We are a network
Multiple times per year, AER brings together regions, so that they may stand stronger together, and grow in a space of best practice exchange.
[Save the date!] AER Summer Academy 2024 – Bodø, Nordland (NO) – 12-16 August 2024
12 August 16:00 - 16 August 12:00
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!
Find below the draft programme, and save the date in your agendas to not miss out on this AER flagship, high-level event!
DRAFT PROGRAMME – CLICK HERE
What’s on the agenda?
The Summer Academy will include plenary sessions, workshops, study visit and cultural activities revolving around the main topic: fostering youth participation through culture.
The opening plenary session will include regional representatives, European institutional representatives and youth delegates (young elected politicians, youth county councils, activists…) who will share their expertise and views, and engage in meaningful discussions.
The workshops are organised by each member of the Organising Committee for the 2024 edition of the Summer Academy, namely:
- AER: workshop on Mental Health Prevention and Planning, with the AER Working Group on Mental Health and the Youth Regional Network (YRN).
- Catalonia: workshop by the Catalan Youth Agency and Sala d’Art Jove, “Inventing recipes to be (together)”.
- Donegal County Council: workshop on “The Blue Economy – Future Skills and Opportunities for Young People”.
- Provincie Flevoland: to be released soon.
- Jönköping County Council: to be released soon.
- Maramures County Council: workshop on Art Therapy with the Asociatia Culturala ART-M.
- Údarás na Gaeltachta: workshop by Muintearas, “Cuisle na Gaeltachta / the Pulse of the Gaeltacht: an overview and insight into youth participation through Culture in the Gaeltacht”.
- Østfold County Council: workshop on “The Blikkåpner project and Gallery F15“
- Autonomous Province of Vojvodina: to be released soon.
- Kanton Zürich: workshop with the Zürich Youth Parliament.
The study visits and cultural activities are organised by the host region, as a unique occasion to showcase their region’s richness, models and diversity, while valuing the cultural backgrounds of the other regions represented at the event, in a closing cultural evening!
The closing plenary is led by the youth delegates themselves, as a privileged feedback and interaction moment.
Disclaimer: the Summer Academy 2024 will include the Award Ceremony of the MYFER Award, rewarding the Most Youth-Friendly European Region! -> LEARN MORE ABOUT MYFER AND APPLY HERE.
How to join the Summer Academy 2024?
To take part in the Summer Academy, participants will be requested to purchase a ticket on a dedicated online platform (as you would purchase a concert or festival ticket).
The price of the ticket will include:
- access to all activities of the Summer Academy (plenaries, workshops, cultural activities,s tudy visits);
- accommodation at the Radisson Blu Hotel Bodø (booked directly by Nordland County Council for the participants) for 4 nights (arrival 12 August, departure 16 August);
- all meals from Monday dinner to Friday breakfast;
- airport transfers from Bodø airport, and transfers from the conference venue to the other activities.
The online platform to purchase the tickets will be released early May. Three types of tickets will be available:
- Regular ticket: 600 EUR. Single room.
- Discounted youth ticket: 300 EUR. Twin room (i.e. shared room between two young participants – same-sex only).
- Local ticket (for participants living in Bodø, who don’t need a hotel): 100 EUR.
If you are AER members, and wish to confirm your participation in the event, you can already contact the AER Secretariat to save your spot, and you can then already book your plane or train tickets to Bodø!
Contact persons at the AER Secretariat: Lorène Weber ([email protected]), Programmes Coordinator; Barbara Polin ([email protected]), Communications & Events Coordinator; Justin Sammon ([email protected]), Member Relations Coordinator.
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.
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.