Local, but European. Practical, but inspiring. #HotlineCohesion brings you the most interesting youth opportunities linked to EU Cohesion Policy.

Should I stay or should I go? Tell the EU!

Leaving home is always a tough decision. If you are younger than 29, and you are considering leaving your home region, the EU wants to hear what it is pushing or holding this decision with Youth4RevivingTerritories.

With Youth4RevivingTerritories, a 5-minute survey, you can express your point of view about the advantages and disadvantages linked to staying and working in your home region. Your answers will contribute to developing a toolkit with policy recommendations to reverse the trend of shrinking the youth population in EU regions.

Why Youth4RevivingTerritories is important?

According to the 2023 Report on the Impact of Demographic Change, the EU is facing several challenges triggered by the demographic transition. These include an ageing population, a shrinking working-age population and population decline more generally, as well as increasing regional disparities, including a growing urban-rural divide.

For example, 82 regions in 16 Member States (accounting for almost 30% of the EU population) are severely affected by this decline of the working age population, a low share of university and higher-education graduates, or a negative mobility of their population aged 15-39.

Deepened disparities within the EU are going to threaten the prosperity and stability of the whole Union. It is vital that policymakers hear from the people who experience a demographic change in their life, and that they have the correct information to enact effective responses.

What is the EU doing about it right now? …A booster for the regions!

In addition to the existing EU initiatives, in 2023 the EU launched the Talent Booster Mechanism, a scheme to support EU regions in training, retaining and attracting the people, the skills and the competences needed to address the impact of the demographic transition. The Talent Booster Mechanism targets those regions which are particularly affected by a decline in the working population, and it offers them several venues of action to boost their talent retention strategy.

See you next week at #HotlineCohesion!

The Youthopia Project is co-funded by the Directorate General for Regional and Urban policy (DG REGIO) of the European Commission.