Overview – Picture Galleries – Calendar – Youth on the Move Debate
Overview
Antwerp, in the western Flemish region of Belgium, has been named European Youth Capital 2011.
One of the largest sea ports in Europe and home to 140,000 young people, maritime Antwerp is a dynamic centre for international youth. From the seedy ‘Schipperskwartier’ (sailor’s quarter) to the architectural marvel of Cogels-Osylei; from the souks and art of cosmopolitan Borgerhout to the lush green on Linkeroever – Antwerp has something for everyone.
Check out the AEYC2011 video!
ANTWERP EYC2011 IN NUMBERS
- There are 172 different nationalities living Antwerp, making it a vibrant international centre
- Over 25,000 students keep the city young, fresh and energetic
- With 1,136 restaurants and bars, the lights are always burning
- With 50,000 trees, Antwerp is a nature-lover’s paradise
- Some 800,000 pieces of art adorn the city’s museums – so get your culture hat on!
Inheriting the youth capital crown from the Dutch city of Rotterdam in 2009 and Turin in Italy in 2010, Antwerp chose ‘creation room for youth’ as its theme and is staging over 150 parties, major events and creative projects throughout the year – check out http://www.aeyc2011.be/en/calendar for a full programme.
And besides its year-long festival of culture, sport and learning as European Youth Capital, the city will also play host to two major European Youth Week events.
On 17 May, it will be the stage for an awards ceremony for the best volunteer projects in Europe, hosted by José Manuel Barroso, the President of the European Commission.
President Barroso and Androulla Vassiliou, the European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth, will also take part in a high-level debate in Antwerp with young delegates and youth experts, focusing on key challenges targeted in the EU’s Youth on the Move initiative.
So take note: Antwerp has got it going on.
Picture galleries
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Youth on the Move Debate
During European Youth Week 2011, President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso and Androulla Vassiliou, the European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth, will host a debate with young people from across Europe on the flagship initiative Youth on the Move.
Young people have been particularly hard-hit by the economic crisis, with youth unemployment reaching unacceptable levels across most of the Union. Youth on the Move, launched last September, sets out the EU’s response, with actions to help young people to gain the skills and experience they need to succeed, through study, training and work experience abroad.
The Youth on the Move debate will take place on 17 May in the Belgian city of Antwerp, the nominated European Youth Capital 2011. It will focus on higher education, learning mobility, the transition into work and entrepreneurship – all key priorities in Youth on the Move. The discussion, involving expert panellists and an invited audience of youth representatives from across Europe, will explore what is needed to turn the goals of Youth on the Move into reality.
Commissioner Vassiliou will also announce the results of a new Eurobarometer survey on youth and education, highlighting young people’s experience of, and attitudes to, learning or training abroad. The survey also provides a snapshot of young people’s attitudes to education and training, setting up their own business, voting, and their involvement in sports or youth clubs, voluntary and international activities.
YOUTH ON THE MOVE
Launched in September last year, Youth on the Move forms part of Europe 2020, the EU’s growth strategy for the next decade.
It focuses on three areas:
- Modernising education and training to make it more relevant to the needs of young people and employers – with particular attention paid to combating early school leaving, developing apprenticeships and promoting non-formal learning – as well as increasing the proportion of young people gaining a higher education qualification or equivalent.
- Supporting learning and job mobility. New EU-level information sources, a Council Recommendation on removing obstacles to learning mobility, a new generation of EU funding programmes for education and training, and a new pilot project, ‘My first EURES job’, are among the specific measures.
- Providing a new EU framework for youth employment, including recommendations to Member States on labour market reform and more help for public employment services to improve support for young people.
Initiatives like Erasmus, Leonardo da Vinci and Comenius, and the Youth in Action have already added real value to people’s lives, by allowing them to study, train or gain valuable experience abroad. Now further efforts are required to reach the Youth on the Move goal of extending opportunities for learning mobility to more young people.
The 17 May debate in Antwerp will provide an opportunity to discuss practical ways to address this and other key challenges.
For more information on Youth on the Move, read the document or visit http://europa.eu/youthonthemove.
