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You are here: Home / Archives for Event 2019 Eurodyssey Forum

Eurodyssey Assembly 2019

30 October, 2019 By Erica Lee

The Eurodyssey Assembly took place as part of the annual Eurodyssey Forum on 24 October 2019 in Cagliari, Sardinia (IT).

The event brought together more than fifty representatives both from Eurodyssey regions and outside the programme to discuss the functioning of the programme, to share experiences and best practices and to explore future initiatives for Europe’s only regional youth mobility scheme.

Youth Mobility

The conference opened with two discussions on youth mobility, looking at both aspects of personal and professional development for young people as well as how youth mobility has a positive impact on regional development.

You can read more on the topic of youth mobility in this article.

How the Programme is Managed

Elections of the Eurodyssey Steering Committee

Every two years, a Steering Committee is appointed to lead the work of the programme for the coming 24-month mandate.

The Steering Committee…

  • Manages the coordination of all Eurodyssey activities, including the annual Forum, in collaboration with the Secretariat;
  • Gives proposals to the Forum and/or to the Secretariat.
  • Takes ownership of the decisions and their implementation;
  • Accepts new members for ratification by the Executive Board.

On 24 October, the following individuals were unanimously (re)elected by the Eurodyssey member regions present:

  • Chairperson: Esther Estany (Catalonia, ES)
  • Member region: Laurence Hermand (Wallonia, BE)
  • Member region: Arlette Brone (Brussels-Capital Region, BE)
  • Member region: Agneta Kardos (Timis, RO)
  • Member region: Emilio Terrado Vicente (Valencia, ES)
  • Member region: Vitória Soares (Açores, PT)

Important note: The Eurodyssey Assembly agreed upon extending the period to present new candidates to join the Steering Committee until the end of the year, beginning of 2020. The voting procedures will be arranged online. Further communication will follow shortly.

Workshops

On 25 October, two workshops were held, focusing on upcoming activities for the 35th Anniversary of the Eurodyssey Programme in 2020, and on communicating the Eurodyssey Programme across the regions of Europe.

During the 35th Anniversary Workshop, Eurodyssey members reflected on the wealth of experiences that have been exchanged since the inception of the programme in 1985 and put in motion the process of developing an outreach initiative that will culminate in a celebratory event next year to mark this momentous occasion for Europe’s oldest mobility programme. Members agreed to constitute a working group to think up and implement activities on the occasion of such an anniversary. The first meeting will take place by February 2020.

The Communications Workshop gave participants the opportunity to delve into the psyche of potential Eurodyssey participants, hosting companies and regional politicians while generating new messages, means and media to form part of an updated communications strategy fit for an evolving enterprise such as Eurodyssey.

The Future of Eurodyssey

The Assembly provided member regions with an opportunity to pause and reflect on the programme and its future direction.

During a presentation on statistics from the programme from 2009 to 2019, it was established that 3,340 trainees in total have taken part in the programme in the last ten years where it was emphasized the importance of making all these participants “ambassadors” of Eurodyssey.

Looking at employment prospects for the Eurodyssey participants in 2017 regions can be proud that 61% of trainees find a job within 4 months upon completion of their traineeship. Read all the 2018 statistical findings and 2017 employment results from the full report HERE.

The last presentation by the AER Secretariat consisted of an online demonstration to show the latest deployment of the new Eurodyssey website, including a simulated interaction between the different profiles throughout the registration and application processes, new functionalities and features, updated registration/application forms and the regions’ Vademecum and the implementation of the “InstaDiary” to promote testimonials on social media. The website will be ready for testing in the coming weeks and the expected launch is foreseen by the end of November.

Acknowledgements

Throughout the Assembly, the Eurodyssey member regions reinforced their commitment to the programme and to promoting the mobility of young people across the regions of Europe.

The Eurodyssey Presidency & AER Secretariat would like to thank all members present for their active participation, as well as the host region, Sardinia, its politicians and civil servants for this event happen.

