Under the heading "Together for recovery", the 19th edition of the #EURegionsWeek hit yet another record of participants: 17.600!
With its 591 partners, 30 stands, 1261 speakers and moderators, 142 video testimonials, this year programme highlighted how cohesion policy and funding has helped communities navigate the COVID-19 crisis in countless ways – and how these are crucial for promoting long-term growth once the pandemic eases.
More than 4000 messages - exchanged on the user-friendly platform encouraging interaction - fed the discussion around the four themes of this edition: cohesion, green, digital and Citizens’ engagement.
The Opening session was the first high-level debate of the week, hosted as a TV show and attracting 1.400 live followers via the streaming available on the event's platform and 2.000 views via social media channels.
Several VIP panellists, including European Committee of the Regions President Apostolos Tzitzikostas, European Commissioner Elisa Ferreira and EP REGI Chair Younous Omarjee, joined the debate focussing on the transition from emergency to sustainable recovery. Many CoR members contributed as well, via live and remote interventions.
“My goal is to support the young generation" these are the words used by Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms Ferreira during the Citizens’ Dialogue. The project videos made by "Youth4Regions" alumni highlighted four different topics that are important to all European citizens: (1) cohesion, (2) green transition, (3) digital transition, and (4) citizens' engagement.
In a ceremony underscoring the importance of a free press in upholding EU values, two young journalists from the Youth4RegionsCompetition– Jack Ryan from Ireland and Irene Barahona Fernández of Spain – were chosen as recipients of this year’s Megalizzi-Niedzielski prize. The prize was jointly awarded by Commissioner Ferreira and MEP Omarjee, Chair of the EP REGI Committee.
Partnership and synergies were the takeaways from the joint REGI-COTER meeting, where members of the European Parliament and the Committee of the Regions had the opportunity to talk to Commissioner Elisa Ferreira about the new programming phase, policies and tools.
Finally, the Closing session harvested the results of this year edition. During this session 4 short videos summarising the event were played and the 1323 responses of were unveiled.
All recordings of sessions and high-level events are available in English, French and German.
The #EURegionsWeek has also served as a platform for fostering the ongoing debate on democracy and citizen’s engagement in the context of the Conference on the #FutureofEurope. The organisers invite you to feed the debate, share your ideas and post your comments to continue the Citizens’ Dialogue.
