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.

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.

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