Join our panel debate on regional challenges at stake for youth mobility!

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The AER Secretariat is delighted to announce a new slot on the agenda within the Eurodyssey Events!

In the morning of April 19th, a discussion panel entitled “Regional challenges at stake for youth mobility” will bring to the debate table to Mr. Manel Sánchez, Director of the European Youth Card Association (EYCA), Mr. Valentin Dupouey, Secretary General of the Young European Federalists (JEF), and Ms. Safi Sabuni, Policy and Training officer at Eurodesk, to discuss about burning issues regarding the challenges and implications of youth mobility for regional development. The debate will be moderated by Vania Freitas, AER Institutional Relations and Advocacy.

Look out! Come and discover Eurodyssey at the Brussels Event! (Registrations closed)

Setting the scene

The purpose of the Eurodyssey event taking place on 19 April is to bring together not only Eurodyssey member regions but also AER member regions (not belonging to Eurodyssey), regional representatives (from the regional offices based in Brussels) as well as youth associations to participate in a round of conferences which will be preceded by a discussion panel addressing the challenges and implications of youth mobility across Europe.

Participants will also gain insight into topics relating to mobility at regional level, such as the added value of Eurodyssey contributing to regional development, European funding for professional mobility, the presentation of the European project AKI to develop transversal competences, the procedures to join Eurodyssey or the ongoing pilot actions under Eurodyssey.

Venue: Avenue de l’Astronomie, 30 – 1210 Brussels.
Time: 09:50 – 11:10 (am)

What’s at stake for mobility?

The Centre for European Policy Studies, summed up the key challenge as follows: “Mobility, which comes in many different shapes and forms, is one of the cornerstones of European integration. It is related to all parts of the fundamental freedoms set out in the Treaty of Rome: the free movement of people, capital, goods and services. […] While freedom of movement is one of the most celebrated, practical and visible rights stemming from EU integration, it is also a contested field that embodies a number of challenges. […] The risk has emerged in recent years that the broad public support for labour mobility is eroding – whether justified or not. This is a development that the Union can ill afford”.

Regions under the spotlight

For over 25 years the EU has actively promoted mobility of its students, researchers and citizens: students from the EU and the associated countries initially and gradually many other groups of young people have participated in a mobility scheme. Likewise, bilateral exchanges, cross-border internships and regional cooperation have become more regular – at an organised institutional level, but also upon purely individual initiative.

In addition, mobility has become even more prominent due to high unemployment among young people, which varies a lot across regions and member states. Among the majority of the latter, regional and local authorities have key responsibilities for policies and activities related to youth policies. On average, about 50% of expenditure for education in the EU is made at sub-national level, according to the European Committee of the Regions. Very often, cities and regions finance training institutions and job programmes for young people and co-finance ESF funding in this context.

Take-away

The panelists involved in the discussions will approach key questions relating to the circumstances accompanying mobility of young people, the main barriers that young people or traineeship-seekers encounter when planning their mobility abroad, recommendations for flanking policies to ensure fair mobility schemes as well as the possible future scenarios for mobility in the upcoming years.

The goal of the panel is to showcase, by sharing best practices that promote youth internationalization at the regional and European levels, the benefits of mobility not only for young people (in terms of employability, educational and personal development) but also its positive impact for both sending and destination regions.

Registrations are still open!

You’re not a member of Eurodyssey?

Please, visit this article to find out more about the whole programme of the Eurodyssey events. Already convinced? then please follow the non-member registration link below!

Registration for non-Eurodyssey Members

Registration deadline extended until April 9th 2018! (Could be closed earlier than expected depending on the number of registrants)

Are you a Eurodyssey member?

Head over to AER’s event page dedicated to the Eurodyssey events and forum to find out more about your involvement in a series of events. Then please follow the member registration link below: