The Committee of the Regions hosted last 18^th of November the second conference on the EU Youth Strategy and the role of the states and regions addressing the core findings of the third EU Youth Report on the realities faced by young Europeans.

It focuses on resulting challenges and the need for political action on the regional level, notably in particular in the fields of social integration, employment, participation, culture and creativity, health and wellbeing, volunteering, education and training, as well as international cooperation.

The event, gathering more than 100 hundred youth workers and representatives was structure in panel discussions and workshops. Workshops were addressing several crucial topics:

Locally strong: conditions for successful dialogues between youth and policy makers

Interregional cooperation concerning youth political issues – examples and instruments

Implementation of the EU Youth Guarantee and support of the employability of young people

Youth politics today: Cross-sectoral and interfering

Find more info here

Don’t skip the best quotes of the day!

Yoomi Renström, Chair of SEDEC Commission, Committee of the Regions, in charge of education & culture.

“We should not build the future for our youth but build our youth for the future”

Antonio Silva Mendes, Director for Youth and Sport, European Commission

“We need to work with the representatives of the youth organizations!”

Alex Vila, Consejo de la Juventud (Valencia)

“We should strop speaking about the lost generation. We are instead the ‘needed generation’ because we are the solution to the problem”

Terry Reintke, Member of European Parliament

“Volunteering and active participation is something always happening in the local and regional level”

Mario Žuliček, President of the Youth Regional Network

“Everything is based on education! Both formal and not formal”