Visit the 2019 Eurodyssey Forum event page to download all the working documents, presentations, pictures and other takeaways…

Eurodyssey Assembly 2019

Eurodyssey Assembly 2019

The Eurodyssey Assembly took place as part of the annual Eurodyssey Forum on 24 October 2019 in Cagliari, Sardinia (IT) ...
Read More
Youth Mobility at the fore during the 2019 Eurodyssey Forum in Sardinia

Youth Mobility at the fore during the 2019 Eurodyssey Forum in Sardinia

The experience of living in another country impacts a young person's personal and professional development, increases independence and responsibility, helps ...
Read More
2019 Eurodyssey Steering Committee Elections!

2019 Eurodyssey Steering Committee Elections!

Dear Eurodyssey members, during the 2019 Eurodyssey Assembly, that took place on the 24th of October in Cagliari, Sardinia (IT), ...
Read More
Follow AER!
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Youth Mobility at the fore during the 2019 Eurodyssey Forum in Sardinia

30 October, 2019 By Erica Lee

The experience of living in another country impacts a young person’s personal and professional development, increases independence and responsibility, helps improve knowledge of foreign languages and develops other valuable social skills and professional competences. Youth mobility can also indirectly contribute to dismantling certain prejudices or social constructs in times of political disaffection, radicalisation and economic recession across Europe. Most importantly, mobility is how young people develop a new viewpoint about their own reality, systems and culture. As a result of this mobility, and by gaining varied learning experiences, young people increase their chances for employment and in this way influence their own position in the labour market.

The Eurodyssey Forum, a yearly event gathering representatives of all the regions that participate in this regional mobility scheme, was the perfect venue for discussions on this topic. Over the course of two days, more than 50 participants, came together to discuss the merits of, and challenges to, the exchange of young people among the regions of Europe.

Alessandra Zedda, AER Vice President for Employment & Skills, and Rita Dedola, Regional Councillor for Youth Policies, opened the 2019 Eurodyssey Forum by giving a warm welcome to all the participants and expressing gratitude to AER for the close and fruitful cooperation as regards Eurodyssey, which both of them praised for being a very valuable tool for the regions to deliver on youth employment and internationalization policies.


Two high-level discussions were open to the public as part of the Forum, the first on “Youth Mobility for empowerment and professional growth“, moderated by AER Secretary-General, Mathieu Mori, featured a panel of experts from Italy and wider Europe.

Massimo Temussi, Managing Director Sardinian Agency for Active Labour Policies (ASPAL) opened the discussion by bringing a regional perspective and shedding light on the situation of young people in the labour market in Sardinia. He noted, in particular, that there is an increasing mismatch of skills and opportunities for young people, concluding that more needs to be done to provide specific training that will enable young people to make the transition from vocational or higher education into the workforce. Going abroad to learn new in-demand skills through the Eurodyssey programme is one way to achieve this.

Domenico De Maio, Managing Director of the National Agency for Youth of the Italian Republic, spoke about how young people from other parts of Europe can breathe life into declining rural villages. In turn, he also praised the many young Italians who go abroad to gain professional experience before returning home with new and innovative visions for their home regions.

Valentina Cuzzocrea and Ewa Krzaklewska, members of the Council of Europe Pool of European Youth Researchers (PEYR) delved further into the policy context and elaborated on their work as part of the PEYR.

Valentina Cuzzocrea spoke of the significance of ‘Brain Circulation‘, where young people are free to move, to shape their own experiences and bring their skills and ideas with them wherever they like. This undoubtedly opens new perspectives, not just in terms of finding a job or starting a business, but also in terms of personal development, learning about themselves, what they like and dislike, and ultimately how they want to live their lives.

Ewa Krzaklewska stressed the importance of European mobility programmes such as Eurodyssey as a means of integrating Europeans and strengthening democracy because, at the end of the day, Europe is a human project.

