At local and regional level, the 7 partners of the ENRYP project have identified the need to increase direct communication among young people, especially the ones active in youth platforms (be they councils, forums or parliaments), in order to share ideas and exchange good practices related to topics such as youth participation, active citizenship, EU awareness and identity. ENRYP project started from a situation where young people were described in the EU Youth Report 2015 as having low interest in participatory processes. However, the last SWD “Situation of young people in the European Union” (2018) states that while young people are described as being more disenchanted with politics, “this might be true for traditional modes of participation (i.e. those related to the representative democracy), increasing numbers of young Europeans are exploring new routes to political engagement and expression, in particular those made available by the Internet and the social media. Remarkably, young people seem to have found renewed interest in political issues and identify themselves as European citizens to a greater extent than older generations.” It highlights the shift towards new models of political engagement and communication such as using the internet to interact with public authorities and the use of websites and social media to post opinions on civic and political issues.In this context, the ENRYP project has worked to develop a space for young people to share ideas and exchange practices, so to increase youth participation at local level and to strengthen capacities and skills. This has also led to an increased international dimension of the partner organisations involved and the request from young people for organising more mobility activities. Through the implemented activities, young people involved as well as partner staff members were able to:- exchange good practices on youth participation, active citizenship, EU awareness and identity, and social inclusion, including country-based strategies on how to approach them- discuss about values and principles that should lie at the foundations of regional and local youth platforms- establish the ENRYP as a multi-stakeholder network and virtual space for young people, public authorities, youth workers and academics- register an increased participation of young people at local level, in their communities, and interest in strengthening the international dimension of organisations.ENRYP was carried out by 8 partners with different profiles: two youth forums operating at regional level from Italy and Romania (Forum Regionale dei Giovani dell’Umbria and Fundatia pentru Tineret Timis), 2 municipalities from UK and Portugal (Manchester City Council and Camara Municipal de Cascais), a CSO – Europa Jovove Egyesule in Hungary, FORMA.Azione srl VET and AL training centre from Italy and a youth research centre from Finland – Finnish Youth Research Network.The main activities involved:- collecting good practices related to the topics of the project, of which 21 on paper and more than 40 learned, shared and discussed by young people at local level, during the blended mobility activities and online- 5 transnational project meetings held in Perugia (IT), Manchester (UK), Helsinki (FI) and in Timisoara (RO);- 12 staff members during the short term training held in Kecskemet (HU), that was preparatory for the two blended mobility activities with young people- 33 participants during the blended mobility in Cascais (PT) and 32 during the one in Timisoara (RO), including young people, group leaders and trainers/facilitators- a validation process related to the key concepts of the ENRYP project (youth participation, active citizenship, social inclusion and European awareness) applied by countries involved in the project and support for the realisation of the European network in the long run- communication and dissemination towards over 5.000 people.Results:- country-based strategies on how to raise awareness of young people about the functioning of youth platforms in other countries, to inform on good practices and the need to build a functional European wide network as a space for sharing ideas on issues that are concrete and meaningful for young people- elaboration of a long-term strategy related to the European network with a vision and goals to be pursued in the following 5 years together with the identification of its members and stakeholders- raised awareness about the importance to approach the network from an online and offline perspective, identified by participants as crucial aspect in order to maintain connections and continuity- a collection of good practices that allowed young people to reflect about the diversity of the contexts;- a validation document that guarantees the quality of the results- commitment of partners in order to further support the network in strategic actions to guarantee its sustainability.- application for a new project.

This unique consortium draws on the research excellence of interdisciplinary and complementary design innovation labs at three universities - Lancaster University, Newcastle University and the Royal College of Art and connects it with public and private sectors, linking large and small-scale businesses, service providers and citizens. Together, our expertise in developing and applying creative techniques to navigate unexplored challenges includes that of designers, artists, curators, producers, broadcasters, engineers, managers, technologists and writers - and draws on wider expertise from across the partner universities and beyond. The Creative Exchange responds to profound changes in practice in the creative and media-based industries stimulated by the opening of the digital public space, the ability of everyone to access, explore and create in any aspect of the digital space, moving from 'content consumption' to 'content experience'. It explores new forms of engagement and exchange in the broadcast, performing and visual arts, digital media, design and gaming sectors, by focusing on citizen-led content, interactive narrative, radical personalization and new forms of value creation in the context of the 'experience economy'. The primary geographic focus is the Northwest of England centred around the opportunity presented by the growth of MediaCityUK and its surrounding economy. The three universities act as local test beds with field trials in London, Lancaster and Newcastle prior to larger public facing trials in the northwest. This will support the North West regional strategy for growth in digital and creative media industries, whilst generating comparative research and development locally, nationally and internationally. The Creative Exchange has been developed in response to a paradigm shift in content creation and modes of distribution in a digitally connected world, which has profound impact for the arts and humanities. This transformational-change is taking place within the landscape of a growing digital public space that includes archives, data, information and content. How we navigate and experience this space - and how we generate content for and within it - is central to how we create economic, social, cultural and personal value. The Hub draws on new and agile approaches to knowledge exchange for the creative economy that have been previously developed by the partner universities and new ones co-developed with specialist arts organizations, sector organizations and communities of users.

