Twice a year the members of the AER Committee on Culture Education and Youth gather in plenary meetings. This is the opportunity to set goals for cooperation through the development of a joint work programme and to evaluate progress every six months.
During the AER Spring Committee Plenaries 2019 in Örebro (SE), AER members identified joint actions they wanted to implement with fellow regions and came up with a work programme for 2019-2020 which was integrated into the AER Action Plan. Six months later it is time to evaluate progress, celebrate achievements and share experiences!
The progress report below is organized into 3 categories and gives an overview of the current situation and progress of the different activities going on within AER.
Projects
Good practice sharing
Lobbying
Projects
Road to the Future: ongoing
Road to the Future is a project submitted under the Erasmus+ programme, within the Key Action 3 – Support for Policy Reform, and it is designed around the European Parliament Elections in 2019. First, it encouraged debate among young European on the European elections to increase young voters’ turnout. This was implemented through training of youth activists, leaders and the development of tools and resources. After the elections, the project continues the training for trainers and mentors, based on the ideas collected during the first phase. This ensures that young people gain the knowledge, skills, and tools necessary to be engaged for the future of Europe at the local level.
The lead partner is JEF Europe – Young European Federalist. AER represents local and regional authorities. The consortium is composed of 21 organisations, mainly national JEF associations.
AER is responsible to connect young people and decision-makers, especially via the involvement of the YRN. “Road to the Future” will last 16 months, from October 2018 to February 2020.
Together for Cohesion: let’s rEUnite! project: ongoing
“Together for Cohesion: let’s rEUnite!” is a project submitted under a call launched by DG REGIO. On the one hand, this project aims at raising awareness on the importance of programmes, projects, and services funded by the cohesion policy funds. On the other hand, the project will encourage the participation of citizens and stakeholders to turn them into active players in the dialogue on cohesion policy. AER coordinates the project and it will collect experiences on cohesion policy together with regions.
Within AER this project was officially launched during the General Assembly in Larnaca (CY) in June 2019. With the project partner mc Group, also six AER member regions have taken up the challenge of becoming core partners: Varazdin (HR), Csongrád (HU), Trentino (IT), Timis and Alba (RO), and Catalonia (ES).
Good Practice Exchange
Training Seminar – “Cities and Regions: New Actors of Change in Europe”: finished
In partnership with the European College of Cluny, AER organised a Training Seminar “Cities and Regions: New Actors of Change in Europe”, which took place in Cluny (FR), from 26 – 30 August 2019.
Local and regional authorities were invited to attend a 5 days Training Seminar to participate in conferences, round table discussions, study visits, and case studies to determine how to boost their influence multiply their innovation potential and increase their territorial resilience through interregional cooperation.
The next seminar on public policy design will take place from 7 to 9 October in Cluny, in English and is open to all AER members. Registrations for this seminar are open until 20 September at [email protected]
Civil Servants Exchange Programme: ongoing
The AER Training Seminar in Cluny was also the first step for the Civil Servants Exchange programme announced in September 2018 and coordinated by the President of Committee 3 Radimir Čačić, Varaždin (HR). The Civil Servants Exchange programme will allow civil servants to spend a month in a partner region to learn about new processes and practices. This programme is being developed in close collaboration with the Eurodyssey network and will start in 2020.
Autumn Committee Plenaries – Podčetrtek (SI): ongoing
The annual Autumn Committee Plenaries of the Assembly of European Regions will take place on September 24-26 2019, in Podčetrtek, Slovenia.
The topic of the thematic event of the plenaries will be Cohesion & Contrasted Regional Realities, and the aim will be to identify strategies and actions to boost regional development and innovation in the face of contrasting realities.
AER Summer Academy 2019 – “Youth is future, youth is Europe”: finished
The Summer Academy Organising Committee organised the 2019 AER Summer Academy Vojvodina (RS) on the theme “Youth is future, youth is Europe” in Novi Sad, Vojvodina (RS), the 2019 European Youth Capital. In the wake of the 2019 Elections to the European Parliament, the aim was to exchange innovative ideas and good practices in various fields. It was about the potential of young people to bring about a social transformation and rethink the way Europe can meet the challenges of the future. Hrvoje Kovac, Chair of the AER sub-committee on youth moderated the 1st Plenary Session: Youth is democratic participation and European citizenship.
Workshop on youth participation: ongoing
Discussions during the 2019 Summer Academy showed youth participation is still a very hot topic. The AER Subcommittee on Youth, chaired by Hrvoje Kovač, is organizing a workshop on the occasion of the AER Autumn Committee Plenaries in Podčetrtek (SI). The topic of the workshop will be Youth participation in regional policy-making. It aims at identifying steps to implement meaningful and impactful youth participation in regions.
Workshop on the future of education
The Subcommittee on Education, chaired by Simon Johnson, Nordland (NO), is organising a workshop on the future of education in an ever-changing professional life on the occasion of the AER Autumn Committee Plenaries in Podčetrtek (SI). Questions addressed are: How should education look like in a world where things happen faster than ever? How is it possible to organise knowledge acquisition or provision?
Mutual learning on culture and health: ongoing
Regions agreed they wanted to engage in mutual learning around culture and health for all and how to, in particular, reach out to young people. As a first step, the Subcommittee on Culture is organising a workshop at the autumn plenary meetings on rural touring an initiative to promote a culture for all (see below).
