Save the Date for the AER Summer Academy 2024! Hosted by Nordland fylkeskommune (Nordland County Council), this edition of the Summer Academy will take place from the 12th to the 16th of August in Bodø.

The Summer Academy of Culture

The city of Bodø, Nordland, will be the European Capital of Culture 2024. In this context, and building on the Summer Academy’s commitment to intergenerational dialogue and youth inclusion, along with European citizenship, values, democracy and fundamental rights, the main theme of the Summer Academy 2024 will revolve around Culture as a means to foster active youth participation.

The Summer Academy 2024 will actually start on the International Youth Day of the United Nations, celebrated on the 12th of August!

The detailed programme will be released at a later stage, as the Host Region, the Summer Academy Organising Committee (SAOC), the youth delegates and the AER Secretariat are preparing the plenary debates, the workshops and the study visits. In the meantime, you can find below the draft agenda and save the date in your agendas to not miss out on this AER flagship, high-level event!

The Summer Academy: a high-level event recognised by European institutions

Did you know that the Summer Academy 2022 was awarded the European Citizen’s Prize for Ireland? Awarded every year by the European Parliament, this Prize goes to projects “organised by people or organisations that encourage mutual understanding and closer integration between people in the EU, cross-border cooperation that builds a stronger European spirit, and EU values and fundamental rights.”

The Summer Academy 2024 will also be supported by the European Commission, as part of the Erasmus+ project “Climbing the Ladder: Fostering a Culture of Youth Engagement”. Both the AER and Nordland fylkeskommune are project partners of this initiative led by DYPALL (Developing Youth Participation at Local Level), a European platform gathering civil society organisations and local authorities from more than 30 countries, whose mission is to involve young people in decision-making processes, engage them as active citizens, and enable municipal and regional authorities to address the needs and interests of youth.

In addition, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, a long-standing partner of the AER of the Youth Regional Network (YRN), had supported the 2022 edition of the Summer Academy, through the participation of their Secretary General and of their youth delegate for Switzerland.

How to join the Summer Academy 2024?

To take part in the Summer Academy, participants will be requested to buy a ticket. They will be released at a later stage, closer to the event, and two types of tickets will be available for purchase: a regular one, and a discounted youth one. The price of the ticket will include access to all activities, accommodation in Bodø for 4 nights, all meals from Monday dinner to Friday breakfast, airport transfers, transfers from the main venue to the other locations of the activities. We will communicate about the tickets as soon as they will be released!

The SAOC and the AER Secretariat are also working on the possibility to unlock a Solidarity Fund for young participants with fewer opportunities. A dedicated application form will be available for young participants who wish to benefit from this fund.

Member regions of the SAOC make a contribution of 5,000€ each to co-fund the event. Their contribution includes the participation of one adult delegate and one youth delegate, who are then not requested to buy a ticket.