I. Organizer

The International Institute of the Civil Society is an organizer of the contest, “Organizer”, together with Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Poland, “Partner”.

II. Sponsor

Ecolines Polska Sp. z o.o. is a sponsor of the contest.

III. Aim of the contest

The aim of the contest „Civil society from the youth’s perspective” is to select contestants who will present solid knowledge in the subject matter and prepare the best written papers on one of the topics indicated further below.

 IV. Rules of participation

1. The contest is addressed to:

• I age category: students of public and non-public colleges from any faculty;
• II age category: pupils from public and non-public upper – secondary schools.

2. The participation in the contest entails writing and submitting individually written papers within the set deadline and in a form presented in the hereby rules.

3. Each contestant may submit one written paper (essay) which has never been elsewhere published or awarded in other contests.

4. An essay submitted for the purposes of the contest must be entirely an original creation of the contestant and in no part may it be a plagiarism, a copy or a part of any other work.

5. Submission of the written form shall be perceived as the acceptance of the terms set out in the hereby rules and as the provision of the contestant and as granting contestant’s consent to gratuitously use the submitted paper as far as promotion activities of the contest are concerned (for example press publications, publishers, electronic media). The participation in the contest shall also be perceived as granting consent for processing personal data of the contestant for the purposes of the contest provided such data is revealed during the contest and in relation with the contest (in accordance with the Act on the protection of personal data from 29^th 1997).

6. Participation in the contest is free and voluntary.

7. We encourage you to like the fan page of IICS: www.facebook.com/MiedzynarodowyInstytutSpoleczenstwaObywatelskiego

V. Topics and the form of the written forms, the terms of the contest

1. In order to take part in the contest each contestant has to prepare a written form on one of three of the following topics:

• „Civil society in Poland: yesterday, today and tomorrow. How is it and how should it be?”
• „I am an element of a civil society – I have rights and obligations.”
• „The displays of civil society in Poland and abroad. Which do you perceive as the most important and why??”

2. Written papers have to be submitted until 18^th February 2013 in a written, paper form and also on a CD-rom at the following address:

Międzynarodowy Instytut Społeczeństwa Obywatelskiego
ul. Klimczaka 17 lok. 95
02-797 Warszawa
with a title: “Essay contest”

The date of the postal stamp will be of a decisive character as far as the date of the essay’s submission is concerned.

3. Written paper submitted after the deadline will not take part in the contest.

4.  Submitted written papers will not be returned to their authors.

5. Only these essays which were written in Polish language on one of the three indicated topics in section V point 1 of the hereby rules and submitted in the given deadline will be evaluated.

6. Submitted written forms may not exceed 12 000 signs. Times New Roman, size 12, interline 1,5. Accepted form: .doc or .pdf.

7. Each written form should contain the following information:

• name and surname of the contestant (author);
• correspondence address;
• e-mail address;
• phone number;
• address of a college or a school the contestant attends to;
• name of a faculty – which applies to students.

8. Each contestant having reached maturity is obliged to enclose a written declaration being an Attachment no 1 to the hereby rules. Under aged contestants must enclose a written declaration of their legal guardians granting consent for a contestant to take part in the contest being an attachment to the hereby rules (Attachment no 2).

VI. Criteria of essays’ evaluation

1. In order to evaluate the essays the Organizer will appoint an evaluation commission which will give:

• from 1 to 10 points for compliance with concepts, aims and the topics of the contest;
• from 1 to 10 points for original approach to the given topics and for literary values;
• from 1 to 5 points for clear structure of the paper, coherence, esthetics and language correctness.

2.  Three of the contestants granted with the biggest amount of points from the first and second age category will be granted with a laureate title and shall receive attractive prizes indicated in section VII of the hereby rules.

VII. Awards

• In both age categories  (students of public and non-public colleges from any faculty; pupils from public and non-public upper – secondary schools) three of the contestants with the biggest amount of points shall receive the following prizes:

1. The winner: 3-day trip to the European Parliament in Brussels and a coach ticket both ways for 2 people to Paris.
2. The runner up: 3-day trip to the European Parliament in Brussels and a coach ticket both ways for 2 people to Vilnus.
3. The second runner up: 3-day trip to the European Parliament in Brussels and a coach ticket both ways for 2 people to Berlin.

Moreover, the parts or entire papers of the laureates shall be published at ngo.pl. Additionally, all laureates shall receive an invitation to Warsaw for a one- day trip to the Polish Parliament and shall attend a meeting with the Vice-President of the European Parliament Jacek Protasiewicz and with invited special guests during which the prizes and diplomas will be given. There will be also other prizes. The costs of the contestants’ trip to Warsaw will be covered by the Partner of the contest.

VIII. Important dates

1. Contest starts on 5^th November 2012.

2. The essays must be submitted until 18^th February in accordance with the hereby rules.

3. The list of laureates shall be published at: www.miso.org.pl and on its fan page: www.facebook.com/MiedzynarodowyInstytutSpoleczenstwaObywatelskiego  on 22^nd April  2013 and afterwards the assays of the laureates shall be published. The laureates shall be informed about the results also via phone.

4. The laureates shall be informed via e-mail or phone about the date of the granting of the awards.