Europe's present and future: the contribution of young people to cross-border territories - 13WS21534

We are young! Or are we not? Being young in Europe today is different from how it used to be. Less than one third of the EU-27 population was under the age of 30 as of January 2019. Youngsters are faced with great challenges such as unemployment, climate change or social issues such as extremism. Besides, the pandemic has particularly affected them. It is only right that their voice and their proposals are taken into consideration.

Young people are Europe’s present & future. They are leading important contributions to cross-border territories in Europe such as the EUSALP Youth Council initiative, that in 2021 will assemble youngsters from the 48 regions in Germany, France, Italy, Austria, Slovenia, Switzerland and Liechtenstein in order to shape the future of the Alps. In the Pyrenees, the first Transpyrenean Youth Forum will also take place this year. Up to 100 young people from the 7 regions of Spain, France and Andorra will meet to debate their needs and bring their demands to policy makers. Their goal? To establish the first Transpyrenean Youth Council so as to continue the work. In Europe, we are United in diversity. And that is why there are organisations such as Euromontana. In this session, they will explain their initiative for a European survey to better assess the wishes and challenges for young people living in mountain areas across Europe.

Session agenda

• Welcome speech: Europe's present and future: what is the situation and role of young people in cross-border territories?

• Three European initiatives to ensure that the voice of the young is heard:
  • Pyrenean Youth, and Erasmus+ project to focus on the needs of young people and to impact public policy
  • The EUSALP Youth Council: what is it and how does it work?
  • Mountain youth: your voice matters! A pan-European survey by Euromontana

• Moderated roundtable: The role and contributions of young people to cross-border territories

• Q&A