Unemployment, brain drain, exclusion from decisions about their future. These are the main challenges faced by the youth in the transition regions of Western Macedonia, as expressed in a podcast of the newspaper “O Chronos” (Kozani) in cooperation with Green Tank.
The podcast featured three young people: Stelios Milios, Andromachi Papadopoulou and Rafailia Stouki. The common point of their interventions was the dystopian image of Western Macedonia, the disappointment for the success of the transition and the realization that the economic benefits are reaped by the few.
Commenting on these statements, Ioanna Theodosiou, policy associate, quoted Green Tank data showing the difficult position Western Macedonia is in compared to other lignite producing regions in the EU.
Unlike these regions in other European countries, young people in Western Macedonia were not involved in the initial planning for the transformation of their home territory; there was no a bottom up involvement of the local community in the transition governance system.
In a discussion with journalist Socrates Moutidis, Ioanna Theodosiou said that it is not enough to simply address the problems of unemployment and population exodus, but it is crucial to create a sustainable system of economy and business activities, based on the ecological and environmental restoration of the region.
In this effort, young people can draw on both European and national funds, while there is also the challenge of directing said funds to meet the needs of young people in the lignite areas.
Nassos Sofos, programme manager of the European Commission’s Regional Policy Directorate, concurred by calling on the young people of Western Macedonia to move “from defence to offence” and to seize all available financial tools.
On the other hand, as Ioanna Theodosiou noted, although several steps have been taken so far, in practice it seems that there is still a lot of work to be done despite the fact that there are plans, resources, regulations, legislation, programmes and funds for just transition (national and European).
Therefore, in order to actively involve young people in the transition and get the funds into their hands, the following is proposed:
- The creation of a Youth Just Transition Fund, which can be included in the upcoming revision of the Just Development Transition Programme 2021 – 2027 .
- The publication of a call for proposals to support entrepreneurship targeted at the youth of the lignite regions.
- The institutional inclusion of the youth in decision making and implementation of transition planning.
- The prioritization of the implementation of projects for young people.
- The creation of a Youth Council for Just Transition, through which local youth would be empowered, gather data and monitor transition developments, make policy or legislative proposals.
The podcast was published on Tuesday 16 July and you can listen to it on Spotify. Ιt was also featured in the print edition of “Chronos” newspaper. All media are in Greek.
