THE OPENING OF THE CONGRESS
The City of Youth

THE OPENING OF THE CONGRESS

Krzysztof Żuk – Mayor of Lublin
Beata Stepaniuk-Kuśmierzak – Deputy Mayor for Culture, Sport and Participation, Mayor’s Plenipotentiary for European Youth Capital 2023
Paweł Prokop – Chairmen of the Organizational and Program Committee of the Congress

PANEL “The City of Youth”. Debate on a city that identifies the needs and includes young people – with the participation of Mayors, members of youth city councils, officials and experts.

Helena Lassen – Country Director at Danish Refugee Council (Slovenia)
Oleg Volsky – Mayor of Zhovkva (Ukraine)
Philippe Michiels – Assistant Project Leader, European Youth Capital (Ghent)
Vidmantas Mitkus – Head of Youth Affairs Division Vilnius City (Lithuania)

Moderator:
Aleksandra Kulik – President of the Sempre a Frente Foundation (Poland)

The youth constitute foundational elements of every prosperous society. The next generation determines the future and shapes the entire community. The city is a dynamic hub where the aspirations, energy and potential of young people can be converged. Young people are a vibrant and diverse group contributing to the cultural, economic and social field of urban life. They bring innovation and creativity and therefore, they institute invaluable assets to city development. The panelists will discuss the significant part young people play in shaping the city, and the efforts and strategies needed to harness their potential to improve the quality of life.

For the city to thrive it is necessary to strengthen the position of young people, by introducing public policies and supporting dedicated outcomes in a certain areas:

• advanced education: upholding universal, accessible and high-quality education
• labour market: promoting youth employment and entrepreneurship
• mental health: systemic development of mental health services and prevention programmes to maintain mental wellbeing of youth
• Youth Civic engagement: creating tools to encourage social and civic engagement among young people, to have a real impact on decision making process regarding urban development
• secure spaces: creating safe and inclusive spaces for young people, to mingle, interact and express themselves freely, to alleviate feelings of exclusion and loneliness.

Introduction to the workshop “How to create youth-friendly cities/towns? – Today we are planning the future” – Aleksandra Kulik

The action is organised under the Bilateral Initiative “Youth for the City, City for Youth – projects and initiatives involving and including local communities” supported by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, through the EEA and Norway Grants 2014-2021.

Simultaneous translation into PL-EN-UA;
live broadcast on a streaming platform into EN