Workshop on culture in rural communities: ongoing
The Subcommittee on Culture chaired by Fereshteh Jalayer, Värmland (SE) is organising a workshop on rural touring. The initiative is driven by the desire to overcome social, geographic, economic and psychological barriers that have historically inhabited the enjoyment of the arts by people in rural communities. The workshop will feature a theater manager and a dance strategist.
Raise awareness on the Eurodyssey programme: ongoing
The AER Committees are supporting the communication around the Eurodyssey programme for youth mobility to increase the numbers of participants in Eurodyssee. This is done for instance by allocating slots at the Committees’ meetings to share achievements of the programme and by presenting the programme at events led by the Committees, such as for instance the Training Seminar in Cluny.
Mutual learning event on economy 4.0: ongoing
Each year Brussels Capital proposes a mutual learning event on a current and transversal topic. On 4 December 2019, Brussels Capital will organise a mutual learning event on economy 4.0. Economy 4.0 describes a new era of productive, industrial and economic development characterized by the implementation of big-scale automatization, artificial intelligence (AI) robotic instruments, computational big data analytics software, and high tech infrastructure. It aims to gather experiences from all three AER Committees and regions who will be welcome to share inputs and regional examples.
Exchanges around traditional cultures: ongoing
The 5th edition of FolkoFonija will take place from 13 to 15 September 2019 and all AER members have been invited to contribute to the development of this event. Initiated and organized by the Centre for Traditional Culture Varaždin, this festival could be the basis for a joint project to be developed in AER on traditional cultures in wider Europe.
AER Delegation at Smart City Expo World Congress: ongoing
AER will again be taking part in the Smart City Expo World Congress (SCEWC) from 19-21 November in Barcelona (ES). This 2019 edition aims to be the meeting point to encourage all stakeholders (from technology industries to policy-makers and entrepreneurs) to engage in dynamic action to enable a sustainable and inclusive future.
- Members interested in attending should contact Tina Wu. AER has received 10 free Expo passes and a 25% discount on the 3 day congress pass.
Mutual learning on early school leaving: planned
Share experiences on early school leaving and the issue of young people who are not in education and not in employment. In particular, explore practices around building confidence and encouraging young people.
- This action could be developed within the context of the Subcommittee on Education. Regions interested in working on this topic should share their idea with the Secretariat in order to start developing this initiative.
From brain drain to brain gain: planned
Share knowledge, experiences, and practices to address the issue of brain drain and move from brain drain to brain gain.
- This action could be developed within the context of the Subcommittee on Education. Regions interested in working on this topic should share their idea with the Secretariat in order to start developing this initiative.
Mutual learning on the loss of workforce: planned
Exchange around the issue of governments investing in education and “losing” their qualified workforce. The aim would be to identify elements of resilience or compensation for territories that “lose” qualified workforce.
- This action could be developed within the context of the Subcommittee on Education or in collaboration with the AER Committee on Regional Development and Economy. Regions interested in working on this topic should share their idea with the Secretariat in order to start developing this initiative.
Lifelong learning for 50+ people: planned
Special training for 50+ people in for example IT, in order to improve wellbeing and employability.
- This action could be developed within the context of the Subcommittee on Education. Regions interested in working on this topic should share their idea with the Secretariat in order to start developing this initiative.
Advocacy/Lobbying
Contributing to a Network of Intercultural Regions: ongoing
The Bureau Task Force on migration organised a Breakfast debate on the occasion of the General Assembly in Larnaca to examine the possibility of creating an intercultural regions programme, similar to the existing Council of Europe Intercultural Cities Programme. The network will support regions for the design and implementation of diversity and inclusion strategies. The process to develop this programme requires intense dialogue with institutions. Regions interested to participate in a network of intercultural regions should contact Vania Freitas
Joint initiatives for advocacy
Member regions can decide to initiate joint actions and find partners among AER members. Regions can get support from the Secretariat to connect with other regions, get an overview of the existing legal framework and identify relevant actions, target institutions. The AER Secretariat will also organise Breakfast Briefings to help regions organise their advocacy activities.
AER Bureau Task Forces
The 2018 Spring Bureau established the creation of Task Forces on dedicated topics. These Task Forces will gather examples, identify and formulate policy messages which will be brought together in position papers which will then be used for advocacy. Members who would like to contribute to one of the below Task Forces should contact AER Coordinator for Advocacy & Institutional Relations Vania Freitas.
-Task Force on Food Security
-Task Force on Cohesion Policy
-Task Force on Digitalisation
-Task Force on Migration
-Task Force on Sustainable Development Goals
The Committees’ work programmes and the AER action Plan
The development of the Action Plan is a collective process to enable all participants to specify needs and decide to initiate activities that add value to their region. The principle is the following: as long as an action fits with the AER values, is in line with the AER priorities and has support from other regions, it can be included in the Committee’s work programmes. The work programmes are developed in spring each year and the 2019/2020 work programme is available here.
The AER action plan is the consolidation of the three Committees’ work programmes with all other activities led by the Bureau and the Executive Board. It is adopted at the General Assembly.
Members can propose new joint initiatives at any time during the year, these are then approved by the Executive Board and included in the Committee’s work programmes and the AER action plan. The action plan for 2019/2020 is available here.
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