Pedreguer has participated in the 20th edition of the European Week of Regions and Cities organized by the European Committee of the Regions and the European Commission in Brussels.
It took place this year from October 10 to 13 under the slogan 'New challenges for the cohesion of Europe'. The proposed topics will deal with the ecological and digital transition, territorial cohesion and youth empowerment, paying special attention to the role of cohesion policy in Europe's sustainable recovery, as the most effective instrument of solidarity in response to the emergency and the consequences of crises.
The Pedreguer City Council, represented by the mayor, Sergi Ferrús, has been present for the second time, since in 2019 he participated as a speaker in the session of the Local4Green project. This year he has been present at this event until October 12, with the participation in two workshops.
On the 11th, Ferrús participated in the session "Promoting gender equality at the local level through youth activities related to sport", presenting the experience of Pedreguer from the project developed as Erasmus+ Esport, during 2019, EPIC Basket.
Framed in the spirit of the European Year of Youth, this session has presented the experience of the municipalities of Pedreguer, Carvalhais (Portugal) and Malatya (Turkey). Thus, city councils intend to promote gender equality between local and non-local youth by involving them in sports projects. These experiences are presented as examples of good practice.
The second workshop in which Pedreguer participated, "Youth empowerment and civic engagement, lessons from European local and regional authorities" was held in person on October 12. Mirko Bisesti, provincial councilor of Trento, Manuela Lanzarín, regional councilor of Veneto, Rosa Ana Rodríguez Pérez, councilor of Castilla-La Mancha and Anne Rudisuhli, departmental councilor of Bouches-du-Rhône acted as speakers.
Work schedule for Pedreguer
Ferrús has had the opportunity to establish an intense work agenda during the three days that the stay has lasted. He has been able to deal with issues such as Pedreguer's participation in other European projects, the work carried out with the Covenant of Mayors, employment, youth or equality policies, among others.
Thus, he collected recommendations and an action plan towards greater gender equality in sport in a meeting with Violeta Birzniece, technician for public policies on gender equality, design of programs and events in the sports area of the general directorate of education, youth, sport and culture of the European Commission, and Olivier Smith, deputy director of the Sport area of the same directorate general.
In the afternoon, he had the opportunity to attend the opening of an exhibition on Joan Fuster at the Spanish embassy, where he exchanged impressions with different Valencian officials, including the president of the Corts, Enric Morera, and that of the Generalitat, Ximo Puig , which presented Frans Timmermans with the Joan Lluís Vives award, granted in 2020.
On the 11th, the mayor was received by Stanislav Ranguelov, Deputy Head of the Employment Policies Unit of the European Commission, who informed him of the financing possibilities, especially for the employment of groups at risk of social exclusion. That same morning, the topics of the ongoing projects were specified with other partners: the partners of Erasmus + Sports, Magics - Medieval Activities Grow International Cooperation In Sport; TechGirls, the approved Twinning project with Kuldiga, Latvia; and OlimpicKids, for which around 30.000 euros have been awarded.
