Design and management of European youth projects. Brief interview with Jorge Sáez, technician of the Eurodesk and Europe Direct centre in Donostia

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European Year of YouthNew features regarding the Erasmus+ Youth and European Solidarity Corps programmes in the framework of European grants 2021-2027 

What does the new year, 2022, look like for European youth mobility programmes? 

2022 is the European Year of Youth. Therefore, the European Commission is preparing quite a few events and initiatives.Jorge Sáez, technician of the Eurodesk and Europe Direct centre in Donostia

Quite promising. We are launching a new multi-year framework. Budgets have been significantly increased across all actions and provide even more opportunities for young people to participate in all these actions. Therefore, we will have to take advantage of them. 

Why are these initiatives so important for young people? 

These programmes help young people to discover, learn, evolve, and develop personally and professionally. They are very enriching and unique life experiences that help young people to develop or improve their skills while helping others, collaborating in solidarity projects, or participating in various youth initiatives. An example of a service-learning programme framework. 

In these times of the pandemic, mobility is quite limited. Has the number of projects been reduced? 

It is true that due to mobility limitations between countries many group mobility projects, such as youth exchanges or youth worker training, have been postponed. Perhaps, in the spring of 2022, we can start to implement the actions that should have taken place last summer. However, as the voluntary projects of the European Solidarity Corps only require the mobility of individuals, some projects have been reduced while others have been maintained. Naturally, those that guarantee the quality of the activities and the safety of the participants, as set out by the European Commission for these programmes, even before the onset of Covid19.

Design and management of European youth projects. New features regarding the ERASMUS+YOUTH and EUROPEAN SOLIDARITY CORPS programmes within the framework of European grants 2021-2027