During the EU Youth Week 2024, ENGSO Youth gathers in London for a spring Committee meeting
During the EU Youth Week 2024, from 12-14 April 2024, ENGSO Youth Committee members gathered in London, UK, together with the ENGSO Executive Committee, for the second Committee meeting of the year. ENGSO member Sport and Recreation Alliance was the host of the three-day meeting.
The meeting kicked off with further works of the ENGSO Youth Committee on empowering Youth in the decision making processes in Youth and Sport organisations in Europe. Moving on from the status quo analysis (you can find ENGSO Youth position paper on Youth participation here), the Committee focused on the concrete step – Youth in Action international activity which will take place in Nicosia/Larnaca, Cyprus, on 7-13 May 2024. Under the theme of “Youth participation in shaping sport organisations for democratic societies”, the event will gather 35 young people from all over Europe. The action will focus on supporting Youth and Sport organisations while preparing methodology on how to involve Youth in decision making and prepare tailor-made strategies for the implementation. Youth in Action international activity is funded by the Council of Europe through the European Youth Foundation.
The Committee members discussed the recent closure of the British Youth Council which was forced to close its doors due to lack of funding. We are saddened to see young people from Great Britain deprived of representation on the national and European level and worried about the lack of opportunities this decision will bring.
The ENGSO Youth team started the planning of the ENGSO Youth flagship event – the second edition of the European Youth and Sport Platform, a space for the dialogue to bring Youth and Sport sectors closer together.The event is scheduled for June 2025 and will take place in Poland, aligned with the priorities of the Polish Presidency of the Council of the EU.
Lastly, as 2024 is the year of mega sport events, during the meeting ENGSO Youth Committee discussed the role of those events to the grassroot sport community and ENGSO Youth Committee member Marija Leskovec shared her journey on moving “From Youth Olympics to the Olympics (Paris 2024)” as Team Croatia communication specialist.
Further discussions between ENGSO Youth Committee members and ENGSO Executive Committee continued with the focus on ENGSO membership, the empowerment of the network and usage of the knowledge hub ENGSO and its bodies represent.
In June, the ENGSO Youth family will gather in Vienna, Austria, for the ENGSO General Assembly and Youth Assembly, which will be hosted by the ENGSO member Sport Austria, and take place on 14-16 June 2024.
On the #BeActive note – ENGSO Youth recently celebrated its 22nd birthday and kicked off the annual 2002 challenge. This year, the challenge aligns with the HOORAY project action plan with the aim to raise awareness on the importance of physical activity and sport for the youth mental health. The challenge began during EU Youth Week (12-19 April) and will continue throughout April and May until the end of the EU Mental Health Week (12-19 May). Don’t forget to join us!