This proposal is concerned with the renewal of the Salford IMRC which was initially established in January 2002. This proposal will extent the life of the Salford Centre for Research and Innovation (SCRI) in the built and human environment, until 2011 and further increase the impact that the centre has created in the first five years of its lifecycle. The rolling research agenda and evolving vision of the Centre has been very well received by the industrial and academic circles, as it has been made explicit by the international assessment panels and this renewal aims to firmly establish the world class status of the centre and increase the performance of UK Plc. The centre brings together significant expertise from three research institutes within the university of Salford and aims to continue its collaboration with more that 60 partners in the industrial and academic communities internationally.

"""Global Europe - Connecting realities, building Communities, Developing Capacities"" project appears under umbrella of Cascais European Youth Capital 2018 (EYC2018), a title awarde by the European Youth Forum.Recognizing the value and consistency of the other cities that also reached the final - Kecskemét, Manchester, Novi Sad and Perugia, as they all invested in the process of applying for EYC, meaning that all share the same priority given to youth in local policy and gather he recognized experience and background, contact was established between the 5 cities, with a clear motivation to strengthen the connections and share through this project.The aim of the project is o empower active participation of young people in their communities, social inclusion and cultural diversity through sharing and exchanging on themes of common interest, related with the main priorities of European and local youth policies.This is a multi-activity project composed of four bilateral exchanges and one multilateral exchange over a period of 2 years.These exchanges will allow groups of young people from Cascais and the five finalist cities EYC2018, to live together for a week and, with the support of the group leaders and using non-formal education methodologies, promote experiential learning, learning from peers, intercultural learning and personal development.The first four bilateral exchanges will take 4 different groups of Cascais to be hosted by a group of young people respectively in Perugia (September 2016), Kecskemét (April 2017), Manchester (July 2017) and Novi Sad (September 2017). Continuing the process, the multilateral exchange will welcome in Cascais during the CEJ2018, the groups that took part in the bilateral exchanges.Each exchange will have a specific theme linked to European priorities:• Perugia 'Employability and entrepreneurship as key aspects of empowerment and youth participation.• Kecskemét »Creativity and culture as a way of expression and active participation in society.• Manchester 'Volunteering as a way of participation and skills development.• Novi Sad »Social inclusion and solidarity as pillars of building a just society - especially looking into the situation of refugees, migrants and asylum seekers in the European context.• Cascais' European Citizenship - values, identity and cultural diversity in Europe.The project also includes:- Advance planning Visit (APV), taking place in Cascais in July 2016 with the leaders of all partners.- Meetings Glocal Europe: monthly meetings in Cascais between October 2016 and June 2017 at least, promoting conviviality and keeping connected and motivated participants,- Intermediate Event ""Gloconections"": activities that involve participation at the distance involving people from all the exchange projects. Taking place in June 2017, concrete format will be decided jointly, but will be something online, possibly simultaneously, to share results / views / connections and contributions to CEJ2018. Can consist of: an online conversation, sharing of short videos produced by young people, a mini-competition among all arts (photography, text, music, etc.), special editions of games / articles / images on social networks, etc.These activities will generate 145 mobility spread over 72 youth and 12 leaders. With local and online activities there is potential for the number of young people directly concerned to be higher.The target group is young people between 18 and 25 years, from the partner cities, motivated to participate. The group will respect the principle of gender balance and integrate young people with fewer opportunities, whether from more disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds, particularly marginalized, young people with special physical needs, or young immigrants or ethnic minorities who are in a situation more vulnerable.With the project we hope to contribute to the debate, exchanging ideas and building a common understanding of issues relevant to young people, including youth participation, active citizenship, European identity, social inclusion, volunteering and employability.We want to awaken inspiration and gather ideas about what defines a ""youth friendly city "" and inn this line, a European youth capital.In terms of results, we hope to develop social and personal skills of the participants through non-formal learning, promoting the expression, creativity, initiative and building a European identity."