ALCOTRA Youth Council 2024-2025

For the 2021-2027 programming period, the Monitoring Committee of the ALCOTRA Italy-France Interreg Program has decided to persevere in the active involvement of young people in the implementation of cross-border cooperation between Italy and France.

The Youth Council was created as an advisory member of the Supervisory Board on 8 July 2022.

The young members of the Council will be able to propose their ideas and points of view on the social and environmental issues of the ALCOTRA territory.

Participation in the Youth Council lasts one year, renewable for another year.

The Youth Council is composed of 10 to 19 members, between 18 and 30 years old (at the time of application) with:

-A maximum of two young people for each territory of Haute-Savoie, Savoie, Hautes-Alpes, Alpes de Haute-Provence, Alpes-Maritimes, Province of Cuneo, Province of Imperia, Metropolitan City of Turin, Valle d’Aosta Autonomous Region;

-1 member outside the territory.

Members of the Youth Council can:

-contribute and work independently on the themes of the Interreg VI-A France-Italy ALCOTRA 2021-2027 Programme;

– actively participate in every meeting of the Supervisory Committee and develop proposals;

-follow the progress of the projects financed by the Programme;

-have contacts with the Program bodies and authorities and with the beneficiaries of the projects;

-develop exchanges with the SUERA Youth Council and any other youth organization in the ALCOTRA territory and at European level;

-participate in the Program’s communication events and organize local animation actions validated by the Managing Authority.

The desirable characteristics of young people who could apply are:

– a particular link or you are resident in the French departments or in the Italian provinces of the ALCOTRA territory;

– a strong motivation to participate in the changes in the Franco-Italian cross-border area ALCOTRA;

– availability to engage in the work of the Youth Council for one year (from July 2025 to July 2025);

– knowledge of the working languages ​​of the Programme, Italian and French.

To participate, each candidate must send their CV and a letter of motivation (maximum 1 page), preferably both in French and Italian, to the email address [email protected]indicating as the subject of the email “Application for ALCOTRA Youth Council 2024-2025”.

Applications will be open from 8 April 2024 until 31 May 2024. The Managing Authority will organize interviews with candidates between 4 and 7 June 2024 and candidates will be informed via email in the second half of June 2024. The results will then be published on the Program website. The selected young people will be invited to the inaugural event of the Youth Council in Chamonix, Haute Savoie, on 6 July 2024.

At the end of their mandate, members of the Youth Council will receive the following benefits:

-letters of recommendation written by the Managing Authority;

-the possibility of having their mandate in the Council validated as an internship, in agreement with the school or university concerned;

– certifications from the Managing Authority of the training courses attended and the work carried out during the period of the mandate.

During the 2023-24 mandate, Samuele Cavana and Alice Sciulli represented Valle d’Aosta at the Alcotra Youth Council, who testified to their experience in this short interview.

How did you become members of the ALCOTRA Youth Council representing the Valle d’Aosta Autonomous Region?

To become one, we responded to an application call, including a letter of motivation (written in duplicate, in Italian and French) and our CVs and taking an online interview with the managers at the Managing Authority (MA) of the Program ALCOTRA in Lyon and at the Joint Secretariat in Turin. Our mandate began in July 2023 and will end after one year, with the possibility of renewing it for a second year.

How did your experience at CDG ALCOTRA begin?

We took office at the same time as the Supervisory Committee (CS) which took place on 5 July 2023 in Courchevel, which we attended as observers, also making a short speech to introduce ourselves. In fact, one of the most interesting components of this initiative is precisely the possibility of being “behind the scenes” and knowing all those administrative (as well as political) processes that lead to the selection of certain projects and, therefore, to the implementation of certain interventions on our territory. This opportunity arose twice during the year, the first in autumn (online) and the second at the beginning of April, with the CS taking place in person at Aymavilles Castle.

What were the main activities you took part in?

In addition to attending the CS, we stayed at the Chalet Lionel Terray, renovated as part of the Respiration Jeunesse project, having the opportunity to visit the premises and view the multimedia installations created as part of the project.

Above all, however, in those days the CDG, in agreement with the AG, defined the priority actions for the 2023-2024 mandate:

-the attribution of the Youth Recognition to the projects financed by the “Transition”, “New Challenges” and “Governance” tenders for the period 2021-2027;

-the creation of a white paper on the effects of climate change in mountain areas;

-the creation of a podcast relating to the relationship between young people and the European Union and the impact this has on the daily life of our communities.

In particular, we were part of the “teams” that dealt with the Youth Recognition and the podcast. On the white paper, we can say that it will consist of a graphic novel, the creation of which has been contracted out to professionals, however we did not collaborate in its conception, so we cannot delve further into it.

The podcast “”La Jeunesse ALCOTRA parle de l’Europe/The ALCOTRA young people talk about Europe”, however, was created between January and February 2024 and is divided into 7 episodes in which various members of the CDG intervened, both in Italian both in French, to illustrate the work within the CDG itself, talk about the impact of Europe in our daily lives, illustrate the issues that are closest to our hearts as young people, talk about the concrete achievements of the EU and, as a bonus episode in on the occasion of International Women’s Rights Day (8 March), illustrate the actions undertaken at European level to promote the achievement of full equality between the sexes. For the diffusion of the podcast, thanks to the AG we managed to make it available on the main platforms dedicated to this type of content (Spotify, Podbean, Amazon Music and Deezer) and we supported, and are still supporting, various independent youth associations to advertise it.

Have you received any benefits as representative members of the Youth Council for the Aosta Valley?

As regards the Youth Recognition, it is attributed to those projects that demonstrate particular sensitivity towards a series of issues particularly relevant for young people who live in the territories included in the ALCOTRA programme, with particular reference to the quality of life, access to culture , mobility, training, work and digital transition. These themes are expressed within a specific evaluation grid, on the basis of which each project selected to be audited receives a score which initially reached a maximum of 100 points and which now reaches 110. The projects awarded the Award can display the appropriate logo [incluso negli allegati] and benefit from a process of valorisation at a communicative level facilitated by the CDG itself (for example, with the creation by CDG members of explanatory videos of the project and the reasons why it was chosen).

Your personal evaluation of this experience?

This is a path that we recommend to young people who appreciate or want to improve their aptitude for working in groups and using the French language in written and, above all, oral form, who have a strong interest in the European Union and its programs and who they are curious to discover how these are transformed into concrete realities that have an impact on our territories. At the same time, we underline that this is not a political role – on the contrary, the CDG is absolutely independent and untied by party-political logic. Rather, it is a way to get involved, to test your interest in an important reality of the current administrative world and to acquire a wealth of experience that can be used in the workplace.