Youth for macroregions: EUSAIR youth council established

On November 22, the first meeting of the Youth Council, an independent advisory body within the EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region, was held in Dubrovnik.

If the social challenges of young people go beyond national borders and are similar in the entire Adriatic and Ionian region, they should be solved at that level, was the conclusion of the first meeting Youth Council of the EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region (EUSAIR). Two young people under the age of 30 from each of the 10 EUSAIR member countries are members of an independent advisory body whose task is to contribute to the work of experts with their fresh perspective and knowledge. They will cooperate primarily with the coordinators of the five thematic pillars of the Strategy and the Steering Committee, as well as youth councils in other strategies of European macro-regions.

“Many young people in the countries of the Adriatic and Ionian regions have similar problems and challenges that they face every day, such as the increasingly frequent departure of their peers to Western countries for work, challenges with the environment and the like. Through mutual cooperation and sharing of experiences, we are convinced that these ambitious young people can come up with quality solutions. After all, cultural exchange in this region is nothing new. As we saw at the meeting in Dubrovnik, they are very familiar with the situation in the region and often discuss it. Through the EUSAIR Youth Council, we want to provide them with additional opportunities for cooperation,” she said Lidija Pansegrau Hadrovićnational coordinator for EUSAIR and the European Strategy for the Danube Region from the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Croatia.

At the founding meeting in Dubrovnik, young people deepened their knowledge through lectures on European funds, cohesion policy and macro-regional strategies, and the coordinators presented the basics and work of all five thematic pillars of EUSAIR; blue growth, connecting the region (transport and energy), environmental quality, sustainable tourism and social cohesion. The recently established fifth pillar, which is also called the social pillar, is coordinated by Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, while the fourth pillar, sustainable tourism, is coordinated by Croatia and Albania.

Then, in groups, they discussed potential solutions to the challenges and possible actions within EUSAIR, and shared roles and functions in the Youth Council.

Croatian representatives in the Youth Council are Lara Šare and Antonio Grujevski who emphasize the importance of getting to know key topics and the Council’s way of working.

“Since the Youth Council is a wonderful community of promising young people, I expect that together we will contribute to positive changes in our macro-region. I would like to bring a fresh breath of hope to young people in Croatia, i.e. to show them that their voice can be heard and that active work is being done on the socio-economic development of the region where they grew up. Maybe that way I can motivate them to stay in our macro-region, instead of going abroad. In the end, with the knowledge I will acquire through EUSAIR, I want to one day start my own project in the field of green or blue technology”, said Lara Šare, a student at Zagreb’s FER.

“I was motivated to participate in the Youth Council because EUSAIR offers a space for cooperation and connecting young people with the same goals – preserving our common space and improving regions through innovative approaches. I want to actively participate in informing young people about the main goals of EUSAIR and encourage their involvement. I believe that by working together we will build better opportunities for all of us, connecting regions and creating a sustainable future based on cooperation and innovation,” said Antonio Grujevski, master of architecture and designer.

The founding meeting in Dubrovnik was also attended by representatives of the European Commission, which supports the work of the EUSAIR Youth Council, as well as the work of other youth councils from the other three EU strategies for macro-regions – Danube, Alpine and Baltic.

The EU strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian region includes four member states (Croatia, Greece, Italy, Slovenia), five candidate states (Albania, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia) and San Marino.