— Organised by Fundación Galicia Europa, Galicia’s regional delegation to the EU, this event marked the end of the Rural Youth of Europe (RUYOU) project.

— The young participants presented their ideas for improving life in rural areas to representatives of the European institutions.

Brussels, April 18th 2024. Some of the participants of the Rural Youth of Europe (RUYOU) travelled to Brussels together with the heads of the different partners of this European project to celebrate the European Rural Youth Summit. During two days, the 16th and 17th of April, they were able to get to know the institutions of the European Union and present their ideas to their representatives in order to improve the situation of rural youth.

Framed in the European Youth Week and organised by Fundación Galicia Europa, the summit marked the end of this European project, which started in December 2022 with a two-year duration. Under the slogan “Europe: towards rural 2030”, this event was also an opportunity to present the results of the project.

Rural youth approaches the European institutions

The European Rural Youth Summit kicked off with a visit to the Parlamentarium and the European Parliament headquarters, where the participants were accompanied by Kamil Maj, a member of the cabinet of the President, Roberta Metsola. They also received a presentantion from Galician MEP Francisco Millán Mon, who explained his work as a representative and the importance of taking part in the European elections.

During the first day they also visited the Delegation of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce to the EU, where they were received by its director, Pilar Ruiz Huélamo, and the director of Fundación Galicia Europa, Ana Ramos Barbosa. Through an interactive activity, the young participants learned how to promote a European project using as a basis the ideas they themselves developed during the RUYOU.

They were assisted by various facilitators, who guided them by sharing their knowledge. In addition to the representatives of the partner organisations, other participants included: María José Tarrero Martos, Labour Counsellor of the Permanent Representation of Spain to the EU; Nicolás González Casares, Galician MEP; Carmen Calderón, head of the RDP for Galicia of the Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development of the European Commission; Janine Costa, Counsellor for Education, Culture, Youth, Sport and Audiovisual of the Permanent Representation of Portugal to the EU; and Daniel Debono, Head of Brussels Operations of the Malta Business Bureau.

A dialogue between the EU and young people from rural areas

The second day of the European Rural Youth Summit consisted of a meeting with representatives of the EU Citizens and Values Unit of the European Executive Agency for Education and Culture (EACEA). After explaining their work and the functioning of the CERV programme, which Rural Youth of Europe is part of, they listened to the presentations of the participants in this project.

Young people from Galicia, Malta and Portugal shared their personal experience during the different activities of the project in which they participated, both hackatons and creative jams, and the value they got from their participation. The protagonists in this case were Adrián, Roi, Marta, Ishmael, Diana, Jorge, Mary, Nerea, Lucas, Tatiana, Alexandra and Marta.

Rural Youth of Europe

Rural Youth of Europe (RUYOU) is a European project funded by the CERV programme (Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Programme) which aims to train and promote practical skills among young people in rural areas of Europe, who despite belonging to different Member States, face the same challenges.

Through these initiatives, which encourage the participation of the young participants in their communities, the aim is to tackle the problem of rural depopulation, a problem that affects many regions of Europe, including Galicia and the other regions participating in the project. It is one of the many European projects in which the Fundación Galicia Europa participates in the framework of EuroXuventude.

The participating partners are: Asociación Amicos (Spain); Asociación Lug Open Factory (Spain); Agrupación Europea de Cooperación Territorial Eurocidade Chaves – Verín (Portugal); Cámara oficial de Comercio, Industria, Servicios y Navegación de Santiago de Compostela (Spain); Regional Council Northern Region (Malta); and Fundación Galicia Europa (Spain).

More information: Rural Youth of Europe