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AER Peer Reviews to foster youth employment across Europe

5 July, 2011 By Editor

Brussels (B), 5 July 2011

The Assembly of European Regions (AER) organised this week the official kick-off meeting of its brand new project “Promoting Youth Employment” (PYE). The ultimate objective of the project is to support young people, especially disadvantaged ones, to access and retain jobs through improved public policies and enhanced partnerships between the public, community and private sectors.

A project supported by the European Union

While the unemployment rate of young Europeans has reached an alarming historical highpoint – an average of 21% of youngsters are currently unemployed in the EU Member States – AER has decided to develop a project aimed at tackling this transnational issue. Financed by the European Commission in the framework of PROGRESS, a programme established to support financially the implementation of the EU objectives in employment, social affairs and equal opportunities, PYE’s main goal is to support young people’s access to jobs through a set of innovative tools.

Countering youth unemployment

The PYE project gathers four regions – Açores (P), Hampshire (UK), Krapina Zagorje (HR) and Vojvodina (SRB) – which will take part in an intensive and in-depth series of peer reviews, allowing regional authorities to assess and improve their performance in a key regional policy: youth employment. Developed by AER, the peer review methodology has already been implemented in areas such as tourism, economy or renewable energies; it will now also constitute a key tool in the field of youth policies, bringing a new perspective on such issues. The PYE peer reviews will contribute to countering youth employment through supporting the exchange of experience and transfer of good practice between regional, local and national stakeholders.

“One Peer Review will be led in each one of our partner regions in order to develop regional action plans, outlining concrete policy recommendations in the field of youth employment. The conclusions will be presented during the project’s final conference, which will take place on the 23rd of May 2012 in Brussels” stated Justyna Hejman, AER’s Youth & Citizenship Officer, adding that “PYE is expected to prove that youth unemployment can be reduced if efficient regional policies are implemented”.

For more information: [email protected]

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Annual Eurodyssey Forum: AER Regions Promoting Youth Employment in the Face of Recession

10 September, 2009 By Editor

Amiens, Picardie (F), 10 September 2009

Over two days, 120 representatives from regional, national and European institutions as well as the private sector gathered in Amiens, Picardie (F), for the Assembly of European Regions’ (AER) Eurodyssey Forum 2009. Michèle Sabban, AER president and vice president of the Ile-de-France region (F), attended the event in which participants discussed that crucial issue: in the face of economic recession, how can a program such as Eurodyssey contribute to mobility and job-creation in the European regions?

“I am very conscious of the fact that millions of young people are currently looking for their way in life, to ensure a good life for themselves in the complex, globalised societies that have been hit by the economic crisis. It is for them that we have to persist,“ Ms Sabban said in her opening speech.

“Young people expect our help in their transition to the labour market, and more generally in their integration into work. Our responsibility towards them is even more important because to fail at this stage can be a life-long blemish. It is therefore our duty to invest ourselves into giving young people an opening through programs such as Eurodyssey,” Ms Sabban added.

Professional mobility in Europe is a major factor in the fight against unemployment. It also plays a huge role in facilitating learning from other cultures, exchanging experiences, and gaining work experience in a challenging environment. This is why AER has called on regions to contribute to the consultations for the European Commission’s Green Paper on youth mobility, which close on 15 December 2009.

AER’s Eurodyssey program will launch a new website at the beginning of October.

Some Photos of the Event:

What the participants said:

Michèle Cahu, vice-president in charge of international relations and decentralised cooperation, Picardie:
In contrast to other European programs for youth mobility, Eurodyssey is meant for young people of all backgrounds and qualifications. The program opens a door to Europe which may not otherwise have been available to most young people.

Didier Cardon, vice-president in charge of employment and life long learning, Picardie:
Eurodyssey contributes to building a different Europe, a more human Europe, and for Picardie this means the entry of young “Picards” into the labour market.

Rui Bettencourt, general secretariat and presidency of Eurodysssey, Açores (P):
The effectiveness of a regional approach to employment issues is the strength of this program.

Ute Halle-Block, deputy head of unit of “Leonardo Da Vinci professional training”, DG EAC:
A specialised working group is studying the role of the regions and comparing their programs to those of the EU. We want to know if we should focus more on developing complementary programs or on integrating the different programs.

Jean Vanoye, president of FREREF (Fondation des Régions Européennes pour la Recherche en Education et en Formation), vice-president of the Economic and Social Committee of the Rhône-Alpes region (F):
Since our last successful meeting in Barcelona, we are calling for an integration of basic schooling and lifelong learning. Our main goal is to help young people with the changes that have been caused by the economic crisis.

Background

Eurodyssey, AER’s first program set up in 1985, facilitates the entry of young Europeans into the labour market by offering them work experience abroad, thanks to partnerships between regional authorities, young people and companies. The Açores region (P) is currently chairing the program.

For more information: [email protected]

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Eurodyssey sets sails for further widening and deepening

21 September, 2007 By Editor

Hunedoara (RO), 21September 2007

The Eurodyssey Annual Forum of the Assembly of European Regions (AER) took place for the first time in Romania, organised by the Hunedoara County Council.

