Youth and Women
Many young people in Weinviertel, South Moravia and West Slovakia were growing up under very different conditions when compared with their parents and grandparents. They have only been told about the geopolitical division between East and West border of which has been running alongside of Weinviertel. In future oriented cross-border projects it will be therefore very important to act on this „historical headstart” and focus on specific topics and target groups in order to prevent the „borders in heads” of young people from appearing at all.
Cross-border co-operation of schools already belongs to a good practice in a lot of schools. Additional support is being provided by a language initiative launched jointly by the Regional Government of Lower Austria and the Regional Academy with a total participation of 6.700 pupils learning in school year 2003/2004 voluntarily the Czech, Slovak or Hungarian language.
What do the young people think, what are they interested in or how do they imagine their own future? These are the subjects of a project study called „Young people in borderland” and hidden behind an opinion poll among 1.200 young people in an age of 15 to 20 years living in EUREGIO region of Weinviertel, South Moravia and Western Slovakia.
It is a desire of young people to integrate their needs and ambitions into EUREGIO structures. The EUREGIO Youth Parliament serves as a megaphone of young people in the region where they can learn to define problems together and then to communicate them to the outside world.
The increasing labour market flexibility and the opening of borders gradually changes the gender specific role models arrested in traditional country structures. Women are in comparison with men – subject to many structural factors (lack of offers in the public life, childcare possibilities etc.) – less mobile and therefore limited in their choices of working place.
Appreciation of the regional potential can be achieved first of all through principal commitment to gender mainstreaming (equality of chances provided to men and women), through emphasizing it as a subject of discussion and through sensitization of the political decision-makers. The aspect of equal opportunities can be implemented as a cross-sectional matter in all thematic areas of regional and economic development thus initiating a process of sensitisation and raising of awareness.
The big additional challenge can be seen when looking over the border. How do women live in South Moravia and Western Slovakia, what concerns, aspirations a needs do they have? What are the similarities and where can we find differences? The GEKO Project – „gender sensitive co-operation in cross-border regional development” has set a goal to anchor the gender mainstreaming in all cross-border support programs and to implement cross-border projects focusing on equality of opportunities.
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