THREE VOICES OF EUROPE

Three European Youth Capitals (Novi Sad, Amiens and Klaipėda) shared the table in Brussels, as well as experience at the panel called “Encouraging EU Identity among Young People” within European Week of Cities and Regions.

How to bring Europe to young people and their cities, how to include and investigate the role of local and regional government in that sense, these are some of the questions we face regardless of the city, country or experience.

“It is important to hear the opinion of all young people from Europe and this panel was a way to do that. Across the entire Europe we have different youth capitals and today, we had the chance to hear three different voices from Europe”, Frederik Picavet says before European Youth Forum.

The connection at the panel is Novi Sad. Namely, Lithuanian city of Klaipėda won the title of European Youth Capital 2021, at the Youth Theatre, while the following year, OPENS key will go to Amiens and open some new door there.

The vision of Klaipėda is to be more open towards young people and to coordinate mutual goals through hanging out with young people.

“In 2021, when Klaipėda is European Youth Capital, we will try to include not only young people from the organizations but outside of them, too. We will try to cooperate and work on the projects together, as well as to bring the policy to young people”, Greta Tautaviciute says before European Youth Capital.

European Youth Capital Novi Sad strives to create sustainable youth policy from all program activities.

“This panel is important for young people to understand how they can more actively join social life and how policies created at the international level can influence the things happening at the local level. It is important to use the strategies of European Union or United Nations mutually and to apply them at the local level”, Vukašin Grozdanović, OPENS Coordinator explains.

The event was organised as an interactive space which served for consideration of mutual challenges with which the regions and cities face when talking with young people about Europe. These conversations are especially important when it comes to the future of EU and the role of young people in the creation of the European project.