The project is part of the ‘Europe for Citizens’ programme and could obtain funding of almost 150.000 euros

The social and labour inclusion of young people with difficulties through their participation in European Union policies is the objective pursued by the project that Redován Town Council has presented to the European Commission, as reported by the town’s Councillor for Citizen Participation, Adrián Ballester. The Council is leading a consortium of organisations from seven countries (Spain, Portugal, Greece, Cyprus, Romania, Lithuania, the Netherlands and France) which have joined together “to improve the inclusion of young people who neither study nor work and who are at risk of exclusion as a result of factors such as unemployment, aggravated by the Covid-19 health crisis”, said Ballester.

The project is part of the ‘Europe for Citizens’ programme and, if selected, could receive funding of up to ?148,000 from the European Commission. The initiative has activities in all seven countries, and the international partners include the French municipality of Saint-Aubin de Médoc, with which Redován is twinned and has strong ties of friendship and cooperation.

The councillor explains that “we hope to involve the whole municipality in the project and encourage citizen participation in Redován, with a special involvement in public life for young people so that they are aware of the opportunities offered by the European Union in terms of training and study, work or mobility”. Another of the objectives, said the mayor, is to “position Redován at an international level and demonstrate the municipality’s ability to manage European funds.

The project is scheduled to begin in March 2021 and end in September 2022, “provided that health conditions with respect to Covid-19 allow it”, Ballester explained, adding that “we hope that the young people of the municipality will become involved in this initiative and understand that the European Union and public bodies are something more, they are already institutions that are at the service of citizens to help them in every way possible”.