(ANS – Logroño) – From Thursday the 11th till Sunday the 14th of October, DBYN organised a network meeting in Logroño, Spain. The meeting was hosted by Confe Don Bosco, which was organising at the same time their 17th congress of the Salesian youth centres. At this congress Confe Don Bosco had discussions on several topics which influence their work. A major issue is how the unemployment rates impact the Spanish volunteers working in the youth centres. DBYN wanted to organise its network meeting as a side programme, as we have a strong interest in exploring the educational possibilities which are created through the European crisis.

As in Don Bosco’s time, young people are migrating more and more: from rural areas to the cities, from EU member states with high unemployment rates to EU member states with a high demand for workers.  This migration is not without risks for young people; moving from home in search for a job results in giving up their social network.  This can lead to social isolation, especially if the young EU migrant is coming from a disadvantaged background.  During our work sessions we explored how we can safeguard young work migrants from this, and to identify the educational opportunities which are there as well.

The meeting also allowed the study in depth of the means offered by the EU to promote projects that deal with migration and youth unemployment.

A first result was the creation of a Coordination on youth unemployment, which will be attended by European organisations of DBYN and will be coordinated by the "Salesians for Welfare". The task is to promote experimentation and innovative actions on the subject.

Morevoer, DBYN intends to focus more strongly on the problem of unemployment and migration in the coming years.  This network meeting was the start of the process.  In March 2013 DBYN will organise a follow-up seminar “All work and No Play?”, This follow-up will focus on how the ‘Youth opportunities initiative’ can be leverage for youth organisations to increase the employability of young people they are catering for.  The programme will include sessions on the exchange of good practices, information on the actions of the ‘Youth Opportunities Initiative’, a comparative session on Voluntary service and on-the-job training mobility programmes, ...

Published 19/10/2012