15th of November was a busy Tuesday for IDEA as we combined our training/ information seminar on the EU with our members' Christmas Gathering! Both events went wonderfully with new IDEA members, long-term members and other friends enjoying a well-earned opportunity to relax, celebrate and reflect together.

The training event, attended by 25 people, was organised in collaboration with Dóchas, to introduce participants to Development Education at EU level. The facilitator was Tobias Troll, Advocacy Officer from DEEEP: Developing European's Engagement for the Eradication of global Poverty. He introduced the group to the work of DEEEP, to the complex arena of platforms and networks operating at EU level and to the Consensus document on Development Education.

We then looked at EU instruments for funding development education, in particular EuropeAid's call for proposals from non-state actors and local authorities. We finished by looking at a range of international sources of funding, based on DEEEP's own compilation. Smaller groups of participants explored these sources and fed back to the larger group. The sources included The EU Youth in Action Programme, the Europe for Citizens Programme, the Open Society Institute and the Fondation Francaise.

Dóchas and IDEA will be collaborating to organise a follow-up event to be held in Feb 2010- so keep an eye on our website!

Photos can be seen here.