Getting an insight into public service at Lake Balaton – ReGeneráció Camp in Siófok

Sixty young people had the chance to glimpse ‘behind the scenes’ of the Government at the ReGeneráció Camp held in Siófok this weekend.

Following the successful ReGeneráció Career Expo last autumn and the Public Administration Open Day organised by the Ministry of Public Administration and Justice in the spring, this unprecedented initiative gave visitors the chance to get acquainted with the attractions of the public service career structure and its inherent opportunities in a more personal context.
Photo: Károly Árvai

The three-day event was opened by Deputy Prime Minister Tibor Navracsics on Friday 8 July 2011. In his opening speech he said, among other things, that public service is not a closed world, but an exciting and – in terms of career prospects – a motivating one. Following an informal discussion, the campers immediately found themselves in ‘deep water’: in teams, they had to develop a government strategy that targeted issues such as foreign language education, reducing the emission of pollutants, and the promotion of Hungarian products at domestic and international levels. Every detail was well worked out, from design to implementation and communication. The campers presented their results the following day, after an intensive brainstorming session that went on late into the evening. Of course, some time was devoted to hard journalist-style questions at the end of the presentations.
Photo: Károly Árvai

The seminars on Saturday also demonstrated that the life of government officials is not necessarily grey and boring. Zoltán Kovács, Minister of State for Government Communication, gave a presentation which not only covered the daily work of the Ministry, but also that of its background institutions, such as the Balassi Institute, Hungarofest (responsible for the organisation of public events) and the newly-opened Terminal Design. The questions of country branding and being a spokesperson for the Government also came up. Bence Rétvári, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, and Ministerial Commissioner Péter Mihalovics talked about the situation of youth politics and the Új Nemzedék (‘New Generation’) Programme with the campers, while Piroska Bakos, spokesperson for the Hungarian EU Presidency, and deputy ministers of state Csaba Latorcai and Bálint Ódor summarised the lessons of the Hungarian EU Presidency and the Year of Volunteering. Bálint Ódor pointed out that the greatest achievement of the EU Presidency has been that ‘we are finally taken seriously,’ and that therefore Hungary can assert its interests internationally. Csaba Latorcai encouraged the participants to embark on voluntary activities, since not only will others benefit from them, but they promote the personal development of volunteers themselves.

In addition to the professional programmes, the campers were introduced to the official wines of the Presidency and the Liszt Year in an exciting wine tasting event, and they also had time for personal conversations and to get to know each other. A small ReGeneráció ‘community’ formed after the events, which can expand further in the future, as the ReGeneráció Programme continues!

(kormany.hu)