ATELIER EUROPEO

Atelier Europeo (AE) is a NON-PROFIT association established in Brescia (Italy) on the occasion of Europe Day, on 9th May 2013. The founding members are 5 so-called “2nd level organizations” operating in the fields of Volunteering, Third Sector, Social Cooperatives, and Trade Unions, which act as representatives of, support, and contact points for about 3.000 associations in the area of Brescia and its province which, in turn, represents about 300.000 citizens. In 2018 another member (Patronato San Vincenzo) joined the board, enlarging the area to Bergamo city. AE's MISSION is to get Europe closer to people (with a specially attention to youth and youth operators) and to bring people in Europe, to give them the chance to experience, learn, share and compare with other realities. The main aims of AE are: - to foster the development of active European citizenship, through citizens’ participation in activities, projects, and other opportunities offered by UE, and carried out by any public or private entity sharing its mission. In particular, it envisages to involve directly and to design projects and activities with and for young people, including those with fewer opportunities; - to promote a “European culture” and the opportunities offered by the EU and its funding programs, to enhance the potential growth of the local territory in line with the priorities identified by the European Commission; - to encourage transnational mobility of EU citizens, especially young people, from and to Brescia/Bergamo. To achieve its aims, AE carries out a wide range of regular ACTIVITIES, such as: 1. providing INFORMATION concerning the EU policies on specific areas such as youth and education, social innovation and new welfare, employment, labor market, validation of informal competencies, environment protection, health and care, human rights, equality, and citizenship. Thus broadening the knowledge and understanding of the EU and the process of its integration, and giving easier access to the information and the opportunities offered by the EU institutions; 2. organizing MEETINGS, conferences, and other public events to promote and disseminate EU CULTURE and INITIATIVES. AE regurarly promotes YOUTH EU opportunities in schools, Informagiovani, libraries and youth engagment points in cooperation with local entities (municipalies, youth centers, ngos). This, from one side, facilitates identification and selection of inclusive and innovative ideas to elaborate high-quality EU projects, from the other side permits AE to create a network of players, youngsters and not, holding a European identity, based on a higher awareness of the EU policies, a better knowledge of the European best practices and higher attention to the strategies aimed at enhancing the sustainability of projects; 3. providing professional TRAINING and vocational guidelines for qualified euro-project designers, specialized in main relevant areas and in line with activities of associations, foundations, and social enterprises of the network of the founding AE members; 4. providing SUPPORT and ADVISORY service to citizens and organizations to participate in EU programs, to develop and manage EU projects. The project designers who work with AE are divided into five main thematic areas - education, welfare, cooperation, environment and culture - to perform every task entrusted to them in a professional and specialized way. The TARGET GROUPS addressed by AE’s activities are both CITIZENS, with particular regard to YOUNG PEOPLE, and ORGANIZATIONS sharing AE mission, based within the Province of Brescia/Bergamo and the surrounding territory, and interested in the opportunities offered by EU in the field of Erasmus+, ESC Programme, (youth, international mobility, strategic partnerships) and other European Programmes such as CERV and Life. Since 2016 AE has been promoting youth mobility opportunities not only in Brescia city, but has been prioritizing rural areas, such us ValCamonica Valley