop during the final stage will train the participants to cooperate and discuss the problems of nature and environment above state borders and barriers.

Stage 1 – National 

11. The organizations represented in the YPEF International Commission from a given country will be jointly responsible for the organization of the National Stage Contest. 

12. National stages are based on multiple choice questions, designed to test for general knowledge on forests and environmental issues. National Commissions may supplement the questions by other activities. 

13. Questions can refer to the nature, forests and forestry of European countries (national sets). At least 19 countries and general issues of European nature, forests and forestry (European set) are prepared for the Contest. For each question four answers are prepared and there is only one correct solution. 

14. The YPEF National Commission independently prepares the list of national stage questions. 

15. Each team of participants in the national stage of one country shall answer the same list of questions. 

16. Participation in the Contest is voluntary and does not need to cover all the members of an institution. (e.g. school, youth club, etc.) 

17. The YPEF National Commissions may organize a national final. However, this is not mandatory. The National Commissions qualify the best teams to the national final (if there is one organized). The criteria of promotion to the national final as well as the number of teams/finalists are up to the decision of the YPEF National Commissions. 

18. The participants will study for the contest, using the website, booklets, textbooks and other materials produced or accepted by the members of the YPEF International Commission and distributed in all the countries that participate in the contest. 

19. The National Stage Contest will be held in each country on a convenient day between the 1st of February 2014 and the 31st of May 2014. 

20. In case it is necessary, a run-off contest may be organized to select the winning team of a national final. YPEF National Commission will appoint the place and time for the run-off. The list of questions for the run-off will be selected by the YPEF National Commission in the same way as described in point 13. 

21. The team with the highest total score in a National Contest will be invited to represent their country at the European (Final) Stage. 

22. The detailed rules of the National Stage Contests will be established by the YPEF National Commissions. 

23. The International Commission may accept national forest contests organized in a different way as an YPEF national stage. 

24. The National Commissions may prepare new questions for the National Stages. The new questions must correspond with the text of the official YPEF booklet or additional materials accepted by the YPEF International Commission and made available to the participants as standard learning material.

Stage 2 – European Final 

25. The participants of the European Final Stage Contest are expected to represent the knowledge and promotion of the nature of their home countries in their international teams. (see 26.) 

26. The national teams from all countries meet in the host country. On the day of arrival the teams will be rearranged in order to have new teams with all mixed nationalities. These international teams are selected by draw. The teams consist of three members; each member of the team has to be from another country. These international teams will do all parts of the European Contest together. 

27. The European Contest consists of three parts. The first stage is a test consisting of at least 40 multiple choice questions. The questions will be selected by the YPEF National Commission of the host country and remain confidential to anyone else until the final test taking place. The second stage is an outdoor team parcours with 5 different activity places in the forest. There the teams have to solve tasks related to forestry. The third part of the European Contest is the presentation stage. The international teams are given a minimum of 6 hours to prepare a presentation about one topic. The topic will be selected by the International Commission. Each international team is provided with a laptop and learning material. The final presentation of one team is max. 15 minutes. Power point presentation is mandatory. University tutors will be available to help the teams with their tasks and with computer issues. Teams may continue to work on their presentations during their spare time. The presentation is evaluated by both: the YPEF International Commission (weight of 75% of the marks) and participants of the European final stage (weight of 25% of the marks). 

28. The winner of the YPEF European Final Contest 2013/2014 is the team which gets the highest total score from the test, the outdoor activity parcours and the presentation. 

29. In case two or more teams get the same total number of points, the score from the presentation shall decide the winner. 

30. The host country for the YPEF European Final Contest 2013/2014 is Germany. The Final Contest will take place in Eberswalde from the 29th of September until the 3rd of October 2014. 

Support 

31. National Stages and the Final Stage may be supported (in financial or participation form) by other institutions from a given country. 

32. The YPEF European Final Contest 2013/2014 will be organized by HNE Eberswalde and the Schutzgemeinschaft Deutscher Wald and may be financed among others from grants by the European Union.