A special focus of this year’s Forum was placed on how to further expand and develop the programme to provide even better opportunities for young people from all over Europe. While regions with long experience on the programme were happy to report the further expansion of the number of participants and adopted measure to make the programme even more effective, there was renewed interest in the programme from countries as diverse as the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Croatia and Turkey and an increase in membership rising by more than 10% compared to 2006.

Set up in 1985, Eurodyssey offers young people between the ages of 18 and 30 to spend a period of between 3 and 7 months abroad, gathering work experience and acquiring foreign language skills. More than 500 young people will have benefited from this programme in 2007. This year, Eurodyssey is experiencing an increased success among the AER members; with 41 participating regions (as full members and in ‘parrainage’), the Açores (P) Presidency of the Eurodyssey programme expects that the number of offered traineeships will rise significantly and more and more young people will be granted the opportunity to live and work abroad.

Eurodyssey – a win-win partnership – is based on the co-operation between the regions of Europe and collaboration with companies and regional training bodies. The vocational, cultural – and often also linguistic – training the youngsters receive, helps them gain more independence. The companies have an opportunity to demonstrate their corporate social responsibility, while benefiting from intercultural dialogue. The advantages for the regions cannot be underestimated: they provide traineeships abroad for their own young people and profit from the external knowledge and working models the youngsters bring back to their economies and businesses.

More about the AER Eurodyssey Programme: www.eurodyssee.net/

For more information: [email protected]

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The Açores elected Chair of the Eurodyssey Programme for Young People

20 September, 2006 By Editor

Oslo (N), 20 September 2006

The Region of Açores-Portugal has been elected by the participants of the Eurodyssey Annual Forum to chair this Programme of the Assembly of European Regions for the period 2007-2008.

Set up in 1985, Eurodyssey offers young people between the ages of 18 and 30 to spend a period of between 3 and 7 months abroad, gathering work experience and acquiring foreign language skills. More than 500 young people have benefited from this programme in 2005. This year, Eurodyssey is experiencing an increased success among the AER members; with 38 participating regions, the AER expects that the number of offered traineeships will rise significantly and more and more young people will be granted the opportunity to live and work abroad.

For more information: [email protected]

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AER Centurio 2000: Results

6 December, 2000 By Editor

Seinäjoki, South Ostrobothnia (FIN), 6 December 2000

The evaluation seminar 2000 for the Centurio programme of the Assembly of European Regions took place on 6 th December 2000 in Seinäjoki (FIN), bringing together both trainees from regional administrations in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and coordinators from the host Regions in Western Europe.

Around 30 traineeships were included in the edition 2000 of Centurio with candidates from Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, representing ten countries. The “Centurio for the Balkans” branch of Centurio was launched for the first time by the AER this year. This branch organised around ten traineeships for high-ranking civil servants and political representatives from various Cantons in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The Region of South Ostrobothnia accepted two trainees in Centurio 2000: Grzegorz Reizer from Woj. Podkarpackie (PL) and Angela Vörös from Hajdu Bihar (H) under the coordination of Mr Timo Urpala, Head of the Department of Regional Development. “We are delighted to be able to make, thanks to the AER, at out level, a real contribution for the Regions in applicant countries to prepare for joining the European Union or to develop democracy in the other countries in Central and Eastern Europe” stated Timo Urpala of the Regional Council. “We are proud of the interregional partnerships which are currently being set up with the two Regions” he concluded.

Centurio is an AER training programme which exists since 1994 and aims at the promotion of the exchange of experience and know-how between political representatives and civil servants of the Regions of Europe. Through this programme, the trainees become familiar with the organisation of regional administrations in Western Europe as well as the techniques and instruments of interregional and cross-border cooperation. They also gain further knowledge of the Community “acquis” and the development of cooperation projects. “We are delighted with the positive outcome of Centurio 2000, however we are disappointed that we were not able to accept more trainees due to insufficient host Regions” said Laura De Rose, Centurio Head within the AER. “In 2001, we hope that more Regions from Western Europe will participate in the programme which will celebrate its 8th edition and we hope that the scandinavian Regions will be particularly active next year” she added.

In order to strengthen Centurio, it was decided, at this meeting, to create a standing Centurio Committee which will be made up of former trainees and coordinators, the future “ambassadors” for Centurio throughout Europe, and chaired by one of the AER Vice Presidents. It was also decided to link future editions of Centurio and the Summer School, another AER training programme for the Regions of Central and Eastern Europe. This meeting was also the starting point for cooperation with the European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA/Barcelona) in the field of training and the repetition of Centurio in the Balkans in 2001.

It must not be forgotten that Centurio 2000 received funding from the European Commission.

For more information: [email protected]

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AER Peer Reviews to foster youth employment across Europe

Annual Eurodyssey Forum: AER Regions Promoting Youth Employment in the Face of Recession

Eurodyssey sets sails for further widening and deepening

The Açores elected Chair of the Eurodyssey Programme for Young People

AER Centurio 2000: Results

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