As part of the European Commission's objectives in the first 100 days of its new mandate, Youth Policy Dialogues were held across the EU. Commissioner Glenn Micallef held one in Athens on January 28, to talk about promoting inclusiveness through sports and culture.
The Dialogues aim to encourage young people to express their views on EU policy initiatives and to integrate their views in the EU’s decision-making.
This Dialogue brought together 28 young people from diverse backgrounds - youth workers, Erasmus+ beneficiaries and coordinators, young actors, volunteers, and NGO professionals in NGOs, members of national youth councils, EU Olympic Ambassadors, and other young sports people.
The young people could choose to participate in one of the three discussions dedicated to:
- Making sport and culture careers a reality for youth
- Fostering access to culture and cultural heritage for young people
- Sport and inclusion
Some of the recurring concerns
- Imbalances between urban and rural areas and the need to decentralise culture and sport, considering that the main events related to both take place in the capitals or big cities
- The need to recognise the importance of non-formal education and the role of NGOs and associations
- Lack of accessible infrastructure and funding for assistants for disabled people