Tatjana Babrauskienė, Member of the European Economic and Social Committee, added that when we think about the European project and the role of youth mobility we must think about the sustainable aspect, focusing on social growth, not just economic growth. She stated also that European mobility programmes like Eurodyssey foster a balancing of European, national and regional identities, which, in a time of polarising world views is a welcome development.


A second roundtable discussion provided food for thought as well as concrete examples from Eurodyssey members of how youth mobility can contribute to regional development.

  • Esther Estany, President of Eurodyssey, Catalonia (ES). 
  • Arlette Brone, Head of Actiris International, Brussels-Capital (BE)
  • Miriana Bucalossi, Training policies and EU projects, Tuscany (IT)
  • Denis Lamard, President of the Burgundy-Franche-Comté (FR) Youth Information Center (CRIJ)
  • Michele Demontis: Cooperation for mobility in Sardinia, CASMI Committee of Sardinian Associations for Youth Mobility
  • Moderated by Luca Spissu, ASPAL, Sardinia (IT)

Esther Estany, Eurodyssey President, has been involved in the programmes since its inception. She opened the discussion by sharing her experience over the last 35 years and expressing the concern of the employment service of Catalonia regarding the ‘brain drain’ which has come about in the wake of the economic crisis. On a positive note, she noted that this trend is diminishing with more Catalans who leave the region for work coming back home again with new skills and experiences under their belts.

The discussion, moderated by Luca Spissu from the Sardinian Agency for Active Labour Policies (ASPAL), shed light on the regional realities of youth mobility in Brussels-Capital (BE), Tuscany (IT), Bourgogne-Franche-Comté (FR), Catalonia (ES) and Sardinia (IT).

Each of these regions has its own specific employment situation as regards young people & benefits from youth mobility schemes such as the Eurodyssey programme by welcoming young Europeans from other regions as well as sending their young people abroad, many of whom return home with innovative new ideas and perspectives on life in their home regions.

More on the 2019 Eurodyssey Forum…

You can find out in this article the main outcomes and conclusions from the Eurodyssey Assembly.

Visit the 2019 Eurodyssey Forum event page to download all the working documents, presentations, pictures and other takeaways…

Photo by Resi Kling on Unsplash

Eurodyssey Assembly 2019

Eurodyssey Assembly 2019

The Eurodyssey Assembly took place as part of the annual Eurodyssey Forum on 24 October 2019 in Cagliari, Sardinia (IT) ...
Read More
Youth Mobility at the fore during the 2019 Eurodyssey Forum in Sardinia

Youth Mobility at the fore during the 2019 Eurodyssey Forum in Sardinia

The experience of living in another country impacts a young person's personal and professional development, increases independence and responsibility, helps ...
Read More
2019 Eurodyssey Steering Committee Elections!

2019 Eurodyssey Steering Committee Elections!

Dear Eurodyssey members, during the 2019 Eurodyssey Assembly, that took place on the 24th of October in Cagliari, Sardinia (IT), ...
Read More
Follow AER!
Facebooktwitterlinkedinrss

2019 Eurodyssey Steering Committee Elections!

25 July, 2019 By Gisela Guari Cañada

Dear Eurodyssey members,

during the 2019 Eurodyssey Assembly, that took place on the 24th of October in Cagliari, Sardinia (IT), the Steering Committee members and President were elected, however, there are still vacancies available that any of you can fill!

When?

The elections were celebrated on the 24th of October during the 2019 AER Eurodyssey Forum in Sardinia (IT). However, if you didn’t have time to present your candidacy you still can do it! The deadline has been extended until 15th of January 2020!

What?

If you think this might be of interest to your region, please consult the available vacancies of the Eurodyssey Steering Committee. You may find the list of current vacancies here.

For further specificities on the roles and expectations for all the members taking part in the Steering Committee, please refer to this document.

How?

To present your candidacy send a copy of your Curriculum Vitae and a Cover letter to the AER Secretariat ([email protected]), before the 15th of January 2020.

Image credits: Pixabay.com

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