Between 10 and 13 May 2022, a meeting was organised in Bolzano in the framework of the EUSALP Italian Presidency. This meeting, which took place from Friday to Sunday, allowed the participation in various activities while giving the youth council time to work together.
The EUSALP Youth Council meets several times during a mandate. These meetings are an opportunity for young people to get together, to work together and build friendships. It is also an opportunity for the Youth Council to meet members of the EUSALP Presidency, action groups, partners or beneficiaries of the EU Strategy for the Alpine Region.
Friday, May 13th
Youth Council meets EUSALP Action Groups
The connection between the EUSALP Youth Council and the 9 Action Groups is important to keep a coherence between the ideas of the young people and the projects and activities of the Action Groups. Some thematic groups of the youth council are already in contact with different action groups. Finally, the youth council has also been contacted by action groups to join them on projects. This connection is therefore taking place at its own pace.
During the meeting in Bolzano, 4 presentations were made. Each presentation lasted 10 minutes and after each presentation, questions were asked by the youth council representatives. This time of exchange was rather short but allowed to establish a first contact. The objective is to develop partnerships between the youth council and the action groups’ projects.
Action Group 4 on the theme of green mobility.
A transport expert presented his work and the methods used in the South Tirol region to reduce the use of the most polluting modes of transport.
Action Group 7 on Green Infrastructures.
Stefan Mitterer presented a project that will be submitted to the LIFE programme. This project will allow the development of peatlands on a transnational scale.
Action Group 9 on Energy Communities.
Why and how youth should contribute to the establishment of energy communities. A really relevant topic to face the climate challenges of tomorrow.
Green Infrastructure Award ceremony & Networking wine tasting
On Friday afternoon, the award ceremony for the Green Infrastructure Competition took place. This competition rewarded 5 projects that have the ambition to reconcile economic development and ecological awareness. An ambition that may be questionable, but which is concretely applied by the projects presented. If you want to have more information about this event and this competition we put you the link below:
A project competition should give more visibility to the winners. For this, the organisers of the GI awards had the good idea to organise a more convivial time to facilitate networking. The members of the EUSALP youth council were invited to a wine tasting in a historic vineyard in the city of Bolzano. In this beautiful garden, projects had stands to present their ideas and exchange contacts with potential partners related to EUSALP. Beyond the official aspect of the competition. The tasting was an opportunity to discover the heritage of the Bolzano region and to meet the actors of the economic sector of this territory. The pictures show the pleasant moment we shared.
Visit of the NOI Techpark Südtirol / Alto Adige
The group met in an ideal place to work on and implement projects. The NOI Techpark is located on the outskirts of Bolzano and used to be a former factory that has been redeveloped. Today it is home to offices for companies, research centres and start-ups. There are also spaces open to the public to design 3D objects or to work in adapted spaces.
EUSALP Y.C Internal working session
To make progress on the youth council projects, the council members meet regularly online and on Slack. However, the group needs to meet face-to-face to discuss projects and important decisions in more detail. In Bolzano the aim was to create a document to present the results of the first mandate of the EUSALP Youth Council. The group therefore finalised the preparation of the document of assessment of the first year of existence which will be presented at the next executive council. This document summarises the projects of each thematic group and lists all the events in which the youth council participated. A preparation work for the next mandate has been initiated with the creation of a document which gathers the improvement axes to be planned as well as a questionnaire which will be sent to all the members in an anonymous way to be discussed during the next team building in Grenoble from the 8th to the 11th July 2022.
Visit of Salewa & Climbing session
In the afternoon we went to the headquarters of the company Salewa. We were welcomed by the manager of the Salewa Cube room and he showed us around the building.
This visit allowed us to discuss several themes related to EUSALP. The building has been designed to save energy while producing it thanks to the solar panels on the roof and the orientation of the building towards the sun. We were also able to discuss the environmental and ecological impact of a big brand like Salewa and how it tries to reduce it.
Climbing activities at Salera Cube After the visit we were able to take advantage of the sports complex within the headquarters to do some climbing. The resumption of the summer sport after a long winter season made itself felt. After a few successful routes, we enjoyed an aperitivo and local products.
We finished the evening watching in total amazement as the angletterre finished second in the EUROVISION competition.
