The Eastern Europe Studies Centre (EESC)  invites applications for the fully funded 2nd Vilnius Young Leaders Meeting 2019. EESC held its 1st Vilnius Young Leaders Meeting (VYLM) in Autumn 2017. The VYLM focuses on addressing threats posed by disinformation, fake news, propaganda, controlled access to information as well as discussion venues, and aims to increase societal resilience of targeted communities. To tackle these problems, VYLM uses an approach of sharing expertise and lessons learned by those active in the field. It is also creating a network of like-minded people who are able to work together and construct new innovative approaches. For this purpose, EESC invites young practitioners from different areas, including journalists; bloggers;  artists; civic activists; scholars, and public servants, from following 9 countries: Armenia; Estonia; Belarus; Georgia; Latvia; Lithuania; Moldova; Russia, and Ukraine to apply for the 2nd VYLM.

The three-day-long program includes meetings and discussions with renown experts who are leading the fight against disinformation (predominantly from Russia) within their countries as well as represented institutions. During the previous Vilnius Young Leaders Meeting, experts arrived from Brussels; Belarus; Latvia; Lithuania; Russia; Sweden; Ukraine, and the United States.

Fully Funded Vilnius Young Leaders Meeting

In addition to the opportunity to meet and learn from leading figures in journalism, communication, foreign affairs, and security – as well as from one another – participants at the Vilnius Young Leaders Meeting will receive benefits including:

• Accommodation from October 16 to October 20 (4 nights on a double-occupancy basis)
• Meals
• Round-trip transportation
• Visa support, if required

Who is eligible for the Fully Funded Vilnius Young Leaders Meeting?

Motivated young professionals are eligible for the Vilnius Young Leaders Meeting whose professional activities as well as personal goals relate to improving media, scholar and the analytical environment in their respective countries and the broader region. Further, the candidates should be from one of the countries including Armenia, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, and Ukraine

Candidates should ideally:

• Be between 24-35 years old
• Hold at least a bachelor’s degree
• Likewise, have a minimum of 3 years of work experience in the fields of journalism, communication, political science, or civil society/NGOs
• English language skills allowing to take an active part in discussions (simultaneous English-Russian interpretation is planned, but may not always be available)

How to apply for the Vilnius Young Leaders Meeting?

Participants for the Vilnius Young Leaders Meeting will require to complete and submit the application form in English (preferably) or Russian. Further, the candidates should email the applications to the organizers with ‘VYLM Application’ as the subject line. However, applications that do not include complete answers to all questions will not be eligible.

Deadline

All applications must be received by the deadline of August 12, 2019, at 23:55 Lithuanian time (EEST, UTC+ 03:00).