Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council pictured at European Youth Capital 19 event in the Guildhall with representatives from various primary and secondary schools throughout the north west. Included are Oonagh McGillion, Director of Legacy and Emma McLaughlin, EYC Officer, Derry City and Strabane District Council.
FOLLOWING Derry City and Strabane District Council’s success in taking a major step forward towards its goal to become the European Youth Capital in 2019, it is hosting a major Engagement Workshop at the Guildhall on 31 May to gauge the thoughts of young people in designing a real and meaningful programme.
Earlier this month the Council was successful in being shortlisted from 13 applicant cities to one of five finalists in the running for the prestigious title.
Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council Elisha McCallion says the engagement event is a vitally important part of the next phase of the process.
She added: “We are obviously very proud of the fact that we have been shortlisted as finalists and we are very keen to focus our efforts on the next round of the competition by getting as many young people as possible from across the Council area involved in the process.
“A series of topics such as youth democracy, health and wellbeing, access and inclusion, education and employment and culture programme will be discussed at the event.
“It’s important that young people get a direct input into how we move forward with the bid and we are keen to get as many young people as possible involved and are hopeful the engagement workshop will be well attended with representation from across the Council area.”
Those attending the workshop will be encouraged not only to give their views and opinions but to sign up to become a Champion for the programme.
Encouraging young people to get behind the bid the Mayor says winning the title would be huge for the city and district and would have a hugely positive impact for young people.
Oonagh McGillion, Director of Legacy with Derry City and Strabane District Council says the input from young people attending the workshop will be directly fed into the final bid document and also the Draft Community Plan.
“We recognise the need to engage with young people and the wider public at all stages of the process but it’s imperative that now as we reach the final stages we continue to talk to young people to ensure their voice is included and their views are included in the final plan,” she added.
Register online to take part in the ‘EYC19 Make it Happen Workshop’ at the following link www.eyc19.com, or contact Emma McLaughlin at [email protected].
The European Youth Capital bid involves young people aged 15-24 living or working in the Council area.
Since the bid launch Council has been engaging with a wide range of groups and organisations to gauge the views and aspirations of young people with a view to incorporating these into a special year-long youth programme for the area should the bid be successful.
After a final jury meeting, the winner of the EYC2019 title will be announced at the European Youth Forum’s General Assembly in Varna, Bulgaria (EYC2017) in November 2016.
For more information on the process and how you can get involved go to www.eyc19.com
Tags: