For the 22nd European Week of Regions and Cities, the Office of the Northern Ireland Executive was delighted to host a panel discussion ‘Strengthening skills through regional initiatives – developing local talents for the future’.
The annual European Week of Regions and Cities (EWRC) took place in Brussels from 7-11 October. This is a four-day event during which cities and regions showcase their capacity to create growth and jobs, implement European Union cohesion policy, and prove the importance of the local and regional level for good European governance. This year’s event had over 7000 participants, 500 speakers and 220 workshops.
The Office collaborated with partners from regions across Europe, with contributions from the North-East Development Agency (Romania), City of Murska Sobota (Slovenia), Regione Umbria (Italy), the Province of Noord Brabant (Netherlands), Region Vojvodina (Serbia) and Wielkopolska Region (Poland).
The event showcased local and regional policymakers, academics and service providers from seven European regions who shared practices, exchanged ideas and collected feedback on their respective strategies for growing talent and future skills. Participants presented their regions’ tailored solutions to encourage stakeholder behavioural change and propel the energy transition. Northern Ireland was represented by Ciaran McManus from South West College who spoke of how the PEACE-funded Youthscape and Youthscape Plus projects tackle skills gaps in the rural population and create skills pipelines for local industry.
The presentations were followed by a Q&A session with the panel, where guests were given the opportunity to ask questions about each of the innovative initiatives presented by the speakers. Over 70 guests attended and were invited to a networking reception following the event, bringing our annual European Week of Regions and Cities event to a close for another year.
The Office of the Northern Ireland Executive in Brussels would like to thank all our partner regions in helping to organise and deliver this insightful event. We would also like to thank all the guests who attended and for their questions and engagement throughout the workshop.
We are already looking forward to hosting another event for next year’s #EURegionsWeek!