Sarajevo (BiH), 29 September 2009

As Europe faces the global effects of climate change and economic recession, its regions came together yesterday and today to invest in the best resource available to tackle these challenges: Europe’s young people.

In this European Year of Creativity and Innovation, an Assembly of European Regions (AER) seminar on youth entrepreneurship gathered regional politicians and experts from across wider Europe to develop “creative ideas for innovative business and social profit”.

The seminar was hosted by the Sarajevo canton of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a territory with around 50% youth employment and hence enormous potential for developing youth entrepreneurship schemes.

In exploring the various forms of youth entrepreneurship, the seminar focused on stimulating small business start-ups by offering young people information, training, networking, and financing opportunities.

The seminar also identified regional good practices that have turned young people’s innovative ideas into reality and encouraged their active contribution to change and development in their regions.

President of AER Committee 3 (Culture, Education and Youth), Lower Austria minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner, said that the seminar “comes at an opportune time considering the global economic situation and its negative effects on the labour market, especially among young people. Offering a specific education in entrepreneurship can give young people a better chance of making the transition from education to employment, and their creativity and energy can foster social stability in dealing with the long-term consequences of the economic crisis.”

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