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You are here: Home / Archives for Event 2018 Eurodyssey Forum

Sunny 2018 AER Eurodyssey Forum in Brussels!

14 May, 2018 By Editor

On sunny warm days Brussels-Capital Region hosted for the very first time the 2018 Eurodyssey Forum organised by AER, in cooperation with Actiris (Brussels’ regional employment service) and Brussels International. 

The Forum is a unique opportunity for Eurodyssey correspondents of the member regions to exchange good practices and lessons learnt relating to the operational management of the programme. Unlike past editions, prior to this year’s Forum a couple of public events targeting non-member regions and various stakeholders took place at the premises of Actiris for the purposes of promoting the added value of Eurodyssey and raising awareness about the importance of youth mobility for regional development.

A warm institutional welcome

Mathieu Mori, Secretary General of AER, together with the President of Eurodyssey, Esther Estany, welcomed all regional correspondents and opened the Assembly on 19 April in the afternoon. Mathieu Mori thanked the participants for their commitment and took the opportunity to underscore the importance of the Eurodyssey Statute and Procedures which are effectively contributing to the harmonization of the programme.

Update on the 2017 Eurodyssey Statistics!

Olga Conde, Eurodyssey trainee at the AER Secretariat, made a presentation on the Annual Statistics Report for 2017, including an evaluation of the reciprocity principle in terms of sending and hosting trainees. Additionally, Agneta Kardos, correspondent of the region of Timis (RO), delivered a presentation providing a comprehensive picture of Eurodyssey based on the disaggregated data –training sectors, sex and age of the trainees and other relevant criteria– that is automatically collected via the website. 

The Eurodyssey family grows!

The Eurodyssey Assembly officially welcomed the region of Trentino (IT) to the network. Laura Pitteri, regional contact point for Eurodyssey, shared a promotional video with the members and made a presentation providing some key regional facts and figures as well as detailing the specificities for the implementation of Eurodyssey in Trentino. 

Arising from the Eurodyssey Events & Forum, some other non-member regions expressed interest in knowing more about the programme in view to look into the possibility of joining the network. 

Re-branding Eurodyssey

A big upcoming achievement is the launch of the very much-desired new Eurodyssey website!

Freddie Martyn, AER Communications & Events, reported the progress made on the developments of the new website, which is expected to become fully operative, most likely, by November 2018. This new online site, tailored-made to the needs of the correspondents, will contribute significantly to improve the programme management and facilitate the data collection in a more accurate way. Furthermore, Eurodyssey accounts on different social media channels –Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.– will be created and linked to the new website to boost the visibility of the programme.

In order to ensure a smooth launch of the website, the Eurodyssey Presidency proposed to organise a training session in Barcelona by October 2018 conducted by Freddie Martyn in order for Eurodyssey correspondents to get more acquainted with the use and functioning of the website and also to learn about other useful IT tools (e.g. Slack).

Check Freddie’s presentation on the new website here!

Assessing professional integration of Eurodyssey trainees

Andrés Muñoz, AER Programmes Manager, stressed all along the Forum the importance of establishing effective mechanisms to measure the degree of professional success of Eurodyssey trainees once they finish their traineeships and access the labour market. He stated that in the event Eurodyssey is yielding appreciable positive results on employability, this could become a key selling point not only to attract new regions but also to substantially improve the credentials of the programme before the EU institutions and other stakeholders from the field of youth mobility.  

Brainstorming sessions

On 20 April, the participants took part very actively in a couple of workshops within the Forum aimed to put forward key aspects concerning the management and promotion of the programme. As a result, Eurodyssey correspondents were engaged in fruitful discussions sharing good practices, coming up with practical solutions to solve deficiencies and proposing initiatives to better promote Eurodyssey.  

One of the main topics that arised from the discussions was how to make Eurodyssey trainees ambassadors of the programme both in the sending and hosting region. In addition to this, the correspondents also had the chance to exchange experiences about the management of the traineeship offers and the candidates’ applications. 

Useful Links

Visit the event page to check all presentations and outputs of the Forum

You can download the pictures of the event by clicking here.

