This year we celebrated the 22nd edition of the International Youth Conference "EUROPEAN VALUES FOR THE FUTURE OF THE SEE REGION", that took place from 26th to 30th September 2024, traditionally in the town of Krusevo, North Macedonia – a picturesque town where our event has been a cornerstone of meaningful dialogue and cross-cultural exchange for over 21 years For over two decades, this annual event has engaged more than 1500 active young leaders from 24 countries, as well as convened more than 250 distinguished, influential guest speakers among which presidents of countries and institutions, prime ministers, politicians, ambassadors, diverse experts, academics, journalists and of course youth leaders and activists. They have passed on their admirable professional backgrounds and expertise on the newest generations of active young leaders, inspiring many future actions and initiatives.
For the 22nd edition of the conference we convened more than 80 of the most active young people from 16 countries of the SEE region [North Macedonia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Kosovo, Montenegro, Italy, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and Turkey] to work together for the European future of the region, as well as guests from youth organizations partners from Germany, France and Poland in the role of mentors that provided their valuable insights due to the successful endeavors in their reconciliation processes. Our aim this year was to showcase good case studies and over 22 years of active youth work, creating meaningful dialogue with and for young people. We also strived to promote the understanding of how to create youth-inclusive, decision-making, and civic participation processes for regional transformation, by engaging the young people using a variety of innovative methodologies and attractive approaches such as: real talk sessions, chitchats, fireside chats, hackathon and many other inventive formats inspiring them into working together towards a better European future of the region.
The Conference team, together with the International Preparatory Group [IPG], consisted of conference alumni from previous editions, actively worked on this year`s program that featured plenty of captivating, hot topics such as political currents and elections, radical tensions and movements, digital transformation and innovation, artificial intelligence, economic stability, empowerment and entrepreneurship, youth employability, as well as regional connectivity and infrastructure. The Conference stage welcomed numerous speakers whoose presence brought a significant wealth of knowledge and inspiration to the event. Their perspectives and enthusiasm resonated deeply with the young leaders, sparking reflections and conversations throughout the entire conference and after. The insights of our distinguished guest speakers have given our attendees a deeper understanding of the topics and motivated them to become more actively engaged in the future towards positive changes in the region.