11 October 2023
With the aim to increase the participation of youth in the governance and decision-making processes of the EUSAIR and Interreg IPA programmes in the Adriatic and Ionian region, and in partnership with the European Commission Directorate General for Regional and Urban Policy, CDI started almost one year ago the implementation of the initiative “Raising awareness on the Youth Manifesto in the Western Balkans”.
The initiative, its findings and results were presented yesterday at DG Regio’s yearly “The European Week of Regions and Cities”, the biggest Brussels-based event discussing common challenges and possible solutions for Europe’s regions, in the framework of the workshop “Youth Manifesto for the Western Balkans 2.0”. The event shed light on the contribution that European Territorial Cooperation instruments can play in addressing youth needs and challenges. In fact, both Interreg IPA and EUSAIR are expected to play an even bigger role in the development of the human capital, essential to address brain drain and youth migration in the Adriatic-Ionian region.
The session was opened by Mr Gilles Kittel, Team Leader – IPA, Enlargement Negotiations and EUSAIR, DG REGIO, European Commission who presented DG Regio’s vision and work aimed at enhancing Western Balkans youth engagement in policy-making.
Ms Hackaj gave an overview of the Youth Manifesto Tour in the EUSAIR region which consisted of 22 informative and capacity-building events for young people, involving 21 Interreg IPA and IPA-IPA programmes, 640 participants from schools, universities, local and central authorities, and youth organizations. So far, the action has reached 104,000 people with targeted digital content on the Youth Manifesto recommendations aiming at increasing youth awareness and engagement in both INTERREG and EUSAIR. The initiative has contributed to reshaping the perception of youth participation in the INTERREG stakeholders ecosystem. The next step would aim at ensuring an operational framework for youth engagement in ETC instruments.
Ms Vesna Gurbanska, winner of the EUSAIR Youth Contest 2022, who also joined the workshop, emphasized: “We need more projects involving young people. We want internships in the field of sustainability or green energy but there are not enough institutions in these sectors in the Western Balkans.”
The session was moderated by Mr Stavros Kalognomos, representing the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions, who gave an overview of the youth projects implemented by the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions in collaboration with AIE, including AI NURECC+ which was presented in more detail by Mrs Maria Luisa Esposito.
Connecting Youth and “Raising awareness on the Youth Manifesto in the Western Balkans” are now contributing to the open consultation for the establishment of the Youth Council in the EUSAIR strategy.
