Twenty Azorean youngsters participate in the national meeting of the European Youth Week which takes place next weekend, in Portimão.

The event promoted by the National Agency of the Juventude em Acção Program, by the Instituto Português da Juventude and by the Conselho Nacional de Juventude, welcomes a total of more than 200 youngsters originating from all the regions of Portugal.

The national initiative will agglutinate the proposals done by the Portuguese youth, during October, and that will then be debated in the revision of the future policies of Youth of the European Union.

The national commemoration of the European Youth Week takes for main purposes to bring Europe near the Youngsters, to identify the current needs and expectations face to the future of the European Union, to value the current European youth policies and to formulate proposals for the future framework of European cooperation on the subject of youth.

It also aims at putting in perspective the implementation of a policy of cross youth, identifying means of articulation of the framework of cooperation on the subject of youth with other processes, debating the place of the policy of youth in the development of the Strategy of Lisbon, preparing and mobilizing the youngsters for the European elections and deepening the dialog and partnership between the organizations of youth, the specialists in the area and the political deciders.

In the regional session, accomplished on the 25th of October, in the University of the Azores, the work groups were divided in eight themes - “Formal and Non Formal Education”, “Youthful Emancipation”, “Health”, “Participation and Citizenship”, “Diversity and Equality of Opportunities”, “Environment and Sustainable Development”, “Global Cooperation” and “Culture, Creativity and Innovation”.

Among all the developed themes, the most important ones for the youngsters and that turned in more bold proposals were the issue of the Environment, the Youthful Emancipation and the Culture, Creativity and Innovation.

The creation of the European unique card of culture, which promotes the easiest access of the European youngsters, namely, to museums, transports, stays and shows, as well as to the promotion of an European day / night of free access to the cultural institutions, besides the creation of the European Olympic Games of Culture are some of the proposals presented by the Azorean group of Culture, Creativity and Innovation.

Regarding the group of the Environment, the watchword was the sensitization in the presupposition of which people are moved in order to save the planet Earth.

As for the Youthful Emancipation the discussion was centred in the Employment and in the Housing, being the creation of a data base of houses for leasing and the purchase at European level, in several languages, besides another data base for the one who looks for job in Europe, the most attractive ideas for the nearly six tens of youngsters who were in the University of the Azores in the regional event of the European Youth Week 2008.

All these proposals are going to be presented the next days during the national event, being their inclusion in the final document to be delivered to the European Commission expected.