Jong Groen (English, Young Green) is the youth organization of Groen, the Green party in Flanders and Brussels.
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Origins
Jong Groen has grown out of local groups of young Groen members, active since the late eighties and early nineties. These local groups started coordinated action in 1996. In 1998 Jong Groen was officially founded.
Organizational structure
Though Jong Groen is fully integrated into the party (shared membership and shared offices) and subscribes to the same principles and goals, it is politically and organizationally independent. Jong Groen has now grown into an organization with around 1000 members, organized in 37 local groups in Flanders and Brussels. The national organization consists of the Jong Groen Congress, the assembly of all members that decides on the organization's statutes and its program, and also elects the Board and the spokespersons; the Jong Groen Council, where the representatives of the local groups meet and take a stance on concrete issues; and the Jong Groen Board, which consists of four elected board members, up to three spokespersons and the chairperson of the Jong Groen Council, and which is responsible for running the organization.
Jong Groen is a member-organisation of the Federation of Young European Greens.
Activities
Jong Groen organizes actions and runs campaigns on a wide range of issues: a CO2-energy tax, open source software in schools, animal rights, green energy, public transport, education, employment, etc. Also, its working groups try to look at most of these issues from the vantage point of young people and try to formulate new ideas. Forum weekends and summercamps are the high points of the year: they are an opportunity for young greens in Flanders and Brussels to get to know each other, to discuss, to find inspiration for new actions and simply to have fun.