You can find out more about the discussions on the 2018 Eurodyssey Forum Report.

Related Article

Inspirational Eurodyssey Events within the 2018 Forum!


Looking forward to meeting up again at the next Forum!


It’s all about YOUth!


Photo credits: @Brussels Regional Public Service

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Inspirational Eurodyssey Events within the 2018 Forum!

14 May, 2018 By Editor

On 18 and 19 April, AER, together with Brussels International (Brussels-Capital Region) and Actiris (Brussels’ regional employment service) organised a couple of events which preceded the more traditional Eurodyssey Forum aimed at raising awareness about the importance of youth mobility and employment for regional development through the medium of the Eurodyssey programme for traineeship exchanges.

These two events along with the Eurodyssey Forum brought together in Brussels around 80 participants from 29 different regions or organisations.


“Discover Eurodyssey” (18 April)

On the afternoon of 18 April, the Eurodyssey regions participated in a mobility fair hosted by Actiris which consisted of information stands where the correspondents of the programme promoted their regions and approached young traineeship-seekers interested in embarking on new professional and cultural experiences abroad. In addition to this, the correspondents also had the opportunity to do some good networking and interact with various stakeholders from different sectors involved in the field of youth mobility.

Grégor Chapelle, Director General of Actiris, welcomed all attendees and dedicated a few words to highlight the advantages of Eurodyssey as a fair mobility scheme that help talented young professionals enter the labour market. This was followed by the testimonials of former Eurodyssey trainees who took the floor to share their experiences of how the programme changed their lives. To wrap up the session, the Eurodyssey correspondents were invited to a cocktail reception where the President of Eurodyssey, Esther Estany, and the hosts, Pierre Gérard (Brussels International) and Arlette Brone (Actiris) wished them a pleasant stay in Brussels and fruitful discussions within the Forum.


“Regional challenges at stake for youth mobility” (19 April)

On the morning of 19 April, the second Eurodyssey event entitled “Regional challenges at stake for youth mobility” took place at Actiris. This event, based on a round of conferences with multiple speakers, opened with a welcome speech by Grégor Chapelle who stressed the importance of interregional cooperation between the different employment agencies to work jointly for solutions improving the employability of young people. He also encouraged the non-member regions of Eurodyssey present in the room to join the network.

Introductory interventions

This welcome speech was followed by a presentation made by Liesbeth Driesen, Director & Head of Department of Actiris, on traineeship opportunities in Brussels. Through her presentation, Liesbeth gave a broad insight into the traineeship agreements in which the region of Brussels-Capital is part of as well as providing a picture of the state of play of youth professional integration in the region, mentioning that 80% of the trainees in Brussels get a job after completing a traineeship.

Prior to the Presidency’s speech, the promo-video of Eurodyssey produced by Brussels International (Brussels-Capital Region) was officially presented. You can watch the video again just by clicking below!:

Esther Estany, President of Eurodyssey, took the floor to welcome all attendees to the events outlining the conditions and advantages of the programme that add value to Eurodyssey as a fair mobility scheme. She also emphasised the need of reinforcing the principles of Eurodyssey contained in the Procedures and also invited the regions outside the programme to consider applying to become members.

What’s at stake for youth mobility?

The Presidency’s address led directly to the debate panel “Regional challenges at stake for youth mobility” moderated by Vania Freitas, AER Institutional Relations and Advocacy, who introduced the topic and the speakers to the audience. Manel Sánchez, Director of the European Youth Card Association (EYCA), Valentin Dupouey, Secretary General of the Young European Federalists (JEF), and Safi Sabuni, Policy and Training officer at Eurodesk, exchanged views on the challenges but also the opportunities for youth mobility to thrive by bringing down the multiple barriers that hamper cross-border cooperation in this specific area.

Manel Sánchez (EYCA) described very thoroughly how mobility has expanded exponentially in a period of 30 years from being extremely limited, or inexistent in the past, to the many structures and platforms that work today towards a better implementation of youth mobility policies enabling more and fairer exchanges between territories. In his view, the major challenge is to make mobility more accessible to young people, in particular, for those who are socio-economically in situation of disadvantage.

