On October 24 and 25, Viladecans hosted the fourth transnational meeting of the European project NextGen YouthWork (URBACT IV program).
The aim of the NextGen YouthWork project is to create a long-term vision and strategy for the digital work of municipal youth services that serves as a platform to bridge the digital divide and ensure that all young people have access to the same opportunities and services. In this way, the NextGen YouthWork network is working to better align youth work with the opportunities and challenges posed by the online world where young people now spend much of their time.
Representatives from all partner cities (Aarhus - Denmark; Cartagena - Spain; Iași - Romania; Klaipèda - Lithuania; Oulu - Finland; Perugia - Italy; Tetovo - North Macedonia and Veszprém - Hungary), the project expert, Zsolt Sera, and a representative from the URBACT Secretariat (the European program funding the project), Evgenia Strati, participated in the event.
After a welcome from Mayor Olga Morales, the first day (24.10.24), participant cities had the opportunity to get to know and visit some relevant projects and initiatives in the field of Youth such as Can Xic Youth Resources Centre, the ENO (School of New Opportunities), La Fede (a youth association), and the Information and Outreach Point in Secondary Education Centers (PIDCES) among others. Participants also had the opportunity to experience first-hand some services provided to youth at Can Xic resources centre, such as the Emotional Point, Youth Information Point, the Employment Guidance Service or the Youth Engagement Service, thanks to a dynamic role play session.
In the evening, participants visited the Viladecans skate park and learned about the work carried out by street educators and civic agents.
On the second day (25.10.2024), a series of meetings were held where participants had the opportunity to work on joint aspects of the European project (mid-term review, feedback on work with the URBACT Local Groups in each city, etc.)
The next transnational meeting for the project will take place in Klaipeda, Lithuania.
The NextGen Youthwork in Viladecans has a budget of 75,283 EUR, which are ERDF funds and 65% of it is financed by the URBACT IV programme. As partners of the project, Viladecans is accompanied by the cities of Eindhoven (Netherlands), coordinator of the project, Veszprém (Hungary), Klaipeda (Lithuania), Iasi (Romania), Oulu (Finland), Perugia (Italy), Cartagena (Spain), Aarhus (Denmark) and Tetovo (Macedonia).
More information about the project at https://www.viladecans.cat/ca/nextgenyouthwork.
URBACT is a European Territorial Cooperation program that promotes sustainable integrated urban development in European cities. It is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) with a budget of EUR 79,769,000 and by the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance with a budget of EUR 5,000,000 for the period 2021-2027.
