YPARD...beyond a “platform”, a motor for action – Take part!

You have been in touch with YPARD for a while, or you just got to know about it, and you wonder how you could get more involved with this young people’s network - actively. You are strongly welcome to come joining forces with us on getting the new generation take a crucial role for agricultural development – YPARD is your community!

First of all, make sure you have registered on www.ypard.net. It is free! You would then receive our funding news bulletin, newsletters and special calls based on your region and expertise! Also, if you are an e-bird, it will get you more active online through e-discussions, blogging, networking etc - for voicing and sharing your insights with your peers and important stakeholders! Finally, if you like on-the-ground action, you can get involved in your region, country and local area, with your peers, for implementing context-driven activities!

“ That’s great, but how do we do that concretely?”, you say.

The net is your playground?

• You can write and send your "success story" to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , to be posted on the showcase. 
• Write blog posts on YPARD Community blog. Send your narrative of 600-800 words in a word format + a picture in picture format with appropriate credit. Your title should be short and catchy. Make also sure that the key message of your contribution is clear. Prefer short paragraphs. Don’t hesitate to illustrate your arguments with concrete experience and/or references to verified sources. Find more tips on how to write a good blog post; adopt Peter’s art of seduction.
• Contribute to or initiate e-discussions on topics that matter to you, related to youth and agriculture – This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• Join YPARD Social Media Team (SMT), our on-line group of more than 200 people. We spread youth messages or important information for young people in agriculture, and we contribute to key discussions, on social media. Write to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with subject line [YPARD SMT – Add me] and some brief information about you and your interest.

On-the-ground action is your thing?

We believe that it is valuable to build YPARD working groups on country levels and boost ideas and initiatives built up on a local level. There are simple ways to mobilize young people in agriculture and build a working group, in order to identify together priorities and implement activities to address these.

YPARD café and YPARD awareness campaign are two possible starting-up activities meant to get people together. Liaise with us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or contact your country representative directly http://ypard.net/who-we-are (you need to be logged-in to check their details).

Activities to be implemented could be:

• awareness “campaign” about YPARD and for the youth’s cause : the need to get more voice in strategic and political debates, the need to get more appropriate curricula, to get agriculture sector attractive...
• letter to ministry,  voicing youth concerns, challenges or ideas for supporting youth and agriculture
• capacity building activities, if appropriate
• networking and building up partnership with other organizations focusing  on youth and/or ARD for YPARD community to go forward on a more integrated action by joining forces with others
• giving a voice to the youth on local level by participating to events, linkaging with and “lobbying” within local institutions, potentially your own organization or company

Let us know more about you!

Are you a student? Do you currently work? Where are you based? These are questions which will help to determine what type of activities you may want undertake with YPARD teams.

Become a Country representative!

There are still many opportunities to become a YPARD Country Representative! Find out if YPARD is represented in your country. Before the YPARD representative is selected, he/she is expected to have demonstrated commitment to YPARD by being an active member. An active member may have already organized an event, engaged in some of these activities and/or organized or participated in online events.

Contact us for more information, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or by e-mailing your country representative directly  http://ypard.net/who-we-are  (you need to be logged-in to check their details).

Knowledge is Power!

We are in need of more information for our members, notably on the website. If this is something you are interested in or if you know people who would be interested in giving a hand on finding information resources and posting information ont he website (particularly in French and Spanish), it would revolutionize our regional services and meanwhile help get more members. Once again, contact us!

The same way, we need to mobilize more people in your region through the website, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Google+. Spread the word, and if this is something you would be interested in working on more closely with us, please let us know. Join us on Twitter : (@YPARD), Linkedin YPARD group,  Facebook YPARD "corporate" page, Facebook YPARD group, Google+ YPARD page, Pinterest

We stay available. Do not hesitate contacting us!

[Updated version from the original post, published on 13 Jan 2014]