European Youth Capital 2018 : Cascais
The European Youth Forum announced this evening (26th November) the city awarded the title of European Youth Capital for 2018 as Cascais, in Portugal.
An independent, high-level jury gave the award based on an application from Cascais, which truly celebrates young people and combines the global and local dimensions, under its theme for the year “Glocal Youth”. In its year as European Youth Capital, Cascais will focus on contributing to a more cohesive Europe, creating new opportunities for empowerment leading to enhanced global citizenship, with a focus on intergenerational dialogue.
Cascais has a population of approximately 206,455, of which around 40% is under 35 years old. Cascais was selected out of a field of five strong shortlisted bids, including: Kecskemét (Hungary), Manchester (United Kingdom), Novi Sad (Serbia), Perugia (Italy). These five finalists were selected from 20 applicant cities from right across Europe, a record number for the EYC title..
The award ceremony took place in Madrid, just ahead of the European Youth Forum’s Council of Members, which brings together almost 200 young delegates representing youth organisations from all over Europe.
The European Youth Capital 2018, as in previous years, will encourage participation of young people through the promotion of new ideas and innovative projects. During an EYC year, the host city holds events and projects designed to demonstrate the active, essential role that young people and youth organisations can and do play in society.
Joan Conca Domenech Vice President of the European Youth Forum, said:
“Congratulations to Cascais, European Youth Capital 2018, for their strong, diverse and detailed proposal. We welcome their commitment to fostering meaningful youth participation, social inclusion and cultural diversity. This year we received the highest number of applications ever, many of them of excellent quality and so I know this was a very tough decision for the jury to make.
“This prestigious title is a fantastic way to showcase good practice examples of youth policy making and youth participation at local level and think of new, innovative ideas and projects designed by and for young people to truly engage them in the life of their city. The EYC is also a unique way to strengthen the bonds between the candidate cities and Europe.”
Catarina Vieira, member of the Cascais European Youth Capital 2018 team, said:
“It is a dream come true for us to be European Youth Capital 2018! Our winning the title is down to all the hard work of the young people youth associations of Cascais! We were able to, as part of the process, bring together politicians and young people to work towards the same objective and as hope to build on this in the run up to 2018.”
Notes for editors
About the European Youth Capital
The European Youth Capital is a title awarded each year to a city by the European Youth Forum. 2018 will be the tenth European Youth Capital. Since the first European Youth Capital was awarded to Rotterdam in 2009, the title has been awarded to Turin, Antwerp, Braga, Maribor, Thessaloniki, Cluj-Napoca and Ganja.
The EYC high-level jury includes representatives from the European Parliament, Microsoft, the Committee of the Regions of the EU, the Assembly of European Regions, the Council of European Municipalities and Regions, the Advisory Council on Youth of the Council of Europe, EurActiv, The International IDEA, the Congress of Local & Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, the University of Cagliari and the European Youth Forum.
For more information visit: www.europeanyouthcapital.org
About the European Youth Forum
The European Youth Forum is the platform of youth organisations in Europe. Independent, democratic, youth-led, it represents 99 National Youth Councils and international youth organisations from across the continent. The Forum works to empower young people to participate actively in society to improve their own lives, by representing and advocating their needs and interests and those of their organisations towards the European Union, the Council of Europe and the United Nations. For more information, visit www.youthforum.org
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