On Wednesday the 28th of October 2020 at 9 AM, the final event of the 9th edition of the InterCity Youth Network took place.

Here is a summary of the three conference days, the themes developed and the speakers that participated.

First day

On the first day of the online conference, representatives from different realities intervened, including the InterCity Youth network, Youth Department of European Council, the Youth Policy Sector of the European commission (DG EAC), the representatives of the project Europe Goes Local and JUGEND für Europa.

A lot of themes concerning youth policies perspectives in Europe have been treated, also in relation to the role of the local and regional authorities as facilitators in the dialogue with young people, and to the implementation of new strategies and efficient actions. The importance of bringing the youth work as a priority for the European policies was shared by everyone.
Moreover, the commitment to create initiatives and opportunities to help the youth work
was renovated, also thanks to the use of tools such as Change-Makers Kit, promoted by the network of Europe Goes Local.

Second day

On the second day of the conference speakers intervened as representatives of realities such as Jugend für Europa (Germany), Verke (Finland), the coordinator of electric sport of Espoo municipality (Finland), Young Dragons (Slovenia) and Art Square Lab (Luxemburg).

The debates about youth policies continued today, emphasis was placed especially on the importance that they have in crisis periods and on the difficulties that could exist at a local level. Germany’s experience was interesting, the organization JUNGEND tried out a support and coordination project of municipalities to insert international initiatives in their strategies; they presented their proposal to involve young people in digital platforms, for example by using eSports, or by renovating a bus transformed into a wheeled Youth Center.
The presentation of Volem was important too and it involved the municipality of Cinisello. It was about a project aimed at recognizing the volunteering experience at a local stage, valorizing the acquisition of competences and soft skills.

Third day

The meeting session was named “Participation, Learning, Inclusion”, as a consequence of the themes developed during the morning session.

The conference started with the institutional greetings from the Sport and Youth Councilor of Lombardy, vice-president vicar ANCI Lombardy, Councilor for Education e Instruction of Milan and Councilor for Youth, Sport and Culture of Cinisello Balsamo.

Later participated representatives from regional and European realities, as the Executive of Youth Policy and European Programming, the Head of Servizio Civile Universale Anci Lombardia, the President of ICY Network, the Director of Area Giovani, Università and Alta Formazione of Milan and the Lombardy Region Delegation at EU.

In the morning a lot of themes were treated, it started with a consideration on the role of the youth policies as a support to young people during the stages of their life. Then there was the Lombardy region’s presentation of ventures, as La Lombardia è dei giovani (results of the venture from 2019 and expectations from 2020), and the call “Lombardia 2030. La Lombardia che vorrei”.
There was also the presentation of executed projects: il Servizio Civile Universale, Dote Comune, RescEU and Next Generation EU venture, a pack for the recovery from the pandemic crisis.

Later in the day, the Youth work was analysed: his nature, how people recognize it and which is its value at a European and local level. About that, KEKS the Log Book presented an evaluation tool of youth work’s impact on young people.
The association Ninfea concluded adding its contribution on socio-educational animation.

A last consideration was made on the dynamics of the world of youth by the Lombardy Region Delegation at EU, in which emerged the role of Informagiovani and their impact at a local level.

Finally, all the speakers that participated and helped the success of the conference were thanked.

Here the full report: