RCC’s WBYL brought Western Balkans youth to Ljubljana and Zagreb for Mini-Mobility Scheme

Ljubljana/Zagreb – “The best way to exchange knowledge and practice and to hear and see first-hand what it makes for successful and strong youth cooperation is to bring youth from the Western Balkans’ National Youth Councils or Youth Umbrella Organisations to the EU to witness work of well-established EU National Youth Councils. Besides expanding cooperation networks, this visit is giving Western Balkans’ youth an insight into the best EU practices and standards and is setting a base for future regional youth transformative policies,” said Ognjen Markovic, Leader of the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC)’s Western Balkans Youth Lab Project during the opening remarks on the first day of Mini-Mobility Scheme.

This five-day comprehensive visit was an opportunity for 24 young people from the region, who are working in National Youth Councils or Youth Umbrella Organisations, to find out more about the 8th cycle of Youth Dialogue, youth advocacy, work of the National Youth Council of Slovenia, Croatian Youth Network, and Slovenian Office for Youth. Furthermore, Mini-Mobility was an excellent occasion to organise a visit to the Mayor of Ljubljana, Zoran Janković, and to the Slovenian Municipal Office for Youth and European Parliament Office in Zagreb, as well as to host WB ambassadors in Slovenia for the Roundtable on the Role of Youth in the EU Enlargement Process.

A structured Study Visit to Slovenia and Croatia was organised by the RCC’s Western Balkans Youth Lab project with the help of the European Youth Forum and National Youth Council of Slovenia and National Youth Council of Croatia, which have been chosen as the hosting Youth Councils. The study visit has contributed to the WBYL commitment towards continuous, structured and planned engagement with young people from the region and has ensured a quality programme and opportunity for young leaders from National Youth Councils to gain new knowledge that they could transfer to the region. 

Western Balkans Youth Lab Project is financed by the European Union, and implemented by the RCC. 

More about the programme here.
More about the WBYL project here.