mairie de Mérignac- BIJ

Our Youth Information Office is located in the city centre, near priority areas of our city. The main objective of our organisation is to support young people at different stages of their lives. More precisely, we aim at helping them to become independent, at raising awareness of societal issues and the role that the youth can play in society. Part of the youth department of our municipality, the Youth Information Office provides reliable information, support, and assistance for young people in various fields, such as studies, health, employment, leisure, training, international and solidarity projects. It also offers free digital services such as Internet access, scanning, printing, or digital support for different tasks. The target groups are young people aged from 11 to 30 years old issued from different geographical, social, and economic backgrounds. We have developed a local and national network with different youth organizations that allows us to get in with many young people and to refer the demands to specialized services if needed. Our team disseminates youth information in different areas of the city during local actions or activities in educational establishments. Our cargo bike, called “mobile Youth Information Office” is an efficient way of reaching the public on their everyday places: public squares, parks and schools. In addition to disseminating information, we promote youth participation and inclusion by organizing local cultural and sport activities, as well as prevention campaigns in schools, leisure centres, city squares and city stadiums. Moreover, access to European mobility opportunities is essential for our activity. Our participation in different networks and programmes enables us to propose concrete international projects. We are Eurodesk member and So Mobilité referent, as well as accredited body (EVS) for hosting and sending volunteers. These projects are tools of raising awareness about different topics and they encourage active citizenship. Thus, we host and support volunteers under the European Solidarity Corps, we implement Erasmus+ youth exchanges, Time to Move campaign, Erasmus Days events or European youth week. We also support access to holidays and youth initiatives in the field of solidarity, though regional and local programmes. By disseminating right and updated information and implementing activities, we encourage young people to actively participate at social, economic, and political level and to be responsible in decision making.