Valentin Dupouey (JEF) pointed out that many more synergies need to be created between the different actors and organizations that work favouring youth mobility. Local authorities can also contribute to paving the way for youth mobility by working in closer cooperation, building networks and sharing project ideas. Eurodyssey is an example of a successful cooperation scheme between public regional bodies. From his point of view, one of the main barriers hindering mobility is the access to reliable information sources. What is more, the EU investment in youth mobility is still too insufficient to ensure all young people access to a mobility opportunity.

Safi Sabuni (Eurodesk) explained that Eurodesk’s mission has a two-fold objective: to raise awareness about training mobility opportunities and also to encourage young people to become active citizens. She pointed out that there are multiple challenges affecting youth mobility, such as access to information, funding, housing and languages. Sabuni put the emphasis on the information gaps young people encounter when looking into the possibility of embarking on a mobility experience abroad. In light of this, Eurodesk’s core activity is to provide reliable information and knowledge on mobility programmes in a way that young people get easily the message.

Vania Freitas (AER) moved the discussion into a concluding phase by opening the floor to the audience so the participants had the chance to interact directly with the speakers discussing the circumstances accompanying mobility, the funding support to ensure stable mobility structures and the possible future scenarios for mobility in the upcoming years.

Second part of conferences

Following the coffee break, Laurence Hermand, Director of Bureau International de la Jeunesse (BIJ) – Wallonia, made a presentation on the European Project AKI focused on the assessment and recognition of transversal competences, acquired by young adults in international mobility projects, as a means to facilitate their socio-professional integration. The purpose of this project is to identify and make these key competencies –acquired outside school and university curricula– more visible and to increase their relevance in the labour market and society.

Emilio Terrado Vicente, Valencian Community (ES), and Clothilde Dorieux (Actiris, Brussels Capital-Region) made presentations on the theme of funding support for professional mobility in Europe. The former explained how to apply for the European Social Fund (ESF) through the website and its concrete advantages to co-fund mobility programmes, in particular, Eurodyssey. Clothilde also provided a comprehensive insight into the funding programmes for mobility by going through the conditions and specificities of the ESF, the European Solidarity Corps, Your First Eures Job and Reactivate.

Andrés Muñoz (AER), in charge of the Eurodyssey Secretariat, made a presentation on the steps needed towards becoming a full member of Eurodyssey and also explained the added value of the programme both for the participating regions and the trainees. He started his presentation by mentioning the fact that, thanks to his Eurodyssey traineeship at Brussels International, he later found a job at the AER Secretariat as a result of the successful cooperation between these two organisations. Apart from focusing on the benefits of becoming member of Eurodyssey, Andrés Muñoz also put forward the many opportunities regions can take advantage of by joining the largest independent network of regions –AER–.

This was followed by Laurence Hermand (BIJ – Wallonia) and Arlette Brone‘s (Actiris – Brussels-Capital Region) presentation on the Eurodyssey Pilot Actions, intended to innovate on the mobility exchanges of the programme according to the needs of the regions. These Pilot Actions are based on three proposals. The first one is a “companion project” aimed to allow exchanges between regions in a specific craft-trade domain for young job-seekers in their last year of training. The second one is thematic study visits consisting of a minimum three-day programme on a specific theme taking place in each of the regions involved. And the third proposal is focused on the professional integration of less qualified young people.

Magnus Berntsson, President of AER, in his closing speech thanked all participating regions for their attendance to the Eurodyssey Events & Forum remarking the importance of cross-border cooperation as a win-win-win situation for regions, citizens and companies and how Eurodyssey contributes to realise this objective by increasing training and job opportunities for youth as a result of interregional cooperation.

All presentations can be found on the AER event page.

Want to know more about the outcomes of the 2018 Forum? Then click here for further information.


Related Article

Sunny 2018 AER Eurodyssey Forum in Brussels!


It’s all about YOUth!


Photo credits: @Brussels Regional Public Service

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

27 March, 2018 By Editor

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:

Registration for Eurodyssey Members (CLOSED)

Registrations for members are now closed. 


