Organised every year in a Eurodyssey region, the Eurodyssey Forum offers a unique opportunity for regions to exchange around plenary sessions, capacity-building workshops, study visits and informal networking moments. Open to elected politicians, civil servants and young beneficiaries from the AER/Eurodyssey member regions and beyond, the Forum is the annual showcase of the Eurodyssey programme. In 2023, for the European Year of Skills, the Region of Azores (Portugal) will host the Eurodyssey Forum for the first time since 2008!

*Registrations are open until the 8th of October on a “first-come, first-served basis”. After this date, registrations will be possible only based on the number of spots still available. This deadline applies to international participants only. Participants based in the Azores will still be able to register after the 8th of October.

A Eurodyssey Forum for the European Year of Skills

Eurodyssey is the flagship youth regional mobility programme of the Assembly of European Regions, entirely managed at regional level, and providing paid traineeships to the young beneficiaries across the participating regions, in various sectors. During 3 to 7 months, the trainees will benefit from valuable professional experience and mentoring in another European region, together with language training and cultural and social activities. Enriched from this experience, the programme’s beneficiaries will have boosted their employability, skills, international comfort and personal development. Besides the traineeship experience, Eurodyssey is a unique opportunity to boost mutual understanding and intercultural learning, and to raise awareness about regional diversity in Europe –  one of AER’s strong pillars.

On this year’s European Year of Skills, the opening plenary of the Eurodyssey Forum 2023 will focus on Youth mobility and skills development in rural and peripheral areas.

The programme also includes capacity-building workshops and exchanges of best practices to boost the Eurodyssey programme in the participating regions, and to give the opportunity to other stakeholders and regional representatives to discover first-hand what the programme is about, and how it could be developed and implemented in their own regions, should they wish to join Eurodyssey. In addition to the plenaries and workshops, the host Region of Azores will take the participants to study visits, to discover the natural and industrial heritage of the region.

Election of the Eurodyssey Steering Committee

This year’s Eurodyssey Forum will include the election of the Eurodyssey Steering Committee, including the Eurodyssey President, for the next two-year mandate. The Eurodyssey participating regions will receive a dedicated call for candidacies. Please note that only regions taking part in Eurodyssey are eligible to these elections.

A MEET Intergenerational Regional Debate

The Eurodyssey Forum will include an Intergenerational Regional Debate as part of the MEET project (Mobile Europe = Engage Together), an EU-funded project led by the European Youth Forum (YFJ), in partnership with the AER. Ahead of the 2024 European elections, the MEET project aims at offering space for diverse groups of European citizens to discuss Europe at local and regional level. The MEET Regional Debates aim at creating space to make youth voices heard and to foster intergenerational debate between young people and politicians.