JOINT PRESS RELEASE / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 18 November 2008

‘Pyou Life’ for young people:Torino designated European Youth Capital 2010

Chosen amongst 15 other candidate cities, Torino was awarded Saturday the title of European Youth Capital 2010 (EYC 2010) by Bettina Schwarzmayr, President of the European Jury and President of the European Youth Forum. The ceremony took place last Saturday, 15 November in Rotterdam City Hall, at the end of the European Youth Forum General Assembly.

The initiative was launched by the European Youth Forum (YFJ) to encourage the development of new ideas and innovative projects with regards to the active participation of young people in society and to foster the co-operation on youth policies at local and European level.

Torino’s slogan for the European Youth Capital 2010 is ‘Pyou Life’. It stands for ‘Piemonte and You’ or ‘Piemonte and Youth’, but it can also be read as ‘Più’, the Italian word for ‘More’. More activities, more participation and more opportunities for young people for taking an active role in making real contributions to their communities.

Marta Levi, Torino’s city Councilor for Youth Policies, has commented upon receiving the award: “This designation brings together the past, the present and the future of Torino. It confirms the fact that the city of Torino has a leading role in the innovation of youth policies and gives us an even bigger incentive to invest more in young people, as protagonists of the future of our city”. 

“Torino has incessantly worked to develop a strong coordination with the local, regional and national structures for youth participation“, noted Bettina Schwarzmayr, President of the European Youth Forum. “The jury was sure that the great experience in youth policies matured in decades,” added Schwarzmayr, “will help Torino to give the European Youth Capital project a large visibility for the next years to come”.

The candidacy of Torino was also supported by both the Regione Piemonte, the regional youth council and the Italian Youth Council (Forum Nazionale dei Giovani) and presents an ambitious project combining arts, culture, international mobility and a focus on the European citizenship dimension.

Torino will present a multi-faceted programme lasting one year, highlighting the good practices of the city towards youth policy and the empowerment of young people, raising awareness on the contributions that young people can bring to society – through civic participation - and to the cultural, economic and political life of the city.

“Torino won because the project was able to combine its original approach to youth policies with the high potential of the cultural and social life of Torino and Piemonte,” underlines Gianni Oliva, Regional Councilor for Youth. “The scope of ‘Pyou Life’ combines arts, culture and youth participation. It focuses on non formal education and peer education as a tool for the empowerment of youth organisations at local and international level”.

Notes to the editors:

The local government of Rotterdam has designated the city of Rotterdam as the first European Youth Capital, in 2009. It has also called for the European Youth Forum to facilitate a democratic process to elect the European Youth Capital 2010.

Torino is therefore the first European Youth Capital that has been selected. The process was coordinated by the European Youth Forum, and undertaken by a jury comprised of representatives from the private sector, European institutions, local and regional authorities of the European Union and the Council of Europe, and media outlets.

Press contacts:

European Youth Forum

Letizia Gambini

Tel:  +32 2 286 94 17

Mob: + 32 472 548 740

e-mail: press@youthforum.org

Your World – City of Rotterdam

Ruby Vrolijk

Tel: + 31 10 241 2009

e-mail: ruby@reyc.nl

The European Youth Forum (YFJ) is a platform made up of 99 National Youth Councils and international youth NGOs from across Europe, that promotes the interests of young people towards the European Union, the Council of Europe and the United Nations. For more information, visit www.youthforum.org