Week for the youth, formation, volunteeringVolunteering, youth mobility, quality university teaching, entrepreneurship: these are among themes of the fifth “European Youth Week” which the Commission, the Committee of the Regions and the Forum Européen de la Jeunesse are organizing for May 15-21. The initiative follows Youth on the Move, another EU-sponsored event for the young in the framework of the Festival of Europe, (Florence, May 6-10). Workshops will take place in Brussels May 15-17, during of the plenary sitting of the CoR. The city of Antwerp in Belgium, which has been designated as the ‘2011 European Youth Capital’ will host, on 17 May, a debate with EU Commission president José Manuel Barroso, the Commissioner responsible for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth, Androulla Vassiliou, experts and youth from 33 countries. “President Barroso will present awards for outstanding European Voluntary Service projects supported by the Youth in Action programme and Commissioner Vassiliou will announce the results of a new Eurobarometer survey on youth and education”, the Commission explained in a release. The initiative lies within the framework of the programs of the European Year of Volunteering 2011.Defending biodiversity: the Commission’s initiativeOn Wednesday 4 May, the Commission will adopt “The 2020 biodiversity strategy: our life insurance, our natural capital: an EU biodiversity strategy to 2020”, presented in Brussels by European Commissioner for the Environment Janez Potoènik. “The strategy reaffirms the EU’s intention to halt the loss of biodiversity and the decline of ecosystem services by 2020, restore such services as far as is feasible, and step up the EU’s contribution to safeguarding global biodiversity”, the Executive explains in a release. It’s not the first time that the Barroso College tackles this subject and presents related proposals. To this regard, the Commission extends its glance at EU and global level. “The strategy focuses on conserving and protecting nature, maintaining and restoring ecosystems and their services, ensuring the sustainability of agriculture, fisheries and forestry in EU27”, the Commission explains. The document is also aimed at controlling the introduction and spread of invasive alien species. According to the Commission, “Mankind depends on the variety of ecosystems, species and genes that make up life on Earth, collectively known as biodiversity”. In fact, “Biodiversity provides us with food and fresh water, shelter and medicine, mitigates natural disasters, pests and disease”; it “regulates the climate, and it provides vital services that underpin our economy”. The document drawn up by experts for the Executive states, “The loss of biodiversity is now running at unprecedented levels, making biodiversity loss the most critical global environmental threat alongside climate change – and the two are inextricably linked”.Label, European recognition for language promotionThe “European Language Label” is a EU Commission initiative to enhance language-learning in Europe. The Label rewards “innovative, European, replicable language-learning projects”. The Label, “is an EU award to national language projects that sparked off innovative, and creative ways to improve the quality of language teaching”, by “motivating EU citizens to life-long multi-language learning”. National juries will confer the Label to the most meritorious projects on the basis of various criteria. “In compliance with strategies and policies adopted at EU and national level in the realm of vocational training and education, priority will be given to projects that involve language skills as a preparation for work and language learning in the Community; to outstanding examples of teaching language as a preparation for work of adults and professionals; to projects promoting the acquisition of key language skills to address the ongoing economic crisis and surging unemployment. Deadline for applications is May 30 2011. For information: http://ec.europa.eu/education/languages/european-language-label/index_en.htm.
