The AER 'Summer Package'
Work & study opportunities for Young Europeans all over the Continent

Young, active and very much engaged in Europe: this is the perfect profile for the "AER youngster". Hundreds of them will be moving around the European continent this summer.

As everyone knows, the summer months are the ones in which young people are on the lookout for study opportunities and work experience, following an intense academic year. The Assembly of European Regions (aer.eu) has the perfect solution:

- Study / The AER Youth Summer School will take place this year in Exeter (Devon, UK), between 26th and 31st August. About 60 young Europeans aged 18-24 are expected to attend the sixth edition of the Youth Summer School, which will focus on the issue of "Youth and Sustainable Development in Europe's Regions".

Key speakers - among them the AER President Riccardo Illy and the European Parliament Liberal group leader Graham Watson - will brief the Youth Summer School participants. They will explain what  "sustainability" really means in today's Europe, especially in relation to issues linked to energy consumption.

Thematic seminars and workshops will be organised, together with an attractive social programme.

During the event, a new "AER Youth Team" will be elected and will start working immediately on the involvement of young people on topics of European interest.

More information on the AER Summer School is available on: www.a-e-r.org/events/youth-summer-school/2000-2009/yss2007.html

- Internships: this summer 327 young Europeans from 27 European regions are moving around the continent as part of the Eurodyssey Programme: aged 18-30, these youngsters are getting a real preview of what it means to work abroad, in an international environment, spending between three and seven months in another country.

According to the statistics provided by the Autonomous region of Açores (Portugal), which is currently managing the programme, the interns will work in a wide range of organisations: European associations, European media, communication and advertising agencies, IT companies, foundations, universities and language schools, city councils, tourism, airports and airlines, local associations, social centres, import-export firms, hospitals, shops and stores, amusement parks and even royal operas!

The Eurodyssey programme was set up in 1985, at the very beginning of the AER's work: since its creation, approximately 10.000 young Europeans have benefited from it, gaining professional experience abroad and thus enhancing their CVs considerably.

More info on Eurodyssey is available on : www.eurodyssee.net

Participating regions: Belgium (Brussels-Capital, Walloon), Croatia (Istra), France (Bourgogne, Champagne-Ardenne, Franche-Comté, Ile-de-France, Limousin, Picardie, Poitou-Charentes, Rhône-Alpes), Georgia (Adjara), Germany (Baden-Württemberg), Norway (Akershus), Portugal (Açores, Madeira), Romania (Caras-Severin, Harghita, Hunedoara, Tulcea), Spain (Castilla y León, Catalunya, Murcia, Valencia), Switzerland (Jura, Ticino, Valais).

NOTE FOR THE EDITORS: The AER can provide interviews and concrete examples of the young people involved in these programmes. Please contact our press office for further details.

 
The Assembly of European Regions - AER (www.aer.eu) is the political organisation of Regions in Europe and their spokesperson at European and international level. Its vocation is to defend the Regions' interests in the political process and develop interregional cooperation. The AER brings together 250 Regions from 32 European Countries and 14 interregional organisations.

AER Contacts: Sergio Nava, Spokesperson, s.nava@a-e-r.org - Mobile: +33 678 695235, Tel.: +33 3 88 22 74 36
Francine Huhardeaux, Press Officer, f.huhardeaux@a-e-r.org - Mobile: +33 678 695203, Tel. +33 3 88 22 74 49