The Power Within: Territories and People Realising Their Potential

Setting the Scene: The Right to Stay: Madeleine Jonsson (Region Västra Götaland) framed the right to stay as a social, territorial, and economic principle. She stressed that lifelong learning and skills transitions are key to ensuring everyone can build a future where they belong.

European Commission Perspective: Eva Schultz, from the Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Roxana Mînzatu (European Commission), delivered the keynote. She emphasised three key messages:
People and places matter – policies must serve both.
Transitions must be fair and just – green and digital change should empower people locally.
Multi-level collaboration is essential – coordination across governance levels ensures impact.

The interactive panel showcased concrete regional initiatives demonstrating how learning and skills drive local growth:
Region Västra Götaland – Campus Dalsland: Decentralised hybrid learning opportunities strengthen rural talent retention.
Basque Country – VI Basque VET Plan: Cooperation between schools, companies, and social partners fosters innovation and employability.
Centre-Val de Loire – Youth Guidance & Apprenticeships: Tailored support helps young people connect with local opportunities.
City of Borås – ViA Network: Collaboration between employers and civil society builds a more inclusive labour market.
Brittany – “Third Place” Learning Labs: Collaborative innovation spaces bring training closer to community needs.
Each example illustrated how empowering people, institutions, and territories are interconnected and essential for sustainable regional development.
Closing the event, Noelia Cantero reflected on the strong spirit of collaboration and the positive dialogue with the European Commission representative. She offered EARLALL and its member regions experience as test-beds for piloting EU strategies and emphasized that EARLALL regions are ready to contribute actively to the design of EU strategies and policies in the field of lifelong learning and not be mere implementers. “These examples show that the power truly lies within regions—within their people, partnerships, and capacity to learn from one another,” she said.