It’s all about YOUth!


Contact

Programmes

Andrés Muñoz Rojo

Phone: +32 2 400 10 54
E-mail: a.munoz(at)aer.eu
Skype ID: AM-Rojo
Languages: en, fr, es

Articles by Andres

  • Eurodyssey
  • Youth Regional Network
  • Summer Academy

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

20 February, 2018 By Editor

AER, together with Actiris (Brussels’ regional employment service) and Brussels International, is organising a couple of events aimed at raising awareness about the importance of youth mobility and employment for regional development through the medium of the Eurodyssey programme for traineeship exchanges.

Wednesday 18 April / 13:00 – 18:30 (Public event)

A first event, entitled “Discover Eurodyssey” will bring together Eurodyssey members, regional representatives, European mobility advisors and young traineeship-seekers at the Actiris offices. This session will consist of information stands where participants can discover Eurodyssey and the European regions involved in the programme. On top of this, young attendees will find out what they could gain from becoming a Eurodyssey trainee.

Thursday 19 April / 9:00 – 13:00 (Round of conferences for Regions)

A second event will bring together Eurodyssey member regions, AER member regions (not belonging to Eurodyssey) and regional representatives (regional offices based in Brussels) to participate in a round of conferences entitled “Regional challenges at stake for youth mobility“. Participants will gain insight into topics relating to youth mobility, such as the added value of Eurodyssey contributing to regional development, European funding for professional mobility, the membership procedure for candidate regions to join Eurodyssey or the ongoing pilot actions under Eurodyssey.

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


Are you a region looking to join a dynamic youth mobility programme?

Join us on the 18th from 13:00 to 18:30 and on the 19th from 9:00 to 13:00 at the Actiris offices (Venue info just below).

As a region, on the 18th you will be able to discover the advantages of joining us as a full member of the Eurodyssey programme. You will also have the opportunity to meet Eurodyssey correspondants, and hear about the inspiring experiences of former Eurodyssey trainees.

On the 19th, you will be able to gain insight into topics relating to youth mobility, such as the added value of Eurodyssey contributing to regional development, European funding for professional mobility, the membership procedure for candidate regions to join Eurodyssey or the ongoing pilot actions under Eurodyssey.

Venues:

  • 18th April (“Discover Eurodyssey” event): Avenue de l’Astronomie, 14 – 1210 Brussels.
  • 19th April (Round of conferences for regions – “Regional challenges at stake for youth mobility”): Avenue de l’Astronomie, 30 – 1210 Brussels.

Registration for non-Eurodyssey Members (CLOSED)

Registrations now closed for non-members. For further inquiries, please contact the AER Secretariat.


Are you already a member region of Eurodyssey?

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.

Note: These two “open” events will precede the more traditional Eurodyssey Forum that will take place from the 19th of April at 13:00 to the 20th of April at 13:00. Find out more here.

Registration now closed for Eurodyssey members. For further inquiries, please contact the AER Secretariat. 


Check out the detailed Programme!


It’s all about YOUth!


Eurodyssey context

Eurodyssey is AER’s youth mobility programme operating between AER’s member regions and also other European partners outside AER for over 30 years. Set up in 1985 as AER’s first exchange programme, it aims to improve the chances of young Europeans to integrate into working life by offering them the opportunity of a work experience abroad.

The Eurodyssey Forum is a crucial opportunity for Eurodyssey correspondents and AER members to get up to date about what is new about the programme and also the right platform to discuss the challenges and solutions facing Eurodyssey. For this year’s edition, particular emphasis will not only be given to best practices exchange between the members, but the 2018 Forum will also open its doors to a wider audience, enabling spaces for exchanges between Eurodyssey correspondents, European mobility advisors, young job-seekers, regional representatives and potential host companies and organisations

Contact

Programmes

Andrés Muñoz Rojo

Phone: +32 2 400 10 54
E-mail: a.munoz(at)aer.eu
Skype ID: AM-Rojo
Languages: en, fr, es

Articles by Andres

  • Eurodyssey
  • Youth Regional Network
  • Summer Academy

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