ESC: NEXT STOP, YOUTH PARTICIPATION

Europe 2020 was founded in April 2014, in Puente Genil (Cordoba) as a response to different needs related to the knowledge of Andalusian youth about their possibilities in Europe. Our experience is based on the programs Juventud 2000-2006 (Youth) and Juventud en Acción 2007-2013 (Youth in Action). Therefore, our goals are to: a) Promote and stimulate awareness of different youth programs, training, education, culture, sports and participation of the European Commission, mainly among young people of Andalusia. b) Foster community spirit and integration to promote awareness of European culture among the young. b) Design, manage and develop international mobility services for training purposes for the Andalusian population and especially for Andalusian youth. c) Make known various international mobility programs and education as a fundamental right for European citizens’ growth and social and economic development of territories. d) Promote the active participation of young people in local public life. e) Promote initiatives and local employment sources by launching activities in the field of non- formal education, entertainment, leisure, and by facilitating access to information as a means of relationship builder and resource and opportunity improvement of population action. In order to achieve our goals, we take the following actions: 1 Develop mobility projects in the fields of education, training, sports, youth and civic participation; construction of transnational networks and coordination platforms for mobility. 2 Host visits and meetings. 3 Develop and manage projects, programs and networks of educational mobility in job training. 4 Develop workshops, lectures, based on non-formal education to promote knowledge and development of citizens' groups based on international mobility projects and courses. The beneficiaries for these activities are, directly, young Andalusian, which act both as recipients of the activities as well as protagonists of the same; and indirectly population in general and other Andalusian organizations. At the same time, one of our most important objectives is to be able to disseminate and give visibility to the possibilities that the international mobility programs of the European Commission offer us through Non-Formal Education. In this way, we are in charge of carrying out dissemination activities, and awareness-raising campaigns on basic information about the Erasmus + programs and the European Solidarity Corps. With specific reference to ESC, we are trying to implement projects with new actors in formal and non-formal education in our region. In this way, we want to act as a leading organization, to support both administratively and technically other organizations that initiate their solidarity actions in international volunteering. We are starting with the support of Colegio Compañia de Maria, as a pilot project, but our future objective is to be able to give support to the rest of the third sector organizations that operate in Puente Genil and its region. On the other hand, as a support association, we send and support the sending of volunteers from the region to all of Europe. The main participants of our projects are children and young people from Puente Genil and its region, especially those who present fewer social, economic and geographical opportunities. At the same time, for 3 years we are implementing work with young people with special needs, mainly related to physical and psychological disabilities, in collaboration with organizations in our nearby area.